Because of the latitudinal differences, most of the religious festivals are celebrated a day earlier in Kerala because the Malayalam calendar is lunar based. And hence, we celebrated Diwali today.
As we've been doing in the past, we'd invited Lekha's understudy, Sathiamma, her husband, Dharmarajan and their daughter, Archana to celebrate Diwali with us - our first at 'The Quarterdeck'. Lekha and Sathiamma had done all the related purchases over the last few days and had worked hard to put up a short but wonderful evening.
A brief description about Dharmarajan is necessary at this point. The only son to his wealthy parents, among four children, he was a sickly child and was not given any responsibility throughout his life. He's 65 and suffers from the same ailment that Rajesh Khanna suffers in the movie 'Anand', though more complicated than the 'Lympho sarcoma of the intestine' and needs to undergo frequent blood transfusions - of late, the frequencies have gotten to be higher and it's done at the hospital nearby, whose proprietor happens to be my immediate neighbour and together, we've been monitoring the case closely, without the protagonist being aware of it.
He has been given only a few months by the affable doctor looking after him who's advised that Dharmarajan needed to be shifted to the Medical College Hospital at Thrissur, as early as possible. I thought that this aspect was playing in his mind when he spoke to me this evening and I quote, "Sir, that hospital is huge and has very many new buildings that have come up, since I'd been there last. And don't worry, Sathiamma will be there always with you even after I go".
I'd to chide him for his negativity and said that one couldn't be sure as to whose turn it would be to pass into the mist of time. But his trepidation was understandable as he'd lost his sister a couple of years back to the same ailment, in that hospital and he feels that his turn has now arrived. He wants to survive till 30 Jan '15 which is the date of his daughter's marriage.
And, then, in a hushed tone he asked me for Rs.500/- pleading that his wife and daughter mustn't come to know about it. I was set to go for my evening walk and had promised to hand it over to him on return. At the goddess' temple enroute, I'd stopped to say a small prayer as is my usual custom and asked the deity to let Dharmettan - that's what he's affectionately known among us as - live till next Diwali(One has to be incremental in asking for a help from god, you see!)
I felt light as I slipped the folded crisp note into his hand much later. We'd then lit the 'diyas', burst the crackers and sat down to a simple 'Diwali' dinner. Sathiamma and her daughter reiterated the fact that Dharmettan had eaten more than usual as he seemed to be very happy.
As they're leaving - their would-be-son-in-law, Suraj, had come in his autorickshaw to pick them up -
my mom told Dharmettan to be with us for the next Diwali too(How did she know that I too had asked God for it just a while back?). We saw their waving hands, thrust out of the vehicle, as they disappeared behind the compound wall and on to the street beyond, through the heavy downpour.
Tailpiece.
I go back to an old point that I keep harping upon. Dharmettan and I must have crisscrossed each other's paths in the past too!
As we've been doing in the past, we'd invited Lekha's understudy, Sathiamma, her husband, Dharmarajan and their daughter, Archana to celebrate Diwali with us - our first at 'The Quarterdeck'. Lekha and Sathiamma had done all the related purchases over the last few days and had worked hard to put up a short but wonderful evening.
A brief description about Dharmarajan is necessary at this point. The only son to his wealthy parents, among four children, he was a sickly child and was not given any responsibility throughout his life. He's 65 and suffers from the same ailment that Rajesh Khanna suffers in the movie 'Anand', though more complicated than the 'Lympho sarcoma of the intestine' and needs to undergo frequent blood transfusions - of late, the frequencies have gotten to be higher and it's done at the hospital nearby, whose proprietor happens to be my immediate neighbour and together, we've been monitoring the case closely, without the protagonist being aware of it.
He has been given only a few months by the affable doctor looking after him who's advised that Dharmarajan needed to be shifted to the Medical College Hospital at Thrissur, as early as possible. I thought that this aspect was playing in his mind when he spoke to me this evening and I quote, "Sir, that hospital is huge and has very many new buildings that have come up, since I'd been there last. And don't worry, Sathiamma will be there always with you even after I go".
I'd to chide him for his negativity and said that one couldn't be sure as to whose turn it would be to pass into the mist of time. But his trepidation was understandable as he'd lost his sister a couple of years back to the same ailment, in that hospital and he feels that his turn has now arrived. He wants to survive till 30 Jan '15 which is the date of his daughter's marriage.
And, then, in a hushed tone he asked me for Rs.500/- pleading that his wife and daughter mustn't come to know about it. I was set to go for my evening walk and had promised to hand it over to him on return. At the goddess' temple enroute, I'd stopped to say a small prayer as is my usual custom and asked the deity to let Dharmettan - that's what he's affectionately known among us as - live till next Diwali(One has to be incremental in asking for a help from god, you see!)
I felt light as I slipped the folded crisp note into his hand much later. We'd then lit the 'diyas', burst the crackers and sat down to a simple 'Diwali' dinner. Sathiamma and her daughter reiterated the fact that Dharmettan had eaten more than usual as he seemed to be very happy.
As they're leaving - their would-be-son-in-law, Suraj, had come in his autorickshaw to pick them up -
my mom told Dharmettan to be with us for the next Diwali too(How did she know that I too had asked God for it just a while back?). We saw their waving hands, thrust out of the vehicle, as they disappeared behind the compound wall and on to the street beyond, through the heavy downpour.
Tailpiece.
I go back to an old point that I keep harping upon. Dharmettan and I must have crisscrossed each other's paths in the past too!
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