The conversation with mom is poised at an interesting juncture and without much ado, I shall press on:-
On putting her professional ambitions on the back burner.
My first sight of mom working was when she was the teacher in English at my school, the Naval Primary School, Bombay. She'd a short stint of over a year before she gave birth to my kid sister. The frequency with which the students came to our home to meet her and the manner in which she was pressurised to rejoin, after her confinement, confirmed the fact that she was a good teacher!
And soon, we'd returned to Thiruvananthapuram and she was quick to be employed in the Khadi Board, albeit for a short while. It was then that my dad's father prevailed upon her to take up the job of a 'Branch Post Mistress' at the nascent post office that he'd set up. And it was here that she'd grown in stature, becoming the village's most sought after individual for taking up social causes towards upliftment of the weak and the needy. Since dad was away on his professional pursuit and because of the constant attention that was required for my sisters' education, she'd signed an undertaking to forego further professional advancement and in turn, requested her retention in the post to take care of her personal requirements which was granted without a question being asked!
Talking about it, my mom had this to say, "It was a necessity. Otherwise, frequent transfers would have marred your sisters' education and the beautiful house that your dad had built had to be tended with care. And I wasn't sitting idle, anyway. People used to interact with me, unburden their woes and expected me to solve their problems. And I must confess that it gave me a great high!"
Her superiors were impressed with her meticulousness in handling money, the efficient manner in which books were kept and the promptness with which the postal articles were distributed - there were no complaints from the people during her over thirty years of service as the 'BPM of Kura PO'!
On her brief foray into electoral politics.
It was this familiarity with the masses that saw her being pushed into electoral politics - during the panchayat elections - with both the UDF and the LDF trying to woo her desperately, as their candidate, as she was perceived a sure winner. However, my mom having friends on either front did not want to antagonise anyone among them and had consented to fight the elections as an independent, with an enthusiastic youth support of the BJP.
What she didn't reckon was the way politics was played and she lost the battle of the ballot by a mere nine votes! She wasn't ruffled, for her it was another act that she'd to play but even in defeat, her opponents were lavish in their praise and to me, it appeared that they're upset that she'd to undergo the ignominy of defeat!!
Tailpiece.
Often I wonder as to whether I've done the right thing to bring her along with us to Guruvayur. She has her quick witted reply, "This gives me a chance to be near you and it's in a way, making up for lost time", leaving a lump in my throat.
On putting her professional ambitions on the back burner.
My first sight of mom working was when she was the teacher in English at my school, the Naval Primary School, Bombay. She'd a short stint of over a year before she gave birth to my kid sister. The frequency with which the students came to our home to meet her and the manner in which she was pressurised to rejoin, after her confinement, confirmed the fact that she was a good teacher!
And soon, we'd returned to Thiruvananthapuram and she was quick to be employed in the Khadi Board, albeit for a short while. It was then that my dad's father prevailed upon her to take up the job of a 'Branch Post Mistress' at the nascent post office that he'd set up. And it was here that she'd grown in stature, becoming the village's most sought after individual for taking up social causes towards upliftment of the weak and the needy. Since dad was away on his professional pursuit and because of the constant attention that was required for my sisters' education, she'd signed an undertaking to forego further professional advancement and in turn, requested her retention in the post to take care of her personal requirements which was granted without a question being asked!
Talking about it, my mom had this to say, "It was a necessity. Otherwise, frequent transfers would have marred your sisters' education and the beautiful house that your dad had built had to be tended with care. And I wasn't sitting idle, anyway. People used to interact with me, unburden their woes and expected me to solve their problems. And I must confess that it gave me a great high!"
Her superiors were impressed with her meticulousness in handling money, the efficient manner in which books were kept and the promptness with which the postal articles were distributed - there were no complaints from the people during her over thirty years of service as the 'BPM of Kura PO'!
On her brief foray into electoral politics.
It was this familiarity with the masses that saw her being pushed into electoral politics - during the panchayat elections - with both the UDF and the LDF trying to woo her desperately, as their candidate, as she was perceived a sure winner. However, my mom having friends on either front did not want to antagonise anyone among them and had consented to fight the elections as an independent, with an enthusiastic youth support of the BJP.
What she didn't reckon was the way politics was played and she lost the battle of the ballot by a mere nine votes! She wasn't ruffled, for her it was another act that she'd to play but even in defeat, her opponents were lavish in their praise and to me, it appeared that they're upset that she'd to undergo the ignominy of defeat!!
Tailpiece.
Often I wonder as to whether I've done the right thing to bring her along with us to Guruvayur. She has her quick witted reply, "This gives me a chance to be near you and it's in a way, making up for lost time", leaving a lump in my throat.
No comments:
Post a Comment