Adieu Davidson!

Colonel Inchodikaran Remiguous Davidson (IR Davidson), my classmate and a dear friend, passed into the mist of time, this evening at the Manipal Hospital, around 1800 hrs.  

He'd returned from a round of golf, in the morning, last Monday and had developed some difficulty in his heart. He'd a history of heart disease, as I reckon. Consequently, he was taken to the Manipal Hospital - he and his family had settled down at Bangalore on retirement from the service - where he had undergone an open heart bypass surgery. Things had, unfortunately, gone horribly wrong as his brain wasn't receiving blood post-surgery and he was put on the ventilator. And the end came by this evening.

He leaves behind his wife, Lissy, son, Paul and daughter, Michelle. His funeral will be held at the Little Flower Church, Kadavanthra at Ernakulam, on Monday 23 Nov, at 1600 hrs.

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Going back in time........

He'd joined the Sainik School, one year before me, in 1966. He was in Veluthampi House while I had joined up in Prasad House, in 1967. There used to be a popular anecdote about him that was dutifully passed on to us - by a few mischievous classmates - that initially upon joining, when he was asked his name, he'd replied, "IR Davidson". Thinking that he was coming from a village school, where English was seldom used by the students as spoken language, the matron corrected him to say, "I am Davidson". But an adamant Davidson insisted upon "IR Davidson" and in the process, incurred the wrath of the Matron! 

I must confess that Davidson and I weren't close friends while at school as we were in different divisions of the class of '72 and we'd our own circle of friends.

At the NDA, he was in the Echo Squadron which was in the immediate neighbourhood of my Hunter Squadron and our paths used to cross frequently when we always paused to stop and have exchanges, depending on the time available. We used to practice cartwheels, handsprings and the horse, on the No.2 Battalion quadrangle while practicing PT after games, in the evening.

Davidson was an ever-smiling, fun loving, genial and a thorough gentleman from our class. Of late, his passion was painting and golf. In fact, a couple of months back, he had shown us a collection of his paintings on our What'sApp group. I must tell you that his portrait of Sam Manekshaw was almost close to the original. So you can evaluate his proficiency as a painter!!

Just now, as I punch in this post, a friend of ours - Commander Sunny Varghese - calls me up to tell that Davidson had broken off from their course mates' What'sApp group, citing ill health, a couple of months back. Did he have a premonition that he was leaving us all, I wonder?

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RIP Davidson. My salute to a great classmate and friend, with tears and prayers. Here's wishing that God gives the strength to Lissy, Paul and Michelle to tide over this irreparable loss.   

Tailpiece.

Got up at 6, the chores and was ready by a quarter to 10. 

Participated in the "Aazhchakkoottam : Kavi sammelanam". When I joined in , Maman surprised me by asking to say a poem. So, I quickly improvised and provided the audience with a four liner, instant-poem of mine relating to the present Covid conditions. The programme was between 1600 - 1700 hrs.