A well oiled mechanism or a planned racket?

This afternoon, we'd gone to look up an old lady of the extended family, who'd recently undergone a kidney transplant. Though frail, she looked cheerful and seems to be on the sure road to recovery as her parameters have been registering normalcy - the Creatinine levels have been under 1, consistently over the past five weeks.

The visit was undertaken soon after attending a wedding and we're in our finery just to give the old lady a feeling of wellness and gaiety!

But what amazed me was that the entire colony of about twenty houses provided shelter to kidney patients at differing stages of their treatment - from a person awaiting her surgery after having identified the donor to this relation of our's, who now needs to report to the hospital(which is a stone's throw away), twice a week, for review. And her doctor insists that she walks the distance, which is a trifle over a km.

Consider the following aspects that are related to the arrangement:-

      (a) The two room accommodation is owned by a member of the staff of the hospital. Wonder whether
           the other dwelling units had such a connection?
      (b) The accommodation provides essential creature comforts like a kitchenette with cooking gas but
            the replenishment of the cylinders is at a premium.
      (c) Provision of a/c in the rooms is subject to the inmates' demand.
      (d) The current going rate of the rentals is Rs.13 grand per month with Rs.500/- extra, as electricity
            charges.

It's definitely a boon and a cosy arrangement for the patients and their attendants, especially when the visits to the doctor - immediately after the surgery - are to be undertaken on a daily basis and the moves have to be undertaken in a vehicle! Taxis and auto rickshaws are available for the purpose.


Tailpiece.

I would like to wind up my thoughts with the following:-

    (a) It's definitely a profit making venture to all concerned! But mind you, a kidney transplant in our country    
         today can only be afforded by the affluent.
    (b) What about the member of the staff who seems to be 'making hay while the sun shines'? The person
          has an edge over the others in that the complete information of prospective patients is available on a
          platter - Professional inputs for personal financial gains, eh?  
    (c) Wonder whether there's a nexus between the staff of the hospital and the 'agent' who arranges for
          the donor?
    (d) I'd like to term the entire system as 'exploitation of another's misfortune'!

PS.
Though I was happy to see the improvement in the condition of the old lady, I was saddened to see the 'business' oriented venture and I could sense an all pervading gloom and illness that surrounded the houses of the colony!

Much ado about nothing.

I can't understand the uproar caused in the United States over President Barack Obama's remarks on the good looks of California's female Attorney General, Kamala Harris. He's accused of old fashioned sexism!

I think, he was just giving expression to his thoughts by saying that she was the 'best looking AG' in the country. And what's wrong with that? Can't a man express his feelings? Or is it that the people who seem to be exercised by his words, suggesting that he's hinting at a relationship with the lady?

Come on, take a walk! Firstly, he'd be dumb to risk his presidency on a non issue like that and secondly, let's hypothetically take it to be true for a moment, then he'd chose much safer means to do so rather than crassly announce it to the world on a public forum!!

Can't help but laugh at the brouhaha over nothing. The yanks need not get after their President just because he hasn't been able to bring about the change that he'd promised - his approval ratings have been on the down slide!

As a far away observer, I'm sure that he didn't mean any harm!!


Tailpiece.

Wonder how we, in India, would have reacted to an issue like this? 

Trivial, yet thought provoking!

I want to share a few happenings that may appear trivial at first perusal but have nevertheless touched a deep cord within me. And the beauty is that I can't fathom the real reason for being affected by them:-

    (a) Ichcha's death. I'd mentioned earlier that I'm a fervent follower of the Hindi soap 'Kya hoti utharan'
         on the channel 'Colors' every evening at 10. A couple of days back, one of the lead characters,  
         died of a tragic accident and in her dying moments, she bequeaths her heart to 'Tapasya', her friend.
         The paradox is that she's blamed by most of the family members, throughout her life, that she was
         scheming against the very same person who gets to be the ultimate recipient of her largesse. Ichcha     
         has been portrayed as a strong young lady who suffers innumerable miseries in her life, including a
         jail term, but steadfastly stands by the truth and nothing but the truth, always and every time.

         From what one hears in real life, such miserable and sad endings befall upon good people many a
         time. One's left wondering as to what's god doing all the while because god was to ensure that
         good prevails over the evil!

    (b) Telepathy? During the course of the day, two people had come into my thoughts after what seemed to
          be a long time. And no, the thoughts came at random, for no particular reason and at different
          occasions. They were Durga and Rajan - the former and I'd spent some wonderful times together
          at Chilka and the latter's a simple lad who's been duped by a job racketeer to do strenuous, manual
          work at the construction sites of Singapore for a pittance!

          Durga, after a prolonged silence, had sent me a mail asking me about my whereabouts. Settled in
          Secunderabad, he seemed to be cheery and full of beans! Rajan had called up from one of the public
          telehone kiosks and poured out his woes - his greatest worry is that he's unable to save from his
          earnings as food, palatable and acceptable to his taste, costs a fortune. He's desperately counting out
          his two-year contract and reiterated that he felt nice after he talked to me. When I'd asked him to give
          me his contact number, he said that he'd make the calls as it suited him. I feel damn guilty making
          him spend on me!

     (c) A mother's anguish. I've become a marriage counsellor of sorts, albeit, a poor one at that by my own
          admission. Usha, one of the residents out here, came in to tell me about her woes. It was about the
          collapsing marital relations of her son and daughter-in-law and that too after siring two children,
          with the third on the way! The daughter-in-law is willing to go her own way(she's alleged to be friendly
          with another guy and gets messages and calls on her cellphone, much to the consternation of the
          mother-son duo) but the son insists that he'll give up his life if that happens!! And their's was a love
          marriage and they're drawn from differing religions!!!

          I've advised Usha to summon the girl's parents to have a comprehensive round of discussions and then
          go in for a divorce if no other plans work. And I've promised to attend that meeting to put in my two
          bits' worth!


Tailpiece.

Am I getting too personal? Do I've the wherewithal to erase the woes of the people immediately around me? I'm reminded of a conversational piece from one of the Hindi movies that I'd seen quite a while back. Roughly translated it goes something like this and I quote, " At certain times one has to assume a godly role. And the paradox is that there's no escape from such a situation as circumstances bind one. And all the while one's fully aware of the fact that one's a a very poor imitation of the original and wants to desperately don a  simple, quiet  role". Unquote.  

A quaint request!

This evening I received a rather strange request from one of my playmates back home. It was the shy and mild mannered Sydney, who stayed at a stone's throw away from my house. Sydney and me were good friends and our friendship had begun on the volleyball court of our village. The court was at the busy market place which boasted of a thriving, boisterous business on all Mondays and Thursdays. The land for the market place was donated by my paternal grandfather who was clear that the residents around would interact better, when they met each other at such a place. The patch of land also boasted of an open air theatre where cultural activities were performed, at frequent intervals, round the year. For us, it was like viewing a kaleidoscope of events from our house as the market place straddled the northern boundary!

My grandfather, even during his final days, insisted upon sitting on his favourite easy chair, at the verandah of his house - the ancestral house was towards the east of the marketplace - for viewing the ongoing activities and the manner in which people went about their chores of buying and selling wares coupled with haggles and banters! I remember that he used to get rejuvenated and happy just by viewing the scene and was ecstatic when people came and met him.

The volleyball field was witness to many spirited and keenly contested matches. It was during one of my holidays from school that I'd joined the frenzy and was fortunate to be part of the winning team. And the combination of Sydney and your's truly had brought in a few crucial points for that win! The one thing that remains fresh in my memory is the manner in which Sydney used to narrate the stories of the Malayalam films that he'd seen. The narrations used to be replete with actions and the sound effects - and for me, it was always fascinating as it gave me a feeling that I was watching the movie with him!

Our friendship had taken off from that point. It had gone on for another three years or so, after which we'd lost track of each other as Sydney had gone abroad in search of work and had almost settled there, but the lure of his village and his fond memories of childhood eventually brought him back, about five years ago. Soon after, on hearing that I was home on leave, he'd called up to find out as to whether I was free(?) to meet him and our subsequent meeting, after a lapse of many years, was awkward to begin with but soon attained the hues of old and we're interacting as though there wasn't any chasm of time after our last tryst on the volleyball field!


Tailpiece.

Sydney's request of me, this evening, was to bless his son, Mervin, who's gonna write the NDA entrance examination next week. I was flustered at him having put me on a pedestal and had conveyed to him my awkwardness. And of course, I did speak to the young man and gave him a few tips!

Parent promoted divorces?

I happened to come across an interesting news-cum-statistics about the increasing trends in divorces taking place in Kerala - a state that has surpassed the national average on this count. Just peruse these to understand the sheer acuteness of the problem:-

      (a) About 1,00,000 marriages take place, on an average, every year.
      (b) Of these, 8% opt for a divorce within the first year itself. What it implies is that 8,000 marriages go
           'kaput' within the first twelve months! Disillusionment at such a short span of time?
      (c) And then there are many other cases, the common reason cited being 'incompatibility'.

So, what's the problem? What actuates this appalling situation? Again, the findings are interesting:-

      (a) The proliferation of mobile phones.
      (b) Splintering of the joint family system into nuclear families.
      (c) Financial independence for both, men and women, at a comparatively young age.
      (d) Themes that have become the staple diet of family soaps which highlight varying aspects of
            relationships, which were hitherto uncharted territory. Do I find a man-woman competition in this
            area - I mean, something like a 'if he can do it, why not me?' - sort of a syndrome?
      (e) The permissiveness in the Indian society - can the mallu society be far behind, then? - that has taken
            great strides, almost aping the decadent west of the '70s and the '80s! The paradox is that while they've
            realised their past follies and swear by a strong family system for supporting the institution of
            marriage, we seem to have embarked on that path with a gay abandon!!
      (f)  Consequentially, a growing disillusionment in the institution of marriage that takes recourse in live-in
            relationships sans commitment.
      (g) Easily formed relationships at the workplace, when the couple put forth their best foot forward only
           to rue about it later on being confronted with the actual personality.
      (h) And lastly, I found this very interesting, there has been a spate of 'parent promoted divorces'! It's
           popularly known by its acronym, 'PPD'!
         
I was always under the impression that parents, in the Indian context, were the 'shock absorbers' for their children especially, when their marriages went through strain. By their wisdom and experience about life, they had the right to interject and infuse a new meaning to a withering relationship! And the beauty of the whole thing was that the affected parties accepted this 'course correction' wholeheartedly and without rancour. However, the trend these days is for the parents to exploit the simmering differences in a couple, drive in a wedge and encourage them to go in for a divorce! This is what the phenomenon of 'parent promoted divorce' is all about!!

I suppose these are the strange and absurd trends of the 'kalyug' as was told to me by my grandmother, long ago.


Tailpiece.

1. The media in Kerala has been churning out the colourful stories of the Ganesh Kumar - Yamini rift. He'd to resign from the state cabinet against allegations of wife bashing, when she'd confronted him with his peccadilloes! To my mind everyone in this drama is a loser. And we seem to be gladly lapping up their discomfiture with the colourful stories emanating from their bedroom. It's in extremely bad taste and I tend to agree with the person who'd said that there's a 'voyeur' in every one of us!!

2. Marriage, undoubtedly, is a sacred institution and to make it work, a lot of give and take is expected from both the parties. It also takes in the fact that one does not get everything that one wishes for and therefore, must willingly accept what has come one's way. The children, otherwise, are the ultimate losers carrying the trauma of their parents' bad vibes throughout their lives!

Depleting resources?

Are the earth's resources depleting? And if so, what happens to what has always been drilled into our minds during our student days that the earth's resources never get depleted as they get replenished continuously, proportional to the usage?

The thought has been at the back of my mind ever since a group of environmentalists had raised the alarm of depleting potable water from the wells in our neighbourhood. Many of the 'ever' full wells have either dried up completely or have very, very low water levels. Even the well in the backyard of my ancestral house is low on water but since the household consists of my mom, my sister and my niece, the amount is adequate to  look after their daily needs. My sister works up the motor to fill up the overhead tank, every morning, to cater for their requirements.

We'd - at least, I'd reckoned so - attributed the receding water table, over the last few years - to the extreme heat and erratic rains that have been recurring without let up. But after hearing what the environmentalists had to say, a doubt has been nagging my mind and hence, the query with which I'd begun this piece. They seem to be sure about the fact that the present state is attributable to the soft drink manufacturing unit and want me to help them to have the unit shut down/shifted elsewhere!

It was about eight years back that Usman and Zaheerabeewi had shifted from their hometown, about a hundred odd kilometers from our place, to set up their soft drink manufacturing unit. Towards that end, they'd met all the local families explaining the nuances of their project and in the process, had come and met my mom and dad too. My dad had reservations about the project on three counts which were:-

      (a) The effluents and the associated waste had to be disposed off in a proper, hygienic and scientific
           manner.
      (b) Sincerely hoped that it did not affect the water table due to increased usage of water.
      (c) The workforce would be drawn from the available local talent.

He'd voiced his apprehensions at the simple inaugural ceremony of the project but had gracefully added that he did not want to come in the way of an entrepreneurial initiative that was providing job opportunities!

Zaheerabeewi and Usman had this point, uppermost in their minds, when they'd asked for help for their son's re-employment when I met them over the last weekend.

I need to be fully aware of the factors before I give my advice to the environmentalists. And if I go the whole hog with them, what about the rehabilitation of Usman and his family? A Hobson's choice, really!


Tailpiece.

1. Weren't my dad's apprehensions right? I'd, then, laughed off his misgivings by saying that the earth's resources always got replenished according to usage.

2. A test case is 'Plaachimada' where a Coca Cola bottling unit had to be shut down, a few years back, after the local residents had agitated against depleting water resources and effluents wreaking havoc in the surrounding water pockets!     

April fool!

Since I did not have my pair of walking shoes, the walk was a non starter. I'd got up a trifle late and was generally going about my morning chores.

Earlier, on getting up, I'd told myself that today was the first of April and the telephone calls that came by were to be analysed before jumping to conclusions and gearing up for action that wasn't warranted. And without much ado, came a phone call that an assignment had fetched up at the transshipment container terminal and that I was to take action forthwith, to avoid delay of any sort to avoid consequential penalties!

I was puzzled, all right, as to why such an alert had come on my residential telephone as these were usually conveyed through well established, official channels. But the clincher was when the caller made the error(?) of calling up again to find out as to whether actions had been initiated. Identifying the caller, I told him to give another try at the effort with more authentic ones!

It was then that the calling bell announced its existence and on opening the door, I found that it was Majid, the garbage collector. He'd earlier, almost a couple of months back, asked for a loan of Rs. 20 grand for acquiring water connection for his house and I'd then told him that his case could be considered only in the next financial year as he'd already availed of the facility(for electricity connection) once, in the ongoing year.

I was pretty surprised to see Majid in front of my door, pronto, on the very first day of the new financial year, obviously to remind me of my promise. Hats off to his meticulousness! So, I told him that he'd to put up his application to the caretaker who'd process the case as per 'standard operating procedures' and had almost closed my door when he muttered, "Sir, Kanak, the security guy, had told me that I was to meet you urgently. That's why I've come". He seemed to be relieved when I told him that I hadn't called and it was only then that he'd grinned - from ear to ear - and said, "Sir, my loan".

I got my eventual surprise from Kanak, the security guy on duty at that time. On asking him as to why he'd sent Majid when I'd not called him, he said, "Sir, I was making him an April fool".


Tailpiece.

What neither Kanak nor Majid, perhaps, didn't realise was that in the process, the real April fool was none other than your's truly!