North by north-west and other trivia!

After a week of being at home overseeing the ongoing work, I'd decided to catch up on work that required my moving out despite the fact that there were people fixing up various things that were essential for a hassle-free living. It was on this note that we'd gone to register our cards at the polyclinic at Kunnamkulam, an overcrowded hamlet about 9 km north from where I live. But I hadn't bargained for the horrible traffic brought about by the narrow roads, ongoing repairs in patches and the weekend traffic.

And as I unwittingly turned into a wrong intersection, the helpful traffic cop had extricated me from the melee and I'd gunned my Chevy into a comparatively freer thoroughfare headed for a direction different to my requirement. The guiding thought being that I could get into the actual highway by taking a side feeder. But alas, on this quest I did make a long detour to arrive at the destination. The registration formalities didn't take much time and the subsequent interactions were worthwhile.

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Prabhath, one of the electrical boys working at our place was of a great help as I was submitting our written application(why it's required despite an earlier request made on line shows our general mistrust of computers! Or is it that the human connection is maintained for corrupt practices, I wonder?). He'd brought in a forgotten document to the office, upon my instructions to where I was, saving me an additional trip. And his services were also elicited as a witness to certify that my wife was indeed mine. I was explaining to him the reasons for taking his signature when he cutely replied, "You don't have to explain, I shall do anything for you". What should I say about such helpful and enlightened people except to thank my stars for having them around!

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Pulling money out of an ATM gives me the jitters, always. What if the system misbehaves? What if I take too much of time while there is a serpentine queue waiting impatiently for their turn etc are some of the difficulties that I experience whenever I go for such transactions and since the bank had closed for the day, the remedy in case of a faux pas, would only be available only after the weekend making it a nightmarish experience. Anyways, nothing of that sort was encountered and the required amount was safely pocketed though I'd insisted on Lekha being with me to correct me if I erred. The cctv camera must have recorded my apprehensions!


Tailpiece.

1. A major chunk of the work was left undone thanks to frequent power interruptions. The weekend will have to be spent with the shortfalls.

2. Our first dinner invite on reaching here at our neighbour's. A thoroughly enjoyable get together and they seemed to be happy that their surrounding was suddenly resonating with activity! 

       













  

The first morning walk!

After what has been the chaos on shifting berth, this morning I was able to go for my walk. It was still dark as I left the house, wished my neighbour who was all decked up in traditional attire of a shawl et all to go out - obviously to attend a family function - and shaped my course northward on the highway towards Kozhikode. The traffic was sparse and a few of the vehicles were driving at prohibitive speeds - probably trying to hit their destinations before sunrise, perhaps.

I was wearing my recent acquisition, the straw hat bought from Kuala Lumpur @ 70 Malaysian Ringitts. Consequently, I might have unwittingly portrayed myself as someone out on a survey of his fiefdom and received a few hellos from the little school children, sporting amused looks, that passed by, a few 'namasthes' from passersby and curious looks from the ladies on their way to college/work. Did I have a regal(?) look or did I resemble an old English character - minus the pipe - straight out of a Dickensian novel?

I must have trudged about 3 kms, reached a place called 'Choolpuram' and was passing by the Guruvayur municipality's crematorium. What struck me was that the compound was quiet with no early morning activity and a huge, comparatively new building smack at its center on the lines of a similar facility that I'd seen at Thiruvananthapuram, a couple of years back. We sure have come a long way - learned to respect the dead and provide a clean and eco-friendly environment in disposing off the mortal remains with dignity!

I'd undertaken a journey, without prior knowledge, to the place where my body would be taken ceremoniously on the liberation of my soul. Was it a sort of teaser trailer, huh? No, I ain't being morbid and I know for sure that I've a long innings to go and 'there are promises to keep and miles to go before I sleep!'


Tailpiece.

There was a lot of work tied up by me today. The most important of 'em all was the sorting out of the electrical wiring as Lekha and me had been grappling with the numerous switches over the past week. Streamlining it with an inverter back up - power interruptions are aplenty out here - was a job that had to be done and it was achieved today. Phew!















  

In a continuing state of flux!

'The Quarterdeck' still needs to go a long way in getting organised. Things cannot be located, there are packing cases yet to be unpacked and quite a few appliances need to be buttoned up for the lack of end-connectors/adapters. This sort of situation not only baffles me but also unsettles me. The people responsible to get these things done up seem to be busy elsewhere and are hard to get. Coaxing, making telephone calls etc are resorted to but the results are not forthcoming. An inertia is prevalent which needs to be shaken.

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One of the documents that's a must in getting most of the things done is the 'ownership'/'proof of residence' certificate the requisition for which had been given to the Municipality office almost three days ago. Unfortunately for us, the clerk who issues it has been away on leave for the last so many days and her return is a must for further action. What surprises me is that these government offices seem to have no contingency plans for such occasions! Or is it that they do have but aren't keen to exercise them? People have told me that there's an unwritten rule that's being followed - the requirement for the applicant to wait for a week to receive a document after tendering the application. To my mind these are bureaucratic practices that we've abhorred all this while.

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With the decentralisation of the governmental decision making, the common man was supposed to benefit from the facility as it had shifted closer to his home. The staff, by virtue of having been drawn from the local population are familiar with the usual requirements, know their customers rather well and therefore, are equipped to redress grievances/provide succour without a hint of delay. Instead, what's seen is that there is a new breed of bureaucrats who throw their rank and try to show their importance. Many of them lack the basic decency in dealing with the customers.


Tailpiece.

1. I've to go through this maze and in the meanwhile, literally, put my house in order so that things can be retrieved in a jiffy! O, this continuing state of flux!! 

2. The television has been made operational and we've the luxury of watching our favorite channels. Was missing the early morning hymns, melodious and soothing.

If you fall.....don't roll!

The heading that I've given to my thought for the day is the literal translation(e & oe, as it's my effort!) of a Malayalam saying, "veenittu, urularuthu". The story has it that if somebody were to fall due to a misstep, to avoid the others from coming to know of the mistake of the faulty step, he resorts to rolling on the ground to give an impression that, that was the actual intention! Shorn of all the niceties, it simply means that one must accept one's mistake. Period.

I'm reminded of this saying when I see Tarun Tejpal's statement against his act of sexual harassment of a younger colleague - his daughter's contemporary and friend, if you please! At the outset, let me make myself very clear. I'm not being judgmental and I'd like to quote Jesus Christ when he'd said many, many eons back, "Let the one who hasn't sinned cast the first stone".

And I'm not justifying Tejpal's misdemeanour either. He was my hero of sorts, when he showed corruption in the corridors of power in connection with defence deals through the 'tehelka sting operation'. Which Indian can ever forget the shot of a gleeful, Bangaru Laxman, stashing away the bundles of currency notes that he got as a bribe. The poor fellow - he's the president of the powerful BJP - was sunk forever consequent to the ignominy!

From then on, Tejpal and his portal, Tehelka stood on a very high moral pedestal and he became a celebrity overnight. Luxurious living, an eventful life jet setting from one spot of the globe to the other, rubbing shoulders with the high and the mighty, the beautiful and the powerful - all these and more must have given him the feeling of infallibility much to his undoing.

But what the hell, we're after all humans and we've our weak moments......we make mistakes. Just accept the mistake, apologise or take appropriate corrective action warranted by the situation and move on. And do not insult the victim to cover your faux pas.

Instead, his statement, "It was consensual and a simple flirtatious act" lacks class and is totally devoid of sensitivity. Wonder what he's gonna achieve out of it? Will his near and dear ones ever be able to forget the breach of faith?


Tailpiece.

It's 04 Dec and the Navy Day. Here's wishing the Indian Navy many laurels in the years ahead! And I'm looking forward to seeing INS Vikramaditya in our waters soon!!

Politicisation of the police force.

See what wanton politicisation of the police force has resulted in?

The press has been giving the details of the extravagant lifestyle of the accused in the 'TP Chandrasekharan' murder case at the Kozhikode jail. The case is all about the killing of an erstwhile comrade who had got popular when he'd taken a stand against the CPM, for the policies of the leadership. Sensing the danger that he'd cause to the party at the hustings, a killer gang was deputed to eliminate him and they did just that! The trial is going on right now and the verdict is to be pronounced shortly.

And then comes the story of the luxurious style of living of the accused in the jail premises. Smartphones and other sources of entertainment give the boys enough opportunity to post their messages on the social network - Facebook seems to be the most popular!

How do they manage to do this? It's clear as daylight that some of the jail authorities are helping the inmates. Are they the ones who've political inclination to the said party? Don't they realise that these set dangerous precedences? If the police force does not stay neutral the political dispensation that comes to power will pressurise it to do things of their interest resulting in its alienation from the general public.

Imagine the common man when he feels that he needs to be aligned with one political dispensation or the other while seeking justice for his genuine grievances! And despite the strong case that he might have in his favour, he fails to find succour simply because he's from the opposing camp!!


Tailpiece.

My sympathies are for the men in uniform. Their's is a damned existence. They're blamed if they do and they're blamed if they don't with their political masters exercising unbridled powers with no accountability, whatsoever.

Thank god, the public has begun to question the injustices being heaped upon them. And all the wrongdoers know fully well that they've nowhere to go if the very same public sits in judgement upon them!  

The end of an era!

My cellphone had begun to ring incessantly around a half past 3 in the morning. Calls at such unearthly hour, usually, are bearers of bad news except for some freaky friends who want to break into your sleep time just to irk you and have a good laugh at your expense.

Tonight's call was the former.......it had that insistent tone. As my ears perked up, I could catch young Ranjith's clear voice, "Chetta, ammachi passed away around 0130h. Her cremation will be around 4 in the evening and hope to meet you then". It was just that, no queries as to whether I'd be able to attend!

Around 6, my mom had called up to wish me many happy returns as today happened to be my birthday as per the Malayalam calendar. And then she said that we'd to attend the cremation and more importantly, she wanted to have one last look-see at my grand aunt(They did indeed have an affinity that I'd observed many a time). I tried to tell her that there were so many things lined up for the day, many people were scheduled to visit the house for getting things going, Lekha wasn't quite okay after yesterday's unpacking and therefore, I'd go and offer my condolences sometime within the next 16 days but it fell on deaf ears(no pun intended please)......Having been left without an alternative, I then decided to obey mom's diktat.

Kalyanikutty Amma, my grand aunt(Kochammachi), all of 95 years and Mrs. PN Panicker's younger sister had passed into the mist of time after a brief illness.

We'd reached the house at Ettumanoor well in time and saw her swathed in a bright red shroud lying in state in the spacious sitting room where her writ ran large for decades. She looked tired and withered and time had really taken a toll of her once beautiful face.

At 1717h her mortal form was shut off from view as the red shroud was draped around. I was one of the six who'd participated in her last rites and carried her frail body to the cremation point in the backyard.

RIP, kochammachi. I shall remember you for the love and affection that you'd showered upon me.


Tailpiece.

Flashback of events from the same room came zooming in as I waited for my turn in the final ceremonies:-

    (a) My great grandmother telling my mom, in utter anguish, about my joining the Sainik School,
         "Chandramathy, why have you dumped your son into the defence forces?" I was on my first
         vacation from school in the summer of '67.

    (b) My mom's uncle conducting the after death ceremony of my great grandmother chiding me
         for the string of mistakes that I was committing, "During your free time you must practice
         performing the last rites". And mind you, he was dead serious! It was Dec '71.

    (c) The tearful farewell for Kochu muthachan by a mammoth gathering as he was a
          very popular teacher. The occurrence....17 years back in time.

PS.

1. Realised that mom was right on her insistence about me attending the funeral.And thank god, I could make it after the initial hesitation!

2. It's the end of an era in our family.

   

And the unpacking!

I'd got up leisurely and was hoping for a quiet Sunday but it not what was gonna be.

Firstly, the patriarch had arranged for the cropping of the huge mango trees and a walnut tree that were shedding leaves into our courtyard. The keen observer that he is, he'd arranged for the operation to keep us in good humour but hats off for his thoughtfulness. The local electricity office was asked to shut down power for the sake of safety and the guys took advantage of the request by interrupting power for an extra half hour well after the work had been accomplished.

A word about the efficiency of the workers. Using ropes judiciously they'd chopped off the branches and expertly brought them down without snagging the overhead electric cable. Sankarankutty, Sathyan and Vijayan had left studies during their primary schooling but were practically using the nuances of Physics to their advantage - without, perhaps, realising it!   

Anup and Savitha had fetched up by lunch time and hence the unpacking had got delayed and they'd to leave for their home, back at Kochi, by 1700h. We'd got into the act together and could place quite a few of the items at their rightful place. In the process, I'd to give up my siesta! Of the photographs kept at the mantelpiece, only my ammachi's photograph was retrieved which reminded me of her unfulfilled wish of wanting to stay with us. Was the retrieval symbolic of her presence amid us? I'd like to believe so.

And soon after, Narayanan who was with me years back, at Delhi, had called on along with his wife, Rema. It's great catching up with him and his tidings.

The exercise of unpacking had to be stopped as the duo from Kochi had to return. There would be only a partial relief from staying out of our suitcases. God, doesn't it take time?


Tailpiece.

A Sunday that quickly went away. And much more needs to be done, tomorrow's gonna be hectic!