Adieu, MP!

The fateful night of 28 Jun 1988 saw young Flying Officer MP Anil Kumar, a fighter pilot, returning after night flying on his mobike crash into the horizontal bar at the security post of the IAF base at Pathankot . Three of his vertebrae close to the region of the neck had got shattered in the accident and the unfortunate young man became a quadriplegic(completely paralysed below the neck). His story is that of grit, courage and determination in the face of all odds and how he outlived the adversity will be a story that shall continue to fire the imagination for generations to come.

To spend 26 years on a wheelchair with minimal freedom of movement of the body, requires extraordinary strength from within which MP Anil Kumar had in abundance!

He'd joined school in '73 and had passed out in '81 only to join the 65th course of the NDA. He, then, passed out of the Academy as the Best Air Force Cadet of the passing out course and had won the coveted medal for excelling in aerobatics as an under trainee in the IAF.

MP, as he's popularly known, did not resign to his pitiful state and while being an inmate of the Paraplegic Rehabilitation Centre at Kirkee, for the past 26 years, used to write articles in the national English dailies and the journal, Indian Defence Review. Initially, he used to make his literary forays by holding the pen in his mouth and had later on, graduated to the computer with a special keyboard and used a stick held by his mouth yet again, to punch his thoughts on the keyboard . His autobiography 'Airborne to chairborne' gives an excellent narration of how he'd overcome all odds and as to how he was at peace with his life without any regret.

His story has since been incorporated into the class X English syllabus by the government of Maharashtra and five years back, the Kerala government had included it in the class VIII syllabus.

He'd celebrated his 50th birthday on 05 May but the sad news was that he was fighting another deadly enemy, in the form of blood cancer, by that time. Despite his fighting spirit and the prayers of his relatives, friends and school mates, he'd passed into the mist of time yesterday. His mortal remains were consigned to the flames at the Bopodi crematorium at 1130h today. He's survived by his mother, a brother and two sisters.

RIP, MP! My salutes for your grit in the face of great adversity and the positive outlook that you exuded always. Here's wishing that your family is able to muster the strength to pass through these difficult times. And I'm certain that your life story shall be the inspiration for generations to come.


Tailpiece.

I'd last met MP in Jun '12 when we'd a school get together at the NDA. He was a keen participant in all the serials and showed a childlike eagerness to interact with each and everyone of us.

PS.

And yes, he was roll no.1122 at school!
  

The unkindest cut.

We'd kicked off from home by about a half past 9. After dropping my sister at Kottarakkara, we'd shaped our course for Guruvayur. The roads were quite crowded thanks to the traffic usually prevalent on working days and so, driving through the maze was tricky yet interesting!

The weather was unbearably hot and humid despite the car's air conditioning system running at full blast - I mean we could feel it in the immediate envelope all around us. The highway, at certain stretches, was worn out exposing a few uncomfortable potholes though I must hasten to add that the repair work was being undertaken at many of the places - a sight that was new to me from the experiences of the past. They're gearing up for the monsoons which is just a fortnight away, judging from the meteorologist's forecast.

A light lunch and the evening tea, along with a snack, were savoured at roadside eateries. I enjoy the tea on such occasions - because of its flavour - and I'm always left mightily impressed by the deft making of the 'one-yard tea'. I must confess that I've tried replicating the action at home with disastrous results!

Guruvayur, these days, has a facade of an old fort thanks to the 'Kerala Water Authority' having dug around the temple town for relaying the underground water pipes. It was one such area at the town's entry point that I was trying to breach through with my Chevy with negative consequences. As I was negotiating a tight 's' curve, the port tail board suffered a dent from the concrete pipe that was jutting out - purely my mistake as I'd misjudged the space that was available for negotiating the turn.

The proverbial 'unkindest cut' to my Chevy after it had provided excellent service all through the last four days, covering over 800 km! Will I ever learn?  


Tailpiece.

We're back home by a trifle past 5. I could embark on my evening walk, as usual, that helped shed the lethargy caused by the lack of physical activity, over the last four days, as it was a never ending cycle of attending one function or the other.

Meeting family requirements.

By 9 AM we're on the road, headed this time to the venue of the wedding. More on the day's events after the journey.

The drive to the venue was 23 km long but the road was good and the traffic, manageable. Enroute, we passed through a place that had witnessed a nasty accident involving a Kinetic Honda and a Tata Sumo during the wee hours of the morning. Though the affected passengers had been shifted to a nearby hospital, the vehicles remained at the scene of the accident at grotesque angles!

The wedding was a short affair followed by the traditional lunch. The interaction with friends and relatives was exhilarating followed by the ferrying of a few of my close relatives to the nearest railway station, which was about twelve km away. By the time we'd reached home it's around a half past 2 and as I tried to catch up on my forty winks, our old maid and family had come requesting me to advise her son as to what profession he should pick up based on his brilliant performance in the 10 plus 2 examination.

My mom was particularly thrilled to meet up with her and assured them that I'd help them, which is actually a tall order!

The evening's reception at the lawns of Lekha's ancestral house was a grand affair. By the time we're back home it was a half past 9 and I'd the satisfaction of doing everything that I'd planned to do and more on this trip!


Tailpiece.

Lekha has come along with us after having spent the last three days with her folks in connection with the wedding and related activities.

And here's wishing Sakthi and Indu a long and happy married life with all that they wish for!

A long day.

It's indeed a long day, today, by virtue of the distances covered and people met! I'm behind the wheel and shall fill up on the details on completion of the journey.

Within the tight schedule, I'd squeezed in a visit to my cousin's place at Thiruvananthapuram, to offer my condolences to his wife who'd lost her mother a week earlier. The old lady was languishing for about fourteen years after sustaining a bad fall. The family was well knit, in that, the siblings that consist of two sisters and two brothers had shared the responsibility of looking after their parents. My cousin's wife, though second in the pecking order by virtue of her age, has been looking after the aged parents because of their special affinity towards her! We'd taken leave of them after lunch, upon their insistence as per a custom, that dictated 'feeding' of all people who called on the family to offer their condolences.

Immediately, on return, it's yet another call on similar lines at another cousin's - in our immediate neighbourhood - place. In this case, his wife had lost her 'ma'asi' who was bed ridden for long. What's great is that she'd taken on the onerous task of looking after her mom and two sisters despite the fact that she was working as a teacher in a school nearby! And there were no cribs, she'd taken on the additional responsibility with a smile!

The penultimate function was to call on a family where the wedding of the son was taking place at the same time as that of Lekha's nephew tomorrow. Without ado, I'd sought their permission to attend the wedding in the family after wishing the young man!

And then it was off to the wedding reception, a function that was short and sweet. It was an opportunity to meet up with Lekha's folks after quite a while.


Tailpiece.

As I turned in for the night, pooped by the long drive and the excitement of interacting with many people, sleep came in a jiffy! 

Priceless!

This morning, after wolfing down my aunt's yummy breakfast of steaming idlis, chutney with the coconut aroma and filtered coffee, the three of us had kicked off on our onward trip to my dad's place. I'd to, however, make my error and so, as I backed the Chevy out of my aunt's place its right bow scraped neatly(?) against the wrought iron gate of the house!

The young ones, Vivek and Lakshmi, were fast asleep after the late night and I can bet that they'd missed us and felt terribly sad that they couldn't see us off!

Our first destination was Puthupally, about a 100 km away, to look up my aunt who has been undergoing ayurvedic treatment for her diabetes for the last couple of months. The clinic doesn't have the facade of the usual clinics that one's familiar with but it's an old 'Nair' bungalow replete with the traditional trappings, set against an abundant lush green backdrop with a stream of clean water, swiftly flowing bewitchingly close to the ornamental house. A place that enchanted me at first sight as I parked my Chevy at its courtyard!

Walking into the house, I'd woken up my aunt who seemed to be in a state of delirium thanks to the excruciating pain as she undergoes the second stage of treatment and the gradual, yet complete shedding of the gangrenous portion of her left foot is on.

And as she came out of her stupor, she looked straight into my eyes and flashed a brilliant smile or should I say, a million volt smile? ......... It made my day. It was worth the drive, the early morning mishap and the difficult patch of roads that I'd negotiated, notwithstanding! A short conversation with the unassuming doctor was educative and I've picked up yet another friend!!

We'd reached Lekha's sister's place by lunchtime.

And ultimately, at my dad's house a trifle after sunset!


Tailpiece.

We shall be here for the next three days as the formalities of the wedding of Lekha's nephew unfold. But tomorrow there would be a quick, short trip to Thiruvananthapuram to offer our condolences to my cousin who'd recently lost his mother-in-law due to old age related ailments.

     

A tight schedule!

We'd kicked off from Guruvayur on the dot at 6. There were too many things to do and time seemed to be at a premium.

Mom had appointments with two of her doctors - the neuro physician and the ophthalmologist. The schedule was programmed about a week ago. As luck would have it, because it was counting day and the declaration of the election results, the roads had less traffic and driving was nice. After a light breakfast at an eatery nearby, we're on time to meet the neuro physician. The ready smile and his happiness on seeing us were genuine and he seemed to be making amends for not having met us last time but I must admit that it's my fault that it was requested for at too short a notice!

What he told me was heartening, in that, my mom was responding well to the medicines and he's reduced the dosages. The session with the ophthalmologist was equally nice and her right eye is back to normal after the laser work.

Lekha's doctor, however, has given 02 Jun for his review and from that point of view, this trip has gone haywire!

Our over night stay was at my uncle's - dad's youngest brother - place at Edappalli. His grandchildren and Sajeev and Shalini's children, Vivek and Lakshmi, got to know us better I must say. My aunt was her cute smiling self and it was great to be at their place after what seemed to be long time!


Tailpiece.

We saw the late night show of the Malayalam, 'God's own country'. Crafted by a budding director, it told of a story of three different people who'd never met before but got their lives intertwined by a mere quirk of fate thanks to the incidents of a single day!

It's my first visit to the Lulu Mall and I must say that the place was vibrant even around the midnight hours and the footfalls continue to increase everyday. The stink from an 'apology of a moat' on its southern side has spoiled the show. One only hopes that the matter gets sorted out at the earliest!  

There's corruption everywhere...

Corruption seems to be all pervading in this country and the situation has come to a sorry pass. And we've only ourselves to blame because we do not want to waste time by waiting in a queue to get a job done and therefore, are willing to bribe the ones in the hierarchy to enable us to buck the system!

I'd gone to the local outfit to pay my current month's telephone bill. I'd stood in the queue and after about twenty minutes, was able to come out with the job having been accomplished. And I'd come on another purpose too. I'd to find out as to why I wasn't given the ISD facility on my land line despite my having asked for it in my application for the initial connection.

Firstly, the officer at the counter seemed to be out of his depth and he'd asked me to submit a fresh application seeking the said additional facility and had offered a piece of paper and pen to me to do the needful. It was then that another gentleman of the organisation turned up at the counter that I was in and he gave me a clearer perspective, in that I'd to give a fresh request, on a prescribed format, which had to be endorsed by their 'Principal General Manager' and the additional fee that I'd to pay was Rs. 1,500/-, with an assurance that it would be processed by the office itself.

My doubt was simple and I did communicate it to them in no uncertain terms, the gist of which was as follows:-

 (a) I'd very clearly listed out my requirements in the initial application form which had covered STD facility,
      broadband cover, a parallel connection to help out my mom and Lekha because of their medical
      constraints and an ISD facility.

 (b) My land line had all the facilities that I'd requisitioned for, barring the ISD cover and I was scratching my
      head all this while as to why they hadn't informed me about the reasons for the missing facility.

 (c) I'd to remind them of three specific aspects about your's truly that were reflected in the original
      application viz. :-
             
                 (i) that I was a Captain of the Indian Navy.
                (ii) that I was a gallantry award winner and
               (iii) that my mom and Lekha were medical cases that required constant attention.

On hearing me, they'd gone into a huddle and had requested me to submit the additional application as quickly as possible. I'd then walked out of the office knowing fully well that I'd been wronged.

Wonder how the new government would tackle this aspect of corruption?


Tailpiece.

On reaching home, it's Lekha who'd pointed out the folly of going for the ISD facility on our land line when our cellphones were already equipped with this cover....... But to me, it was another fight for my rights!