Adieu, Krishna Iyer sir.

A colossus has passed into the mist of time. Around 1530h, this afternoon, his 'flight' had finally arrived. Sometime back he'd said about his state, with a touch of humour and I quote, "I feel like being on a prolonged wait in a departure lounge of the airport, waiting for my flight".

The media is already covering the details of the illustrious lawman, to the minutest details and any attempt on my part to add on to it would appear to be presumptuous and trying to flaunt my association with him - too little, compared to what my maman had and to confess, weren't I a twad jealous of him on that matter? A couple of years before my grandfather's passing away, he'd told sir that he was placing his son under his tutelage and that he'd the right to correct him and guide him in all his future endeavours. From then on, there was no looking back and they'd an excellent rapport.

Sir's respect and admiration for my grandfather was touching and everlasting. In 1978, when the Kerala Grandhasala Sanghom was taken over by the government and put under a 'Control Board' of nominated members, PN Panicker - its architect and founder - did not find a place in it(A hasty decision taken by an inexperienced AK Antony, as CM, which he'd the grace to correct soon after, on realising his mistake). The irony of it all was that he'd been previously urging the government to take over the administration of the mammoth organisation that he'd set up, consisting of over 6,000 libraries spread all across the state!

It was a 'broken' PN Panicker who was resurrected by Justice Krishna Iyer sir, through his personal involvement! That he'd built a thriving organisation - The Kerala Association for Non-Formal Education(KANFED) - which had provided leadership to all the agencies connected with making Kerala 100% literate in 1991, is history.

Years later, when I'd a professional setback, my maman had taken me to him for advice. After hearing me out, he'd spoken to the then naval chief about me and I can never, ever forget his preamble and I quote, "Good evening Admiral, I'm Krishna Iyer. I know this young man, Commander Rajeev Nair......" From then on I used to drop in at his residence - beautifully named, 'Sathgamaya' - whenever time permitted and it was always a pleasure to interact with him because it was not only stimulating but an education, by itself.

Again it was his directions that got my maman and me through the corridors of power in New Delhi to have the Post and Telegraphs to bring out a postage stamp in honour of PN Panicker in 2004, after an initial setback!

Years back, I remember Chellappan Aasaan, an astrologer of repute in Thiruvananthapuram, predicting that sir would live to be a 100 years. To pass away within a few weeks after his 100th birthday, appears to me, that he lived to prove the prophecy right! Unfortunately, the one who made the prophecy passed away soon after without having the privilege of validating his announcement!!

RIP, Vaidyanathapuram Rama Iyer Krishna Iyer sir! I, along with my colleagues at the PN Panicker Foundation, offer our tears and prayers. You're not merely our Patron and Chairman, but our beloved patriarch! My salute to a wonderful and kind human being!


Tailpiece.

(a) In Jul '91, after the passing away of my grandmother, he was prompt in offering his condolences to PN Panicker and sometime, later when they'd met, sir had 'welcomed' him into the 'widowers' club'!On realising that he'd unknowingly caused him hurt, he went out of his way to placate him saying that he'd no right to have done it when he, himself, was devastated at the untimely passing away of his wife!

(b) I believe that he'd instructed the doctors not to unnecessarily prolong his life by putting him on ventilator support if things weren't working for him. Was he tired of being with us, eagerly wanting to pursue eternal life?......One would never know!  

Recalling the horror of the Bhopal Gas tragedy of Dec '84!

It's thirty years, as of date, since the Bhopal gas tragedy had taken place.

The tragedy.

At 2330h on 02 Dec '84, the workers at the Union Carbide fertilizer plant in Bhopal complained about a burning sensation in the eyes and suffocation due to gas leaking from a pressurised tank containing deadly methyl isocyanate(MIC). At 0030h on 03 Dec, the alarm siren was sounded and water spraying was resorted to. At 0300h, the safety valve collapsed and the tank exploded, releasing about 40,000 kg cloud of lethal gases and a gentle breeze blew this cloud of death over sleeping people in 36 wards of the city of Bhopal!

The run up to the tragedy.

MIC needs to be maintained below 5 degrees Celsius under pressure. But the refrigeration system had been shut down since Jun '84; the tank and the valves were defective. Temperatures seemed to have risen to 350 degrees Celsius in the tank and the highly reactive gas had decomposed and created a deadly cocktail of poisonous gases that were released into the atmosphere when the tank had exploded!

The consequences.

Death and injury came without warning to the sleeping population. Symptoms ranged from suffocation, blindness and vomiting to spontaneous abortions, lung, kidney, liver and brain damage. Over 20,000 people were estimated to have been killed and over 5 lakhs injured! Cattle and birds died in the surrounding areas, dead fish floated in the lakes and even trees lost their leaves!!

And 30 years later, justice still seems to elude the poor victims! Consider these:-

       * Warren Anderson, the then chairman of Union Carbide, was arrested on arrival at Bhopal.
          He was given bail within 6 hrs, flown to Delhi in a state government aircraft and he flies out
          of Delhi, never to return. He died on 29 Sep, this year, in the US.

       * The Supreme Court of India okays the settlement signed by the Union Government and 
          Carbide. Accordingly, Carbide was to pay Rs.705 crores(470 million $) as compensation
          and all civil, criminal charges were dropped! This had happened in '89!!

       * Partial payment of the compensation was made by the Carbide in '94.

       * Union Carbide bought by the Dow Chemical Company in 2001. 

       * In 2004, the Supreme Court accepts that the actual number of gas victims was 5.73 lakhs and 
          not 1 lakh as assumed in '89. Victims file for increase in compensation.

       * In 2010, a petition was filed by the Union government to change the 1989 settlement
          and increase compensation.  


Tailpiece.

(a) Is the lethargy in settlement due to the fact that the people affected are poor people and aren't             influential enough? Does the foreign company think that the Indian lives are too cheap?

(b) There's a family connection to this incident. My younger brother-in-law was doing his post                   graduation in Bhopal but was lucky to have been away from the epicenter! And no, he wasn't
      related to us then!! 
  

From here........and there.

A busy day with me actually doing nothing in the real sense. Have I confused you, then I've achieved my aim to a certain extent. Without much ado, here I go:-

 (a) The 'Vaikuntha Ekaadasi'.

 Today's the day of the Vaikuntha Ekaadasi, when the temple town celebrated the day with all the
 pomp and show that it could muster. Devotees, from far and wide, have been making a beeline
 for the town to have a glimpse of their favourite god and this frenzy will go on till tomorrow
 evening. The sanctum santorum has remained open since 3 AM, yesterday morning and will only
 be closed at 9 AM tomorrow.

 'Ekaadasi' is the 11th day of every fourteen day lunar cycle and the 'Guruvayur Ekaadasi' falls in
 the Malayalam month of Vrushikam on the 'sukla paksha' or the full moon phase of the cycle!

 It's also believed that the charioteer, Lord Krishna, gave his famous discourse - known as the
 Bhagavad Gita to 'Arjuna' when he broke down emotionally at the battlefield of 'Kurukshetra'
 seeing his beloved Bheeshma pitamaha, Dronacharya and the others arraigned against him as his
 foes - on this day!! 

 (b) Many happy returns of the day, GoI!

 The landmark monument at Bombay, facing the Arabian Sea, to commemorate the visit of King
 George V of Great Britain - the Gateway of India - is gonna celebrate its 90th birthday on 04 Dec.
 It continues to be the landmark for all seafarers making a landfall off Bombay, even to this day! At
 a height of 85 ft, it doesn't fail to catch the eye despite the numerous skyscrapers that have sprung  about, in its vicinity.

 (c) Wow, what a catch?

  A student of the IIT, Gorakhpur has been offered a job, by the Facebook on the first day of the
  campus placement, that promises an annual paycheck of 2,50,000 $ equal to Rs. 1.55 crores! The
  identity of the sudent has been kept under wraps, for the time being.

  Well, heartiest congratulations! It's a befitting offer for your hard work and life can never be the
  same for you, again!! A piece of unsolicited advice, "Do not lose your head, ever"!!!


Tailpiece.

The day, for me, had begun at the stroke of midnight when I was at the railway station to pick up my aunt, coming from Thiruvananthapuram, to pray at the temple on the occasion of the Ekaadasi. Sabu and Madhav joined her towards late noon, had their tryst with the good Lord and the three of them were off to Pondicherry by 2200h.  

Why don't we react when a grave injustice is happening near us?

This is a take off on the experience of the courageous Rohtak girls who took on their villains, in a moving bus, with scant support, nay reaction, from any of their fellow passengers, a few of whom even went on to enjoy their discomfiture!

I've a few queries with regard to similar instances:-

      (a) Is this phenomenon only prevalent in our country?
      (b) Is it because everyone wants to mind his/her own business?
      (b) Is it that a problem is considered as one only when it happens to oneself or someone close?
      (d) Is it that we've a cowardly streak in us that we're dead scared of the repercussions?
      (e) Is it that we want to react but avoid doing so because of the follow through - umpteen number
           of visits to the police station and having to face uncomfortable questions at a court of law?

And I also seem to have the answers for my queries above, which are ad seriatim:-

      (a) No, there have been similar cases reported from the other parts of the world too. But why go
           that far, within our country there are many places where the 'onlookers' are rare or are in a
           minority.
      (b) A statement that's totally false in the Indian context. More than minding our own matters,
            we're bothered about what's happening with our neighbours/friends/relatives, etc. The list can
            be endless!
      (c) Sadly, yes! Probably, the best example to highlight this trait is when we dump our waste into
            our neighbour's space, a trend usually noticeable in the 'flat culture', completely ignoring the
            fact that your neighbour's well being is of paramount importance to your own hassle-free life!
      (d) Yes, most of us - if not all - are cowards! We're scared of the repercussions. Period!!
      (e) Of course, the formalities of the law are viewed as dampeners and a sheer waste of time
            because there have been umpteen number of cases where a witness was made a villain. This
            happens in cases where one is pitted against the VIPs or the one's with 'connections'(?)

So what's the remedy? Simple, an attitudinal change is needed!


Tailpiece.

1. And it can be brought about easily - when every individual learns to respect the other's sister, wife and mother just as he expects everyone to do so in the case of his own!  

2. My salute to the Rohtak sisters! Let your courage ignite the empathy in each one of us!!
      

The news round up.

Going by the news bytes of this week, one finds that the propensity to repeat mistakes is very much in vogue. I'd like to go by the theory that those people who resort to it, bank heavily on the saying that the public memory is short. Or is it another example of 'akrasia' - going ahead with a plan fully knowing that it's gonna be a disaster - at work? So, without much ado here, I go:-

 (a) Mamata Banerjee's failed actions at preventing the BJP rally in Calcutta.

       Whoever seems to be advising the tantrum throwing, Mamata, had got this completely wrong.
        Didn't they anticipate the court's intervention if the BJP had approached it? By taking such
        clumsy actions, didi's party has played into the hands of the BJP, viz. :-

            (a) the TMC seems to be jittery about the BJP upstaging them
            (b) it doesn't have anything concrete to show as major achievements in its three year rule!
            (c) it should permit other political parties to display their wares and outsmart them with
                 their's, well articulated.
            (d) it has forgotten that negative tactics never work.

       While talking about the political flip flops, Omar Abdulla in J&K has been upto the same tricks.
       Why can't the guy be decent, at least during the polls? And why is the BJP silent about the
        scrapping of the Art 370 of our Constitution? Worried about not getting the votes? Aren't you,
        then, hoodwinking the public?

  (b) Why's he hanging on still?

        After the stinging rebuke of the CBI chief by the Supreme Court of India, in connection
        with the 2G coal scam, why is he continuing to stick to his chair? We're, however, lucky that
        he'll pack his personal effects within a matter of a week when he retires from office. The
        manner in which his personal reputation has been maligned, his life would be in tatters. I'm
        sure that he must be groping for answers for his sucking up to the party in power.

        Is he now gonna come out with a book on his 'achievements and frustrations as the head of
        the CBI'? That sort of apology has now become boring because everyone, who has done it,
        seems to be saying that they're the 'goody good boys' with honourable intentions but weren't
        allowed the freedom to work by the 'corrupt' politicians.

        If that be so, why didn't you put in your papers at the first instance of indiscriminate interference         ? Or were the trappings of power, associated with your chair, so alluring that it's
        worthwhile to cling on to it at any cost? If the latter was the truth, you need to face the
        consequences, buddy!

   (c) Egypt back to square one?

         With the former dictator, Hosni Mubarak, being given a clean chit, the people have again
          taken to the streets against the government. They're only reacting to the lies that are being
          foisted on them. Wish the government had taken up a developmental agenda for speedy
          execution. But do governments, ever, care for genuine development at all?

 

Tailpiece.

All in all, an interesting year. Will the last month come out with major surprises? For that, we must wait and see!








       

It's been a year!

It's been a year since 'The Quarterdeck' has become our home.

It all appears to have happened only the other day, when I'd hung my uniform, accepted a glitzy farewell where fine sentiments were expressed, bid farewell to everyone who'd played significant roles during our stay at a small get together organised by us, gone through the pangs of shifting berth and the long tedious, yet interesting manner in which we'd set up our nest, come to mind in a satisfying flashback!

Lekha's hospitalisation to tackle a non healing ulcer, mom's continuous presence amid us, the monthly trips to my dad's house and also, meeting all the social commitments without fail were the activities that have kept us occupied in the year that has flown past. The interactions brought about a new verve in existing relationships and have also helped us pick up new friends in our immediate neighbourhood.

I've often heard people wondering as to how I'd chosen a place for our nest - in a new place - far away from relations and familiar people. Many of them must have even come to the conclusion that I'd gotten mad. But our experience, thus far, has been on the contrary. We've been able to get our things done without having to worry or for want of help.

Have we missed out, in life, by staying away from the limelight or more appropriately, the madding crowd of a fast moving city that we'd gotten to be familiar with? Nyet! While accepting the fact that there are a number of options to choose from in a city, we've never felt the pinch as there never has been a dull moment out here and the biggest appeal about the present set of circumstances is that one finds time to enjoy the simple things of life!

Kerala, being comparatively small, makes it possible for us to drive to any corner within a period of not more than twelve hours. And yes, driving has become a passion and a pastime, the narrowness and the frequent potholes on the roads notwithstanding!!


Tailpiece.

And of course, there a final option that's always available. Migrate to another place of one's calling if the need arises. A rolling stone gathers no moss, they say!   

Adieu CKC sir!

Mr. CK Chandrasekharan Nair, our Malayalam master at the Sainik School, Kazhakootam passed into the mist of time this morning. To quote a dear friend, "Death is an inevitable culmination to our mortal life but still when someone, who was part of our formative years and helped shape our future and destinies, breathes his last, it brings a lump to our throat".

CKC sir - as he was popularly known to all our school fellows - was all of 83 years. I'd called up Retheesh, his son and a junior schoolmate of mine, to offer my condolences on the passing away of his father. It was through him that I came to know that sir was afflicted with the 'Parkinson's Syndrome' towards his last years. The last three weeks, presumably, were really bad, in that, he'd to be fed through tubes and he'd lost his bearings, often throwing violent tantrums that were controlled with the administration of medicines. And over the last three days, he'd even stopped talking but as his son had recounted, his faculties were intact and he was able to recognise everybody till the very end.

Sir was close to my grandfather and because of that association, he had a soft corner for me though, I must hasten to add, that he played no favourites. He used to be greatly appreciative of my handwriting and I've never ever got a marking less than 51/2 and of course, 6 out of 10, which was his maximum if my memory serves me right.

A fund of knowledge, he made us like the Malayalam language with his very interesting ways of teaching punctuated with anecdotes, historical facts and stories. He could be a hard task master if one didn't rote the poems of the Malayalam reader that he gave us as homework. I missed his classes after class 8th as I was one among the higher Hindi batch though he'd continued to monitor my progress and provide the feedback to my folks, about which I came to know much later!

His pronunciation had come under our intense scrutiny and was the butt of our jokes and what I remember vividly,

even today is, 'Saavio George, Maathew George, baank(bank), paak(the ubiquitous betel nut, added just for emphasis and to give the rhyming effect, I suppose), chaak(gunny bag, again for the same reasons cited for the betel nut), taank(tank)' among the many that came out of our mischievous minds those days.

A unparallel fund of knowledge and I don't think that they make them teachers like him  anymore.

RIP, sir. My tears and prayers for a great teacher under whose tutelage I'd the privilege to be brought up during my formative years. May god give strength to his near and dear ones to tide over these stressful times.

Tailpiece.

Suddenly the feeling, that the ones that are close to you are leaving you, makes you disoriented and sad. Every parting induces a certain amount of death deep within which, I suppose, gets to be wholesome at the time of your ultimate departure!