Memories in flow.

I still remember the enthusiastic welcome that we used to get from the Sri Lankan and the Indian fishermen while going about their fishing activity, in and around the Palk Bay. The colourful sails and buntings that adorned the boats gave the entire area a festive look. All of them seemed mighty pleased to have us amid them and anticipated peaceful days ahead thanks to our formidable presence. Often, the boats used to come close to our ships offering fish, from their catch, as gifts for free.

And our operation was code named 'Aman'. Those were heady days!

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One of the first Sri Lankan naval officers whom I'd befriended was Cdr Swaraj Munusinghe, the captain of their command surveillance vessel, on deployment, off the seaward side of Jaffna. Our professional interactions got us to understand each other better and I can never forget the gift that he'd presented me with - a brand new squash racket (after hearing that I played the game) autographed by the then world champion, Jahangir Khan - in return to the official ship's crest that I'd presented!

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One of the important and salient landmarks that we used to pass by, on our voyage from Madras to Kankesanthurai , was the imposing and majestic Velankanni church at Nagapattinam. I, as well as my boys, said our silent prayers whenever we passed by the architecturally symmetric beauty!

Similarly, during our numerous passes on patrol, the imposing sight of Sri Ramchandraji's temple at Rameswaram was a welcome one and again where people offered their prayers, irrespective of caste, creed or religion. I can, without any hesitation, say that we in the defence forces respect each and every religion without restraint or reservation!

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Similarly, I can never forget my first visit to the Elephant Pass that had seen some fierce fighting between the Sri Lankan forces and the Tamil militants. Stories of the area having been heavily booby trapped and mined did not deter me from my visit to my army course mate and counterpart, to spend an informative couple of hours. I remember the pass against the backdrop of the greenish-blue waters of the lagoon to be a beautiful sight despite its battle scarred background!

Memories....

 On being part of the IPKF.

Exactly a day and 25 years back, the Indo-Sri Lankan accord was signed against the backdrop of great expectations on both sides. With the LTTE reneging on the promise of de-arming itself, the accord did not really come into force all through and was doomed to being a failure.

Having been part of the Indian Peace Keeping Forces as the captain of a ship, I'd a ringside view of the operations. The close co-operation between the three services was great and help/assistance was available for the asking. I've picked some great friends on this tour of my duty. My own boys were a fantastic bunch who're willing to do anything on my bidding - it was, indeed, a heady feeling of power! One of the things that I'd looked forward to those days was the IL 76 flight from Madras to Delhi, on Fridays for the exclusive use of the IPKF and through this facility, I was able to meet my friends, the Banerjees, who're at Jalandhar.

The breaks, in between deployments, were breathers that I looked forward to. But having said that, I must hasten to add that the deployments were equally interesting with plenty of things to learn in the form of experiences and above all, an opportunity to get first hand knowledge of new places.

And of course, the high was when I was awarded the gallantry medal - for my exploits - as part of the '88 Republic day honours.

Not in consonance.

Important events have begun but, as usual, doesn't bring the usual cheer in my quest for a fairy tale ending that I'm looking for and here's why I say this and I wouldn't mind being wrong in toto:-

1. London Olympics.

Yet another Olympics is here and from the proceedings of the first two days, since the start, sadly this one too is gonna be the same as it has been in the past for team India. Am I being pessimistic? No, my estimation is based on our pathetic show in Archery. The fire in the participants' eyes, as gleaned from the TV grabs showing a few of them in action - to win - was sadly missing.

And yes, right from the start, our contingent seems to be packed more with officials rather than the contestants. When are we going to learn? And yes, one's not looking at mere participation but wants concrete results and glory to the country!

The same mistakes - sloth, inefficiency and the hankering for personal glory - are visible.


2. The fight against corruption.

Anna Hazare has begun his indefinite fast, at the Jantar Mantar in Delhi, to get the government to bring about a comprehensive and effective anti-corruption bill. This time, however, the spontaneous enthusiasm that was much in evidence last year seems to be sadly lacking.

Are we, as a people, really keen on rooting out corruption from our lives? Or is it that the 'chaltha hai' attitude towards corruption helps mediocrity, among us, to aim for and achieve the undeserving? And the government or more appropriately, the crafty politicians, seem to be aware of this sad fact. Consequently, they play the 'watching game' while the poor old man plays with his life yet again! May god protect him.


3. The moral police is back.

Self styled moralists have again struck, this time, at a homestay in Mangalore where youngsters - mostly IT professionals - were partying. As I'd asked earlier, who's given these goons the right to do policing? And who, among them, has laid down the yardstick for acceptable behaviour?

This time, the police has been swift to arrest at least a few of the goons. One hopes that justice would be delivered at the earliest and the guilty punished!  

Diamond necklace.

This evening, happened to see the malayalam movie by that name and I felt happy at having seen a nicely made film. There's nothing new about the story as there have been similar cinematic efforts earlier too and good ones at that. But what this film and quite a few films of recent vintage show is that the film industry has come to accept the fact that a good story line is the prime requirement for whole hearted acceptance by the audience.

Diamond necklace tells us the story of a young doctor, working in Dubai, his trials and tribulations in trying to live a make believe life. The pivotal aspect is that he realises his follies from the women in his tiny world, each strong in her own way - vulnerable, yet undemanding and prepared to give everything without a scant thought to their own desires and requirements.

And the genre of those powerful women - the strongpoints of each character depicted through some wonderful shots:-

    (a) His mother, who hands over the papers of the ancestral house that she lives in, for selling away
         so that his debts are liquidated.
    (b) A senior doctor, who helps him from time to time with monetary assistance and advice so that
          he is kept out of harm's way.
    (c) The young lady, in the throes of a deadly ailment, gifting him an expensive necklace because he
          had given her a few memorable moments in life.
    (d) The young back home type of girl, who confesses that she can never, ever be angry with him
          and can, thus, never take him out of her system.
    (e) And his wife, who flings the necklace that she's wearing into the depths of the sea, in answer
          to his query as to whether she liked him or the necklace.

A nice film that lingers on in the mind much after the viewing is over.


Tailpiece.

Earlier this week, I'd seen the movie 'Ustad hotel' which revolves around a grandfather - grandson relationship equally good and enjoyable for viewing.

I must say that the malayalam film industry is passing through exciting times!

Ummer, the 'kabaadiwala'.

This morning we'd called the 'kabaadiwala' to collect the pile of old newspapers, magazines, bottles and plastic that had accumulated over a period. Ummer, from the nearby neighbourhood, has come for the same purpose before too and has a friendly disposition. Since Lekha was pre-occupied I was overseeing the entire operation and as is my wont, I got to chatting with Ummer because frankly, I was impressed with his dedication to work which would be a tremendous strain in this holy month of Ramadan as he fasts during daytime.

Ummer was philosophical this morning. His eldest son , an IT professional in an MNC, wants him to chuck his job of 'garbage collection' as he finds it 'infradig' to his newly acquired status. I must quote Ummer here, "Sir, my son is ignorant of the fact that this is one of the 'cleanest'(with added emphasis) jobs shorn of glamour, though. One can eke out a comfortable living if one's sincere!"

He further added that in Kerala, there's no dearth of jobs but what's lacking among the malayalees is the will to do any job. Here, everyone wants a white collar job and a governmental one at that. I'd a lump in my throat because this was the same conclusion that the PN Panicker Foundation had arrived at after doing a state wide survey, a year ago!!



Tailpiece.

What we forget, in our eagerness to live our lives, is the yeomen service that the 'kabaadiwala' or the ragpicker does for the society in keeping the surroundings clean and unlittered! Perhaps, giving them modern equipments for disposal of waste, integrate their chain to bring about a comprehensive waste management system are the immediate steps to be taken towards attaining a cleaner environment!!

Simply disgusting!

1. O Jalandhar!

I've fond memories of this place, thanks to my numerous visits to my friends, the Banerjees, during the late '80s. While the city was mad in its own way, with crowded roads and noisy markets - cowed down only to a certain extent by its then fight against militancy - it had a charm and the cantonment area had a quiet, dignified aura.

And from this city, comes a horror story of a government hospital, where a baby infant was pulled off its emergency treatment system just because its parents could not pay up Rs.200/- for the purpose! The little one died soon after.

I have just one question to ask of the hospital authorities which is, 'Would you've resorted to the same action had the patient been related to a VIP or if it was your own?' And for the departed soul's sake, do not make any insensitive statement even if you cannot own up your mistake and apologise.


2. And O Tinsukia!

A young man was picked up for questioning by the police, in the town of Tinsukia, a while back. Wonder what happened at the interrogation but the man had died while in custody. A TV grab showed the dead man's body being stuffed into a car's boot - presumably for postmortem - with smiling policeman as spectators to the gory sight!

If you can't respect life, there's nothing much left to say. But treat a lifeless body with dignity because that's the least one can offer and it doesn't involve costs!


Tailpiece.

An absolutely disgusting situation. What can one say about a country that does not respect its citizens? And worse still, where the mortal remains aren't respected at all? I hang my head in shame with a prayer to the departed.

Will the guilty be caught and punished? Are these the manifestations of the 'kaliyug'?  

Remembering Mrs. PN Panicker - my ammachi.

Exactly, 21 years back on this date, my ammachi had passed into the mist of time. She had a deep cough and was reclining on the sofa - trying to watch her favourite serial on TV and in hindsight, waiting for the end. The time was around a quarter past eight in the evening.  On being persuaded by my grandfather, she was taken by my maman to the nearby nursing home (of which she didn't have a good opinion) where she'd a violent spasm and on advice by the doctor on duty there, was rushed to the SUT hospital. As the car crossed the gates of the hospital, she had queried as to where they'd reached and little did Vilasini kunjamma, Minni - my sister - and maman realise then that those would be her last words! The hospital had notified the patient as, 'Mrs. PN Panicker - brought in dead'. Resuscitation was resorted to but to no avail and the wretched time was 23 mts past 9!

I was at Wellington, Ooty on a course and oblivious of the tragedy. To make matters worse, my folks decided to keep me in the dark for two reasons - the communications were erratic those days and they didn't want me to get 'disturbed' as I was in the midst of an important(?) course!! It took another fortnight for me to come to know of the enormous loss when I'd returned home during the Tutorial break.

Ammachi and me were the best of friends. She used to tell me about everything - about the things that she wanted; her needs were so little though, her innermost feelings and opinions - and she used to wait for me to  come home on vacation from school/ the Academy and subsequently on leave, from work to go to the doctor for her ailments. And mind you, we used to be a twosome to watch the movies in town and express our opinions, laugh at the jokes that we shared with each other. The rest of the family used to be fond of our appraisals, took note of the nuances and then decide to go for the films, subsequently!

I wonder whether she'd a premonition of her impending death because on 16 May, that year on my wedding day, she told me during an unguarded moment and I quote, 'Mone, now I don't mind going away as I was waiting for this moment'. Though I remember chiding her then for uttering pessimistic stuff, saying that I needed her around for many more years, I'll never ever know as to what prompted her to say those words then.

I've missed my ammachi at every waking moment all these years and curse my rotten luck for having lost her so early. I miss our serious discussions on 'anything and everything under the sun' and her greatness was that she never, even once, tried to impose her ideas on me.


Tailpiece.

As I stood in front of her photograph on the mantelpiece this morning, for a fraction of a minute longer than my usual practice, I could feel her presence around me. Or was it wishful thinking, yet again?