The reluctant messiah.

For a change, I was earlier than usual and was ready for taking on the day. Earlier, the crisp morning air gulped in during the customar ywalk had invigorated me as I went about doing the morning chores. We're expecting my cousin, Malu and Rajish to drop by as it was their wedding anniversary because they made it a point to visit the temple and then look us up as a part of the celebrations(?)

And then the calls came. Omana chechi, all of 69 years and the late Santhan kochachan's sister currently on a prayer visit at Guruvayur, had suddenly fallen ill and was admitted at the hospital nearby. Could I make it to the hospital......at the earliest........please? Actually, my cellphone was erratic - it has this way of misbehaving at the most inappropriate time - and it was Lekha who'd given me the frantic message from my 'toothy' and cousin from Thiruvananthapuram.

I was at the hospital within no time as the traffic wasn't obtrusive. I'd met the people at the front desk and told them about my close relative at their Trauma Ward/Casualty, directing them to provide every possible help and the best cover possible. I could take the freedom on two counts viz.:-

      (a) the proprietor of the hospital was my neighbour and a good friend.
      (b) Most of the nursing staff were familiar because they've visited my house many a time to draw
            and collect blood samples of Lekha and my mom. Their smiling visage lightened the tension
            within.

I saw Baby chechi beside Omana chechi who was being given infusions intravenously and saw their worried looks metamorphose to relief with voltaic smiles, on sighting me. After gleaning the sequence of events from them, I understood from the doctor-in-attendance that Omana chechi's sugar levels had dipped dangerously low which had resulted in her blackout. She was diabetic and has had similar episodes earlier too, it transpired. The doctor had assured us that she'd be discharged after the second bottle of saline was safely inside her.

Once things were ascertained to be under control, it was time to call up the toothy, Lekha and the others to give them a debrief. All except for Lekha were profusely thankful for what I'd done but I still maintain that I hadn't done anything.......er, out of the way. Upon discharge, I'd dropped the two ladies at the western entrance of the temple for their subsequent schedule of routine. The doctor has referred Omana chechi to her doctor for further investigations.

Calls started pouring in and my cellphone had suddenly become active. It was relief and gratitude at the other end and I'd to don the mantle of the messiah, albeit reluctantly..


Tailpiece.

1. Malu, Rajish and his mom dropped in by teatime. Her baby bump is visible, the d-day being sometime in the third week of March.

2. And a nice quote that I'd come by,
   
       "If your views are positive, you'll love the world
         But if your words are positive, the world will love you."




  

An old lady's angst.

Lekha's friend was having her art gallery inaugurated by none other than the popular cine actor, Suresh Gopi, this evening. Padmavathy Amma, all of 78 yrs, had come by and I'd the privilege of giving company for her and my mom while her daughter-in-law attended the ceremony, along with Lekha.

I've always seen this elderly lady with a pleasant and smiling face who laughs at my PJs without reservations! But this evening, it was a different story altogether when she broke down narrating her harrowing existence in her son's house - she has two daughters older than the son. All are doing extremely well and the son is into business, built up on his dad's efforts. She'd lost her husband about 15 years back and the assets are on her and her son's names. Her statement, "He makes me sign a lot of papers and cheques without bothering to explain the purpose and I affix my signatures without any query because I'm yet to get over the trauma when he and his wife had made life hell for me for asking that question initially," was the one with which she began about her sorry plight.

She talked about her life as a complete stranger in her own house. Though they've domestic helps, she's expected to do the heavy jobs of grinding and preparation of dishes that suit the son's palette. There's no communication between the three of them and food is never served to her nor do all of them sit and break bread together. She's supposed to fend for herself and having played out her role as the lady of the house of a nair family, with all the attendant responsibility and authority during her husband's time, she's still used to being served rather than serve herself!

She's kept in the dark about all the activities and many a time, left overs of food is served to her. She visits her daughters - one lives at Coimbatore and the other at Palakkad - during the summer vacations who give her clothes, token money(As she and their brother have enough through family inheritance!) and articles of personal effect. The son and the daughter-in-law, therefore, do not give her any money and to put it in her own words, "They're under the impression that my daughters have loaded me with money and because of this all round misplaced conclusion, I don't have money even to give an offering at the nearby temple! The latest is that they do not like me to step out of the house to go to the temples because I can get into bad(?) company and shoot my mouth off about what was happening within the household!!"

The two grandchildren - both boys - were indifferent towards her and the younger one studying in class I who's a complete brat - he's been spared the rod as he'd problems at birth - bullies her and she showed us the welt mark from the kick that he gave her a couple of days before, affecting her gait. The parents didn't even bother to admonish the child! Her medical treatment has not been reviewed for a long time as the son and his wife do not find the necessity to do so. "I don't bother them any more after my repeated pleas have fallen on deaf ears. Let my system collapse," she says with a faraway look on her face.

"Their bed sheets, spreads and pillow covers are washed in the washing machine regularly but it's been ages since mine have undergone a wash!" Her pathetic tale continued......

Her narration shocked me and as she cried, my mom and I felt sad, not knowing as to what we could do to reduce her anguish. The contempt that she has for her son and his family had come to the fore during the narration. She'd then gone for a wash and regained her composure, but I was seething within me at the son's misdeeds.

Soon after, her daughter-in-law had returned from the function and the three of them were off for home in their hired car giving a rosy picture of a happy, contended family, the truth about which we now knew!

I'd increased the pace of my evening walk to shake off the melancholia.......



Tailpiece.

Their frequent visits to the temples, fasting on different days of the week to please different gods were all meaningless exercises when the mother was being tormented on a daily basis at their home.

And after the old lady passes on, a godman will tell them that nothing is going right for them because the parents' souls were very, very angry with them and to nullify it, offerings have to be made. Money will be dumped because of the 'scare' without realising that if they'd only invested a bit of love and care to the mother, during her lifetime, the situation could have been avoided.

.........Oh, how farcical life can be? We've time for the dead but not for the living!!  

Some among us can't digest the fact that Modi is our Prime Minister.

1. I'm fairly convinced that there are quite a few among us who've not got over the following facts:-

    (a) Modi, a chaiwalla's son and whose mother did household chores for others to eke out a living,
         has dared to dream and become the PM of this country with a convincing mandate.
    (b) The Congress, who're their benefactors, have been bundled out of power and the party still
          doesn't seem to learn, surmised by the machinations they seem to be working on to get back
          to relevance. Its comeback seems to be highly improbable from the way things stand now.
    (c)  The naysayers who'd predicted mayhem and hate killings between different religions with the
           present government's ascension to power have been witnessing things on the contrary.


2. Since they own and control a sizable section of the press, they've been quick to highlight incidents,
    distort them to unimaginable proportions and in the process, vitiate the atmosphere. Thankfully,
    none of their carefully crafted scripts have had a successful run thus far. Consider these:-

     (a) Initially, the Congress had lamented that the country's foreign policy was headed nowhere,
           since the new PM had no idea about the subject. With Modi conducting a vigorous and hands
           on foreign policy through his personal approach and achieving good, robust relations with
           many countries together with establishing a personal rapport with some of the leaders as well
           as making their industrial/cultural/economic giants to look at India with renewed interest - the            Indians staying in foreign lands continue to endorse the boost that the country's prestige has                acquired due to his visits and interactions - the very same people have come out with the barb
           that the PM has been spending more time abroad!

      (b) The attacks on churches were tom tommed as having been orchestrated by the party in power
            until the investigating agency that had gone through each case found it to be cases that were
            due to local issues and sub sect rivalries that have been long standing.

      (c) The rejection of the National Judicial Appointments Commission by the Supreme Court was
            celebrated by the entire opposition even though each of them, in private, do not agree with the
            existing practice of a Collegium of judges selecting the judges!

      (d) Since they'd the majority in the Rajya Sabha, they blocked two crucial bills which would
            have helped Modi to embark on the long needed reforms the country has been begging for:-
              (i) The GST bill and
             (ii) The Land Acquisition Bill.

      (e) A section of the intellectuals, film makers, historians, artists etc have returned their awards
            to protest the 'climate of intolerance' making one wonder as to why they're silent over earlier
            atrocities. The aspects of political patronage and buying one's awards, strangely, pass 
            through one's mind at this juncture and such awards can be conveniently chucked to gain a 
            moral high point!

      (f) The killing of two dalit children, in Faridabad, has been caused by a fire from within the
           house as per the latest findings of the police investigation, knocking the bottom of the 'Rajputs
           having torched the house' story. The disinformation has played havoc and some politician is
           gonna benefit in the Bihar elections from it! Can people be so dirty and self serving?

3. To be fair to Modi and his party, give them the chance to rule for the five years for which they've been given the mandate by the people of India. If they don't deliver, the electorate will give them their answer but the opposition can also be taken to task for not allowing them to govern!



Tailpiece.

(a) We, Indians, are class conscious and have a weakness for position and power. Remember the hue and cry raised over the monogrammed suit worn by Modi when he met President Obama(The collective psyche was, "Hey how did a chaiwalla's son have the temerity to wear such a smart suit?")........ Imagine for a minute that it was Rahul Gandhi who'd done it and all of us would have endorsed it with a "He's looking smart in that, after all he can afford it and don't forget the fact that he belongs to the Nehru family."

(b) The fringe Hindu groups and the disgruntled sections of the BJP have given numerous problems by virtue of their actions and utterances. Modi needs to rein them in and crack the whip.

(c) The unfortunate Dadri incident(Wonder whether one has heard the real truth about the incident?) and the continuing fracas over beef are attempts at influencing the results of the Bihar Assembly polls........... It's my fond hope that the culprits are brought to book at the earliest.

PS.
And long ago, Chanakya had said, "If there is unrest among intellectuals and criminals, assume that the king is doing right."   ...............something for all of us to ponder!


                       

A hotchpotch of activities.

The morning walk was pleasant and the air had a fresh, crisp feel after the light rains at night. I was back in time to help Lekha with her 'aarathi' of Ganesh and Guruvayurappan, after which the lamp was carried into each and every room of the house - a ritual that's followed every Wednesday to invoke the Gods' blessings!

          *                                *                                 *

Lekha's dentist had given her an appointment at 1500h but advanced it soon after, to 1330h. I'd called up our customary 'saarthi', George who was on another task and suggested an alternate viz. Sankaran. It was when we're going towards the dental care that it dawned upon me that it was Sankaran, who'd initially directed me to George because he happened to be busy, then. There was no looking back from then on and George has been the preferred guy all this while. After our interaction, why did I get the impression that Sankaran was eager to take us for the drive and make up for the lost opportunities? .........We're at the dentist's at the appointed hour.

          *                                *                                 *

We'd sought the appointment with a particular dentist who'd worked on Lekha's dentures in the fall of '11, who usually visited the Thrissur chapter every Tuesday. Due to some unavoidable reasons, he could not make it yesterday and had retained his planned schedule, taking on a few additional cases for today which led to a total bunt of the aspect of time. As we entered the main foyer, a patient's attendant was chaffing at the receptionist about them having waited from 1130h onward and instructing her that the appointments must be adhered to both in letter and spirit! It definitely did dampen our enthusiasm!!

Lekha could finally get on the dentist's chair by 1530h with the good doctor apologising profusely. As he worked on her dentures, he talked to me(I sat on an adjacent chair with the Superintendent of the clinic hanging on to every word of ours! He has become my friend, too, in the bargain!!) about his movement from Chertalla - his base - to Kochi to Thiruvananthapuram to Thrissur every week and about some of the very interesting developments in the field of dentistry where new responsibilities have been added on, that earlier came under different specialists! A dedicated and simple man, we saw him take off in an auto rickshaw to board a train bound for Kochi, where a patient of his had come all the way from Canada to be reviewed by him!

           *                                 *                                    *

Sankaran, after dropping me at the service station, had returned to drop Lekha at home. Earlier in the day, an electricity board rep had come and told me that we'd to pay arrears of Rs.73/- over and above the bimonthly bill that I'd paid online just the other day. Neither he nor the lady sitting at the billing section of the board office could give a satisfactory explanation for the difference. Lekha had also paid out our neighbour's owing, on her return.

           *                                 *                                     *

I got our Chevy - after its 5th year service - by about 1730h  and it was a crazy return drive through pouring rain. The car was smoother still and a treat to drive with the change of oils and filters!

The evening walk had to be called off because of the rains and it was a quiet evening thereafter!


Tailpiece.

Spent a delightful hour and a half - 'happy hours' - at my neighbour's during which we exchanged notes and laughed our guts out over trivia.     

These things anger me.

For the last few days, many of the news bytes drawn from different parts of the country make me seethe with anger. When things seem to be coasting well in the overall sense, something or the other - deeply disturbing and perhaps, distorted - screams at you from the headlines making you wonder as to whether there was any sinister design behind the incident. I, suppose, it will get clearer as I go further.

  (a) A Key Witness Changes His Statement in Court and then, Backtracks.

        Chandrabose, the security guard on duty at the entrance of the 'Shobha City' of Thrissur, was
        assaulted by Muhammed Nisham and then run over with his Hummer on 29 Jan, this year. He
        succumbed to his injuries on 16 Feb. The accused has powerful connections. The sensational 
        case is currently on before the Thrissur district additional sessions judge's court.

        The key witness, Anoop, a colleague of the late Chandrabose and part of the same security
        detail who'd seen it all and given a statement accordingly to the police during investigations,
        gave a different version in court, provoking instant outrage, tears from the deceased's mother
        and a sound thrashing - within the court's premises, presumably by Chandrabose's relations.
        Probably, a victim of financial inducements from the accused or even threats. It was disgusting
        and one felt very, very angry about the guy who lacked principles!

        Thankfully, he's come back to endorse his initial statement after an 'agonising night' to quote
        him. Wonder what other surprises are in store during the course of the court's proceedings?

   (b) Police Raid at Kerala House in New Delhi for Beef.

         The Delhi police officials had raided the kitchen of the Kerala House over a complaint that
         cow meat was being served in the canteen based on a complaint from a Vishwa Hindu Parishad
         activist. Naturally, there were immediate reactions from the Malayalees against the trespass.
         The questions that arise are:-

            (a) When complaints of this nature are received, doesn't the police check with the concerned
                  authorities because, rightfully, the government of Kerala is answerable to whatever that
                  happens within the premises.
            (b) Doesn't such raids have a government order backing it? If yes, who gave it?
            (c) The Prime Minister had recently made it quite clear that this country's greatest asset
                  was its 'unity in diversity' making it clear that everyone - irrespective of caste, creed
                  or religion - have the right to live in the country on their own terms.

          And therefore, here comes my queries:-

             (a) Was the raid given the go ahead by a pro-opposition bureaucrat - there is a sizable
                   number of them hell bent on showing the Modi government in poor light - who's
                   no qualms of conscience in bringing about disrepute to this country?
             (b) A highly partisan media, mostly owned by those with leanings towards the opposition,
                   has been highlighting local, at times trivial issues and distorting them out of proportion
                   to paint the government in bad light. Why can't it give Modi the mandatory five years
                   to rule? Or are they scared of his would be achievements in the days to come?
             (c) That disgruntled parties want to rake up issues to influence the outcome of the Bihar
                   Assembly elections has become abundantly clear. This lot even consists of politicians
                   from within the BJP. Can personal animosities take queer, selfish turns at the cost of
                   national interests?

     (c) And it's now the turn of the Artists' Community.

           About 400 members of the community that includes painters, gallerists and curators have
           issued a strongly worded statement against 'growing intolerance' in the country. Thankfully,
           the trend of chucking awards has come to a stop. To the worthies of the artists' community
           the layman's question is, "Why didn't you resort to such symbolisms earlier when grave
           mistakes were committed?" Or is it that you feel orphaned because your benefactors are out
           of power?


Tailpiece.

Happened to read a nice quote which goes, "You're free to choose but you're not free from the consequences of your choice!"

   
                       

           

Adieu, Kasturi Bhaskar Rao sir.

 I'm reproducing below the copy of a mail (with an addendum) that I'd sent to my classmates - the class of '72 of the Sainik School Kazhakootam - on learning about the passing away of Mr. K Bhaskar Rao, our Arts teacher. He was all of 83 years and was residing with his son - also an SSKZM alumnus - at Kochi, when the end came in stealthily in the middle of the night of 21/22 Oct. Simple and straight forward, he brooked no nonsense from his cadets whom he loved tremendously. 


Dear folks,

1. I got this sad news about Bhaskar Rao sir's demise while travelling 

and hence, had not responded then.

2. Another of that set of committed teachers that we're privileged to

be with, during our childhood, has passed into the mist of time. 

3. I was trying to recollect as to what was the aspect about life that I'd 

learnt from him. I was no 'art' man and drew the absurd triangles that stood

for mountains with an apology of a sun peeping through a couple.

A boat, loaded with a few guys sitting with oars and a guy standing at one of its

ends with the pole - acting as the rudder - was a must on the blue colour that 

apologised for a river! I don't think I could ever graduate from that template and

if I did, I do not remember!! 

4. What I remember about him was that he never ridiculed nor made fun of

my substandard and idiotic 'creations' in colours. For that matter, I don't

think he ridiculed anyone of us at all and left us to ourselves! Probably,

a  single stroke from a young boy's brush could help him identify a potential

artist that required further concentrated efforts on his part in shaping his future

and he was fairly convinced that I didn't require it at all!

5. I remember him in his starched white half sleeves shirt and trousers moving

around the classroom and during study periods. The aroma of the 'supari' that he 

chewed is faintly remembered and he was definitely kind hearted and reasonable.

6. So, he actually was a mentor but if that be so, why did I laugh with the others

when a few seniors passing by our class cried out fairly audibly, the word 'Choops'?

(A nickname that he got tagged with because he pronounced the word, "tubes"

that-a-way). I, still, don't have the answer after so many years! Probably, it's my 

childishness that had prodded me then to behave in that manner.

7. He also instilled the aspect of cleanliness in us. Before the end of each class, he

insisted that we kept the porcelain palettes - into which we squeezed out the colours - 

clean so that the succeeding class started afresh!

8. RIP Bhaskar Rao sir! May your family have the fortitude to bear with the pain. And

sir, they don't make them teachers like you anymore. My prayers and tears.

9. There's a tremendous feeling of sadness that is felt when anyone of that era passes

away, wonder whether it's a phenomenon localised in me?

10. Take care all of you. Affly, Rajeev.

Tailpiece.

Despite my not-so-encouraging artistic proficiency, he used to depute me on painting competitions at Thiruvananthapuram whenever I'd volunteered, which I must confess I did more in the hope of meeting my folks after the proceedings! And his action was purely because he didn't have the heart to break a small boy's heart!! 

 Show original message

 

Simply late.......

The day had begun at 4 as my plan was to kick off from home by 6. But there was a rider to it that Rema would collect mom by that time because we'd a wedding to attend and though mom, too, was invited she'd expressed her reluctance to 'exhibit her infirmity to an unknown crowd!' But things had begun to go wrong......it's raining heavily since a half past 3 and the driver, Appu, was late to fetch up. After the completion of the activity, we'd gone to Lekha's house where the morning pooja was in progress and therefore, a quick farewell was accomplished.

The highway was clogged with vehicles as people were returning after a long, holiday filled week and the rains made it more cumbersome. Thankfully, the roads were okay as patching up had been done over the potholes. Breakfast was at our usual haunt where I'd a change of dhoti that had got soiled during my numerous outings at the places of visit earlier, through the pitter patter.

We're to reach the Dhanya Resorts, 18 km short of Guruvayur, before 1146h and 1206h which was the muhurtham of my friend's daughter's wedding. But achieving it was even super humanly impossible! To make matters worse, a friend of mine though with the noble intention of helping us, gave us wrong directions to the resort, sending me on a leather hunt. So, we managed to reach the venue of the wedding, about 50 minutes late and that too with the timely intervention of my friend, Sasi and he had instructed the caterers about his late guests and ensured that we'd lunch.

We, thus, got a fairly long time to interact with and bless the newly married couple. Arjun is a Naval officer who's expecting to do Long 'C' next May while Revathy was working, for a firm at Kochi, as a management executive after finishing her MBA. My friends Parameswaran and Ajit, with their wives and Ajit's son were waiting to meet us and it was great interacting with them after a long time. The Parameswarans also took the occasion to invite us for their son's wedding and reception on 13 Dec.

Meanwhile, my sister and gang had already fetched up at 'The Quarterdeck' with mom and we cruised in about half an hour later. They left, after tea, for Palakkad and had reached there around sunset.

The walk was nice and we'd a quiet evening thereafter.

This time I'd clocked 530 km in all and my Chevy is due for its fifth year service on Tuesday.The distance clocked, thus far......56,000 km! By the Geeyem Motors calculations, I should have done 75,000 km by now......a tall order indeed!!


Tailpiece.

Truly, a hectic week where quite a few pending work could be accomplished. We could also meet almost the entire family and I shan't forget the - albeit early - birthday bash organised by my niece and my nephew.