The story the boy said: The Paddy Ride and the Taxi Car!

The story the boy said: The Paddy Ride and the Taxi Car!

The boys were young.  One of them  was eloquent.  He told this story once when he was in a free mood.   This is a simple incident among many he had narrated from time to time.  They were always anxious to grow.  They were doing all kinds of house hold jobs in their own house, helping parents and helping each other and doing their home work to grow fast in a world of simple like minded people.  

 

In these circumstances he said, one of their sisters were getting married.  The boy had a few sisters and one of the elders were getting married, not the eldest!  The eldest was working and she had her friends among the General Hospital sisters.  It was easy to understand.  The General Hospital was near the Kings Statue!  The Kings Statue was near the large black tubes always lying on the side of the East Round!  

 

In the part of the country the boy lived, the district headquarter was the Round called Poorapparambu or the Place of the Pooram festival!  The Pooram festival was a festival connected to the Harvest and good times, when the immediate stoppage of severe rain in July when most old people who are almost on the verge of death will pass over to their heavenly abode!  If they survive the severe rainy month of Karkitakam which mostly falls in July-August they will survive for the next few years!  This was what small children believed.  Now people are more knowledgeable, and think the cause of death are biological reasons other than rain.  The old time people made their own conclusions when everything was connected to Ayurveda in this part of the country.

When the sister of the boys family was to be married, the first and foremost was the need to   have household articles to be stocked to be available for the possible visitors and family members in his house.   Most of the articles could be purchase and when it came to rice, which is the staple food here a novel ideal, he said, they thought of.  One of his eldest sister's friend had told her to remember her in case she needed paddy (very fresh paddy, indeed) and the sister remembered her.  Once she remembered she told this to the two young boys and asked them to arrange it.

Such things they said, only had to be told to them then their elders can forget it.  Old time houses with more children were like that.  The moveable youth, if they are in the house, undertook to do any kind of work to keep the family going and this was nothing!  All the same, they all, he said, sat down to brain storm about the manner of bring ing the few bags of rice (gunny bags) home from a distance of 40 kilometres approaximately 25-28 miles away.  The idea struck upon was to order a taxi and go with enough gunny bags and get the stuff filled up and bring back.  On the way they will pass the Town with the Kings Statue and the Huge Black Pipes through which watershould pass at a future point of time!

This idea was approved in the family and the next day the boys got out to order the car taxi of their friend, another youth, who was always at the stand for orders.  Those days orders were too few and cars were always available!  The friend youth took them in settled the rent and set off.  The passed the paddy fields, inhaling the sweet aroma of the rice paddy plants in the fields on either side, which are always full of water and the paddy plants!!  (These were in those days, not now!  Now these fields are all covered by huge walls well painted and protected with palatial bungalows or companies inside and the paddy fields had disappeared in most of the places).  

Passing the Town Centre with its Kings Statue and Huge Black Water tubes, the youth crossed over to the other part of the town and farther to another village far away tucked among a lot of paddy fields and large compounds with all kinds of trees and birds at times the howling jackals and grazing animals like cows, buffalows, goats and house hold tamed animals like dogs cats chicken and turkeys all being grown in different house holds!  Ultimately the car stopped at the house they were upto.  A Huge palatial bungalow the entry house of which was itself too huge.  The boys' sister had forewarned them that the entry house will be too huge in our parlance, but don't worry, call the bell and some one will report and they will be the youth's sisters friend to assist.

There was a hanging bell with its rope and the youth sounded the bell and sure enough, a middle aged man opened up and asked the youth inside.  The boy said, they were taken in, and the man disappeared to the side of the further much bigger house saying he would inform and somebody will come.  In a matter of five minutes of so, by the time the boys had see the huge jack fruit trees, the mango trees, the well tended garden etc. some movement was at the door and the door creeked open and a lady came out to announce that the madam will meet them.

They were almost to blurt out to the lady when she said the madam was yet to come, the madam who was their sister's friend.  In a while, again the door creeked again, and now there appeared a majestic lady very fair to look at with chandan on her forehead and in typical kerala sari set.  She was a very beautiful woman of high standing was evident from the way she carried herself and the way she started a conversation.  She asked the boys who they were and how they happened to come and if they had any difficulty on the way etc.  They replied satisfied her and now she enquired of the reason of their coming.  

The youth, naturally, related the orders from their sister (eldest sister) and th\eir undertaking to come for execution of the orders!  The youth said, the elderly lady was very happy at the proposition and the obedience of the youth at their elder sisters command, but frowned a little towards the end says, "Today is a Friday!!"  This was unexpected to the boys.

They said their is no problem whatsoever because of a Friday to them.  But not so in the house hold they had reached.  The majestic lady said:  "Normally paddy is not given out on Fridays", "that is the problem"  Now this is or was a big problem, the youth said.   All their energies ran out and they slowly walked out telling the grand majestic lady that they may come the next day.

Outside, the threesome sat down in the car, just looking at the open skies, listening to the birds chirping and the dogs and cats playing and after a long while, with a few deep breaths, they started to move.  They reasoned that a trip can be again the next day, which luckily can 't be a Friday again. The driver boy, they said, came to their rescue.  He said that they don't need to pay the rent, as the trip did not fructify for them, and they only pay the petrol charges and they can come again the next day, which is a Saturday.

They today?  The driver boy who was the friend, suggested that they shouts for would be passengers at the nearest village market place for the Town Centre, and there always were some people wanting to catch a bus, who can be taken for a small sum and the amount so collected they could spend in the Town near the Kings Statue and the Huge Black Tubes, at the Hotel (the small hotel of course,  star hotels had not become prevalent near the Kings Statue in those days).  

They drove slowly to the nearest bus stop at the village market place and shouted for passengers and in no time the car was full and at the Kings Statue they made a small decent sum to be spent in the Hotel.  They boys said that was one of the best times all of them had at the little Hotel and the drive was superb.  Their own friend operating the machine with ease with full weight in the car of around 7 people in a five people car and safely dropping them in the Town Center near the Kings Statue!!

They reached home and repeated the trip the next day, the Saturday, when the Majestic Lady with the 'Chandan' on her forehead fullfilled the promise and got the car filled with paddy bags and again their friend youth did the majestic driving through the panoramic villages and passing the Kings Statue reached them home for an  amount of rent agreed upon earlier, which satisfied all!!

  

I see the train for the first time!!

I see the train for the first time!!

City of Ollur lies south of the bigger Town of Trichur.  In this city were we all living when I was a child. We mean, myself and my brothers and sisters all elders to me and the too little young me.  There were two little sisters to me too. We had our house in an interior area of the village of the city,  which followed down to the paddy fields. We walked all the way through a by lane to the tarred road outside and there in a triangular junction, the old bus Sreeramachandra came.   But the train never came there.  I was not aware that there was such a machine at all!

One day it so happened that father was getting ready in the morning and asked me if I wanted to go with him as he was going to his younger brothers house where my Granie lived. Grany was dear to my father and also very dear to me.  Granie or not, when it came to 'Going out', I always readily agreed.

We walked to the city of Ollur, saw the police man standing under the concrete pillar carrying the central light and controlling the traffic, watched the traffic carefully, and when the convenient time came, crossed over, and turned left to the road going to my 'Ilayappan's (That is what I called my father's little brother, who had returned from the British Army) house.  We walked among different houses on either side of the gravel road and came to a huge white gate with the red spot on one of them with the word STOP.  Here we turned left and walked up a hill whose right hand side was cut out into a huge canal in which there were a lot of rock stones neatly arranged and over which was two long long rails.  

We walked parallel to the rails and after a few houses turned left to a beautiful garden and further into a small clean house where my Granie lived.  She was there in the verandah and smiled when she saw father.  She asked about our welfare when father opened his 'madisheela' and gave her the special tobacco he had bought from the city.  This made Grannie extremely happy and she said: "I knew you would bring it!"  I never knew how she knew it as the trip itself was just decided and the tobacco was purchased in the city only, just when we were walking up!  There were no telephones or cell phones or any such thng in that point of time but still 'Grannie knew my father would bring it!!"  Such were the old time Grannies, they knew things much much ahead of its happening!

Seeing me she said, "You have grown big, come more often to see me. I will show you the 'theevandi' .  My eyes became large with astonishment at this statement and I asked.  "Theevandiyo,  evide?"  (The train, where?).  She was very peaceful and told, 'Keep your peace, when I tell you this, I will as well show it to you".

She called out the son of my Ilayappan and ordered him: "She him the train, it may be coming now, be very careful and do not take him to the extreme edge of the pit".

My Ilayappan's son was of my own age a little kid, but a little heftier, but almost the same.  He knew the train.  I did not and had not seen it at all.

Then there was the long whistle and sound like the earth quake! My Ilayappan's son said: "Come let us go and see the train, do not run, stay calm and stand with me:  Do not be frightened by the noise".   We walked to the edge of the land where the huge deep canal started with the rock stones and the rails in it.    When we reached the edge, my friend said "Look left"  and there was the black monster with a large light on top roaring in shaking the whole place and again and again sounding the horn!  The first train, I was seeing. 

On the left, the long canal from which it came, turned to the right after a long distance, from where we could not see it.  So, it became custom for us to run to the edge of the canal when we heard the commotion, and wait for the huge black train to appear!  We wanted to get all the time the huge theevandi was in our sight.  The huge black tank with the large light on top came along with a clang and chugg making a little earth quake as it came and went.  The huge tank in front was a water tank and below thetank was all the drama.  There was huge wheels, some too huge, some a little smaller.  They were moved with equally long and large steel shafts or pistons all working in tandem with steam. Steam emanated from a lot of slots and one or two slots were just below the firing cabin!!

When the train came near we could see the men inside the engine very clearly and from very close quarter.  As we were standing up on the upper ridge and the train was running in the ditch canal as the land was dug up like an open tunnel to spread the rails, it was a close sight, indeed!  The gentleman can be seen at times opening a burning hole and throwing or shovelling black coal into it and then he will turn around with the shovel in hand and using one hand he will pull a wire over his head which brought out a bhoo...bohooo.....whistle.   Some times he pressed something and the immediate area below became a cloud of steam which did not affect him as the train moved away from the cloud at a good speed!  I was told that he had another button which he pressed if he found children very near to the train.  That button is for throwing hot steamy water on them.  My God!  This gave me the gitters.  But the man himself did not seem to be that bad, except he was all black with coal and he had a black hand-ker-chief tied on his head.  Many times he stood on the side looking out side to see the passing panorama.  Would he have seen us, would he ever have wanted to talk to us.  Is he a human being?  All these thoughts kept on boiling in my mind.

At times, the thought of the train coming to the roads and the buses, especially Sreeramachandra, our usual bus and other vehicles panicing etc. came to my mind.  The soothing thought of the train being unable to go anywhere but the rails appeased me.

Once the train had gone, we looked at the rail for some more time and went back to the Ilayappan's home where Grannie was preparing morning breakfast.   She was a keen and good worker especially when it came to house hold matters.   She had brought up all the children single handedly as Grandpa had died at a young age of forty forty two or so.  Then it was Ammama (Granie is called loving Ammama here) and my father had to bear the brunt and they did it marvellously.  Father was always jubilant about it and said 'I can look after all of you and even my grand children, I am never afraid of these things' 'We are the old genre'

We had a simple breakfast of kanji and payattila kootan and some chembu curry (payattila is the leaves of pea plant and chembu is an underground stem usually eaten boiled with a little salt or made into a vegetable curry).  Ammam was too good at plucking and cleaning and cutting the leaves and making a dainty dish out of it with coconut springlings!  We were about to finish our breakfast, the earth shook again.  I wanted to go and see the next train and called my friend!  He was not interested at all!  He said, in a day the trains come several times, we do not go to see them all.  This surprised me.  Such a nice sight! What a marvellous engine, what compartments carrying different varieties of loads, some carrying wood chained to a platform, some with oil some with coal and what not !  A number of them were covered and locked with pasted addresses and names of various items on them which we could not read.

All the more one should see them in the rain!  They are unaffected. Not like the Sreeramachandra and any other car on the road which at times broke down.  The train goes undaunted. The driver and the firemen feel very safe inside indeed!  With that kind of monstrous steel and power nothing will stand against it.  I was told in those days, that if any person or animal came in front of the train, it is the person and the owner of the animal which will be punished!  Those were the days.  All the same, these great and wonderful coal fired engines  also carried people in express and mail trains to distant parts of the country too!  Then there were the local trains too which were also too very important!  But many people did not know of that as much as it was known and used today.

As I said earlier, the train appeared in the tunnel from far up on my left where there was a curve to the rails and the canal, which is from the south.  I always faced west.  The train came from the south and went to the north.  Of course that is how I mostly recapitulated it from my memories!  At times, the train did come from the north also!  But the north side trains when they came appeared from level ground and the charm of looking at it while coming from far up from the tunnel like canal from the south turn was not there.  Somehow the enchantment was when it appeared at the curve, moved through the tunnel, horned heavily in the bhoo...bhoo...coarse sound, and steamed in and steamed out!  The fireman will be at times busily throwing coal into the furnace and we can see the hell like fire in the furnace hole which will be open.  The the pulling of the wire by the man in the engine cabin which made the bhoo...bhooo...whistle to warn those who crossed the rails etc.

Slowly, I got used to the train, its engine, especially with the connections to the wagons or coaches etc.   My interest started to go into the other appurtenants connected with this great travel cum carrier mode.  The two rails when it went north got into other rails and by the time it reached the railway station three furlongs away, flowered into at least six rail tracks of which four were for goods trains.  Goods trains were simply called 'goods' only.  People around the rail tracks knew the average timings of these trains  as say, ten o' clok goods,  Twelve o' clock mail, and most important of which was five o' clock 'island' .  The five o' clock island was the "Island Express' which passed exactly at 5 pm operating from Ernakulam to Bangalore.  The beauty of this train was the speed with which it came and went.  The engine will be in full swing, the pistons will be pumping feverishly, the steam will be spewed continuously, the man in the firing cabin will be throwing coal and another will be pulling the wire to sound the horn bhoo...bhoo... and it will pass the station nearby so quickly that every one nearby looked at it with awe.  Sometimes, somebody said "What a speed! Know?  It is the Island that has just gone!"  The others will agree.  It does not have a stop here. That is the sad part of it.  Ollur City station does not have a stop for Island and anybody travelling by it will go to Trichur to catch it where it will stop.

It did not make any difference for us as we never caught or used a 'Theevandi' neither for here or anywhere else.  The trains and aeroplanes are to be seen and enjoyed.  We were thoroughly on the ground on these matters.  Only thing we looked at was Sreeramachandra, which came near to our by-lane road and at the triangular bus stop (there was no bus stop as such, anybody showing a hand and the bus used to stop.  The person showing the hand should be a grownup fellow the make the driver feel that he may pay up on entering and travelling the bus.  Sometimes, he bipassed children and women if he was not satisfied to the utter consternation of the would be travellers).

The rail lines on moving to the north to the Station had a speciality just near where we were standing.  It had some connections and strong lead steel fittings which moved before the train came.  According to their movements a piece of the rail bifurcated and joined with another piece of rail.  The drama was to change the lane track of the train which was coming as the 'goods' used one track but the passenger mail or expresses used another.  Then there was the great 'Kinaatti' which is the hand signal painted red on a very tall pole which could be seen from at least two kilometres away.   This I liked very much.  At times I raised my hand like a kinaatti and put it down as I saw the Steel kinaatti doing before the train came.

We, mostly, me only,  (none of my other friends were interested in this 'useless' escapade) was very interested to watch this going up a few minutes before the train arrived, and as it passed or crossed the pillar with the kinaatti, the kinaatti fell to its horizontal position again.  In the evenings a man went up the pillar with an oil lamp which he fixed behind the head of the kinaatti.  This lamp burned the whole night and when the train came, if the kinaatti was not up as if someone is standing with one of his hands straight up, the train had to stop there. As the light from the signal will be red, full red and a Red light meant the train had to stop!  Then the cabin man or the coal thrower pulled the wire to alert the Station Master in the nearest station to give him the green signal.

It is the same lamp which will give the green signal, but only when the Station Master allowed it.  The man at the Station working under the Station Master will be told to pull a handle which led to the Signal Pole and the turned wire will sent up the signal, its head portion with the two glasses of green and red and this time, when the signal is up the Green Portion of the Glass will come in front of the oil lamp and the onlookers will see green light!! And the Engine Driver can now proceed!  This was really a great feat, indeed!

The same oil lamp stopping the train, the very same oil lamp allowing it to go!  The trick is on the signal.  If the signal lies horizontal, it is red and if it goes up, the light turned green!!  What an idea!  But alas, these were only in those days of the past!  Now there is no such dramas.  Only a small pole with three different lights, Red, Yellow/Orange and Green.  I don't know what the Yellow or Orange stands for.  No idea! Never worked in the Railways, even though I once came close to it!

I learn bi-cycling at School!!

 I learn bi-cycling at School!!

 This is a part of my School experience, in which I learned bi-cycling at School in the olden days when bi-cycle was a note worthy instrument which everybody thought honourable to possess!  Is was in my Boarding School. I should have been in Class V or VI.

Every now and then, sympathetic Scholars, and affluent people visited the School and met the Master ji and gave him assistance and advice in the day to day run of the School and the up bringing of the children in the model he wanted.  We always got the best in education plus we were to practice day to day living by practicing and doing manual labour for an hour practicing work in the garden, cooking by teams of us turn by turn, doing the cleaning etc.   This gave us an insight into the general of living and the works involved in community living and it made us a good team of children with love and compassion for every one.  Once a gentleman on his visit to the School advised the Master ji that children should be taught bi-cycling.  Master ji enthusiastically agreed and said "It is the funds and kindness of the people like you that would get them trained" at which the gentleman brought forth twenty rupees and said "You start with, with this."  "And according to progress, I can contribute more!"  All the children were thrilled.  

Master ji called all of us to the ground next day morning as it was a holiday.  He said:  "I am going to start with bi-cycle lessons for you today!  Anybody who can bi-cycle on the 'main road' for two kilometres, shall be given the first bi-cycle"  The children were apprehensive:  to ride two kilometres in the "Main Road" -  I thought main road or no main road, this is the occasion to get the bi-cycle.  My hand went up!!  Master ji almost shouted to me:   "Stand aiside, you get the First Bi-cycle!"   I was thrilled to the utter astonishment of my friends! I started getting more air in my chest.  There was more oxygen.  Yes. I raised my hand and the Master ji said: "That is like a real boy! Don't be afraid to take new chances, all of you! Now, give the first bi-cycle to him!" 


On his pronouncement, a brand new bi-cycle which was brought from the earlier bi-cycle shop where we had gone for the filling of the foot-ball was given to me.  But I do not know how to run it or hold it.  Bi-cycle came rarely to simple children studying in schools in those days. Many did not want it any way.  Some like me always wanted them, but had no means!

And here comes a brand new bi-cycle!!



Now for the second bi-cycle who are willing to bi-cycle after learning, today afternoon in the main road?  This time a few hands went up.  The first two hands were selected and the decree was let both of them learn on the second bi-cycle, let them share the time.  With that the master ji walked back to the School Building.

We were left with Brother Sebastian and Brother Paul and Peter.  Since I was the first boy to raise the hand and it was Brother Sebastian holding the first bi-cycle, he came to my help and helped me to hold the bi-cycle, then slowly to sit on it and pedal.  He steadied my handle bar and walked behind me holding on the back of my seat.  This was a laborious task for him as I was being continuously practised.  In the case of the other two boys, both borther Peter and Paul took turn to hold the two boys and since there was only one bi-cycle for two boys, when one boy was bi-cycling the other could rest and also his helper could rest.
In my case the compassionate Brother Sebastian ran behind me without complaint always giving me hints of how to steady, how to slowly get down from the bi-cycle and in the mean time bringing it to a slow halt, how to climb on the bi-cycle by pushing the bi-cycle with the right leg and pedalling with the left all the while holding the handle bar steady.  I was thrilled to see the front wheel going through and through all the while coming from under the mud guard.  Brother corrected me saying "don't look at the turning wheel, look ahead to the clear road and keep seeing the clear road and watch for obstacles to be steered clear.  Do not look at the furning wheel"  I obeyed him and soon in a matter of two hours my handle bar was steady and we were practicing in the foot-ball ground, so there was no problem of space.

But there was something.  At times, since were circling the ground, the other boys who were practicing came against me.  We steered clear most of the times.  If we could not, Brothers helped us by their hold on the backside of our seats.  I was slowly getting easy on the practice.  Time was passing by.  The study which started in the morning hours went through and it was approaching four o' clock.  It was about time to move to the main road for the road test of fitness!  All the children who were not practicing had made it into a kind of festival and were shouting "Time for the main road, time for the main road cycling!"  This was slowly getting on our nerves, at least on my nerve!  We had increased our speed, was somewhat confident on the bi-cycle, the brothers have moved away, and we were on our own. 

The shirll shouts of our friends for the time on the main road has now turned into a roar and suddenly one of the other practicing boys appeared infront of me.  He was also at a good speed but not as much as mine.  Mind you, my speed also was not much, but for a new practising guy, it was a fair speed indeed!  The other boy was steadily approaching me from a distance and I shouted "Please stop.  brake, brake", but he also shouted back brake, brake, as if it was my echo.   Both our speeds lessened by our stopping to pedal but the brake stuff was not to be found.  In the sudden mileu I could not recall where the brother had said the brake is, and I was looking ahead!

My practicing friend, the other boy came face to faced with me and fell down as if he was submitting to me and I looking ahead ran over him went farther and fell down to the ultimate cheer of all our other friends and the utter dismay of our Brothers who were helping us to practice!!  I lied down where I fell recapitulating and recalling what happened in the instand second before!  Where was the bell or the brake then?  I could not recollect where were they!
I had ran over the neck of my other practicing friend and over his bi-cycle.  I thought his neck was broken as he slowly got up with a head half turned to one side.  I froze.  I did not dare get up.  "My God"  I had forgotten going the main road stuff and all.


All our friends had gone into a frenzy.  "He has to be beaten, he has to be beaten, take him to Master ji to be beaten.  He has run over our friend!  He has run over our friend!"  Yes, I have to be beaten.  That was the simple punishment in those days, if it had to be! I slowly got up and Brother Sebastian came to my help while the other boy was being helped by other people.   A copuple of neighbouring youth came and inspected the neck of my friend.  One of them said, "it is only a sprain. Get some kattappa leaves, we will set him straight"  Kattappa is a small plant with greenish cum yelloish leaves.  The leaves were plucked in no time by some and the youth, one of them, squeeezed it over the neck of the boy and the juice fell, the green juice.  He slightly massaged his neck on the side of the sprain and steadied his head.   The head which was so far lying to one side, became steady.

All of us walked to the school with the bi-cycles and the boy who was over run and the ultimate me, the accident maker and the unhurt, with myhead held low thinking how much beating it will be for running over a friend, whether it will be severe, whether I would be able to stomach it, will the Master ji stop with ten beatings or so or will he go on beating me.  My head started to swirl!!


It was a furlong to the school building.  The procession went up slowly, with the friends and classmates joyously shouting the accident maker will be punished, the accident maker will be beaten!  My throat parched.  I licked at my lips.  Bro. Seb. had taken over the bicycle.  We reached the side of the School. When we came to the front side facing the open verandah room of the Master ji, he was in deep thought, looking ahead at the far off skies, with a book in his hand.  The children fell silent at the sight of him and the silence started to become heavy.  He slowly brought down his gaze and looked at the group of children and the two brothers behind them and the two bicycles.  Then slowly he looked at all the children and raised his voice "Why all of you here, not going for the Main Road trip?"  At this, several of my friends started together, pointing at me they said : "He has rode over Joseph" He just struck him with his bi-cycle, he shoud be beaten.  We have brought him here!"



I had seen the huge  cane the Master ji used, of course rarely, on the children on any grave mistakes.  In those days, the stick correction was a big type of correction!  The correcting fluid and other types of correction was rare!  When it came to little children, it was always the STICK!   I kept quiet!

Master ji, thought for a while.  Rubbed his chin with his thumb and index finger, then with the back of his hand he rubbed his chin again.  Then he said "All those who want to have him beaten, come to this side ! This he said showing to his left.  Many of the friends who had shouted that I be beaten walked to his left jubilantly.  Master ji smiled at them.  He slowly said:  "Slowly he said: Now explain to me actually what happened, and one of you - bring my cane from the table in the room! "  One of the boys bolted for the cane.  He went with such electric speed and was back before I winked.  The first thing I could see was the yellowish brown cane and behind the cane my friend slowly reaching the Master ji.  Master ji smiled at him, asked him to put the cane on the bench near by and said again: "Now slowly tell me what happened."  

My friends started explaining:  "Little Joseph was coming (I was the little Joseph) from the east side of the ground, and Joseph (the one who went under me) was coming against him from the West side.  Joseph was shouting to little Joseph to brake.   He did not brake.  Just near little Joseph,  Joseph and his bi-cycle fell down.  Little Joseph straight went over him without braking and thereafter he also fell." 

"Now how does it make a cause to punish or beat little Joseph"


"Sir he did not brake"

"What about Joseph's brake"

"hat...that....that..we do not know."

"Then why do you or any of you want him to get beaten?"

"Sir, Sir, he ran over Joseph, even after Joseph told him to brake!"

"True, true, but where was Joseph's brake?"

"That...that....that.....we do .....we do not know."

Slowly the boys on the left of the Master ji started to leave his left side and come to the right side where we two, both the Joseph and little Joseph were standing with the Brothers standing behind us with the two bi-cycles !

Now he turned to me: I almost froze!  He said "Now Little Joseph, what happened to your brake?"   All this while, I was thinking the same.  What happened to my brake.  I really could not imagine there was a brake at all. 
I made my defence:  "I also told him to brake Sir.   but could not see my own brake.  I tried my level best, but could not ever imagine where the brake could be at that moment. " Every body laughed.
Same question was repeated to Joseph:
He also made similar statement.  "I could not remember where it was, Sir."

Now there was a heavy silence.  Master ji took the cane in his hand and called the boy near to him and said "Take this to my room and put it in its usual place" Then he turned around to pass judgement"

"There is no question of punishing anybody here.  Accidents do occur.  If anybody is hurt we get them treated.  But not punished.  This was training for learning.  Nobody wanted to make an accident.  Did any body?  There was an answer in unison  "No, Sir" 

Master ji now pronounced judgement:    "..So..Go to your manual labour and further bath etc. according to your time-table.  No more bi-cycling on the main road today..Got it...all of you?....In life never make this kind of allegations against anyone without thinking of the consequenses,  mind all of you!"   

I was relieved.  Life started coming back to me.  My heart started beating again!  The Brother Sebastian with the bi-cycle patted my back!  It was a pat, I badly needed.  I took a deep breath!  The bi-cycles were taken by the Brothers who happily walked with them to the bi-cycle shop a kilometre away.  We, all the children, were left for our other works!  I felt very relieved and walked to my manual labour site, where one by one my friends started to come to agree with Master ji and me, that the accident was not willful or intentional.  I was wondering what had happened to all of them at the time of their making the complaint immediately after the accident!



All of us including me forgot what happened so quickly, it seemed such a thing never happened.  My training continued the next week along with the very same other boys on different bicycles and again the bogey of riding in the main road was brought up.  An arrangement was made to post other boys who are not practicing at various points from point to point so that it can be observed if any body gets down on the way or falls down etc.

Time slowly went on and evening was approaching!  All other boys except the ones practicing were sent off to different points on the main road and we went at last along with the two three borthers helping us out!  The stage was set. I was flagged off first.  While we were good at riding, climbing up and getting down was possible but a bit tricky for us at that time.  But we did not mind that.  To make a ride that day, that evening was almost like Michael Shoemaker doing his Formula 1.

We got on the machine and set off without any panic.  We went on and on without any break in the ride giving side to the vehicles coming from behind.  In fact we were keeping to the extreme left and beyond our left was either canal or paddy fields.  There was good amount of grass also growing at various parts near the little water canals which are exhausts, but at that time, the exhausts also carried only pure water with life in it  which intermingled with the water in the paddy fields.

I completed my forward leg and got down and one of the observer boys and one brother patted me and I set to climb the bi-cycle for the return journey.  This I did remarkably well.  Now the side of the road changed and this time the left side had more of fall to the canal cum edge of the paddy field.





The paddy field and the little canal all through on th side of the road had thick leaves and plants and a combination of other little green plants the major portion of them being the 'Chembu or Taro' found in this part of the country.  Chembu plants have big oval or near round leaves like the lotus and can carry water drops on them and they really hinder the sight to the ground or the canal so that the depth or the underground condition of the canal can't be seen. Two feet up was the road and the road was tarred only in the centre for say about 45 feet or so in its 70 feet.  The rest of the 35 feet was equally falling on either side of the road.

I was going at ease having won the race half way and had a fair amount of confidence of completing the trip.   Then there appeared the big bus in front! I was suddenly taken aback.  Here in this part of the country the big vehicle drivers usually being kind to the other road users apply their horns.  The bus driver applied his horns and this panicked me.  I held my ground and moved straight ahead but kept more to the side and was about to move to the mud part of the road when there was another huge horn from the back side this time another vehicle which I could not see.  I presumed this to be a car.  I am not terrified much by the on coming vehicle as I can see it, but the vehicle coming on my own left side and hooting, I can't see!  This petrified me and I moved further to the left and almost on the edge of the fall where the chembu or taro  vegetation coupled with the green grass foliage was proliferating.  The trouble was there was a gentleman with an open umbrella walking in front of me.  He had a packet on his right hand and was holding the umbrella with his left.  It was slightly drizzling but the sun was out and bright.  I was maneuvering to cross him and the vehicle behind passed me with a loud hoot in my ear "PePpeeeee" and that was it!

In the sudden pepeee I moved an inch more to the left and went under the hand of the gentleman slowly walking with his hand out with the packet and the umbrella on his left hand!  The hit was such that the packet in his hand went off in a shower and he lurched forward a bit, while I went down with the bi-cycle into the chembu plants and green folliage grass and further into the water in the canal!!   For a fleeting moment everything became dark and slowly the light came up.   There was not much water in the little side canal.   I slowly scrambled to my feet.

I was frozen with fear of the man whom I had just struck.  The strike was not severe as I had passed under his right hand only, hitting his right hand right through sending his packet into smithereens!  But that was good enough to make one angry.  What ever he was carrying has all gone!  Bought with hard earned money, I did not know what it was at that time. I was shaken, but could pull myself up and out of the water.  I came back dripping with water from head to toe, forgetting I had been on a bi-cycle and utterly not remembering there was a competition of riding on the main road etc.

Shivering I cam t the gentlemen and asked "Did anything happen to you, Sir?"
"Shall I do anything for you?"   I was very panicked as to what could be the reaction from such a huge man.  The man looked at me for a long while and then asked: "Let my happening wait, did anything happen to you?  Are you all right?"  "I have small children like you at home.  If they do something like this to somebody else, I only hope they are not harsh with them!"   "You should not come to the main road like this, these roads and the traffic are dangerous at times"   I was listening to his little speech, when my observer friends reached shouting "Our friend has fallen, our friend has fallen,  our friend has failed"
The strong and stout gentleman "Ssshhhed" them....with a finger to his lips and told them half scolding:  "Are you all not ashamed, that one of you get into trouble and instead of helping out, you shout?"

This gave me a little courage.   I moved to the man and asked him again, "Sir can you do something for you to retrieve the lost packet stuff?"  The packet stuff was sprinkled all over.   I found it was raw meat cut for curry, which he was carrying neatly packed.   I knew this stuff.   I was sad for the guys who were unlucky, not to have it today!   The man spoke up again "Don't worry about my packet.  I can get it again.   You wait here.  I will go down the canal and bring the bi-cycle for you."  With that, he turned his white dothi (white long cloth which people in Kerala wear and make a half bind at the waist when they have to wade through water) up, slowly made his way through the chempu plants and fished with his hands for the bi-cycle.  It was there embedded in the mud, and he brought it up in one hand and kept it on the side of the road where I was standing!

"Now don't ride.  Just push it home!  This road is not as safe as you boys think.  If your parents knew this, they will be worried"  I said a feeble "Yes, Sir" and slowly started pushing up and my friends walked with me this time very silent.  The gentleman looked around at the scattered pieces and made sure it is a futile exercise and turned around and walked in the opposite direction to the market to buy another packet.   Once he was out of sight, I told my friends that I was going to complete the ride and got on the bi-cycle.   Uneventfully, I bi-cycled maneuvering the oncoming and backside coming traffic and reached the school!!

When the matter of accident was reported by my friends, the Master ji came to my rescue again, saying "That is not a failure!  Look at the whole exercise!  Without doubt, he tried!  Accidents may occur!  Next time, he will not make any accident!  Accident is due to the bigger vehicles, and that too their heavy horns!  If one has more practice, there will be much less accidents! So all of you go along with your other chores!  We will honoring the winners later!"

With that he dismissed the teams and I went to look for my bruises...Brother Sebastian as earlier took the bicycle from us to be returned to the shop owner!
By now, bruises or not, I had become an expert with less practice.  Now I have to practice.  I waited my turn to get more practice!!  Never to give up bi-cycling!!!



I distribute the "Sathyadeepams"

Life started to move as usual from house-hold chores, at times cooking, at times cleaning, and generally washing our own clothes and mostly studying our portions and attending classes regularly.  Since this was a boarding school and we stayed there all there while, there was no absentees or defaulters at class.  If anybody was absent, he will not be in that School!  This was a stark contrast to the other schools I had attended.

In those schools, many students absented for various reasons, and the teachers never asked what happened to them.   In the Convent, the Sister and at times if the Sister was not there, a Teacher wrote us as "Pre 32 below the Stre: 37" like that.  The Stre - was the Strength and the Pre- was the students present.  That ends the matter.  The sister if she was there, used to be concerned and made enquiries about the welfare of the children and their family back grounds and at times offered further help too!

In the Class IV, the private school, it was paid masters, who never asked anything.  They had their red pen when they called out our names and if no voice or sound was heard as "Present Sir,   or   Haajar"  they your name column was given a small red signal with the red pen.  That was it.  But not in this school.   If a child or boy is not in class, the class stopped, the Master ji first enquired all of us about him, if the answer is satisfactory we were sent to fetch him with due help, or he went himself calling Brother Sebastian.
If the child was sick the Vaidya was called immediately, and  our Hindi Teacher was a  Vaidya (Village Ayurvedic Doctor) himself, he was summoned to treat him.  This saved us a lot of panic and difficulty about sickness.  Treatment and that too very cheap if not free was at hand.  The Hindi Teacher was a man of very good standing, an epitome of cleanliness and good at treating children.  

Apart from the classes, we had chores in the evening, before we sat down to our studies at Seven o' clock to study up to Nine o' clock when we had our supper.  After supper when we were mostly allowed to disburse for sleep or reading, I found there was a new gentleman related to Brother Sebastian coming with a huge bunch of new papers and will be settling accounts with the elders including the Master ji.  That day they were engrossed in a conversation of distribution of the paper and was concerned they are unable to catch all of them at one go at the Market place.  A solution was being suggested tht if someone can go from house to house distributing the papers that would be a good idea.   I was standing nearby and blurted out "Can I go and distribute?"

That shocked the group as I was not allowed to take part in the conversation of the elders.  As usual Brother Sebastian recovered from the shock first as he knew me and I was a bit close to him.   He said to the Master ji.  It is a good proposition.  He can try.  Even if he misses some houses that does not matter. 

That was it!  I was selected for distribution!  I was jubilant.   I was getting to suffocate by only the school chores, house hold chores, studies and the repetitions of the same all the time.  This will be an outlet to go out see the place, see the birds, see the rivulet and the canal, the roads and the traffic, the huge vehicles and small vehicles, the people and their mannerisms, the church and the different houses and the kind of people in them.

The first day after the morning mass, Brother Sebastian and myself distributed the Satyadeepams at the church itself which got a huge number of the papers being given by hand to those attended and I took down their numbers.  After that we tallied the names from the regulart list and found out the households who have not got the paper.  Then I set out in the evening or say, afternoon to distribute the paper from house to house.   I went from street to street distributing the paper to various housholds.  Many of the recipients were happy to receive it on time and see a new face giving it. 

Orammayude gadgadam!! (The sobs of a mother)

Orammayude gadgadam!!

Have you seen angels in this world?  There are plenty of them in this world!  They are the mothers!  There are other angels too.  But the mothers are the sure shot ones!  In fact, the angel I met was my mother.  Now do not think because she is an angel, she will not punish you and all.  Then we miss the point.  She may.  At times in the real sense of it, to remember for life!  But the love for which she will do it, will be unblemished and full of kindness.

First of all she give us birth using all her energies.  Then look after us with all her might.  Then love us with all her life!  And mind you, all these for no reward at all, but our love.  Oh what pain she takes for love, and love alone!

When I was a kid, mother used to look after me with great care and love.  She used to suckle me, sing me lullabies to sleep, told stories to enlighten, reasoned with dad for all my necessities and slowly brought me up.  Suckling gave way to milk bottle for a short while and further to light food which slowly gave way to hard food.  I had elders to emulate.  There were more children in homes in those days.  One was just shown to the elder one and that grew on to the elder one.  The third one followed the second, the fourth one followed the third.  Like an elephant herd we knew on whose tail we are to hung!  

Then according to preference we can cut across the lines and approach different offspring for different purposes according to their special abilities.  But mother oversaw all.  Her elephant like eyes did not miss anything, either during day or during the night! 

She saw to it that  all are fed, clothed according to size, medicated according to need, took us wherever was required and reasoned with dad for all our requirements.  In those days, it was not easy to reason with dads as they were supreme!  One had to see the time of the day and mood of the person before requirements are submitted and got executed.  They did it with such marvelous slate of hand that we thought always that we told her and it comes through dad somehow.  In between, what difficulties mother went through for all that was never a thought for us!

At times we were sick, again the whole procedure of going through mother, through dad and some times an elder sibling etc. was involved to reach the final goal of showing to the doc and getting medicines or treatment in a way.  The ayurvedic system came in handy in those days to a great extent as the local village doctor, called the Vaidya came visiting.  Whenever he came, mostly on a Sunday or holiday he chose to see that he came when dad was home so that he gets his normal dues.  

The Vaidya, the custom was, when he came he did not treat one person, but all of them who so ever needed treatment in the house.  Once he enters, he is received and seated, asked about his welfare, given water and paan (this was an expression of respect and gratitude, normally extended to educated and good people - the usual 'paan box' or the 'murukkan petti' is shown to him.  This box contained the betel leaves and arecanuts neatly cleaned and cut into small pieces.  Along with this box was also shown the 'chunnambu kutti' a brass bottle with a seating and a small stick in it containing raw wet calcium.  This raw wet calcium is applied to the betel leaf and the arecanut pieces are added and pushed into the mouth.  If so desired, special Jafna tobacco which are usually kept for elders are also given a piece of which he can add to the delicacy to make it very strong:  

Along all this the village doctor or the Vaidya would ask the welfare of all and also if anybody is sick.   We are paraded in front of him and our special problems are submitted and he would look at us intently and at times check our heart beat by holding our wrist, then will say his Sanskrit sloka and say the making of the kashaya and would want a piece of paper and pen to ink it for us to buy the medicaments from the local herbal store.   These herbs and seeds and barks are made into different tonics or kashayas and given to us three or four times a day and we get relieved.  That was the custom.   Mother knew our diseases by heart.  At times, one of the children just passed in front of the Vaidya and he would notice some weakness in the child and he would suggest an Aasava for the child which is got and given without fail.  

The Vaidya was well respected, and given tea, coffee, or lunch as per the time and also some little money when he was leaving.  But there was no largfe sum ever given or asked for.  He was always happy with whatever he got.  At that point of time, as he went around his monetary needs were met to a fair degree and he was not an avaricious man as the present day Doc., I mean, many of them.   Insurance was unheard of and neither did it affect the Vaidya nor his patients.  At times when the Vaidya came to one house, word went around and people from neighbouring houses came to call him and that brought him more patients.

It is mothers duty to get the proper medication prepared from the barcs, leaves and roots and seeds which was purchased or procured from the nearby compounds to be made into different potions and fed to us.  Hers was an endless job, but then, angels never tire of jobs.  They are specifically sent for it.

When we were sick she did not sleep but nursed us day and night!  Soothed us by her sweet words of courage and encouragement.  She made special foods for us!  But when she was sick, she rarely said any thing to any of us until we enquired specifically.  She enjoyed our lives every bit and considered the joy of seeing us through the early life to grow us into huge trees is the only reward for all her services to us.  Till the very end she gives her service with joy and humility and a candidness which we do not see in any other place usually!

She cried when father was sick, tended him, looked after the whole house hold and nursed him back to good health all the while keeping all the children, nine of them, (there were ten, one did not survive more than 3 years) tending to all their little, little needs and seeing that they did not lose their education or day to day needs of food and good clothing.  She cried for the eldest brother when he was sick, immediately after his marriage, nursed him back to good health, she enlisted the support of all other children, some of them were growing up, and they too gave her a helping hand.  At last he was well and on his feet again and went on to find his own family from the new marriage.

Younger brother had broken his hand under a truck she told us, much far back, who had to lose school to regain the hand in good form.  There were several of such incidents before the youngest children's turn came.  I have never heard her telling that she is tired because of the intense nursing and caring she had to do for the others.  Never!! 

Surprising thing about her was she never spoke about her own mother.  This troubled me a lot.  But she was always so concerned about our matters and also the matters of my fathers family I started doubting what exactly could have happened to her mother.  So, in one of the free moments, I took it up with her.  She was catapulted to an era far back and she sobed a little.  She slowly related to me of the sad demise of her mother.  She was having fever.  The 'njettu vadam' fever!  Njettu vadam is the present day Tetanus!  The patient gets photophobia due to the viral attack which enters the body through any cuts or bruises.  The surprising thing is many people do not get njettu vadam even though they get huge cuts or bruises, but some may get at times.  It depends on the place where you get the cut and if it is tended properly and if it is again exposed to dirt or places with the germ entering the body, like muddy places etc.

In kerala most of the things were identified as a fever with a preposition like the njettuvadam here.  She said her mother continued with the fever and the Vaidya were called.  Vaidya said, I am giving some medicines, shall give some more if she SURVIVES SEVENTY TWO HOURS!  She did not survive seventy two hours.  Mother wiped her eyes and told me to go to study, and also warned me not to bring up such questions if possible.  I never again attempted those questions and when I was employed and married, had totally forgotten about mother's mother's story.  Now I recall it after my retirement when my mother has already joined her mother in her heavenly abode and is happy!!

I never had seen my mother's mother.  But I could meet her father in his death bed.  I did not know at that time that it was so close.  Information was brought by a man who painstakingly came to our house to say something is amiss at my mother's house and left.  The place was pretty 35 kilomtres away, which was a long distance at that time when vehicles were rare.  Father was not home, it was only just getting dark.  Father came after an hour or so when it was pretty dark.  Once it was reported to him, he said, Oh..take out my new dress, I may have to go.  I was four or five at that time.  I wanted to go with father which was straight away denied, but I started a crying session which ended in my being allowed to travel with him.

The old line bus took us to the town with all its lights aglow, and we were just in time for the last bus again to a journey of 25 kilometres further. We got down near paddy fileds and walked in the hilarious brink of the field to reach an upper ground where there was a small clean house well thached in palm braided leaves.

There were people outside the house talking to one another in whispers. Sometimes someone came and went in and came out saying, may be one more day, but seems difficult.  I did not know what is difficult. We went in.  Inside, my mother was sitting near a cot on what an elderly or old gentleman of very good features and wheatish complexion was lying and trying to get fresh air.  He had difficulty in breathing.  Some one was reciting "Eeso Mariyame, Ousephe,  eee atmaavinu koottayirikkename"  !  There was a cross and two candles at the head of my Grandpa.  He was pulling hard while repeating  "Eeeso......Ma..aa..mariyame.....O..ousephe....eee  atma...aa..atmavinu koottaaayi..rikkename...."  His chest was going up and down.  Some one was at times giving him arishtam with the 'vaayu guliga' dissolved in it with a piece of piece of cotton just to wet his tongue.  At times, mother told him "Appa..kannu thorakku"  at which grand father opened his eyes, loooked at her very kindly and closed it again to conserve energy to pull air and recite what was being recited to him.

I sat with mom, but after a while started feeling sleepy.  After sometime, I suddenly woke up loud wailing and whimpers and a lot of commotion.  Mother was crying along with many other women who were there.  Again and again women from neighbourly houses came and on seeing the cry and anguish they also joined in the sobbing, crying and wailing.  It was a very very sad situation.  Grandpa was lying serenely as if he was sleeping.  He reminded me the King Duncan of Mcbeth.  An era was ending.

The outside was full of men who were speaking in hush hush about getting the time fixed, who has gone for the coffin, who went to the parish priest, what time other arrangements were to be made etc.   All were neighbours doing all that.  Many people took errands of informing various relatives and left in different directions.  Father was undaunted, and was giving directions to different people and also listening to mother's brother (my uncle) and suggesting ways and means as to how some of the things were to be conducted.

A group of band arrived with drums and pipes and clarinets and they played a tune in three turns at the end of each turn the big drum sounded, which made everybody cry.  As the band sounded, the parish priest who had arrived by then entered the house and started a prayer in which, the departed soul was asking permission from the house which gave him abode so far and thanking the house for its service followed by a suggestion to the onlookers and near and dear to live in fairness to all, so that in the other world they will happily meet in the Lords paradise as this world is only momentary!  Along with the prayer, the coffin was lifted and all left with the coffin in procession to the near by church by food with the heavy cross in front and black ornamental umbrellas on both sides in two lines followed by the wailing band behind which the coffin was carried by the son and near relatives of Grandpa was carried. Behind the coffin was the priest, undaunted, saying the prayers from a book and at times looking at the sky or forward.  We thought, he was talking to God to take care of the gentleman who was coming or already left.

In a matter of two three days, all of us came back to our own house and things were back to usual.  Everybody going about their usual work, studies etc. and mother was back to her usual works of early morning tea making, breakfast making, lunch readying, washing, cleaning, cutting, fitting, coaxing and cajoling us children, looking after the animates like chicken at home.  The cats and the dog did not have to be tended or done anything to as they were very independent.  Only father washed the dog at times, at times he removed its germs etc. which we children also learned from him, and put the germs in a small vessel of fire in those days.  The dog shampoos which is available now were not available then.  The dog and all of us made it a point to get to share a piece of our lives with this act of help.  The dog was a lovely, through and through as it was always ready at our call and walked with us to the market or anywhere uptill the main road, which was two furlongs.  At times when he got excited, he also came with us to the Church which was quite far away.  But since all of us walked in those days to the church, that was not a problem. 

After the funeral, there was a small food for all after which most of the people who had come, left except the immediate relatives.  Once the major portion of the assembly had left, the place was suddenly silent.  The sound of wind coming through the coconut palms, the call of the birds, the usual crows, copper smiths and koels were the only sounds.  There was a pond a yard or so away supplying water for all the usual house hold stuff, the proper well arrangements were not there in those days except in major houses, especially this being sandy area near the sea, the water level was very high and a small pond at a few feet deep will give water.  Around the upper plateu where the small house and other surrounding houses stood, was paddy fields which were holding water the year round and was cultivated two times a year.

The extreme summer time after the harvest was the only time these fields were not cultivated.  During that period, there will be travelling teams of different kinds of games, or shows who came and settled to do their show work shops and entertained the public, who had no other modes of entertainment the year round, except the usual church festivals or temple ulsavams (Malayalam word for festival).

After staying with the Uncle's family for a few days we left to come back in summer holidays. All this while and much later also, I never thought or never a thought occurred to me that mother may have her mother or would have had a mother.  Reason being we were so engrossed in our day to day life, mother was always busy tending us, there was no talk of mother's family or house or any thing.

In Christian houses in Kerala, the girls are married to the boy and the girl goes to the boy's house and lives with the boy's parents and siblings.  She is ceremonially brought back to her house a few times and again returned every time with a few gooddy goodies or household requirements and at times equipments as would be required.  She is taken to her own parents house every time she is about to deliver a baby and the mother and baby are returned to the boy's house hale and hearty and with all their requirements.

If the girls bring things not liking to the husbands family, some (or many) trouble the girl, to the extent that the girl will narrate the sequence to their own parents and get those required stuff.  There is an opposite side to these too.  If the girl is shrewd enough, she can first take charge of her husband and then get the boys parents to dance to her tune or even to the tune of the girls family!  In the whole process both the husband and wife suffers and it is the weak hearted who suffer most!!  From the stories of people in other communities, the conditions is the same except that names change (may be a change of religion too).  At times a girl or a boy may go to an extreme step too, which is rare but not totally unheard of.

I checked with eldest brother if our mother had a mother what was her name.   He has become old and when he heard the question, he scratched his head, rolled his eyes and cocked his head and looked hard into the far sky which was visible through the door and said "No..mother's mother was no more when father married her.  I am sure.  Yes.  I am sure from my old time memories as we used to go to mother's house so very often in those days".  Yes that was the end of my enquiries.  Yes, she was a girl from a total of three children and the eldest.  She lost her mother at a young age and the three, two sisters and a brother grew up together and she was the first to be married off. She came with as much goody..goodies as can be provided by a reasonable just to do family and settled down to do the hard work of bring up father's youngsters as father was the eldest of the family and had lost his father at a very young age and had been thrown into the arena of life at a young age and was a self made man at the age of twenty!

Mother came with abundant faith in life and God and she believed good times will come and there is nothing to fear.   Everything is predecided by God and nothing is in our hands except our hard work.  Father worked outside the house and mother worked inside the house.  Father came home after the work, but mother had no where to go after the work, but kept on with any other work which occurred all the time.   But the grace was every work had as many of us to join in as was required.

One difficulty we faced was drinking water in summer. The water well nearby will dry up and there will be no well around which can provide water.  So we had to walk down to the lower land plates where there were wells with plenty of water even in summer.  These lands belonged to some farmer families who had a lot of land and hence they were not living there.  One day, when I was reading my lessons, mother called me to go with her to take water from the well in the lower down land.  Near the well, she started pulling up water with a bucket on a rope which we put into the well and once the bucket is full she pulled it up by taking the rope from left hand to right hand across her chest.  Each measure brought the bucket up by almost a meter.  She caught the rope deftly from the right straightened hand to left straightened hand, held it, and pulled up by making more such movements.   After a few buckets of water she kept the bucket on the rock stone where she was standing, turned around and held on the 'pulimaram'  (the tamarind tree) and kept on standing there for a while.

I was just around her watching the nature around but the sudden silence and her action was unusual to me.  I went to her to enquire what it was and she shod a hand to tell me not to speak and keep quite.   I looked into the well and found the water was moving out of the movement of the bucket which was going down and up earlier, thats all, nothing other than that.   So that is not the problem.  After a long while mother said:  "Let us go up with the water collected".   I walked on with her with a small 'kodam' ( water pitcher made with clay) filled with water in my hands and she carrying two kodams in both hands and the bucket and rope.  She always carried the maximum weight.  Once home, she sat down on the steps after putting down the kodams and bucket.   Then she said: " I was having dizziness and that was why, I turned around and held on to the tree.  Had it not been so, I would have gone into the well"

The well in the lower land was without any safety wall and one just stood on the edge to collect water.   Any slight misstep and one will land into the deep water and that many times will be the end of the individual, which is common in south India.  I said:  "My God..My God...God has just saved us from a possible mishap". In later life, we related that story many times whenever we ruminated on old times.  Whenever I related that story, her eyes welled up and she said "Oh..you remember all that?"   And I used to reply : "Yes, mother, I remember all that".  Then conversation will follow which soothed her through and through.   The sufferings she took to bring up ten children!  The number of child births she underwent!  The support and hard work she had to put in like a maid servant of sorts to bring up and keep up a family of five brothers of father and a mother!  Father's lonely sister in the family had been married off.  They were a good family but came rarely to the house and that too only on special occasions! And when a son in law of the family came to visit, he was not expected to do any work normally.   Here, the good fellow, who was the husband of his sister was a great gentleman far ahead of his times and he took care of any kind of administration in the house hold on functions which were being organized in the house and it became a great solace to all.  

Father's mother, the old 'ammamma' was a smart lady, could have been very beautiful in her times!  She used to approach work very seriously and would go through and through to do and finish any kind of work without any hunch.   Whether it is cooking or preparing for any celebrations, making special receipies, she did it without any compunction.  She used to put her murukkan in her mouth and often asked for a bit of 'pokala' and if it is 'jappanam pokala' she was very very happy.   Jappanam pokala is the special Jafna tobacco which was available in those days.  Once the murukkan is in her mouth, she broke off a half inch piece of the Jafna tobacco and pushed it into the extreme molar side of the mouth andit went for half the day till lunch time!  Oh..she enjoyed it through and through and she did one work or the other. However, as all Christian families she had her way of getting at mother and mother as usual hated it.   But by the time, mother said, all had mellowed, and the Ammama I saw and the hade degree of mother, which I witnessed was far far below the point which was there when she came into the house of father after marriage.   I was a child born after a long time after so many other children and many years of life had passed for them, by the time, I was seeing and witnessing the drama as a little child.  Somehow, I liked the old lady for some unthinkable reason.

Once upon a time we went for a cinema clandestinely!!!

Once upon a time we went for a cinema clandestinely!!!

We were children then.  Used to go to School.  Play with school fellows and classmates.  Did not have a care in the world.  Father and Mother did everything for us.  Elder brothers and sisters used to over see us when they were around.There was no chance of turning here and there.

One of the activities we were to undergo was to go for Sunday catechism which was separately set up at two in the afternoon in the church one to one and a half kilometres away.  On the way to the church, just about to reach it was the 'cinema kottayi'.  This was considered to be a bad place unless went with elders that too on special occasions only.  It is not that it is a good place to go with elders, but it was just allowed.

We looked at it as if it is the forbidden fruit!  There would be cute colour pictures of women and men with captions of cinema names under them in colour. Cinemas themselves used to be in black and white.  There was nothing interesting in the catechism classes as we simply went to the dry class rooms in the hot climate and sat there listening to the teaching of a teacher from a catechism book for one hour and at the end of the hour ran off at the striking of a bell somewhere in a corner.  We normally did walk up and down and spent almost two to three hours to part take in this class of one hour.  It was so at that time and to lose the class, we could not think of.  The bell was very shrill, so there is no question of anybody missing it.

Most of the clever children knew the time almost, but the ones who were not very clever and the ones who slowly lost in the lessons had to hear the bell itself.  Teachers normally did not stay after the bell and allowed us to leave.  It was one of the classes like this we bunked conveniently to go for the cinema in the 'cinema kottayi' once.

The kottayi was a huge building hall covered on all sides with wide door gates at even distances.  The whole building had a front side with a tall facade and the emblem of an elephant on an oval design.  Below the design, on the first floor level was the projector room to which there were flights of steps from both sides reaching to the same level of the room.  There was an entry door to the projector room at a height, where sometimes a man stood looking out and smoking.  They were big people.  The whole building had a courtyard and the courtyard was covered with a compound wall with grill designs on them.  In an entry corner was two small lanes made with three tall walls side by side making the two small lanes.   These lanes went to the inner side of the courtyard, but just before entering the courtyard was a room which had a small window cum pigeon hole through which a man dispensed tickets of One Ana and Two Anas.

The one ana ticket allowed one through a front area door to an area just in front of the white cloth screen.  This was called 'thara'  Thara meant floor and literally it was the bare floor it meant.  All those who bought a one ana ticket can sit on the thara and watch the cinema when it is played on the white screen.The two anas allowed one to another space just behind the thara called 'bench'.  This was class above and those who really wanted to make it in a convenient way and lose money only went there, or so we thought.  This was luxury and non sense to lose hard earned money, if it was earned at all.  In those days we never saw any other reason for it.  Our parents and elders never saw any reason for going to a cinema at all!!  This was sheer waste and only those who did not have any meaningful thing to do will waste money and time on these flimsy things!

But this great thought  was never understood by us properly.  We always thought of this place as a fascinating place to see something very interesting at times objectionable, which made it all the more interesting.  The time of the starting of the cinema was two forty five in the afternoon and for this a song or film music would be played out from a loud speaker set up on the top of facade of the cinema house.  Normally it was a song praying to St. Mary to bless us all as the cinema house belonged to a Christian gentleman.  Even if we did not hear any song from the church, the cinema house song we could hear from our house on a clear day.  The sound waves used to waft out and come in the breeze through and over the paddy fields which was there for long stretches.


Among such temptations, once we could get two anas and me and my brother made the secret plan to visit the cinema kottayi instead of going and attending the catechism class.  We would go diligently with our head held low, as if we are going to the chruch catechism and at the last point when the cinema house came will suddenly barge into the by-lane tube like way for the one ana ticket and further entry into the cinema kottayi compound or courtyard from where we will not be seen from out side.  All these cinema houses had tall compound walls so that those outside may not see the wares being shown inside which increased the urge of the outsiders to get in and see what is inside.

After our long walk through the paddy fields and roads just about and near the church (may be three furlongs before) we suddenly did our great act of getting into the hole like by lane for the one ana ticket.  The first feeling is of breathlessness inside, a kind of trauma, but we could look up and see the sky, so we would not die of lack of air, that much was assured.  There were other more anxious boys in front of us and some joined behind us.  We reached the pigeon hole with the big man inside and we extended our hard secured two anas through the pigeon hole.  I was afraid that if ever this huge man cought hold of my hand and all, I would certainly die of fright.  But  instead, as soon as I opened my hand the two anas just went out of my hand and a piece of paper was pushed into my sweating hand.  Both of us came out of the tunnel and were in the cinema kottayi compound in front of a small wooden shop with ground nuts and other little sweet meats and also copies of the booklet with the songs of the cinema then playing.   The song book sales was very important in those days.

When we reached near the entry door it was open and we could see through to the white screen.   The man who looked like a ruffian took the small ticket in green colour from us and allowed us inside.  We entered the cubicle of the hall in the extreme front and stood there mesmerized.  There were the pictures of stag with huge horns with branches looking up as if it is going to take off in a run, a peacock in another picture and many other pictures. Different kinds of lights were burning including a few tube lights.  We could see different columns for different category of people and in some columns there were hefty people, some looking like bad people, and some very good people.  The ladies cubicles were different and there were ladies and children in those.  In the extreme end at the back were chairs with cushions and these had men and women inter mingled and there seemed to be some families in them including children.  

On the back wall was a number of square slot openings through which we could see the light in the projector room and from time to time someone was bringing his face close to the slot and looking into the inside of the hall.  The hall was half empty, this being a matinee show, that is a show done during the afternoon times which is considered not for the real people, but for those who can't make it for the star show which is the first show  in the evening.

There was a long bell and the major lights went off.  A huge ray of light came from the slot and through the smoke which was rising from those who smoked in the benches and chairs behind it came and fell on the screen in front which showed the Malayalam words 'Namasthe'  The show had started.  We were jubilant.  Wow!  Then came the 'News'.  "Assamil vellappokkam"  which meant that there is havoc due to floods in Assam followed by Nehru's visit to the flooded places in the State.  In those days news were a pre requisite for any film.   The Films Division of New Delhi Doordarshan Kendra made them and I don't know how these were incorporated to films to be shown before each cinema.

A few months back we had been taken to a cinema by one of the family elders that being a very good family cinema, then also there was news saying "Assamil Vellappokkam"  In fact every rare time we got to see a cinema, there was floods in Assam and almost all the time Nehru ji visited the sites.  That was fantastic.  We watched the moving pictures.  As small children what else were we supposed to do.  The floods in assam came from a different slot on the back wall than the one from which the cinema came.

In a short while the flood news ended and the cinema started.  We could not understand the theme of the story.  We only wanted to see the moving pictures, the great dresses the characters wore, the beautiful young ladies, such of which are not seen in our every day life, and of course the great and nicely dressed hero who was always well dressed and knew all tricks to go with the heroine and operated all kinds of vehicles available in those days and very fashionably smoked cigarettes.

There was a lot of hissings and cat calls and whistles when the young hero went near the heroine at times and there was a lot of shouts when the villain was confronted by the hero.  I also wanted to become a hero and beat up all the villains in the world!  It should be feeling great.  But alas in the real world, most of the people imbibed the smoking and drinking qualities of the hero and ended up as villains.  That is another story.  Some goodness was in any case passed on through them to the young minds.

In between there were scenes where the too good heroine is put to too much trouble and most of the ladies and children cried!!  The suiccess of a film mostly depended in those days, how much it was able to make the audience cry.  Some men also had moistened eyes and a couple of times my eyes also got wet.  At times, I wanted the hero to come quickly to the rescue of the heroine.  But nay, he took his own time, but the saving grace was he always won the fight with the villain and saved tghe heroine!!

By this time, the hall was full of smoke, acrid beedi and cigarette smoke!  Intermission was announced and a fellow wearing only a mundu (a piece of long white cloth usually drawn and fixed at the waist in Kerala) without any shirt or accompaniment was shouting chai...chai..and another couple of them were shouting kappalandiei, kadalei etc. meaning ground nuts and bengal gram etc.  They said it or shouted it with a mannerism or special pull of their lips to one side which made a difference in the sound!  It was manly to buy any of these during such an interval and also if one is man enough should smoke!  We being children and since could not afford any, we just watched the others in the audience doing all these and their further mannerisms!

In a while the lights went off and among a lot of cat calls and whistles the cinema restarted.  We sat through and the end came with the ultimate defeat of the villain and the hero and heroine getting married and all the actors coming together for a group photo!  We all became happy through and through and came out of the smoky hall to the cool fresh air of the outside were the evening breeze was very pleasant.  Once outside, to our dismay, who do we find?  There stands in front of us, our neighbour and close known fellow Kumaran with an evil smile!  We knew our simple idea of telling home that we were at the catechism class will be punctured by this friend of ours ! The only thing which we did not know was when!!  That was the story of a cinema which we went without house permission in those days of old!