Out on the road in Chennai..!

      Eating the road dust is a big problem in Chennai if one is out on the road walking.  As long as one does not consider it as anything, no problem.  The buses ply regularly and side by side are all kinds of huge vehicles whose power and numbers have increased manifold from the time of R.K. Narayan novels.  Now there is a new found energy and concept among the people who want to get things done fast and quick.

So, there is construction all around, from buildings to bridges, roads to clover leaves and so on. All these throw up dust and we are free to have it. The buses jostle with cars and in between are the bikes, scooters, mopeds, three wheeler scooters, the water carriages, bicycles and et all.  They all go hand in hand.  Mini buses among them are the solace to help people to reach destinations if one is without his or her own vehicle.

The miracle is, with all that the traffic still go smooth.  But the health of those on the road has taken the brunt along with the traffic officers and road side vendors.  Accidents do happen so many number of times in with the two wheeler drivers are hit more often.  Among all that, those who drive on two wheelers and scooters with gay abandon, zigzagging among other vehicles leaves me speechless..!

Nostalgia II

Elsie chechie is no more.  It was she who gave me Two hundred and twenty five rupees to buy my first bicycle.  It was a time Kerala was a beautiful place and families had their own simple love relationships with a lot of children in the family and the parents bringing up the children woth lots of love and less money.

One good thing of the time was the grown up of the families who got into various jobs helped those without it.  That was how I was getting my first bicycle's money from my sister who was employed by that time.  One fine morning she asked me if I would like to own my own bicycle.  Till then, I was getting a bicycle on need based from a local shop on rent.  The rented bicycles were good but to own one and that too a new one at that was a treat by any means in those days.

She brought brand new notes and I smelled it, as it was from her Income Tax Office where she worked.  But all the same, it was Two hundred and twenty five rupees.  I shop off to my eleder brother's house to ask him to accompany me to the Trichur Town City to buy my NEW bicycle. Being a pious guy he got up from the work which he was doing, pulled on a shirt and started walking with me, discussing various shops and bicycles which we will have to check for before getting the one we wanted.

We took the old 'Sreeramachandra' again and got down near the King's statue to cut across the 'Pooraparambu' also called the Thekkinkadu maidan to reach the south of the 'Round' ! People in that place only mentioned it as the 'round' which initially I could not digest.  They will say "I am going to the round"! What round?
You don't say exactly where.? Or is that that he may be wanting to go round and round  like a merry go round?  No..no..! Slowly the clear terms came to the fore.  It is 'Round South', 'Round North' etc. where the shops and businesses are located.

So we came to the Round South and got into the bicycle shop what was like a mini-scooter agency in those days.  We made enquiries and the price suggested took away the pride of having the amount for the first bicycle and all that.  It was Four hundred and sixty nine rupees.  God....! While I was looking at the guy with awe for suggesting such a sky-rocketing sum, he was simply standing there with an anxious look as if we may really buy it.  My brother saved the situation by telling him that we will call on again after making a few more inquiries. We moved to other shops were different other prices were mentioned.

We had started in the morning and now it is almost afternoon when my brother brought out his new idea.  He said he would catch High Road where he knew the shop of CM Joseph and in no time we were there.  The board said 'CM JOSEPH Cycle Store"  The owner guy, a simple person like my brother received us and asked us to be seated which we readily agreed and took our seats.  After our long walk in search of our heartfelt search, we were really wanting to sit somewhere.  The CM Joseph spoke on.  "Don't worry about the amount you have.  Just tell me how much it is, then, I can make a bicycle suiting your purse'"   That was a great suggestion.  We mentioned our amount and he came up with the most positive and colourful idea.  He said "We will have a "Hero" bicycle frame with various other assortment of parts.  The seat will be a large leather seat which will be cheaper than the other seats, he said.  So it was agreed upon and in a matter of two hours he and his assistants made a beautiful bicycle in front of our eyes, from fixing the wheel with spokes onwards to fixing it on the frame, leveling it on their leveler and owards the end fixed the beautiful large seat in green colour.

There were small green covers pulled on the brake handles, again green soft handle covers on the handle grips, two nice colourful coir flowers rounds in the hubs of the wheels, nice mud flaps etc.  We forewent the facility of a dynamo and connected light in front as we decided we will cut down on cost for the time being and will add it as an add on after wards as this will bring the bicycle really in our budget.

At last, the shop keeper handed over the bicycle to my brother (my eldest brother who was acting as my guardian for the time being) and he in turn struck on the seats a couple of times as if he was inaugurating it and said : "Ok...it has come out well.  Have this..!"  and gave it to me.  We started out of the shop and walked out towards the 'Round' again.  We still had some money left.  So he suggested we will have something to eat now.  We have worked hard till now.
We walked to the nearest tea-shop, olden times, hotels were few in Trichur, all were known as 'Tea-shops' . We had a 'masala dosa each and tea' and I could not wait to do the bicycle.  Once outside the shop, my brother said :  "Now you can, 'perhaps, go on your bicycle and I shall catch a bus, if it is ok with you?"

It was very much OK with me and he walked to the Bus stand called the Municipal Bus Stand which also had another King in the centre.  I for one, was on the bicycle, as soon as my brother was out of sight.  I reached home on 'Cloud Nine' that day!  That was the first and last time, me and eldest brother travelled together.  I still keep a bicycle of the same type for memories sake..!


Elsie Chechi saw through my progress on the bicycle and in life.... and was amply happy about it all through till her very end,, which came a few weeks ago.

Enjoyment of the Retirement Loves..!

Enjoyment of the Retirement Loves..!

The morning starts without programs. That is the first joy.  There is no set time to get up or go to sleep.  But one cannot sleep after day break as the birds on the trees around will start chirping so furiously, it would seem, their sole aim is to get me up on my feet.  The endless number of teas will be halted by the thuk of the news paper followed by a soothing ziik of two packets of milk being placed in a paper box kept for it by the morning newspaper youngster who it would seem does not sleep after mid night.  The young people!

Once the paper falls in front of the door, I can't wait, but to grab it and see if any body has slandered or said anything untoward any of the leaders around the world.People around the world do such silly things at times and such silly things are printed.  All the same, I go through it, before my eyes grab the local news of what happened in the neighbourbood and in the country.

"Killed, stolen, accident, prejudiced, abused, bitten, beaten, done for, broken, robbed, dacoited and all sorts of terrible things happened, and the authorities, police and all the other nice people on the other side trying to do everything possible to prevent them"  Spliced in between are the new drumming for all the goodie, goodies in the world from Gold, Jewellery, Cars, boats, buses, children's toys, ladies make up, saries, foods, hotel services, and all other kinds of services to houses, villas, flats, bungalows and farm houses all at low prices, with bank loans which is just for asking, and all other stuff which can be simply imagined most of them with a huge 'FREE' of a small little thing along with it. A small steel pin with a car, a beautiful greatly bewiching sticker 'for children' with all house hold items"

If this does not wake me up fully, I take one more cup of tea and go ouutfor my walk in which I see my son's car which is badly soiled.  Due to the wet roads and the cattle on thee roads, the car has accumulated a lot of diitch which has to be washed...My God.  To drive such a dirty car...Grr.   I am instantly at it, washing it out furiously.

I clean the floor of the car with a little poly broom and sweeping vessel, shower the car, wipe it with wet cloth and smoothen it with chamois and the car smiles when my son comes down to go to office.  "Oh..you have made it new"....his comment, and my day is made.!  My chest expands, my son drives out, and I am back to the house where my grand child is rolling in his bed, being too small to walk he throws his innocent smile at me and makes indecipherable sounds at me all meaning he wants me to be with him....It keeps on turn by turn ...and then we wait for my son to return from work.

Once he return all of us converse all the matters in the world, have prayer, food and more conversation and go to bed....and it repeats...Retirement is over.....
Good...no?
The sleep time is reminded by the umpteen number of frogs and insects around our house which start their choir by ten and continues till morning when daylight break out! It is a photo arrangement with them and nature. They are very regular at it so far. Children take it as a lullaby!











































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The Library

The library. The great Trichur Town Hall. Smell of books, endless number of them. Sign boards and flex boards of various programmes around. The great people reading books and newspapers. Altogether a reading atmosphere.

Reaching upto Trichur because of the Library, Ittikuru thought, and not going to the nearby Ollur. Ollur was Ittykuru's house. That house does not belong to Ittikkuru. It belonged to his father who is no more. Then it seemed to be home for a while when mother was alive. Her health slowly deteriorated and ultimately she was bed-ridden with side paralysis and then came the innevitable departure for her heavenly abode. She went smiling and peacefully. But those around her, including Ittikkuru felt the loss. She was a gentle soul always asking about the welfare of Ittykkuru and asking for nothing.

Mothers are like that. They never make any demands. From the very beginning they give. They start with their body and soul. Then anything coming to them are shared with their children. Ittikkuru felt like sobbing. But no, nobody cries out openly these days. That was all in the olden days. Now people are ashamed of every thing.

Ittykkuru came to the present when the Librarian smiled at him and said “Oh..you there..!” The Librarian is always like that. He worked for a small allowance, but for the love of books and the reading public. He always encouraged people to read. He never considered about himself. The books smelled of old paper. Many of them required re-binding and re-covering. But the books were lively from their titles and subjects. Ittikkuru felt happy among the books. Many people in this country do not get to read books. Many getting the chance also do not read. Now it has become more difficult with the onslaught of the TV, Cell phone and Mobile phones. A great number of other playing objects. Future generation has to take care of this. Ittikkuru's generation has already passed that period.

He excused himself from the Librarian to move forward to the racks to meet his favourite and and new authors. OV Vijayan, Madhavikutty, PK Narayana Pillai, Dr. Kunjabdullah, Vaikom Mohmmed Basheer et al were there.  Great writers who felt the pulse of the masses or their contemporary souls.  Many new authors mingled with the old time great names.  The people frequenting the library was few compared to the population and literacy of the place.  The Library culture is slow to get into a people who had been seen too few opportunities to learn at a not so recent past. 

The old system of the place was farming and life was generally feudalistic.  It was the nuns of the convents and the fathers in the churches who made an awakening in the masses inducing them to learn and acquire knowledge and to free themselves from the bondage of ignorance!  They did a marvellous and selfless work to see those who reached them opening up to knowledge and freedom and doing good to those around and becoming a blessing to all around!

Those were the old times.  Education was not seen as a business in those days. Education in smaller classes were free.  But to send their children to school, in a farming and bullock cart period, parents found it difficult.  Without fan fare and inaugurations, the schools gave midday meal to children which held a number of children to their classes.  Even then, some of them fell off, due to calamities in their houses.  Ittikkuru remembered his friend Chandran whose father died when he was in class IV.  Chandran was a studious and pious boy but after the funeral of his father, who used to drive a bullock cart, never returned to school.  Ittikkuru's enquiries with friends brought the reply "Oh, he has taken up his father's work!"

 

Ittikkuru was nine years at that time, studying in Class IV along with Chandran who was of same age.  After a few days one day Ittikkuru heard the shouts of his friend Chandran "Voowh vaah...idede kaale.."  Ittikkuru was coming from the market and on turning his eyes in the direction of the sound from his right, he found his dear friend, on top of the driver seat of his father's bullock cart with the drivers stick in one hand and the two controlling ropes of the two bullocks in his right hand!  The bullocks were coming close to Ittikkuru and he was skillfully controlling them with his 'voh....vahs' which he did with great skill. That was the end of his school education and reading. Now studies will be to his next generation!

When in the library Ittikkuru always had the problem of choices.  There are too many great books, but one can only borrow two books at a time.  This is again a hindrance.  Once the books are taken and if they have to be returned Ittikkuru has to spend half the day to travel and get it done.  He never minded it in his thirst to read his great masterly authors!

Diggin to the past

Digging to the past

The 'karu' that came out was dark in colour with a piece of mud stuck to its bottom. This is a piece of smoothened black cement! I was trying to dig a small pit to plant a banana plant, I mean the usual sprout of a banana plant. The karu had the black smoothened surface which I could instantly connect to fifty years back when as a small child I had helped my mother and sisters in smoothening it with a smooth stone. The floor was of mud which was beaten with a hard wooden piece with a handle called the 'nilamthalli' to make it good in level and smoothness. Then cement mixed with the kitchen soot was mashed and spread on the floor with trovels and allowed to dry for a day or so. Then was our hard work of smoothening it with the little round stones which we enjoyed like Tom Sawyer. Mother, brothers and sisters all took part in the work and all of us kept on talking, joking and laughing all through! At times we took a break to wash and have some food and went straqight back into smoothening of the floors! After years later we leaned that this is quality time we spent together as some of the sisters have left for their heavenly abode and some are not available to meet or speak.. Time flies fast and changes every thing!

Mother always worked along with us, led the team, and enthused us..! We thought we were making a palace for ourselves as the canopy was already there! Only the floor was to be readied. Those were the days! The climate was according to its cycles, shine and rain to measure. Most of the people around were good but poor and we believed that better houses are for the rich! For the poor and the commons if at all they had something to slant their heads in extreme climate, that itself was too much. And we thought we were rich in that. We had nine people around in Pop, Mom, brothers and sisters, our lovely dog called Brownie and ofcourse half a dozen cats. A parrot we had in better days had once flew out from its cage and of course succumbed to its natural end at the hands of one of the pious cats.! My brother was in mourning for a few days after that as he loved it a lot. Once the operation was over from the cat's side, the only thing left was the green feathers to give us a chance for the forensic enquiries and decision making.

But the death of the parrot had something portenting in it as the better house we were living in broke down before long and we had to mak a shed house quickly to save ourselves from the impending rains of Kerala which are severe in the monsoons of those days. A high thinking low caste gentleman came to our rescue and told father that he can fix a house in three days. He worked along with all of us as assistants and lifted a long structure with the left over bamboo materials from the cracked house. We had to procure six mountain bamboos for supporting the structure on pillars. The mountain bamboos are huge in size compared to the smaller bamboos near all the hedges.

Once the structure stood, then half walls were made with mud bricks. After this was our operation of leveling the room floors and smoothening the black cement top of the floors.

Now that time is up and I am at the archeological excavation mode with my pick axe and spade.

We had a coconut tree with few coconuts on them and a mango tree which rarely gave any fruits. But we planted many small time plants and got good fruit and seed from them. One of the plants which we always remember with gratitude are the large bananas from the plantains, which we relished in those days as directly from Paradise..!

Times changed...!

The Princess with the Diamond Necklace! - The Old Story!

The Princess with the Diamond Necklace! - The Old Story!

There is an old story. That, once upon a time, long long ago, far far away a beautiful princess lived in a palace. The princess was very beautiful and always was good to all and appeared in beautiful clothes, but there was something which added to her beauty. That was the beautiful diamond necklace which always wore. Every body in the kingdom including birds and animals appreciated the beauty of the queen but all were curious of the beautiful diamond necklace which the princess wore.

As in most of such stories a poor wood cutter boy was enfatuated with the princess and was trying to find a way to get near to the princess. The princess had a pretty parrot which flew into the jungle and back to eat the choicest fruits there. The wood cutter boy came in contact with the parrot as the parrot came near him of and on and enquired of him of the places where the best fruits were to be found. In gratitude to his advices, the parrot became friendly with him and told him about the beautiful princess in the palace and her beautiful necklace. Through the parrot the boy got the friendship of the princess and she called him to her palace. When they were alone the princess divulged the secret of the necklace to the jungle boy. She said “Without the necklace, I would die”!

After a while the boy got back to the jungle.

In the meanwhile a wicked prince in a near by kingdom was trying to get the princess in marriage and tried many tricks. But the princess looked through her diamond in the necklace which showed her the real purpose of the prince who was mean and cruel. The prince through the help of his soldiers got the the King, who was the father of the princess, to marry the princess to him. On the first night itself the prince who was hot headed and wicked set his eyes on the beautiful necklace and imagined the huge booty he can amass by selling the necklace and removed it while the princess was asleep....! The Princess was sleeping like a child. A couple of beautiful hairlocks kept on flowing in the breeze around the place. The villain had a last look and went out to do his bad deeds! The surprise was when he returned to wake up the princess! Whatever he does she won't wake up! The princess slept on and on....

The King the father of the princess was concerned. He passed an ultimatum to the villainous prince “If you can't awaken my daughter for a week, take the marriage as dissolved” All the soldiers and the people of the country of the King were up in arms and the prince had to give in. He could not awaken the princess! The King carried back his daughter ceremoniously and kept her on her beautiful bed which she used to sleep on..! The parrot came to see this and informed the jungle boy who set out to procure the diamond necklace.! After long searches in the palaces and jungles ultimately he found out the necklace and brought it to the palace and requested the king to allow him to try to wake up the princess. He was instantly allowed to do so by the already heart broken king.

And the boy went to the princess straight away and adorned her with the beautiful diamond necklace and Lo..! the beautiful princess got up as if from sleep and sat up looking benevolently at the boy and the King and all others who had assembled to watch the miracle the boy was going to attempt. This was the happy ending of the story where upon the King got the princess to be married to the Jungle Boy and they lived ever after in the King's palace as prince and princess and in course of time, when the King became old the prince took over as the King and the beautiful princess became his wonderful Queen and they both ruled their kingdom for a long time where their people were extremely happy..!

When we heard the story we all became happy.. but the catch is the diamond necklace. What is the diamond necklace in these days? Is this a real diamond necklace? No! In place of the necklace we can conveniently replace the kind of medicines each of us are taking for various illnesses! Also the beautiful princess to be replaced by any body suffering from any kind of simple illness where medicnes and treatment have become unavoidable! We hear many stories of deaths where the people do not get their proper medicines on time as required. The speed of death can be aggravated or speeded up by the villainous behaviour of the near and dear who may inflict much more grievous injury to the minds of the concerned individuals who would otherwise live a happy life for a long time...!

NOSTALGIA

NOSTALGIA

The old time piece sat in the brown wooden show case which is used as a prayer stand. The stand is two glassed cupboards joined together with a flat wooden piece. The wooden cup boards were made mimicking the old Greecian pillars with flat tops. As the two pillars stood apart with a television stand cum cassette holding drawers we had added the new idea of the flat plate on top to use it as the prayer stand.

While the upper stand can be used for prayer purposes, the show cases below held the old items like used prayer books, the old merit medals of our children, some photographs and the old books which had been presented to them which they had left behind on leaving the house on marriage and their own works.

They had kept it diligently, till they left and, often reminding us of the importance they carried to them, with the result we thought of not disposing them off. They remained in their places and now after years together, whenever we came across them, when we opened the shelf for cleaning or searching for something else, they at times overwhelmed us. Thus was the time piece of the yesteryears named “Swito” A 'Swito' alarm time piece with a handle on top and also aN alarm stop button, is not an item of these days. In olden days, it came to houses where somebody needed to wake up on particular times and this was the equipment to be had if the family had the wherewithal.

Children's school was our fright of the morning, especially in winters when any body can sleep upto eight o' clock in the morning, if not they were insistent to get up at six. For this, the alarm-time piece was a big help, as it started ringing with a slow 'grrrrr' sounding bell, at five in the morning slowly unwinding the wind, which we filled up before going to bed the day before.

It is not that our children got up at the bell, but it helped us to get up as parents and start calling up the children. That also had its own rhythm! First my wife will call me and the children and will move to the kitchen to make tea and boil a little water for the children to take bath. A geyser for hotwater was not fashion or possible for the lower middle class! Once she moved, it was my turn to move and call the children, our daughter and son to get up and start the day..!

Our daughter got up either at the first call or at any of the subsequent calls according to the degree of tiredness of the day before. Generally it was by the third or fourth call..! And since she was elder she had a sense of seriousness in this matter and tried to get up after a few calls mostly. If not, we picked her up from the bed and said some endearing words which made her alert and there after she was guided to her moring chores by her mother. But the case with my son was slightly different! He was a good sleeper and could sleep fast and long and normally did not want to get up in the morning..! So had to be called many times with a few shouts thrown in at times. Sometimes it came to no avail and he called back in half asleep mode: “Hmm...kya hai?...” That was when we generally picked him up and slowly carried him to the bath room for the bath. We slowly seated him in the bath room floor on his little chappels and he sat there sleeping. Once luck warm water is poured he would warm up and take part in the next part of the ablutions of the morning and will come out charming by the time for the school bus.

The driver of the bus, a sturdy fellow from the villages, did not wait even for a second, if the children are late! Coming from a village back ground of farmers who generally get up very early in the mornings and go about their chores, he could not stand chhildren not ready for the bus on time, even though, it is too early in the winter months. At times, we thought, he had a grudge against all those children who are able to go to school in the cities bu bus as children in villages always walked to the nearby school. The Blue Dialled, 'SWITO' alarm time piece supported us in catching up with the furious driver who was a stickler for time punctuality and we always thought his morning appearance is a blessing in disguise..! Now the time piece sits comfortably in retirment in the great wooden show case.Now our children are away and no more need them and the Alarm Time Piece it self has taken retirement, but we have not allowed it to go into oblivion. It is our fetish and privilege to keep and look after the old things of yore which gives us a kind of nostalgic pleasure even though it overwhelms us at times.

Below the alarm time piece is the picture frame with the beautiful picture our daughter made with our help, of a buttlerfly sucking honey from a flower with various colours in a white back ground neatly put into a glass frame! Simple families in the villages did not have the power to buy this costly equipment for forty or sixty rupees or so in those days in the eighties and ungrudgingly, they made use of the household cock, who gave an alarm from time to time or at least at five in the morning or sometime around.

Both my daughter and son do not use such equipment these days, instead uses the android or the computer which makes music or peculiar soothing alarm sounds which we the oldies are generally unfamilier, even though we like them..! This is today, but tomorrow may still be different!