Memories of a rainy day!

Memories of a rainy day!

Rain in Kerala is normal in June-July.  It is a down pour at times, a medium rain at times, and the chemmeen rain (the little shrimp rain) most times!  Children are not allowed to go in the rain for fear of catching cold.  We were children. We can't play in the rain on school days.  But on holidays if mother's permission can be got there is a chance.  My friends were already playing outside and it was a holiday!

I got her permission and  was happy as a lark to fly out!  The air was clean, the flowers were fragrant and the birds were chirping happily! The minahs were all around along with the sparrows who quarrelled with each other over the grains they got. The ubiquitous crows kept on cawing for , the copper smiths made their routine beats.  The rain with still falling lightly which we called the 'chemmeen mazha'.

The small by lane had become a rivulet.  It was flowing to the eaasst where the lane turns left.  If wse made a small bund with mud we can make a small wanter shoot with a papaya tube.  This tube comes from the stock of the papaya leaf.  A piece of it was cut out and we made a small bund with our hands by amassing the mud which was wet all around.  In no time water started to accummulate and it was a small dam in no time!  Now I put the little tube!  Water rushed out to the other side.  I can close it too, if I wanted.  No. I won't do it.   There is plenty of water coming.  Let it flow.  I can rather add two more pieces of papaya tube.  It will really be good to see it.  Two other little boys  of the neighbourhood and my own little sisters and brother were the team.  All of us worked to scoop up the mud and put it wherever it was required.  We smoothened the mud and at times put a leaf here and there to fortify the structure.  The mud was all of over us which we did not consider as dirt.  In fact, the mud was very clean compared to these days. At last all the papaya tubes were used up.  All of us stood on both sides of the little dam and enjoyed the sight of the water-red muddied water--flowing through the tubes six or seven of them!  What a joy!  Water was flowing in plenty through the by-lane which usually converted into a little ford on rain in those days.

Nobody thought of tarring up the surfaces in those days.  It was considered to be a sin to cover up the earth in any form unless for making houses or edifices.  There was travel difficulties, if one had to travel in those rainy days at that point of time.   But such occasions were rare and people seldom travelled as all were mostly attached to agriculture or like jobs which were usually in the vicinity only.

Mother came calling.  What is happening here. " All of you have become mud statues by now.  Go wash yourself behind the house, and come inside the house".  She raised her gaze in the direction of my neighbour friends and told them "And you, go to your respective houses.  It is going to rain more now" and they were gone.

When we reached inside the house after a wash breakfast was ready and we sat down to have our kanji and curry when it started to rain cats and dogs outside. Our dog came in and sat at my feet ready for his breakfast.  He had his own plate which was kept in a corner.  And if he was present food was served to him too!  He was also considered as one of us in the family!

The Retirement Blues!

If people do not have jobs they do not retire.   Nobody really wants to live without any jobs if it can be helped.  But the problem with jobs are, one  cannot continue to do their jobs without stop, especially Government jobs are one has to retire one day or the other.  The only question is when.

On a day of ones date of birth when one reaches the age of sixty one is retired.  People around them become kind to them, say possible good things, and ultimately one is garlanded out to retirement.  One is sent home with a few friends or pre-decided officials in a vehicle.

What ever minimum guarantee monies are kept with the employer is also given back so that the employee does not have to come to office again.    The retired always waits for retirement to do the umpteen things one could not do when one is in service.
This is under the premise that now one is free to do his will.  Here is where every one is badly mistaken.

It is a forty years routine one is going to miss the next day onwards!  It is a freedom one did not enjoy one now feels he can enjoy!  No Sir,no!  It does not happen like that over night!  The next day morning, one is lethargic as one does not have to go to office on time.  And one goes for a walk.  Any body knowing you will ask, 'enjoying?'  So?  The arrow is fully there, of course unintentionally.  'No Sir, just taking a walk'.   After the words go out and when the friend is out of sight, this triggers the thoughts!  Your steps do not move faster, as you are not in a hurry to be back.  After a few more friends on the walk, you do not want to walk.  You may feel like sitting near the temple or the Church if there is one and think for a while.

One thinks of the last minute thing forgotten on the day of your send off and goes to office.  There again you are greeted and received and once you settle down friend who have been put in your post comes and tells you  "Sir, how are you?"  In an effort to say "Good or Fine, How are you" you try to scramble up to empty the chair for him and he says "No, sit, sit, sit!"  That is a signal.  He goes on, don't you want to see our Boss. You are sent to the Boss, who mostly asks about your welfare and if  he is good, tells you if you would care to come to office on a contract for some more time.

You get the contract and start again and like it and find out early that there is something amiss!  You also find out the freedom you were beginning to experience is suddenly pulled away and you get in to the office timing circle again.   Again the put off things comes to your mind and you want to be free once again.  An year passes by and you become restless to be free.  You take leave of your Boss and other close friends to be free again.

In a weeks time, you are reminded that you have to cut down on your activities and ideas, now since that you are retired.  You go to the  medical dispensary nearby to have a check up for the pains and uneasy feelings you had earlier, but had never found time to check up!  You wait at the parlour of the dispensary where you meet at retired officials who are with various ailments and had retired far far back from their respective jobs.   You take kindly to them and enquire their welfare.  They tell you very kindly of their better position compared to the other friends who have either been in much bad position or has passed away!!  You tell them compassionately, "Oh...I see..Is it so, so sad.. A really, tough order he faced in life.  May God above give him rest!!"

The physician dispose you off with the simple advice:  Oh..you are fit as a fiddle.  but mind you, keep doing your exercises, take a walk in the morning without fail.  Do not consume alcohol to excess. I know, you do not smoke."  Just continue with the same medicines you were taking so far!"  Great indeed!  But why did he say to take a walk without fail.   Why to do exercise to be mentioned now?  Do I not do my exercises? But does not matter. I am fit as a fiddle!

I walk home.  Some of the people whom I found there were friends.  Their problems were at times really worse than mine!  And some of them had passed away!

When you reach home, your wife encourage you to do the biddings of the doctor.    And adds her own advise of not to take much heavy work now that you are retired.    Most of the time you are reminded of your retirement and if you tried to do something which involved any expenditure you are reminded that you are now retired and do not earn any salary and so has to cut down on expenses..!  Since the doctor told you about the exercises and the continuation of your medicines, you do not have much expenses to incur as most of the things you will be forbidden to do so that you can have an uninterrupted care free and healthy life!!  They are all talking about the body person.  Nobody told you to go, see a movie, go play a bit,  why not learn music.  And ofcourse not writing.

The actuary business people had an eye on the body life of people.  Their business works on the life of people and there is a kind of insurance called 'Life Insurance'.   Here the life of a person is insured on the premise that a person may not die in a stipulated period and an addition is made to it saying "If death occurs this is the money which will be given to your next of kin or heirs"  People fall into this great device as they are always wanting to leave something to their wards as a rope to carry on, if he himself can't give it!!  It has played good for many and may play good for too many who are yet to come!

Actually, is there something called retirement?  You are born, grew up, found that you can't get anything which needed cash, you search for it, find out you can't get any without working, you get work, either in private company, individual or for Government.  Then you have the freedom of having your ware-withal and needs met and you acquire a family!  Once you have a family your loving dears as father, mother and brothers and sisters take a back seat and to the front comes your spouse and children.  You are engrossed in looking after them grooming them up and settling them in life and in the mean time devote your day time to the earning work wherever it is.   It is from this work you are retiring as this work who so ever produces and gives it to you want it to be uninterrupted and hence want to refill the place with a younger worker, which you were once.   Somebody would have retired whose place I would have taken.  I had my chance.  Now I have to move.  No probslems to that!

At the point of retirement, the insurance companies also leave you.   Have you ever seen an Insurance Agent walking up to an old man to request to take an Insurance Policy?  Usually not.  All those insurance wizards would have read their Bible!  This Book of Life clearly says, how much is human life?  seventy years, at the most seventy five!!   Wow.  It is some statement. Written from far far back in time.  When we read the obituaries in the newspapers we see many people cutting the ice at a much much later age!   But many others are not as lucky.  They leave early, making everybody to sit down and think.  Even though it does not seem to affect anybody, it sure, affected the Insurance people.  They do not come near you when they hear you have RETIRED!!

But all is no lost.  There is a silver lining to this thing called retirement too.   This is the time to complete all the incomplete works which we very much wished to complete, whether our families agreed or not.  When we complete the works, it is work we are completing.   Any work well done will produce its earnings.  Which means we can still earn and work after retirement and enjoy life and help others through that.  Many people in great difficulty and extreme need will be happy if one helped them.

I will not offer any special medicine for retirement.  I am only relating the general experience.  The ones who had a dedicated life around their families alone are the most vulnerable.  Because like the retirement from any system, the family system is also having a kind of slow but very very steady retirement in India, which was not the case earlier!  In those days, the Appooppan and Ammooma culture were there and they used to passion the age old wisdom to the grand children for which parents encouraged to revere the grand parents.  It went very well so far, but now,, with the advent of the new era in which the families have become more and more nuclear or tiny most of them city based, the space for the grandees have lessoned.  Most people find the culture mixing inconvenient.  The grandees are mostly having the village culture and want to be revered and looked after and allowed a lot of freedom in their general dealings and the new  generation nuclear families do not find the time nor have the patience to deal with them.

The new generation want the old genre to learn new techniques for themselves and become wise in the newer modes of life by googling.  But the old generation rebuff the googling and instead are googled out, many a time.   Sadness of the situation is the new generation which is running around for making every thing neat and tidy is going to become grandees in a short while.  And people are having to travel far in search of their desired kind of work.  This will take away the near and dear and the generation ahead will have to look forward to find ways and means to make their twilight days fascinating by changing into new modes of life.

In such change, it is the nostalgia which is going to be really hurting.  As the song writer and the singer rightly sang melodiously : peepul ka ped, ped ki chaav, nadiki kinara" etc. (that pipal tree, the three's shade, the river bank) which all one used to be around in childhood where one played and grew with friends and playmates, is going to be missed. Those who do not have nostalgia, may go without much difficulty.  We see many people who do not have the forethought or satwik senses, but only consider material things as success and enjoyment may face less stress in their times.  But the harsh truth of the difference in the generation gap is to affect them too.

The idle time value has given place to profit value.  The question now being is asked is the value of  having anybody around who may not directly contribute to ones family life and freedom.  There is a saying I have heard in early life, which business men used to ask in many occasions:  "Mujhe kya milega?" meaning what will I get.  And I found to my dismay that they were very keen to put this question before every product and service "Mujhe kya milega?"   This question of What will I get, slowly creep into their personal life and about their parents with the result the parents are many times discarded.   Somehow, many people these days, take care of this matter and see that their personal affairs are arranged in such a way that their children or wards don't have to worry about them !

Many of the retired people entered into other kinds of activities which kept them healthy.  One such is deep rooted prayer!  It changes the life quality of people.  Those who had been already praying it is easy to get into prayer and submit everything to God who confers his blessings in the form of good health,  happy disposition and a compassionate outlook to other peoples miseries with a willingness to help.

The senior level officers thought to be the thinkers generally, led the way in these matters, by getting themselves reemployed and continuing to work with the people mostly whom they were used to so that they do not feel the change.  Even though the present day mantra is 'change', the mind body structure do not take to change that kindly.  The body mind always craves to be the olden, golden, childhood, earlier youth-hood and the manhood and so on all the time.   Every time the change came it was rebuffed and was accepted slowly after a lot of consternation and murmuring.  We are used to our old photos in the mind and when new photos come, the space for the old are attacked which the mind rebuffs.

When the humans in this earth would have to go to Mars or Kepler C, the same consternation, rebuffing and sadness and unhappiness will take place before some adventurists would turn up to go, to a so much light years after place, to not to return!!  But then times will change, a time will come, like the character mentioned by Satyajit Ray where humans can disappear to reappear in Kepler C or Mars or any other Titan that is available and reappear back on the earth.

In that far of future times, it will be like our saying now to go to UK or USA or China.  Times, times, and times.  In the process many many generations would have come, worked, challenged, conquered and have ultimately gone like the wind!!

The key to unwind the old age blues are really given to or are with the children.  Those families where the old people live, if they are with the new kids on the block, usually their children's children, that takes the form of a company which contributes to the effective warding of early aging.  The bridge that they make with the earlier generation is always remarkable as we see in homes with small children and old grannies and grandpas.  They interact well with each other.


Many of the elderly keep doing some effective and fruitful work to keep off aging.   But all the same, blood ages with lack of interaction and exercise! Young blood!  Middle aged blood!  Old Blood! Then very old blood!  Very old blood is a crawling blood just like the too young little blood!   And those who have very old blood will be acting like little children if they are not mentally active keeping up synergy and exercise levels.

We hear stories of elderly people, old people and long retired people saying that this one or that one is down with one side gone, two side gone etc. many a time starting with a fall, mostly a fall in the bath room.  Actually people when they become inactive at home they slowly discard their safety norms and for a while it works, till that moment of danger strikes and one has a fall here or there and the story of their long crawl (or the short crawl?) for life starts.  This story is not much different for any one.  Everywhere it is the same.  If the old are careful to keep up their exercise and synergy levels they can avoid the early ultimate and have a long and useful, fruitful and interesting life until they reach the pass over which they can pre-warn their near and dear, of course, if they are lucky!


(will continue..)

A journey from Capital to a near by Capital region!

Capital Delhi in summer sizzles.  All the more this extended summer!  The gloss of Delhi is its air conditioned metro.  I took a ride in it, discarding the usual car ride.  Buses are difficult to get from point to point.  The journey from the Central area to Rajiv Chowk (formerly called Connaught Place) was quite good and of international standard, no doubt about it.  I had to disembark there and catch another train to the next stop of my ticket token, called Bharakhamba Road!  That too was really good.  Only, that there was a little more rush here!

Getting a ticket was easy as it was not a peak hour and that too as weorking day.  On holidays and peak hours on working days, the buying will not be that easy.  A small plastic coin is magnetised for the fare and dispensed in the counter. Just show it at the entry card feeder and the gate will open and you can keep it till the journey ends.  I entered the train and the doors closed. Oh..it was cool inside.  What a change from the 42 degree celscious outside!!  The train moved on and a sweet voice was saying" Station Patel Chowk, Doors will open on the left.   Mind the gap"  I did not have to get down here.  I waited for the next announcement viz. "Station. Bharakhamba Road.  Doors will open on the right. Mind the Gap"   I minded the gap when the doors opened and got down.  The escalator took me up to the road level and I walked out to the forty two degrees out side once again to enjoy the summer heat of Delhi.  On coming out, I deposited the token coin on the card reader slot.  That was an enjoyable on a sizzling sultry day in Delhi.

The heat struck me as if with a sword and the bright light made me squeeze my eyes to control the light.  Slowly my eyes got acclimatised and I took out my hand ker chief and put it on my head and walked out.  There was a by lane on the side of the building into which I had to go. I thought of going to that lane and seeing the road side sales and the people around for a couple of minutes. There were several little shops doing business iun stationery, photocopying, repairs, road side cobblers and shoe cleaners and of course as always a lot of small time eatries selling all the hot stuff of Delhi with a bit of spice and ketch up (a tomato sauce).  I measurede up the place and found that not an inch is left for parking or even standing for a long time in that little street and there was also no trees left which were there for a long while, but all gone now. Then I saw a man of forty five or less, a darkish looking skinned skeleton of a man (Can we call him a man!  I am moved by the sight! Sad to see a Gentleman like this) begging!  In fact, he was not begging.  It was his daughter walking him along holding his hand and she was the one begging showing the man.  The man was munching a piece of bread and just walking along as guided by the girl, probably his daughter of 12 or 13 years of age!

Now the girl left him and the man was walking almost  in my direction.  I thought with my cruel mind.  What a crafty guy. Now that the girl has left him he is coming to beg himself!   There was a soft voice in my mind telling me:  Give him something. He is so poor in any case.  My hand reached to my pocket and it came out with a two rupee coin.  But still, I was not decided in giving.  The fight was on in the mind.  Whether to or not to!!   Now the man reached near me.  I am ready with the two rupee and my mind is undergoing the great fight, give him something, no don’t give him.  These kinds are like that only. They do not deserve better.  I felt, I am in his position and he is in my position. 

Now in his position:  I was eating the scrub of bread somebody had given my daughter.  She said, Papa this is good.  That gentleman over there gave me his left overs.  Really good papa, do eat a little. You have not eaten anything since morning.  So I started to eat it.  I was walking in the direction of a group of people. On the way there is the silhoute of a man with a bag.  While I was passing the silhoute with the bag I felt his handing nearing me.  Instantaneously I showed my hand. There may be something he may be wanting to give me.  The silhoute told me “here” and I extended the hand in that direction and lo! There is a two rupee coin.  God has been kind today as ever.  A two rupee coin.  A meal costs only twenty rupees at concession.  That too we have to buy only if the hotel does not have any left overs. I was happy.  A few more two rupees  and I can buy a fresh meal today.  My two daughters will enjoy. And if they can’t finish it my wife can join.  I do not need fresh food.  I can eat all kinds of left overs unless they are stale.  I digest anything.  I am a worm.  A worm eats anyting.   Our human position is not very important in this town.  There is no Mother Theresa around here.  Here all are human, very busy in their day to day affairs.  There is not even place to stand in one place here in this city these days.  This is not the old city of yesteryears!   I moved on.

Back in my position:  It was automatic.  I could not prevent myself from extending my hand and trying to put the coin in his hands.  His hand was extended but not in my direction.  I made a sound to attract his attention and his hand came in my direction.  I put the coin in his hand!!   I could not believe myself.  The man was totally blind but for seeing a shadow. What further can be done? What ..what further.   I have my urgent works on hand.  I only thought of seeing this place around to acclimatise myself, if ever I had to visit this place again.  I slowly walked away with a last look.  The skeleton man’s wife, a stocky black lady had assembled her two darkish looking girls aged 8 and 12 around her and were seriously discussing about their business of begging.  The skeleton man was still munching the bread parts of which falling from his mouth, and some showing up around his lips as he was unaware of the sight.

I walked in the direction of the Metro train.  I can’t wait!  I have urgent work to do like all others!!

In the Metro coach, my mind was still around the forty forty five year old darkish skeleton of the man munching his bread and his wife and little daughters happy and discussing ways and means under the hot sun with the temperatures soaring at forty five degrees!!

                                                                                                                            

(To continue..)

Mashithandu!

Mashithandu..!!

We shared it in little classes, from Class I to Class IV.  There was no KG class in those days.  No LKG, no UKG.  Play School was unheard of.  Going to school to paly!?  OH..God! Can't anybody play at home?  This was the atmosphere then!

What is Mashithandu?  It is a piece of the stem of a little plant, usually seen in Kerala.  May be, this is available in other tropical places too.

Why I am mentioning Mashithandu here is to share the nostalgia connected to it and the goodness with which a lot of people used it in olden days.  This is connected to class rooms of elementary schools of olden days!  Children used to use a wooden boardered slate to practice writing and learn the alphabets on them.  The writing tool used in this, apart from the slate is a slate-pencil.  A pencil made of the same material like the slate stone, cut into a pencil shape.  The slate itself is a flat piece of the stone.

When any thing is written on this slate either in slate pencil or chalk, it will remain there until we erased it!  For practising writing letters, mean, alphabets, to practise simple arithmetic etc., there was nothing like a slate and slate pencil.  Every time we have to write something new, the old writing is erased off.  As little children we did it with our bare hands.  We had to have something better if the slate had to be cleaner.  One way is to wash it in water.  Then, the whole slate will be wet and it will take a long time to dry up.  Here comes the entry of our nostalgic 'Mashithandu'  .

The children who wanted to have a quick cleaning of their slates were careful to collect few pieces of mashithandu, from the plants around their houses either by themselves or with the help of their parents or near relatives.   They in turn, shared a few pieces with the other children in the class who generally sat near them. The huge friendships as we see now, were not there in those days! Those children, who did not know of this magic watery cleaning material, were struck with wonder and looked at the given in amazement!!

Then, it turns out to be friendship of a kind which sometimes extends beyond the class.  Mostly it is forgotten.  We have not seen any deep friendship from such sharing, but a great goodness feeling and all were happy.  In turn, it turned us on to have them ourselves, and we started in right earnest to search our back yards for this rare species of plants.  It has a small thick stock with nodes and leaves and small branches growing from those nodes.  All together the plants grow to a height of only0 inches or so at the most.  It grows under other plants which are regularly wetted, like plantains, coconut trees near houses or such other garden areas as water is a must for it,but not too much water.  It stores the water in its stem.  That is how, the pieces of stem is becoming the useful and loved 'Mashithandu'  .  I had shared a lot of 'Mashithandu' with other children in the class and had created a lot of friendship at the time which is normally forgotten when we leave and change school if not totally leave it.  There was also the thorny cactus, which was also used aftercarefully  removing the thorns with a piece of blade or a small knife.  This has to be done very very carefully!!  Collecting them also needs a lot of care!  As these cactus grows in dry places where normally many people do not go and so it becomes the resting abode of snakes.  Some of the snakes do not like intrusion into their domain and iif that happens they may attack!

The green thorny cactus can be cut into pieces to exactly resemble a present day rubber!  This is made in several like pieces and used and shared with other friendly children if they are not too very head weighty or bad!  These used to be such children also in class.  Like the bad cactus with thorns all over and bad to all.  It is not their fault, but their up bringing.  Their parents would be bad and they would grow bad children too.  Luckily most of such children are modified by the Teachers, Sisters, Gurus and Fathers through their schooling time.  All the same, they would be a hed ache to the other children who would have to sit near them.  In any case, such children were few and far between.

Coming back to the Mashithandu, it was my daughter who gave me a book to read on a journey by train which I was about to embark upon, when she brought out this book titled 'Mashithandu' written by a Fr.Starzon.

It catapulted me to a time far far back in life when I used to carry my slate and slate pencil, many a time not knowing about the Mashithandu.  I still can erase a slate with bare hand, but the slatee or slatepencil's dust will be on my hand.  That is when an unknown friend gave me the little piece of this watery stem. There after my little hands shared a lot of these pieces with a lot of little hands and even now I would enjoy using them for the heck of old memories.  Small children love it.

Alas, those times are gone.  The present day children, at least many of them in the villages and definitely none of them in the city metros get to see or enjoy these as they are used to paper and pencil or pen from early childhood.  The other day, I found a small child using a lap top net book and she was in KG.  I doubt, if this loving little child will get to know the mashithandu and its accompanying happiness and nostalgia to be stored for a future moment of leisurely thought!!

The little chubby chubby mashithndu withered after a time when kept in our hands.  As small children we never knew the withering character of this little plant stem which had a high water content which God had created for us little children using slate boards!  When we moved to little higher classes some childrfen brought peacock feather pieces which used to shine in the sun.  All were thrilled at the sight of it.  By this time the slate boards have been replaced with books and the children who possessed the peacock feather bits hid it in their books among the pages and showed it only to their friends.  A girl who used to sit on the other side of my bench once showed me a piece of the peacock feather which she had got from her elder sister.  This was a really shining piece  which emitted rainbow colours mostly green and violet and it glistened in the sun light.  I told this once to another boy who said he can bring another piece for me and he had heard if I kept it in the pages of my book it will double after some days.  True to his word he brought the piece of the shining glistening peacock feathernd gave it to me.  I was thrilled.   I hid it among the pages of my newest book which had the best of smells and  kept on looking at it to see its doubling.  Till the end of the class year it had not doubled.  But still, I liked the glistening colour of the feather which is a special God send for little children in small classes.!

Among such small wonders, the Mashithandu was the first one!!

****************************

To press the seeds to tell our story!

To press the seeds to tell our story!

The art of sowing the seeds were a norm known to farmers and the people of the olden days. In the present day, people press different kinds of seeds for different purposes.  The cell phone users press the seeds with numbers, the accountants press the seeds of digits on accounting machines, now I am pressing the seeds on the computer.

On the computer also there are people who press seeds on their blackberrys, hand helds, others umpteen number of gadgets for a desired result.  The pressing of seeds have become an integral part of our lives.

At times when we are airports we get automated computers for delivery of services and if one is adept at pushing the seeds of the key boards, many small time services can be obtained.

All these alienate us from our immediate neighbours to an extent, as was required earlier.  

Now there is an easiness of pushing the seeds or keys, if these are according to ones familiarity.  For little children these days, a cell phone is enough to push the seeds and play their games.  For the youth a Galaxy or Iphone or yet again any hand held is enough for the same.  For the middle aged they need a laptop or something near to it.  

For the elderly we need a large desk top key board or the Typewriter key board itself. The old time Typewriter keyboards had a beauty and elan of their on.  We had the most beautiful keyboards on Remington, Godrej, Facit and of course our good old Halda!  

I had a truck with some of the very old beauties called Olivetti and Underwood too !

All of them had a basket full of teeth with various letters on them connected to different keys on the keyboard.  We learned to type on them with great care.  The white paper fed into a black rubber roll took the type faces when we pressed the keys!  They invariably pressed a ribbon in blue or black color and at times had a bi-coloured ribbon of red and black.

As the type faces pressed, that made an impression of the typed letter on the paper on the roll.  Each individual letter and character was pressed by the individual typing on those hilarious machines in those days.   Some of them can still be seen around courts and registration offices around the world, especially in India, but fast disappearing!

The typewriters may be disappearing, but not the pressing of the seeds, which still continues in the form of the key board and application of these.  
(Now a PS: I pressed a lot of seeds yesterday, but the connection strength became poor and all the seeds which I pressed could not grow into this article, which I found out this morning! But don' worry, I have decided to press them again so that I can produce somewhat the same feelings through further typing them!)

(To be continued..)

The old time typewriters were all in steel with plastic keys.They were in four rows and different steps, one step each slightly higher than the other. One learned to type with both hands with the fingers being trained on the keys in the third row.  The starting was with the simple line of  
      asdfgf ;lkjhj asdfgf ;lkjhj asdfgf ;lkjhj asdfgf ;lkjhj asdfgf ;lkjhj asdfgf ;lkjhj asdfgf ;lkjhj  
      asdfgf ;lkjhj asdfgf ;lkjhj asdfgf ;lkjhj asdfgf ;lkjhj asdfgf ;lkjhj asdfgf ;lkjhj asdfgf ;lkjhj

That was a hilarious beginning to operating the joy machine.  Most of the typewriter makers brought out a baby typewriter which could be carried with a convenient plastic cover and handle which people carried at times on travel too for the ease of writing with the types. The quest for typing with ease led the makers of these machines to invent a better machine to ease the hand pressure when one had to type six to seven pages with carbon papers inserted among them to make many copies when required.  There came the electric typewriter as an answer to this!  In the electric typewriter the type basket was connected to a motor which supplied enough energy to the types to press more hard at the shift of a small key.

This was replaced by the electronic typewriter which could remember a few pages and type them electronically any number of times.  This was the beginning of the oncoming electronic cum computer generation which we see now.  


The use of electronic typewriters were also the time the normal typewriters, the electric typewriters and the other small typewriter babies all of which found almost their fag end in the sight of the Desk Top Computers.  In the place of an electronic typewriter now stood a Desk Top Computer with its CPU, Key Board with the seeds of letters, digits and other characters, a monitor and a printer.   These were costly compared to the typewriters and hence was first in many places only allotted to the Heads of the Divisions and kept on a separate table well covered with its stylish polythene covers and sparingly used or not used at all.

Soon, it was understood an apparatus inside a polethene cover cannot do any work except that it can be a status symbol.  Slowly, other junior staff who were too very close to the big wigs started getting training in the usage and the Desk Top Computers started to make an impact in office circles, where many pages were typed everyday, as conversation, on files, and correspondence in the daily handling of different matters! For every thing when a thing first appears in the market and becomes popular first it becomes the a status symbol, then a show off to say I can possess, then an every day requirement and ultimately a tool to be given to the underdogs or employees for daily use to produce results!  Next is the thought of the harm it will produce or the handlers may get out of prolonged use.  That is the time when the status symbol users will get off from the use of pressing the seeds.

When the first humans found out or invented that seeds can be sown and grown into plants and its fruits or produce can be collected, it would have been the fashionable stuff of that beginning period and slowly it would have gone through all those processes and dissented to the poor people called farmers or farming labourers ! By that time pretty good number of seasons would have elapsed when cultivation would have been done time and again and people who had the high status would have got bored with it.

We started talking about the basic letter writing through the simplest of machines called typewriters. Me for one, had sat on a small stool with an 'Underwood' , its keys rusted, hurting my fingers, typing the letters I told above, with great care and joy as they made lines in the white paper.  On my way to the small room in which around 12 of us drummed at various typewriters, we passed through the watchful eyes of our Master who majestically sat at his table with eight to ten other students around him with small note books and him reading out passages to them.  Even though, we had no business of what they were doing slowly once the letters started to behave properly and as we wanted, curiosity started to scratch us as to what is the purpose of these other guys writing.  


The surprising thing was each one of them read back from the small copy book signs or 
cuts and bruises in pencil, exactly what the Master ji had read out or was reading out every time.  This was magic.  I thought t was great as they rarely looked up from their small books and never saw the paper from which the Master ji was reading.  Master ji in turn when he asked them to read turn by turn kept watching the words in the paper, and the writers never saw it at that time. 

One of those days, I took courage and asked the Master ji:  "What is this that these other friends are writing?"   He smiled at me and said:  "Feel interested?  This is Shorthand!" "What ? Feel like trying a hand?"  I asked back: "Can I do it?"  "Of course! You can.  But perseverance is required.  Will have to write three hours at home, if I give you one hour class!"    I was READY to Persevere!! What else was there to do!  If I come here and go and not study this peculiar stuff, I am merely losing my time!  I said:  "Yes, I would like to study this new thing.  Tell me when to start". "Next week!"   Next week I started with a new group of boys and girls to study the peculiar language called "Pittman's Shorthand"

In Pittman's Shorthand, there is no seed sowing or pressing, but here we make cuts and bruises on white paper with red lines.  The letter signs called symbols were practised and we had to put it on paper watching the red lines. We were told to make it above the line, on the line and through the line, if I remember correctly.  Some were made under the line too!  In a matter of four weeks the symbols joined or disjoined called out lines started obeying us.
The use of this language is when we have taken down the matter on paper we can go to our typewriters to press the seeds to create the matter in black and white for which there was a demand and ultimately with a lot of practice this may turn out to be a job provider.

So we started with the friendly lines and their co-related signs!  The class became more friendly with the Master ji in the lead.  We vied with each other in taming the characters and outlines.   I was fascinated by some of the senior guys at the brand new Remingtons and Haldas!  The better looking Facit and Godrejs were not in that little school.  I was at the 'Underwood'  One of my colleague girls were at the 'Olivetti' which also had the rusted and half broken keys which hurt her hands.  But we had to do the exercises of letters, semi colons and more letters till we reached abcdefgh..etc... when we could aspire for a machine of our choice.  Of course that would be a better machine, not the best ones on the run.  They were seggregated for the seniors who wrote in the signs and reproduced in typing at a fast pace.  They stopped only when they stumbled on an outline or so.  I envied them!  I was not to envy, I know.  But when you are young, when you like to have something, you forget the catechism lessons and envy.  But that was not such a sin, as to hurt them for our betterment.  We only hoped, one day we will be able to drive those beautiful machines.  

We toiled at the broken keys and started to write the lines, signs and outlines, on the line, above the line and through the line!  At times, under line too.  We passed our time by practising and talking all subjects in the class as type practice did not need much attention once the fingers were set on the respective keys.  We made slow progress, but was steady in our pursuit.  We were told we were much too far ahead of normal students and can't imagine to do fast typing that quickly.  That we were not to accept and argued, that we were under the orgal agreement that a change had been agreed to when we reached abcd...This was agreed to by the Master ji, who was the authority in those matters, as he was the Manager and Owner of the school.

But there was an endearment side to our next subject namely Shorthand which the Master ji personally taught.  He was very cool to us who were in the Shorthand class, as we had to spend more time in the school.  Our typing improved and the Olivetti and Underwood had become by heart to us and we even at times helped master ji to oil them and clean them.  That earned us a prestige in the class and we were (most of us, say around 5 of us) were promoted to the better machines.  Now the distance between me and the best machine was only two machines!  I waited for my chance and in the mean time wrote the signs on the line, above the line and under the line and at times, Through the line!!

I had started to read them back too and also read it to other aspirants who wanted to improve upon their practice.  The two practices in Shorthand and Typewriting went hand in hand in the adjacent rooms or classes in the little school.   And one day I completed the abcdefgh...xyz with ease and earned my place at the best machine!

During the Shorthand classes, every now and then, people in the locality came to the class to meet the Master ji.   They wanted to type a Government Stamp Paper with some agreement which was to be executed.  This brought a small amount to the Master ji. Master ji being elderly at times returned them, saying "Now there is no time", even though but for the classes going on or some other urgent work, he did not want to return any one. To him that was not only disheartening, but also loss of money.   Most of the time when he could afford the time, he did such works on a special baby typewriter which he pulled out from his table drawer.  Carefully he fixed it on the table in front of him, pushed the buttons (or the two seeds) on either side of handle and opened and took out the outer cover which kept the machine inside and made it carriable like a hand bag.  That was a beautiful machine with glistening chromium at many places.  He typed on them.  He only typed on them as it was his favorite machine.

One day he was returning one of the gentlemen of the area who came to get an agreement typed.   I just took up the opportunity and asked the Master ji opposite whom I was sitting at that time "Can I do it?"   Initially he was slightly perplexed as no student ever asked him like that and also he did not know what are my intentions.  Also, that machine was given only to those who were very well versed in the art.  He thought for a moment, hesitated a bit, then said, "You know the matter is to be typed on Stamp Paper! It can't be spoined, that is the catch! Would you?"  I said "Yes" and he gave me the Stamp Paper and the matter and under the graceful watch of the Master ji and the gentleman who brought it, I slowly but steadily did the touch typewriting on the Stamp Paper and completed it without any fault and both the gentleman and the Master ji were happy.

My typewriting really had become superb and I used to run the great Halda and also the Remington as if I was changing new cars!  Whenever a person came with some typing work, I reached out to the help of the Master ji saying, "I shall do it, Master ji" which really touched him.  Slowly, I became his special student!

 
I had kept the letter typings in my mind to teach to future aspirants:



      asdfgf ;lkjhj asdfgf ;lkjhj asdfgf ;lkjhj asdfgf ;lkjhj asdfgf ;lkjhj asdfgf ;lkjhj asdfgf ;lkjhj  
      asdfgf ;lkjhj asdfgf ;lkjhj asdfgf ;lkjhj asdfgf ;lkjhj asdfgf ;lkjhj asdfgf ;lkjhj asdfgf ;lkjhj


They would like it.  If they did, it would be advantageous for them.  During these sutdies, we enjoyed the time in the sunny climate of Kerala. The piercing heat of the day time was not much of a problem for us as the inside of the little school was always cool.  I used to meet any number of my relatives and friends below the school as the school stood in the market place almost in the centre of it.  

Since we were upstairs (the school was upstairs and there was a bakery run by the owner of the building from which wafted wonderful aromas of cakes and biscuits all the time) the commotion and din of the market did not affect us much. 

The kind of frightening machines (like the JCBs and Bull Dozers) were less in those days.  Vehicles were less.  The occasional bus and usual cars! Then the bi-cycles and the general public coming to the market on foot!  A number of bullock carts, which has become redundant these days on main roads.  I do not know, where all the animals are gone!


One of those times, I recalled, having seen my father at work with a few people busily discussing some business propositions.  At that time, I had been to the Typewriting School for a while and then discontinued the Typing side as I had to proceed to regular school.
Here father when he saw me, motioned me to wait.  Once he disposed of the people with whom he was talking, he was in a very free mood and asked me if I had tea : I know, he was in his good moods and very piously I replied as always : "No".  He took me to the nearest tea shop to be lavished with his love and affection in the form of the Vella chaya and something to eat and we came out.  

Then he told me "Would you like to telephone?"  I knew the machine called telephone, usually in very black colour and having a receiver with an mouth piece etc. which we have seen in films and also understood that people can speak into it to be heard by some one far away.  I was naturally thrilled!  

He gave me a ten naya paise coin with the picture of the Ashoka Sthamba on one side, with the digits '10' written on the other.  Just walk across to the shop opposite as tell the Manager that you want to telephone.  When he says yes, give him this ten naya paise coin.  And you can telephone.  For the number it is thirty seven.    He always advised me with exact requirements and believed that I can say some English.  His belief always thrilled me.  I was ready to do anyting in English with as much English I knew.  When you get Mathuchettan on the other side (Mathuchettan is the owner of a big Timber Store cum Packing Case company) ask him if he would like to buy the three feet rubber cuttings from rubber trees at three rupees and fifty paise, that is all.  Hear the answer and tell me.

I walked across to the shop.  Here, the owner of the shop, Ousephettan  (Brother Ouseph) was looking benignly at me, as his shop was empty at the time this being noon, lunch time, and people generally visited in the morning and in the afternoon and evenings.  I asked him the first question: "Can I make a phone call?"  He said 'Yes, ten naya paise'.  He looked at father standing across the road and smiled.  I put the ten naya paise coin in his hands and he motioned me to the corner of his cloth cutting table, (this was a cloth shop, where cloth was retailed) where the black magic box of the time was sitting majestically. 

It did not have any seeds as yet.  This machine was a black box with the receiver in the cradle.  I picked it up for the first time in my life!  What a feeling!  I am getting connected to the world!  I may speak at this end and somebody in Germany or America can hear!  Imagine that.  Fantastic.   I looked across the street.  Father was looking at me jubilantly!  His chest would have filled up.  My son! He is telephoning.  He is grown up to pick up the telephone and speak!  From the best of shops in the little city!  

As soon as I brought the earphone close to my ear, there was a sweet voice or the sweetest of voices:  "Number please...."  I remembered the number.  "Thirty Seven"  for which the sweet voice said "Connecting please, hold on".  A moment, two moemnts and a voice, a gruff voice said from the other side "Hallo.. Aaaraanu?" (Helo, who is this?).   "Njan ........ude makanaanu."  (I am the son of so and so..)  "Adeyo?" (Is it so?)    He again continued to speak -"Enthaanu vendathu?" (What do you want?)  I replied : "moonnadi rubber moonnara roopaikku irakkattennu appan chodikkunnu" (Father is asking if three feet rubber tree cuttings can be downloaded at your company for three rupees and fifty paise for cubic feet?).

"Irakkikkolu, irakkikkolu" (Yes, download, download) .  That was my first telephonic conversation.  I walked across and told father what Mathuchettan said.   He was very happy.  
He called the people with whom he was engrossed in discussion earlier and told them "Take the truck to Mathuchettan's firm and download, it is all settled"!  
He turned to me and said that I saved him a lot of trouble of Bi-cycling to this gentleman's company and Back by "telephoning and getting the information".  I was thrilled to have been of help by using this black machine, still without any seeds on them, the machines in those days without seeds, everything depended on connections.  BUT what I could not UNDERSTAND was how Bi-cycling is a trouble at all.  Here I was pining to get a bi-cycle and father says about the trouble of bi-cycling!  At that young age, I did not understand that people at different age levels felt differently about bi-cycling!

Father was happy to get the information I passed on.   He patted me and said:  "You did a great job my son..It was a big help today."  The next day and the day after next I went to various companies on the bi-cycle and telephoned him whether the Company Manager's opinion on the prices father offered and if he was in agreement with them.  After a while I got my first job in a Government office!

The office was in the city district.  The phone there was a dialling phone with a ring with digits 1, 2, 3, 4,.... 9  & 0.  What ever the number desired to be dialled was to be taken by dialling the ring from the digits on the ring.  That phone in time changed with the press button digits which we can consider as seeds.  Now it is all pressing the seads to call any number.  That had some semblence and connection to the old typewriter with the keys,  now the keys slowly changing to seeds and pressing them.  Still the the black telephone instrument sets ruled for a while and change over took some time.

Once the change over was complete to press phones, came the new item called the pager which came and went out in a giffy!  Before those who hurriedly bought it could show it properly to friends and others, came the final item called the mobile phone!!  The ones who heard it were really dumb struck to hear that it needed no wires, no wall connection!  All the more, it can be carried in ones pocket!1..Wow..!  To keep a magic piece of stone in your pocket and the little bird to chirp when somebody called you.!!  Oh..boy...Those who wanted to use it really went for it and pressed the seeds on them.  The same 1, 2, 3, 4,....9..0 and some added signs.

A call outgoing was charged sixteen or seventeen rupees per minutes.  An incoming call when taken was charged eight rupees or around.  The companies made their profit, people who wanted a fast and wireless service got their service.!  A win..win...It seemed there was some profit in the business...that companies after companies came in the market with their kind of new new little mobile phones and the prices  for calls came down!

Then the phones started to improve with new buttons, full key boards, querty key boards and cameras and actions changed to touching the buttons or signs.
The old typewriters were changing to electric, electronic typewriters and then to computers and printers and scanners.  The keys to be pressed were always there!  Anybody wanting to say something by way of these machines pressed the key!  Times were changing!  Every day a new mobile phone with new features are announced.   The keys were disappearing fast to touching the screen!  May be next generation will not know that too, but may be they will only have to look at the signs on the screen where the eye recognition with the look intensity will change the programmes! 

Then this generation will be gone and the new generation will be in!  Of course, all for the good of all..!!

Oh...my old School!! Now going to be a Memory!!

Oh...my old School!!  Now going to be a Memory!!

My old school is being demolished.  That is why I am writing.  The school is now going tyo be memory only.  For those who are owning the School, this was a necessity of the time.   

But for those who revere memories, this may be a bit painful.  Such pains are to be taken in good spirits.  I have suffered many such demolitions and dismantlings.  

I am now talking about the Sisters' Convent School Buildiing in with the Carmelite Sisters used to run their school, all schools, like Priimary, Upper Primary and High School.  There was no college.  Villages did not have Colleges then   Only Schools.  

The Sisters' School had a huge large structure, a yellow coloured buiilding on the road side with its imposing three storeys.  The wooden first and second floors which I was mentioning in other postsw are in this school.  I would wish to climb those stairs once again.  Now one seldom sees such first floors, or second floors in wood.  The outside portion of the building had yellow wash with slight yellow coloured kummayam (chunnambu-calcium) and its large chocolate windows.  When we looked up at the third floor windows seen from the opposite side of the road, it seemed to be in heaven.  So high it was! The fround floor wall had a slanting cemented support of 2 feet which directly set its foot in the sewage canal, which carried rain water in olden days.  The canal never harmed the building as the building was very strong.  The entry of the School was on  one side and the other side was the large Chapel (which is a small Church used by the Nuns and a portion dedicated to the public.).  Once we entered, after a few yards there was a Blue Board mentioning the name of the 'St Mary's Convent High School, Ollur' etc.

While we reach the Board and the accompanying gate, on the right hand side is a single tenement whose windows are visible to us.  We, curious and inquisitive, as we are looked through the windows and say some sisters or ladies doing sewing works, thread making by thakli and using charkha etc. (These are my vague memories..) Once we entered the gate, the direction of progress turned to the right which passed through a building structure on the left and the beautiful rose garden on the right which always sent out the sweet fragrance of roses!  

Straight up, was the stairs to the verandah of the school building, and once in the verandah, the corridors split to the left and the second to straight up, which led to my Class II room.  This verandah turned to the right and the next adjacent room was my Class I, where my angelic Sister Khabrini (she is a Carmelite nun, so very motherly, with a sweet smell on her dress!) taught me to write Aa (The first letter of Malayalam language).  Thereafter in the last 58 years, I have written a lot!  When we climbed the verandah steps and when the corridor turned left the first room was the "Headmistress" room!  The room had its entrance in the left turned verandah, but it had a window on the straight up verandah through which we passed.  We were afraid of this window, as sometime, if we looked, we may be straight looking into the eyes of the Sister Principal, who was said to be a Tiger, in sister's uniform).

If we took the left turn verandah corridor and continued we went straight up and after crossing about 8 to 10 class rooms the corridor ended opening up to the backside ground and further far far up the Toilet and Lavatories, which could be used when necessitated or when we were allowed recess!  After a while in the school on a portion of the ground a swing set was set up and we were allowed to swing a few times by our Sports cum Play Teacher!  That was wonderful to swing!  On high high swings you thought you touched the heavens.  After the extreme height, there is nothing, but further skies only!  We were thrilled by those swings.  One child pushed, when one child sat in the swing by holding onto the chains on either side and swang up and up!  

On the left hand side of this ground was a building the verandah of which was used for the distribution and consumption of 'Kanji" (the rice porridge) given to the needy children.  I was one among them and cherished the 1 o' clock Kanji very much with its accompaniement of kadala curry or any other kind of curry, especially the lentil curry etc.   None of the children had any problem with the food served, ever  In those days we thought only of eating, eating and eating.   That was the only animal feeling we had!

However, we did not have much time to linger on food, as the class curriculum kept us pretty engaged.  Apart from the studies we had a play period and a crafts period. In the crafts period, a sweet looking sister came with a scissors tide to her side along with a huge rosary.  From time to time, she picked up the scissors and cut the colour papers and made flowers out of them.  At times she made a kind of paper swing and got us to make like wise.!  These were some of the unforgettable experiences we had in that little classes.  All the while we avoided the Head Mistress' window!

The chapel at the entry had a verandah followed by the entry proper to the chapel, which was a small cute church!  The statue of St. Mary who had a heart pierced with daggers and Jesus Christ 

brought down from the cross is laid down on her lap is a first entry sight as I remember it.  There was the big statue of St.Mary at the centre on top of the altar.  This was a Mother's statue with a very benign look with her gaze up, towards the Heavens, and she had a crown on her head.  There was two glass panes in colour at the top on either side of the statue through which morning light came in according to the colour of the glass.


There were several altars which were used on the days of the 40 hours adoration, which was an annual feature, in which people all around and those who could travel and reach by other means attended.  Mass continued from morning till noon on all altars as there would be so many priests visiting at this very important occasion in those days, and there after those priests will sit for confessions for which people turned out in great numbers!  All through, holy adoration continued for 40 hours non-stop.

The floor of the chapel were furnished with red furnaced clay tiles!  Most of the interiors have changed in the interiors of the chapel due to renovations in recent years.  But the School and the garden and its roses  were untouched. Now, that is going to change.  When I last saw the side walls of the huge yellow building was standing without its large windows, ready to fall any time.  Lurking in the vicinity was yellow coloured machine monsters called JCBs with their ugly teeth out!  I am sure the walls will crumble under their touch and then, perhaps, new architectural marvels may come up!

However, the old grandeur may be gone for ever!  These are the changes of he times which can't be helped!  Next generation will never know, such a building existed or such a rose garden, beautifully tended year round was there!!

Travelling to Fredericksburg by car and driving back!!

Travelling to Fredericksburg by car and driving back!!

Getting a Driving Licence was a big task for me  in USA.   After two failures at the hands of the African American ladies at the DMV at last I took a new Trainer called David and he saw me through the driving lessons and the right hand driving which I practised quickly.  Here in India we did everything on the left. But not so in America.  Most  of the things we did here in one way, is generally done the other way there!  So it went also for driving.  Once I had the licence I was jubilant and was in search of a car.

A friend of mine offered and took me to Fredericksburg Car bidding where he could bid a car for me.   I was thrilled.  He took me in his car and we were there at the bidding ground well in time one morning and  my friend bid a Honda Civic for a reasonable price.  He said the car will be ready with all paper work and temporary number in two days time asked me to come at that time.

On the appointed day, I was nervous, a bit, because it was a long way from Virginia where we lived.  We were only three people living together, my wife and daughter and myself.  I announced the matter at home and my daughter offered to accompany me!  That was a solace.  I may not have to come back alone.  My friend took us to the bidding station and got the car.  Here was really feeling upset!  The new country, the new place and to drive alone.  My daughter can't drive.  So it has to be me to reach home safe and sound!   We had procured the mapquest route maps and I started enquiring of my friend, a dare devil at driving or anything else, if I will be able to make it.   He looked at me and said very confidently, Yes of course you can.  Rest assured!  You were driving in Delhi, don't forget. Only different is the right hand side.   Rest, all are the same.  Now drive behind me upto the gate (this was a mile away).  Then I can tell you if you will make it.  In fact, I can watch you from the rw.  

We arrived at the gate almost together in front and behind and came out opening the doors of our respective cars at the same time.  And my friend exclaimed.  You have done it.  Now drive on!

That gave me a lot of strength and when I sat back at the wheel, my daughter was grinning saying, Dad don' worry you have done it!