SNAPS FROM MY LIFE-‘welcome’

SNAPS FROM MY LIFE-‘welcome’

I had gone to the Municipal Office to sell books . The staff there did not know English- ‘give us Hindi books’ , they said. Still I was able to sell some ten books.

To return home , I went to the nearest Metro Station which is named WELCOME. There, the passengers told me to go to Kashmiri Gate and then come down to the ‘yellow line’ The station there is a four storeyed bulding . The ground floor is underground where I must board the train. Seeing my confusion a young man held my hand and took me along the escalators . He sat beside me , up to ‘Rajive Chauk’ I thanked him and gave him a book. “You can contact me ; my phone number is given on the back side.”

Thus we departed as friends.

STORY-JUDAS

JUDAS
We three were fast friends. Damu and Ravi were hard core Communists . The Party was banned at that time and our activities were top secret, because Police was on the look out for members of the party.
I could not understand all that was going on ; I joined them because we were friends. They stopped studies after tenth standard, while I continued and joined the College. There I formed the Students Federation and we used to discuss politics , without mentioning the word Communism.
In 1942 the Party decided to support the Government war efforts against Japan and ban on the party was lifted . I graduated and married my class mate. I got a job as clerk in a Bank and studied for passing the qualifying examination for promotion to Officers grade Needless to say that I became Bank Manager in due course. In this capacity, I wielded considerable power, as sanctioning loans was a leaver to mint money. I forgot politics and my friends R and D called me Judas. “you have become a capitalist ,”D said.
I kept mum. They needed money and I gave them this nectar of life, which all needed. My wife had many friends . One was a havala agent , I learned later. I never bothered to enquire her bank balance. Wherever I was working, she bought or constructed a house. We had separate cars.
In 1942, the Party decided to help the war efforts of Britain , when Hitler attacked the USSR and Japan joined Hitler. General public hailed the INA of Subhash Bose, but Communists exposed him. The ban on the Party was lifted . After India became free, the Party reversed its policy in 1948, when the Randive thesis was accepted and called for armed struggle to overthrow Capitalist Nehru regime. I opposed this line and the rupture with my friends became complete . At Pariyaram, a Police station was attacked , some Policemen killed and guns were carried away. Later, D confessed that he took part in the attack. Police repression became terrible . Some CIDs in plain cloths watched my house too.
I managed a transfer to Delhi. When this policy was abandoned and the Party decided to take part in elections, I came back.
However, my wife’s involvement in havala was discovered and I was asked to take voluntary retirement.
In our old age, we three used to review our life. I had helped in the marriage and studies of their children and D had to agree:”It was good that you became a Judas. We gained nothing from politics . Now the Comrades do not even recognize us.”
I said:” Judas was not an enemy. His uncle befooled him, saying that hey want to save Jesus from the public by keeping him in jail. Poor Judas committed suicide”

SILENCE IS GOLDEN

Until I became very old, I used to speak, without knowing where to keep silent, thinking that one has to speak, as otherwise, your friends will take you for dullard.
It took a life time, to learn the value of silence!
When enjoying the company of close friends, with a peg or two, to keep conversation going, our friend Nair, used to keep mum. It is when you watch others talking, that you really appreciate their company. Some of them may be really knowledgeable, and you can learn a thing or two.
Some gifted people keep you spellbound by their rhetoric.

OUR HOUSE

The green hills and rice fields, water gushing forth through streams, foaming and frothing,

Bright sunshine, cool breeze tickling the bamboo that swings and sings,

In a language known only to Him, what else do I need?

The cuckoo calling its mate, vines weighed down with grapes, swaying gracefully,

With plenty of friends, what else do I need?

The original poem composed by poet G.Sankarakurup, was in our Malaylam text book for second standard and I liked it very much. I have taken some liberty in clothing it in English language which I hope, has not totally disfigured it.

Well, our house under construction is situated in the idyllic setting described by the poet. It is a modest house, even by our Indian standard, with just two bed rooms. As it is the land’s end, with rice fields which become a lake in rainy season, it is the quietest place you can ever come across.

There is a Sastha temple just a minute’s walk towards the West and a large pond where people come to take bath.The rail line from Shoranur to Kochi, runs through the middle of the fields in the East.

We hope to shift to the new house in September.

MY INFERIORITY COMPLEX

My height is slightly less than 5 feet 3 inch.

My legs are too short to ride a bicycle.   Children’s cycle is comfortable.

My friends assured me that I cannot impress girls.

To cap it all, my poverty. For a middle class man poverty is a matter of great shame.

I was extremely shy to speak, even if all are well known. The sound will not come out. I cannot even sign because of a nasty tremor wich agonised me, because, in those days there were no ball point pens and I have to sign in the salary bill,with ink pen, in the presence of people. I feared the first day of the month, when salary is disbursed !

Inferiority complex can have a damaging effect on one’s career. I could never make an impression during an interview. I was happy that I did not have to face the girl whom I was to marry.

Two things lightened my days. Books were always my friends. In the school, I was always a hero, because teachers and students always like a bright pupil.

A HUSBAND IS A PITIABLE CREATURE

Many men are afraid of marriage. As Bernard Shaw said, if you marry, you will repent immediately.

But they will not allow you to enjoy your freedom indefinitely. Mother needs an assistant when she gets old. A number of fathers will try to get you entangled for their daughters. In India, an unmarried girl is a curse on her parents. If nothing else, your friends come forward to help you. I think such things are unknown in the West.

Once married, there is no going back. You are tied for seven lives, one after another.

Every day you have to bring vegetables, milk and such things in addition to taking her for shopping, cinema and visiting friends. As soon as you come back from your work place, tired and angry, on account of the bickerings and fights with your colleagues and the irrational Boss, she will be waiting, fully dressed, to go out. Not her fault, as she is kept inside the house, bored to death. Well get fresh, change your dress and go out.

When children are born, at least two, there is no end to your worries. Worries are multiplied, with the children fighting each other, then school, tuition, home work and all that.

Wife falling ill, in-laws coming and all sorts of complications.

If she is beautiful (who will marry an ugly girl?), you are suspicious of that idle fellow, who is always so sweet and glib tongued.

And, when you want to do it, she is not in the mood.

Before you realised it, your daughter has grown too big. Now it is your turn, to hunt for a husband for her.

W-I-F-E means, Worry Invited For Ever !.

KEEP YOUR MOUTH SHUT AND ENJOY

We all want to talk; it is a weakness.

Some practice silence, especially on selected days. I like to remain so, except when I get the company of a few friends who like to hear me. After a few pegs the silence melts away and I too become tongue loose!

In Railway Audit, we had a colleague, P.S.Nair who never talked. Even after several pegs of hard drink, he will listen to all our conversation, smiling all the while. I used to say something foolish, thinking that it is unbecoming to say nothing among friends. It took a long time to understand Nair, who left this world very early in his life.

While sitting in the back seat of a bus, it is funny to watch the back side of the heads of fellow passengers. There is great variety, as the faces have. No two heads are alike. Hair style and even baldness do not resemble one another.

Or listen to what people say or fight about. Now, inevitably, the mobile phone has changed everything. Young and old are alike bonded through this mysterious force.

Some have no respite from talk; either calling or answering, all the while.It costs money.

Or is it free?

KERALITES PUBLISH MAXIMUM BOOKS

It will be interesting to compare the per capita number of books published in Malayalam with other languages.

Almost all of us, who are capable of writing, have published at least one book.

When you travel in the train, somebody will go on placing  a bunch of books by the  side  of passengers and come back later on. Recently I bought one book on the birds of Keralam and my wife bought one about house building, because we are making a small house. All books are priced Rs. 10/ and contain about 100 pages.

At the Agricultural University, Mannoothy, I saw a notice” SALE OF BOOKS NOT ALLOWED”. It shows that I am not the only one going about selling books.

A retired school teacher, Sankaran Kutty Mashu, spent his retirement benefits in publishing his autobiography. Each copy costs Rs. 250. I read it with great interest, because it is an absolutely truthful account of his life at Brahmaswam Math at Trichur, during the revolutionary upsurge among us namboodiries, when communism attacked the institution.

Essentially, the Math is a Vedic School for imparting knowledge of Rigveda to Brahmana children; it allows hostel facilities for those who go to school, too. Following land reforms, the Math encountered financial difficulties, as its main source of income was landed property. The book is a valuable source of information about those days. It has literary value also. But none is interested in classical type of novels. The book failed. The author sold some copies personally. Now he is working as a poojary, somewhere in Andhra Pradesh.

Valuable books which are not likely to be bought by the general public, should be bought by the Government and distributed to public libraries.

Some of my friends confessed that not a single copy has been sold.

The number of newspapers and periodicals published in Malayalam far exceeds the number of similar publications  in other languages, if population is considered.

WE LIVE IN OUR OWN WORLD

Our mental horizon is different from our physical world.

The experience of our childhood make an indelible impression in our mind. This world we always carry with us.

 The books we read, the friends and hostile people we met during our youth, the TV shows and a variety of scenes we witnessed- all these contribute to our mental horizon. As this spiritual world is different for each individual, sometimes we do not understand each other, even when we speak the same language.

“Hang him, not let him live; hang him not, let him live.” A comma makes all the difference ! When we talk, how can we put the comma? The result is break down of communication.

 Many newly married couple fail to make it, because they cannot appreciate the view points of another, as each one’s spiritual horizon is different.

Rural and city people can never appreciate each other. Patience is a valuable asset in the success of married life, as also in the office and on the road. Alas ! We are very much deficient in this respect.

Instead of making a cushion, our words sharpen the edge, when we use each word as a weapon.

Yet we are eager to have friendship and love.

LATITUDES AND LONGITUDES – ANSWER TO A QUERY

My friend wrote:

 On your write up on international date line and your rejointer to it, one of my friends have reacted like this:

 “Here is then a question for you to ponder. If you are standing on top of the north pole, can you tell which direction is east? ”

YES, WE CAN SAY WHICH IS EAST.

STAND AND WATCH ANY STAR, WITHOUT TURNING OR CHANGING POSITION. IT IS BEST DONE, BY FIXING A PIPE, THROUGH WHICH YOU CAN SE A STAR .

YOU WILL FIND A DIFFERENT STAR, AFTER ONE HOUR.

IN THE NORT POLE, YOU WILL BE TURNING FROM EAST TO WEST. IN THE SOUTH POLE YOU WILL TURN FROM WEST TO EAST.

 STAND AT THE CENTRAL PIVOT OF A MERRY-GO-ROUND AND WATCH THE TREES MOVING. YOU WILL SEE THE CHILD OPPOSITE YPU ALWAYS; BUT THE TREES WILL BE MOVING IN A CIRCLE.

IF YOY HAVE A WATCH, LOOK INTO THE PIPE, EVERY DAY AT THE SAME TIME. AFTER 365.25 DAYS, YOU WILL  SEE THE  SAME STAR  AGAIN

This is how the Malayalam Panchang was made, observing the position of stars every day at the same time.

Every point is due south, when viewed from the North Pole.