Progress

We have almost settled in the house, and are able to lay our hands on the things that we require daily. But daily life is quite interrupted from the time workers are around.

Today, there was some progress in construction. But not much, as the supply of bricks did not come, as promised. Till 5.00 PM, I was assured that they will supply the bricks, whenever we telephoned. Finally, I was told that he will supply three loads of bricks by 8.30 AM, tomorrow, without fail. Hope he will do so, as otherwise, not much work can be done.

As the main and other doors arrived late, we could not do the Pooja today, as I had hopped. Now we are planning to do the Pooja tomorrow, after 10.30 AM.

The next big thing

I have come back to India after spending more than year in US with my kids and grandkids. Though I came back for a short 3-week stay in between this was the longest I was away from home. But now that I am back, I have decided to award myself the biggest project there ever is - Construction of an upstairs unit at our current residence. Moving forward I will be posting a quick summary of the progress and learning’s from this experience.

Today it is the third day after we had started the construction work at our house as we build a floor upstairs. Work is smooth so far. We have almost finished chipping away the terrace, to erect the walls. Also, shifted the water tank from its stand and a temporary connection has also been made, so that there is no problem for water.

Tomorrow we plan to remove the chipped portion of concrete and level it before lifting the materials like brick, sand and cement for construction of walls, most probably from Monday, 18th October. On Monday, we should be receiving the doors (frames). Also, advance amount has been paid today towards supply of bricks, as it is in great demand. He has assured to supply bricks as and when we require it.

Different Approaches

I have taken a long time to get back to my nascent habit of writing down, for the purpose of blogging, from my past. As I did not write anything for the past few months, I was afraid that it may not be possible to get into the mood and continue with this hobby, which I found very fascinating when I began. I did not try doing anything during the last few months, despite repeated and persistent reminders from my daughter who had originally introduced me to this wonderful medium. But my daughter set on her three year old son after me with her original demand for writing and I found myself typing something sitting in front of the computer, as the three year old won't take a no from anyone, let alone me. I tried many tactics to escape from their persistent demands. But after some days, I gave in.

I had found myself in a situation some years back. I was in a deep shock after reading the report obtained after a biopsy, as I found myself asking God why He has given me this punishment, when according to me, I did not deserve such a harsh treatment by any standards. But as has been pointed out by many, the ways and methods of God are not understood and it is best to accept it when you are the chosen one. I had undergone various tests one after the other, after the biopsy, and I was continuing with the tests only to rule out the possibilities, one after the other, under Doctor's advice. I would take the medical report to the surgeon, after forming a worst opinion about the contents of the report in layman's understanding of the report, only to be directed to undergo another test by the surgeon. So when I collected the final report after spending considerable amount, I did not expect the worst. I had the mortal fear for surgery of any kind and when the doctor told me that the surgery was the only solution and that I would be required to undergo one, his advice took literally the life out of me. My mind was in turmoil and to avoid the eminent surgery, I made many excuses.

Had it not been for the system of my employer, of footing the medical bills first and making recoveries of the ineligible items of medicines and other costs from the salaries, perhaps, one of my excuse of not having enough funds to meet the cost of the operation, would have succeeded without much effort on my part. Besides as is the case with many of my generation, I had the habit of spending without worrying about its effect on my pocket.

For many days I heard emphatic no for a postponement of the surgery or for adopting alternative methods for treating my illness. It was at this time one of my friends narrated the story of his mother who was anxious to get herself operated for her heart problem. He told me that she almost ran towards the operation theater and it was an effort for others to restrain her enthusiasm that day. I did not buy his story at that time, as I felt the consequences of a heart operation at an advanced age was not properly communicated to her.

The story narrated by my friend, re-appeared again in my life in another form many years later. My father in law, who is in his eighties, suffered a intestine problem and doctors advised an immediate surgery, as otherwise, it may lead to many complications. We were afraid of bringing the subject of surgery as a means of treatment, but he surprised us with his firm assertion for opting for the surgery. In my mind I can still see him walking to the operation theater without any sign of apparent worry, in his casual dress and a 'thorthumundu' firmly tied in his inimitable style over his balding head. (How a patient can walk into the operation theater in his own attire may surprise many. Though the concerned people in that hospital did not found anything wrong with this practice. Perhaps I could write about it some other time.)

Coming back to my surgery, I feel fortunate that I listened to doctors and friends, as according to the doctor whom I consult periodically, the number of years I have put in after my surgery, increases the chances of disease free life.

A passport to trouble?

The other day I found myself filling the forms for a new passport, as my current passport was nearing its expiry date. The first thing I noticed was the rule that the form should be filled in capital letters with either black or blue ball point pen. Writing in only capital letters have always been a problem for me, as I tend to slip into small letters even when I take great care to write in capital. Added to this problem is the fact that one has to write the answers to the question in the box provided there in the booklet. One has to leave a column blank after finishing one word and that is something I overlook while filling up the columns. I had to pay heavily for my aforesaid weakness, as I spoiled four forms while filling up the application for my passport. There was an intervening Saturday and Sunday on which days I could not get the new forms at the passport office and I had to postpone submitting my application until Wednesday.

The reason being that I could buy the application forms on Monday, but could not fill it up then and there itself, with my attendant complications. I brought the applications home and filled it, but did not take it to the passport office on Tuesday, as I felt Tuesday not auspicious enough for such ventures. Here I have to explain why I consider Tuesdays not auspicious enough. It was partly because of my habit of wearing my dress for two days, so Mondays , Wednesdays and Fridays I found myself wearing clean clothes and Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays I did not find myself fit to face anything new, as I was most of the time wearing the cloth of the day before. Slowly I used to change the shirts every day, but still retained the habit of wearing the same pants for minimum two days. So in my mind I refused to do anything afresh on those days in which I was wearing the cloth which I had already worn.

So by the time I took my application to the passport office, it turned out to be a Wednesday. There was quite a good number of people standing in the line at the passport office to get the tokens before being allowed to go inside the office. Once inside I waited patiently for my token to be called and when it was called after about one hour, I submitted the forms at the counter along with my valid passport. The officer accepted my application after scrutiny and also returned my passport after stamping it canceled. Last time when I renewed my passport, the old passport was not returned then and there, it was sent by post along with the fresh passport.

Now I am looking forward to receive my brand new passport, which is really a passport to a better and more organized place where I could spent the days in the company of my daughter and grandson.

Dream Weaver

One of my recurring dream is owning a place all my own at my native place. If I had done something right away to translate that dream into a reality, perhaps I would now have been a proud owner of a small place, but I feel now that I wasted much time thinking about the pros and cons of owning a small place.

I visualized many problems and instead of finding solutions for that imaginary problem, postponed my dream to a later date when I could invest more money into my dream of owning a place at a better and more decent locality. This was my constant stand that more money to invest in a place would automatically solve some of my identified problems like security, open space, playground, recreation space etc to mention a few things. But the condition of the housing market is such that the increase in the price was never predictable and skyrocketed, while my budget to spend on my favorite item remained more or less static over the decade. While I almost purchased and sold many places in my another favorite pass time, you guessed it right, day dreaming, I never seriously did pursue my dream, and whenever I attempted, those attempts failed to materialize mostly on account of funds.

Few days ago, we were on a trip to Mumbai and one of my friends mentioned about a flat (apartment) at my native place. He casually mentioned all particulars of that flat and as it was within my scheme of things, I immediately started liking that place. I went to my native place recently and saw the flat for myself. Though the flat has some draw backs, it satisfied some or part of my expectations till I learned about the price that the owner was actually looking for it. It ended my one more sincere attempt of owning a flat at my native place.

Now I am again doing the same thing in which I have excelled all along, day dreaming about owning a nice cozy flat or place at my native place, now better known as God's own country.

An adventure in vacation

My son-in-law, daughter and grandson came over on a very short visit after a long gap of two years. The vacation was over soon enough and when they left yesterday, the house looked empty and lifeless. The days were full and each day started with detailed planning for the day, but at the end of the day, there were discussions why the days did not go off as per the planning. Anyway, it was fun and we enjoyed every bit of it.

We had made an elaborate plan when my daughter mailed their program. We did some shopping and dusted and cleaned the entire house to welcome them. We even made a mental note of items to be prepared for breakfast, lunch and dinner.

After making all preparations, we traveled to Mumbai in time to receive them when they landed there and spent few days with them at our Son-in-law's place. But even with our detailed planning things did not go as planned, when we finally landed at our house. We arrived late in the evening and after much discussions, had to order curries from the hotel, being hungry and tired with the cleaning we still had to do. The next day morning, we all got up late and again we had to buy dosa batter from outside to prepare dosas. This set in motion a cycle for the days ahead, it seemed we were lucky when we we were able to make the food and enjoy it all together.

I remember my earlier vacations when I traveled to native place. Getting the rail reservation itself was a big hurdle and once you succeeded in it, the train journey through the hot summer days, drained your energy. But the very thought of spending the days with your family gave you the added spirit to journey across and forget the small inconveniences. Those days, there was no pantry cars in the train and one had to depend upon the wayside stalls for tea and food, if one had not taken the trouble of packing it from home. As soon as the train entered the platform, there was mad rush at the stalls for the eatables as no one was sure how long the train will stop at the particular station. Only the bigger junctions on the way provided good food and more stalls and where the train would stop for a longer amount of time. At other smaller places, one had to endure the mad rush to obtain anything that was needed. But one thing was different from now and that I seemed to have had more days of leave to spend.

Once the vacation was over the return journey began with items that are available in plenty at home. But invariably I heard my grandmother telling me that she could not do many things for us when we were with her. She had planned a trip to some place or wanted us to go to a relation's house or some other similar things. We returned to our work place promising her that during our next visit, we will definitely undertake that particular task.

Over the years, I find that the concept of vacation has changed. It has become very short and sweet. But to this day, the best part of vacation is the advance planning which we undertake in leisure, in the comfort of our home. And as it turns out, despite all the advance planning we could not meet some of our relations nor visit places of tourist attractions, as the vacation was very short, or some other unexpected delays along the way. Packing being the last minute thing, we even found that some things were left behind - some items which we had bought even before the arrival of my daughter so as not to forget it to carry back with her when she returned, were left behind.

I am sure my daughter made a mental note, as I had done after each vacation, for a longer, leisurely vacation with the family. But as is my habit I know that at the end of the vacation, I will find it very short and still complain about the unfinished items during that vacation, just like my grandmother did before me.

Best laid plans

For me the last days of every year are perhaps the most memorable days of the year. Last two years, we had spent the Christmas and New Year in the States, with daughter, son-in-law and grandson. That feeling and joy of spending the time together with family and loved ones could not be experienced this year. However, the fact remains that I consider the month of December as one of my favorite time of the year.

While I was working, there were some casual leaves that had to be availed of, as otherwise it would lapse. I used to spend time planning vacations clubbing my casual leave with the national holidays when I would get the new year calender. And when the year comes to a close, I will be explaining to my family why I could not make those short vacations and racking my brains for finding a plausible reasons for not taking the casual leave.

Reasons for not taking the leave came easily to me but the funniest was always the one that I liked to keep the leave to the last minute. There were others in the office who thought exactly like me. They did not take the leave till the last possible minute and announced their plans to take leave at the eleventh hour. While at the beginning of my career, I was at the bottom at the office hierarchy and naturally I was persuaded not to take leave as my immediate higher up wanted to enjoy his leave. But when I got promoted to higher grades, my luck as far as taking leave at the year end, remained more or less same. It was my juniors who wanted to take the leave and as I was afraid of their ire , I was invariably the one who managed the show during the last few days of the year. Later on I found that I need not hunt for reasons for not taking the leave, as office amended the rules of casual leave and one could accumulate the unveiled portion of their casual leave of a particular year, for a maximum period of three years. This arrangement saved my casual leave, but it did not save my face in the family.

I was determined to make good the lost opportunities of vacation after my retirement. Here also, something or the other, always crops up in the way of my taking vacations. The irony is that it is not confined to year end plans, but applicable for the whole year. I am required to find someone to look after my house whenever I plan any vacation and more so persuade my sister to take care of my aged mother who loathes any changes to her routine. Security considerations demand that I keep someone to look after the house in my absence as I had lost valuables, more of sentimental value when we were away the year before last. That time sister had agreed to take care of my mother after some dramatic scenes and moral persuasions.

Now I find a silver lining, as the Government have come out with a bill whereby children are required to look after their aged parents in their hour of need. The Act even provides stiff penalty if children are found wanting in this area. Maybe if the Act also amended to take care of situations where the parents require attention for short time when the regular care giver needs some respite and vacation, I would be merrier.

The Bus Ride

I had a month long trip to my native place in Kerala with a definite purpose behind it. I wanted to get some certificates, and only had a rough idea on how to go about accomplishing it.

My first and foremost thought was about the place to stay as it would decide the travails of our daily commute, as I could not afford individual transport. In the interior places, it is still a trapeze act while traveling in the mini-bus (often referred to as the kutti-bus). While the 'kili' will push you inside as soon as you are able to board the bus, the 'conductor' will urge/implore you to move along the way where there is already a human mass. This exercise is a continuous one and will cease only when you have to get down jostling for space while guarding your valuables lest it is picked up by expert hands. In the privately operated buses there is one more character, who is called checker, who asks you about your destination and ensures that the conductor collects the fare from each passenger.


The drivers of these mini buses are a peculiar lot too. He is a person whose sole responsibility is to see that there is no other moving object in front of his vehicle and he ensures that the bus reaches the places/stops ahead of other buses. And by this, he ensures that his mini bus, picks up the crowd of people at that particular stop. He seems to have no time for a smooth driving experience, nor is he bothered about the hapless commuters who are precariously struggling to balance inside the overcrowded mini bus. He negotiates the sharp curves in such a fashion that the passengers get swayed violently as he has not reduced the speed of the vehicle. And then he looks back at his hapless captives with a inviting smile on his face expecting an applause for his action.

The bus owner in his wisdom has provided seats in which you cannot get in, as the space between each seat is just too little. Instead he has provided more vacant space for passengers to hang on to the overhead steel rod for their dear life. I had a few words with a fellow passenger about the nature of the seats provided in the bus. He blamed lack of supervision from Government authorities who issues the license for the bus. When I pointed out the bus owner could have on his own could ensured comfortable seating arrangements in his bus, my fellow traveler was of the firm opinion that it was the responsibility of the Government authorities. As usual, I lost the interest to continue with my point!

Now there is also reservations made on the seats - some are reserved for ladies, some are reserved for senior citizens and handicapped passengers. In buses which are operated by transport corporation managed by State Government one seat is even reserved for conductor. In one particular bus the seat next to the conductor was reserved for 'andhan' (a sightless person), though how he would locate the seat in an over-crowded bus is beyond me.

The good thing about these 'kutti' (mini) buses are that they connect the interior places in the state with the nearby towns and provide a cheap and fast means of transport. While doing so, the majority of passengers endure the small irritants which only encourages the bus operators to solely look at their profit margin only.

There is another class of passengers in the bus who deserves our sympathy the most -- the students traveling to their schools/collages. As they are required to pay only a fraction of the normal fare, they are not allowed to board the bus, at least at the starting point, till the normal fare paying passengers board the bus and fill it up to its full capacity. These students are never able to get a seat, as at any time a normal fare paying passenger may signal and board the bus. It is a struggle to travel in the crowded buses with a small load of books in the backpack. The only consolation is that backpack allows free movements of both hands to hang on the overhead steel rods. No marks are given for the correct guess on how short, small students could reach the overhead steel rods for an uneventful ride, though.

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Picture taken from KSRTC website.

Movie Nights

It nearly four years since we went to see a movie in a theater. Looking back I cannot find any reason for this lull as I am an avid moviegoer. Perhaps, the main reason was that there were not many theaters nearby that were screening movies in Tamil/Malayalam, and even if they screened the movies in these languages, it was at odd hours causing much inconvenience. More over, their charges for the show were exorbitant.


Thinking about the charges,I could still remember vividly the excitement when one of my cousins offered to take us to a movie way back in 1962. He had come on vacation and the theater had newly come up. The pricey tickets were at Rs.1 and he took us all by bus for the movie. But after seeing the movie we had to walk down more than 7 kms in semi darkness as there were no street lights worth mentioning. However, it was pleasant to walk during the night amongst a group of people listening to their discussions on everything under the sun (that time the moon) on the earth. This was my second movie experience, the first being a Hindi movie which I had seen along with my classmates when we were taken to a show by the school authorities. As I did not understand anything in that movie and I returned home cursing the moment that I decided to join the group for I had to pay a hefty contribution of 25 paise to join the excursion.

After these two movies, I did not watch any till I started earning. My friend & I used to go for the last show in the theater and we cycled down the distance without worrying much about traffic rules. We had no light on our cycles and it was sheer luck we reached home safely every night. I remember we did this exercise thrice in a week, as by that time, three theaters had come up in our village and they would change the movie every week.

Later I shifted my base to Bombay & on getting the job there we patronized the late night shows once again, so as to accommodate my friend who worked in shifts. We did not leave a single movie which came to the theater for a number of years. The movie going madness finally ended with my marriage and there was some lull in my movie seeing mania that I again resumed with a vengeance in an unexpected manner. This time around we bought a vcd cassette player and our living room turned into a tiny theater during successive nights. The number of movies we saw during this time was so huge, as we saw movies in three languages. The surprise was that we still found time to see some good English movies in the theater as well.

Coming back to the present, after my retirement, we restricted our movies to the ones we came across on TVs and thanks to power cut and black out of cable, we either saw the first half or the second half of movies. I am waiting for the day when the channels, instead of repeating the movie, would just continuously run the same movie on the same day - something similar to the "All day runs of Law and Order" that we have seen in US televisions. We then just might be able to see the movie in full until of course the power situation improves.

Today's movie which we saw in the theater was 'dashavataram' and in spite of my eagerness, I reached the hall 10 minutes late.The culprit was the advertisement for the movie. In it, it was mentioned that the matinee will begin at 10.30, but the theater people started the movie at 10.00 for reasons known to them. The movie turned out to be a good enjoyment with some good action scenes and excellent photography. For a change there was no separate comedy track in the movie but the characterization of the heroine turned out to be irritating at times. While returning from the movie, traffic was light and there was a dip in the air& the ride was pleasant.

I may resume my movie madness yet again!

The journey back

We had a beautiful and pleasant stay with our daughter, son-in-law and our grandson in the States. The climate was great, and with no power failures, no non-working telephone and above all no traffic jams we completely forgot about home. We counted the days we were there as we knew good things never last forever. Soon it was time for us to return & what an eventful return it was!

Reaching home, we decided to hail a taxi (cab) to get ourselves home. The first taxi we hailed quoted a price for which we could have traveled 4+ times to our house and back! Even before we could react to this demand, he looked at our luggage and said he had made a mistake and revised his quote. At this time an auto driver came along and quoted his price. But we knew our luggage won't be safe in an auto as we had 4 large suitcases that will not fit inside an auto. Looking at the luggage, he started to suggest that one of us travel with the luggage and the second engage another auto to travel. With a quick calculation (even without calculating the fare for the second auto) I realized that the fare quoted by him would have been half the price of the taxi, which we had originally thought of hiring.

In the meantime, I called my friend who came with his car, and after loading the luggage in the car, it was obvious that only one person could travel with him. I sent my wife and waited a few meters away from the airport for that elusive autowalla to take me home.

This time, it was a little different story, as I was waiting for the auto away from the airport. More over, I was alone and without any luggage. Many passing autos did quote a smaller amount, but I was hoping to get an auto within the amount I was willing to pay. Finally an autowalla told me that he would charge me by the meter and as is the norm and approved by Government for the night travel, I will have to pay 50 per cent over and above the amount shown by the meter. I agreed to it, as it was not a number the autowalla thought of at the moment which he might change once reaching the destination but by the meter which with some good faith I assumed had not been rigged.

He brought the auto into life with a blast of noise and continued making noise by blowing the horn, seemingly at the insects flying around as there was no one else on the road at that hour. The street dogs welcomed us home with their load barks, waking up the neighbors’ in the process as well. Next day we were told by our neighbors’ that whenever the street dogs bark continuously at night they check because with so many burglaries taking place at night, the noise made by the dogs have turned out to be a blessing in disguise.

After entering the house, I checked on the telephone to tell my daughter about our arrival, but the telephone was dead. There was a thick layer of dust that had settled all around the house and it was next to impossible to get any sleep. Instead we sat down, reliving the days that we had spent at the States sitting amidst the noise of the street dogs and the smell of dusty surroundings.

You could say we had finally arrived at home!

Till Death

Today’s morning paper had a good surprise item for me. A news item transported me back to the "good old days". The article was about a yet to be marketed item called a “TwoDaLoo”, which can be used by two people at the same time. It promises to promote savings in usage of water and harmony among its users. According to the report, couples more often than not, go to the toilet in front of one another. In that scenario if toilets are made for use of two, as claimed in the report, it promises a world of good for the couple, while saving precious natural resource.

Reading the article took me precisely half a century back. In those days, there were no toilets in our house. I and my younger brother used to go the open fields together for our morning chores and I still vividly remember unless we were called at least three or four times, our job was not finished. During those moments, we talked about everything under the sun, unmindful of the chore we were in.

Having read this news item, I had only one regret. If these multiple user toilets one day become the norm, I should have gone for the patent of the original idea, in this matter.

Costly lessons

In life, there are many instances when one might feel cheated –a lost opportunity that nags your mind forever. I paid a visit to my home town in connection with expediting the work of obtaining the certificates, and in my anxiety to get them done sooner, we entrusted the work to a retired person who was doing some consultancy work in his new found free time.

When I first met him along with my wife he was all business like and assured me that the work will be done without much loss of time. He made us believe that as he is not familiar with the subject, he will inquire about it and go about the same strictly as per the rules. It took him more than a month to find out what needed to be done. This instance itself should have made me extra cautious.

Another incident came by at the time of handing over the applications, which he drafted in front of us. Whenever I questioned him about the steps to be followed in the matter or the language of the draft, he brushed aside such matters. He had an annoying habit of airing his views. If I put a question to him, he may not answer me at all, but would start explaining the same matter to my wife or to others who happened to visit him at that time without explaining the background of the matter to them. For example, when I asked him about his fees, instead of stating a sum, he started narrating a story. He had taken a work for some other person and had incurred quite a large amount of money, which the other person was now not willing to pay. This person, according to him, went to the extent of explaining his clout in the society and he questioned about the genuineness of the bill. In short he was not willing to quote an amount that he would charge me, but wanted me to assure him that whatever may be the final amount, I would settle his bill without any hesitation. I was not willing to go with such an arrangement. I had seen many agents who would agree to do work without quoting their fee - this method is to allow you not to think about the payment but only the work to be done. But when the work is over they will extract their pound of flesh before they part with the product. They will later on explain why their bill is so high, as they had done the work the way you wanted or you directed. I wanted to avoid that pitfall, as I have been a victim of such things in the past. But he did not quote a figure and in spite of my initial reservation, we went ahead with the matter.

Of course I never got my work completed through him, as every time I inquired about the matter over the phone, he had a ready made answer, such as he is on the job! It went on for sometime and when I happened to personally meet him later, I found to my dismay that he had not moved an inch in the matter. He was saying that he did not meet the desired person, as he wanted to be sure about the work will be done, as rejection of the request from a person of his status, will spoil his image. He was more worried about his perceived image than the certificate which I wanted.

In the end, I did not want him to test his ability to get the certificate using his image and the clout of the post from which he retired, while all along adding the expenses to my account. It left me poorer by few hundred rupees, but I learn't a good lesson from that experience.

Tharavadu

Recently I was in Kerala in connection with obtaining two certificates connected with my life - one a birth certificate and the other my marriage certificate. I never felt the need for both till this day but my daughter suggested that I obtain them in case it may become necessary to apply for a green card.

I always wonder about the change of attitude that had taken place in my mind. Whenever I visit Kerala and my home 'tharavadu', I feel guilty that I did not take any worthwhile measures that were perhaps within my means to safeguard it from its present ruins. This guilt is very painful as I have very strong feelings about this house with its once green backyard.

When I felt ready to begin my working life, getting a suitable job in Kerala was considered very difficult. As most others have done before me, I too left Kerala in search of a job and landed in Bombay. But I had the feeling at the back of my mind, that my tharavadu will remain as I had left it. From an age that I could remember, my grandmother did her best to enhance the prestige of the tharavadu without destroying anything that had been built by her predecessors. She in fact spent on its upkeep, from her own meager resources. Her life was one dedicated for the welfare of the tharavdu and I always felt her presence, whenever I visited the house. But on my short trips back I started noticing small changes and even some significant ones.But the desire to stand on my own legs was very strong and left me with no choice. I suppressed my true feelings about the house. I suppose I left those feelings at the very bottom of my heart and never once expressed it. Being a common property with a number of claimants’ to it, perhaps my feelings towards the house was the correct one. I was emotionally attached to the house and prepared to look after it spending from own pocket but like my grandmother I did not expect anything for myself from there.

But those succeeded my grandmother and our immediate group, which we call thavazhi did everything to destroy it. One by one they removed the tall trees and once they finished them, started selling anything which had a resale value from the house. They even succeeded in demolishing one beautiful portion of the house mainly for its good quality teak woods. When I saw the bare grounds after the portion of the building was brought down for its woods, I felt that my grandmother's soul would have left not only from the house but also from its surrounding compound. As per then prevailing practice, she was cremated at the tharavadu, on her death in the early 80s. After her death, whenever I visited the place, I felt at peace while standing at the very ground where she was cremated as I considered it as a sreekovil of the temple. The sight and presence of the ground gave me immense peace of mind.

We also had a huge collection of big vessels that was sufficient to prepare food for a number of people on occasions like marriage and other large functions. I remember during our younger days, we used to get papadams and nenthrakkaya whenever our neighbors came to borrow these huge vessels in connection with such functions in their house. Now I do not find any such vessels in the house. The saddest part of the story is that those vessels were sold for a pittance and its proceeds were spent on day to day necessities.

The processes of getting the certificates are on. Perhaps one these days the papers will come and the desire to be with our grandchildren may take us out of this country. In the meantime, my prayers would be that we save enough money to do something to protect what is left at our home. Should we choose to re-construct the portion of the house that was demolished or go for something say a separate small house in the compound with all its complications? I am still unable to make up my mind. But I wish to could do something at my place which I can say is mine, even though, from a legal angle, may not be entirely mine.

Greener Pastures

Some thoughts never fade away. I remember when I joined the Bank in the early 70s, one of the problems I faced was that I turned out to be underweight. The Doctor recommended re-examination after 3 months. I was told that failing to show improvement in weight would result in postponing confirmation in service and in extreme case, termination of service. The golden rule in this case was the decision of the Bank's Doctor was final.

To improve the weight, friends and colleagues suggested many easy tricks. Sum and substance of most the advice was to eat and eat more, which anyway, I was doing. But the other part of advice, that of doing exercise was not in my agenda, except running for the local train and bus and walking the distance from the station to the office. This last leg of journey daily would often result in a run, as most of the days, either the train was late, or if the train was on time, I happened to be late. Other than this running for train and brisk walking to reach office in time, I was not doing any exercise worth mentioning.

Bank would have allowed even medicines to improve the health, but I was generally averse to take any medicines, as in those days, I saw a doctor only when I could not postpone the visit any further.

On re-examination of my weight, after 3 months, it did not register any significant improvement, and doctor again recommended re-test after 3 months. Most of my colleagues had passed the medical test even at the first time itself and those who were unsuccessful cleared the same by the second chance. I was little worried to receive the note staying that I need to be examined again after 3 months. This time some of my colleagues came with more suggestions.

Someone suggested that I go for a Insurance policy through the assistant to the Doctor, as it was the Assistant who recorded the weight. He had an agency in his wife's name and he could get many insured from the Bank itself, looking at the number of such underweight candidates. Another suggestion was to go for drinking many glasses of water and eating bananas. I decided to go for this suggestion. I remember one of my uncle had told the same thing in a different context to my grandmother when she asked for some financial support to tide over a difficult time.

The time was after the Government implemented the policy of land for the tillers and those who were not farming the land like us; suddenly found that they have no grain to feed themselves, as people stopped parting the agreed share of the produce to the landlord of their produce. We were a large family of nine people, including one uncle, one cousin sister and we three brothers, two sisters and mother and grandmother. My grandmother had the responsibility of finding where withheld for the meals and that was the reason, she met this particular uncle, who while declining to part with any amount of money, advised us to drink water and tighten our belts. My grandmother stoically took the advice but many times she said that we the children will one day earn enough and take care of the needs.

Coming back to the medical test, I did not register the required weight, even after consuming half a dozen bananas, the third time around. That had only one effect, that of increasing my cold, as it was during winter time. As it is, I am allergic to cold and eating so many bananas, worsened my condition for one week. I decided never to go for such gimmicks. I passed the medical test at the fourth attempt, registering a slight increase in my weight and the Doctor must have hesitantly decided not to recommend a further examination, after three months.

But my problem did not end there. I gradually put on weight and now I can say that by the time I turned forty, I had a paunch and I was overweight, by the same standard set by the said doctor. And now my worry is the increasing weight and perpetual cold.

Jinxed!!

Train commute is a big part of city life in Mumbai, and the people in it are always in a hurry – to get to work, to get home, to get anywhere are everywhere. The train system is one of the best in India and offers the commuters speed and efficiency.

While I was in big city, throughout my working life, I traveled in local trains. I used to enjoy travel standing near and close to the window (when I did not get a seat), as this position affords certain privileges in the one hour train journey. One is certain that no one will overtake you, as there is no space between you and the window. People in Mumbai are known for their hurry and that is one reason they try to overtake anyone or anything which comes, their way. More over, there is a consolation that while you could not get the window seat in the train, at least you are traveling standing close to the window. In the overcrowded local trains you need to have some consolation as otherwise you may lose your sanity. But on the flip side, you are often asked by people to put their bags and luggage on the rack at the top of the window – so you are constantly putting things away or pulling things out for them.

After my surgery, I am not able to lift my right hand over my head independently; I had willingly given up the pleasure of traveling near the window, because of the sheer habit of people boarding the train and rushing right behind you. They will nudge you with their bag and baggage expecting you to keep it in the overhead rack. And if you happen to decline, they will kill you with their eyes and the body language, which will definitely spoil the rest of your day.

On shifting my residence from Mumbai to Bangalore, I bought a scooter for my travel in and around Bangalore. I opted for a lighter variety of scooter as I could not afford any weight on my right shoulder.

It gave me immense pleasure and freedom as far as my traveling requirements are concerned. I could go to any place at any time at my sweet will and I enjoyed this new found freedom. Compared to the over crowded local trains which I was forced to take for my travel, the scooter journey was a sheer pleasure. I even avoided the morning and evening rush hour traffic, as I had no muster to sign at the fixed hour. I was enjoying my scooter travel in the city till an eventful travel, last year!

I visited a place in the outskirts of the city and my scooter got a puncture! I was rather new to the place and had a tough time getting the puncture attended to, having pushed the scooter with my weak right hand over a considerable length of dirt mud road. Second time also, my scooter developed a puncture, after I had the occasion to visit this place. This time though my host came to my help, having called the mechanic home and getting the wheel removed at his workshop and putting it back, after inflating it. Today again I had to visit this place and the scooter completely went dead on the road, on my way back. I had to push it on the road till I located a repair shop, where it was found that scooter needs complete overhaul, even though I had the scooter serviced just a week back at its authorized dealer’s.

I am trying to determine whether the place is indeed jinxed for me or does my mind playing a trick? I am now retired and the need to spend money on items which are essential to life with my reduced income, has anything to do with my thinking? I fervently hope it is the later, as I enjoy my retired life and I know for sure, no place is jinxed to a person who loves each day which is the gift of God in this beautiful city.