my dear kannan

The Ambassador car sped on its way the hot summer of Chennai beating on its tin roof .
Rajagopal sweated under his safari shirt , he took his handkerchief from his pocket and wiped his brow.

A faint smile ironed out the furrows in his cheek ,
he looked at the rear view mirror of the car ,
not bad for someone approaching seventy five ,
he still looked agile and active though the few grey wisps adorning his forehead had lost their battle and given way to its advance into his scalp The thin line of grey over his lip gave him the dignified air ,
Mythili never liked it “ why don’t you shave it off ? It is so anemic it looks like an apology over your mouth, he smiled again
Mythili was always like that her touts were sharp but funny.

Great day to think of her of course
how many years was it since she left him alone in the world with a responsibility as homework?
Precisely thirty, hmmm time has passed indeed
Kannan his Kannan was just nine when it happened just four years after Kannan came home!
And now he was thirty nine
He would have changed of course two years since he last saw him
“Appa Iam coming home .”
he had called suddenly two days back
Rajagopal couldn’t believe his ears

Kannan was a different person after marriage.
Cant blame him people change with responsibilities but Kumudha Kannans wife too had a hand in it .
He had selected her for his Kannan ,going to Dindivanam to see her and fix the marriage, very good family, nice house well educated good looking , ideal for his boy and all had gone well for the first few years .

He had flown to Detroit where Kannan worked twice ,the first time the welcome was overwhelming ,but the second time when he stayed a few days more not wanting to leave his twin grandchildren ,Kumudha turned her colors like a chameleon,
her remarks were like sharp barbs and Kannan was tongue tied
Rajagopal knew when to return and he did that.
After that there was a long silence from Kannan just the occasional phone calls when he would mumble of being eternally busy and enquire on his health and sign off formally .
His lonely nights often went back to Kannan and Kannan.

It was dark that night, pitch dark when Kannan was found by him.
the night God had given him Kannan

The train was once again shunted to a dead end,
Goods train always deserved only so much.

Rajagopal had been a railway guard for years and this was in the sixties when steam engines populated the Indian Railways,
he would spend lonely nights in his last carriage as the train clicked and clacked, there was no electricity in the carriage those days and there was a lamp in it and also the huge guard’s lantern.

Every time he neared a non stopping station he would go out into the balustrade behind and wave his light to the chugging fiery behemoth far ahead as it forged past dark fields ,thick forests and ghat sections ,he would see approaching stations where a signal man would be waiting with a blazing torch of fire and a huge ring outstretched in his hands .the engine driver would throw the ring or key he carried onto the platform and when he reached the signal man he would pluck the ring out of him in precision ,
soon he in the last carriage would pass the signal man and wave him the lamp in his hand and then enter the darkness again .

The morning would see him lumber out exhausted to go home to his Mythili but with all this he liked his nights all the more after she left him for then he could think of her, gazing into the starry horizon which lit the dark sky like diamonds,
at times overpowering clouds would gather and the stars and to him his Mythili wouldfade away into the mysterious beyonds .

Hadn’t he brought up his Kannan all through this ?
how many years of his love and labor on his dear boy?

The boy who was his gift from the unforgettable night that day .

It was still dark but midnight had passed and the next day begun an hour before .
The train slowly sidled up the side rails ,
it was a kilometer from Jolarpet junction and he could see the lights ahead ,probably the down 29 ( Cochin express ) was late and that is why his train was sidled .
Goods train had the least priority ,
he was right , he could see the booming sound and see the bright light and the express thundered past him quickly .
It had begun to rain and the trickle slowly increased in intensity ,he heard a whimper under his bench in the cabin .
He was alarmed
Rats ?
He took his flashlight and shone it and he saw two soft wet eyes peering at him .
“ Hey who is that yaaru ? ,”

The little boy started crying , he was just four and a tiny one in a ragged trouser and a torn shirt
pathetic and innocent.
Like a lost kitten !

“Yaarupa inga epiddi ?,Rajagopal was softer this time .

Immmmimmmm weeping was his only answer
Pasikuda ? (hungry ? )
Ammam (Yes )
Sherry station varattum (ok let the station come)

Melavanthu paduthukko (come and lie down in the bench)

He gave him the banana he had and the boy relished it ,sniffling in between
“Veedu enga ? .”( where is your house ? )
“Jolarpetta .”
“Appa amma .”(father mother?)
“ Amma illa vera amma adikkum .”(no mother, have one mother who beats)
Rajagopal could guess it , he had a cruel stepmother
He knew later that Kanans mother had starved him for days and his drunken father would beat him black and blue the boy had run in the rain along the railway line in the pitch darkness and ended up in his carriage
Is this what they call destiny ?
It was of course destined that Kannan would become his son

It was also written that his Mythili would leave him shortly after Kannan came.
Myhtili had loved Kannan at first sight .

He had brought the little one home like a new pet he bought from the shop one day .

That night when he reached Jolarpet station ,he had asked Kanaran the malayalee porter what he should do with the boy ,they took him to the canteen and fed him later kanaran made him sleep till morning gave him a bath and gave him a new dress which he brought from his quarters nearby the dress of kanarans son fitted Kannan like a T .

Already he looked like the handsome boy he would become neat and shining and happy.
They asked him tell us son how do we reach your house
“No no I don’t want to go .”the weeping started again finally with the advise of the railway police inspector who took them in his jeep to the local police station they reported about the lost and found boy and went to his house ,
The inspector strictly reprimanded the tart of a woman who was Kannans stepmother when she started cursing the boy a soon as she saw him.
Rajagopal was really upset while the boy clung to his shirt and weeping that he wanted to come with him.
Varadachari the advocate who was his neighbor went with him the next time and they found the mother and father of Kannan at home Varadachar asked them whether they would give Kannan for adoption legally to Rajagopal as they were childless, the drunk immediately started shouting but the wily women saw money behind it and said she could think about it of course everything had a price .




Really does love have a price ?
you foolish woman , Rajagopal had thought then .

Days followed while they haggled over Kannan and dejected Rajagopal would come home tired ,
he would say Mythili it will never happen he will never become ours I know
Believe in God he will come to us you wait and see she would reply for by now she too had started loving the sweet boy,
And what she said came true .

Kannan was their son and he was like a prince in the house the darling of neighbors and the envy of all his friends.
It was a heavenly period for Rajagopal as he came home to see Kannan running to him and hugging him .
He was a bright boy and he stood first in school too .
Rajagopal would flush with pride as Kannans teachers would praise his cleverness.
Five years rolled by and Kannan was in his sixth standard when Mythili left them,
he never knew a fever could kill somebody but it did his Mythili !

And then it was him and his Kannan
Both for each other

A tear trickled down his cheek .

“Enna sir azuvaringa airport vandidichu .”
(what sir crying airport reached)
this from the taxi driver.

He wiped his face and smiled
“ Onnuilla pa santoshathila .’(out of happiness I cried)

Kanna come back my boy …..


Harimohan….

Aniyettan the Artiste

Aniyettan is how I call him though that sounds suspiciously like a malayalam film title !

I do so because he is the younger brother of my brother in law but elder to me by age !!

Having established the credentials let me tell you about Krishnan Unni fondly called as Mashh

( for master ) in and around Adakaputhur near Cherplassery ,palghat district .

Having lived for a long time in Delhi and later Mumbai he has settled down in the green environs and the home of Nallukettus ,Cherplassery district .

As you can obviously see Aniyettan is a painter and these are some of his wonderful creations ,

he had formally studied in Madras school of arts .

His creative pursuits extend to dance ,choreography ,music .temple arts and photography .

He is the local dance mashh briliiantly creating dance ballets and in great demand .

Above all he is a gentle ,cheerful ,handsome artiste with a great sense of humour .

Marketing is obviously not in his bag of talents for he isnt known beyond the niche he lives ,

marketing and talent always deems big sucess ,

of course this keeps escaping Aniyettan though he richly deserves it .

but he hardly misses it .......

The painting in the end is his mother Nessiaramma who is no more .

instrumental aspirations

I was reminded of Dhanraj master when A.R.Rehman got his Oscars for the wonderful score of Slumdog Millionaire.

Dhanraj master was the patron saint of piano in old Madras, today’s Chennai and the seat of cinema creativity of the south,
Those days almost all south Indian films be it Tamil, Malayalam, Telugu or Kannada and even many Hindi films sprung from this springboard of cinema.
The backstreets of Mylapore T Nagar and Kodambakkam was flush with talents that contributed to this industry; there were trillions of instrumentalist’s music organizers, extra actor’s actresses, production executives light boy’s sound recordists and middlemen doing their small bits to make the magic of cinema flow without fail.
Ilayaraja and Rehman were yet to rise in the horizon and the Vishawanathan Ramamurthy duo were the shining stars of the time as far as music direction was concerned.
I was in my 8 th standard and pestered my mother that I wanted to learn guitar and I had heard that there was an old man in Luz , Mylapore called Dhanraj master who taught the same.
At that time I never knew the master as I would later.
So one day we trudged up the broken steps of a rundown lodge in the busy Luz corner and knocked on a decrepit door, it opened to reveal a shabby gaunt old man, the room was small and was messy it was almost fully occupied by a grand piano and many guitars, master called us inside.
The room had an unpleasant odor which I later realized was that of liquor.
My mother explained how I was keen on lessons and being a fatherless boy she too was keen on my whims though she could ill afford such luxuries,
That warmed master to me he said don’t worry madam I will take care of him send him to me every week twice
And that was that I became Dhanraj masters student
(A label whose worth I never realized till late in my life).
So I would lug my wooden guitar on to my shoulders and walk the two kilometers in style as I felt everyone on the streets was ogling at the famous musician walking in their midst, this would have been far from reality of course, some would have wondered what is this small fellow doing with this huge thing on his shoulders.
As I push open the creaking door and some fat rat would escape between my legs I often found master with red-hot eyes reeking of liquor but he was in his full senses and his talents were extraordinary, he would patiently ask me to start on the piano
I would pester him to teach me some tunes in the guitar so that I could show off at school but he insisted that I learn the chords in piano in the proper way and would discourage all shortcuts.
This bored me and soon I stopped going to him though I can never blame him as he tried to call my mother and tell her of my disobedience.
But then I never had the right talent and perseverance as other famous students of the master had
For all you know Elayaraja would have been there at the same time as one of the other students and later Rehman too.
Both were two of the many illustrious students of the master
Both of them had praised the master in later years for giving them the basics in western classical piano lessons.
Only then did I realize the fool I was
of course the talent was not there in me just having a good teacher gives you no guarantee of being good if one had no stuff
but the question I often asked was did I deserve such a great man even as a teacher and one who sincerely wanted to teach me ?


Moving from the master I strayed to an Anglo Indian Reggie, who was all willing to play my way as long as he got his fee,
I remember Reggie and his gang more for midnight Xmas carols in Madras and his revelry.
Once he conned me to leave my guitar in his house and promptly sold it of all persons to a politician!
The fourteen year old me would leave no stone unturned to get it back and so I went to the house of this famous DMK MLA off T Nagar and somehow got into the sanctum sanctorum of his room worming my way through red and black clad Tamil politicians of the deadly kind ,and sundry small time hnag ons in such locations who were aghast at this English speaking boy who repeatedly insisted that his guitar was with their master.

Facing the great politician I didn’t lose my nerve but asked him to return my guitar given to him by Reggie master, he stared at me and said it was sold to him and it now was his guitar,
Well Reggie would have done this and more for his daily liquid needs
I replied I can give a complaint that stolen goods were being bought by him!!an MLA
This brave reply probably amused the MLA though his chamchas gave me dangerous looks and murderous signs
After interminable delays when I was in the front seat of the drama played in all politicians house during durbar time when so many petitions were handed over to the man of the masses and he dismissing them with the arrogance of a king ,
Attending many phone calls diving into his Tamil slang and the dicatto style of his great leaders the Tamizh Manmadhan sorry MLA was in full form
I stayed put ignoring the pull and push of his goonda gang to eliminate me from the scene and finally a defeated MLA asked his man Friday to get that guitar and give it to that boy who was becoming a pain in the posterior ,
he gave me a parting shot and said I will take care of Reggie.

Bad days were ahead for poor Reggie indeed as one never crossed politicians of this class
Reggie would roll in some canal in the days ahead so I thought as I clutched my beloved guitar onto my shoulders and walked back with a smile!!

So much for my instrumental aspirations.   
Dhanraj master with ilayaraja 

Shilpa annual day 2009

The twelth annual day of shilpa society for the mentally Handicapped in kochi was celebrated on February 22nd with great aplomb .

With more than 150 students Shilpa school has grown a lot over time ,with a disabled friendly building to house it and trained staff it is looking ahead to its new home in its new land of almost an acre in the heart of Kochi .

This time too the cultural programmes were done with finesse and creativity and one could understand the work behind it .

the dance drama Patabishekam was the cyanosure of all eyes directed by none other than the great malayalam drama director Dharman master .

It is just another example of how much could be done by the mentally challenged if they are given the right direction ,

It also shows the particpation of creative people ,teachers ,society members and the public at large have come to recognise the sincerity and mission behind Shilpa society .

cine actor Manoj K jayan graced his presence in the function .

It was another fruitful day for the school

somehwhere shilpa should be smiling ...

.....
visit shilpasociety.org

Dear Paresh

My Dear Friend

A few special people have found way into my blog ,this post is of a very special somebody .

We all lead a life with ups and downs and most of us ( specially me ) grumble at the end of day for getting pinpricks .

I admire people with none of the advantages we have ,but have stood against their destiny to achieve and attain ,

Tata Tetely would never have seen any of their job aspirants being carried by the persons father physically ,it did happen when Paresh Palicha an young man afflicted with cerebral palsy with physical disablitiy but excellent mental faculties came for the interview like that and he went on to get that job too on his merits .

Paresh had achieved this with grit and determination ,he plodded to appear for his SSC exams and later went on to finish BCOM and then a course in computers .

Raksha a school for children with multiple disabilities in Kochi was where Paresh was nurtured and encouraged to study and also accept his disabilities ,it is in Raksha where I also met him for the first time years back when I used to go there with my disabled daughter Shilpa .

Time has rolled ,today shilpa has left us but we remember Raksha with a fondness and so does Paresh and many like him .

Paresh was an avid reader even those days and would bury himselves in books ,which would be where he achieved his writing skills .

He later went on to do a diploma in creative writing from London based writers bureau Paresh today is well known for his articles in leading newspapers ,he writes on all topics but he is well known for his excellent movie reviews .

Reading his review one can never imagine how he went to see the movie if only people knew about this it would be more intresting more so than even the movie being reviewed !

Paresh still has to be carried physically or be pushed in a wheel chair .

With the way Indian cities are built ( forget about disabled friendly they are actually even abled unfriendly ! ) his father has to carry him from his scooter to the theatre .

I don't think there is anybody who writes reviews on movies with this much effort ,he types in the computer with a single finger and plods through it with industry .

His reviews are a treat to read of course .

Paresh has a fondness for movie making and hopes one day he would script write Arthur Haileys Final diagnosis with Mani Ratnam directing it and …. he might do just that ..

In Tata Tetley where he works sitting in his wheelchair he is the friendly neighbourhood Stephen Hawling .

Cricket is another thing Paresh is crazy about ,for years he listended to cricket commentaries in the radio intently and now he does so on the TV .

His most cherished dream of course was to become a cricketer ,though circumstances has denied him this he achieved another distinction by acting in a Malayalam movie .

For Paresh every moment is for surpassing himself where he strives to achieve the best he can by beating all the odds .

slowly and steadily he counts his achievements ,he is a born perfectionist and leaves no stone unturned to achieve his goal .

He has his moments of despair too where at times his being locked in a body that does not respond proves a bit too much ,poetry often gives him the soul search and respite during these occasions and he would pour his feelings into them and when we read these in his blog we are given a rare peep into a world unknown to us .

so that folks is Paresh Palicha !

This post is a small way of showing my love to this wonderful friend called Paresh

Please do visit his blog ……………….

http://pareshpalicha.blogspot.com/

http://pcpalicha.blogspot.com/

http://pareshpalicha.blogspot.com/

,today Pareshs dear father has left him and us
Because of  such people living in this world it is why probably the rain still falls !

Norway trip

SAS Airlines takes just an hour to fly between Stockholm and Oslo ,

check in at Aralanda was a over in a jiffy ,Scandinavian airport personell and immigration people are cool and collected and friendly to boot ,
I remembered to walk back to the immigration desk on reaching there as nobody checked my visa ,the bushy moustachioed Swede just grinned and said you got it stamped in Munich and that is enough so have a nice day,

I just walked out into the road bewildered .

In Oslo dusk settles fast and the sky was overcast with a definite chill in the air as we sauntered down the spacious lobby to our waiting cousin couple .
After the intial warm up of meeting them we cruised in their sleek vehicle to Riechstag a drive of more than two hours from the airport .

The roads were neat and pristine ,empty with a few cars zipping past ,
having come from a country where such emptiness was rare this was a treat for us .
The scenic landscape was mind blowing , farms with undulating green hillocks delicate as a damsels waist , intermittent mounds of grey hay clusters like the peeping wisps of a an ageing woman ,
cottages with coloured roofs smoking chimneys of warmth , lights glowing in their souls ,the twilight sky burnished by the setting sun ,meandering streams like shivas locks ,pines and ferns growing tall like shy teenagers ,the hush of nature ,the twitter of birds and the secrets of the earth all along the way .
We stopped often to click and glimpse at these gifts of the divine .

Soon we crossed the Glomus a famous river of the country ,it was broad and flowing and we could feel the chill of its waters
We went under a Moose bridge covered by green ( these are bridges built over highways for moose to cross to reach the forest on the other side )
Moose crossing by road could turn dangerous as there was considerable damage when a speeding car hit them more to man than moose .
Moose incidentally the national animal was a something between a reindeer and a cow and was huge with big horns
moose meat was a known delicacy in the these parts and was said to be tasty though a bit stringy and hard

The towns were small with one stop restaurants bars ,schools and offices ,
cottages and villas neatly painted with box gardens ,trees ,and flowers punctuating the place .
Everything was well organized and neat but people were hard to find ,either there was mass hibernation or they went to bed early !
Even petrol bunks are unmanned so are parking slots creating an eerie sense of the Salems lot ( Stephen kings famous novel )
We reached the clinic of Andreas our brother in law from Norway ,went inside and discussed the ergonomics of a Norwegian medical practioner ,with three doctors and a teacher the subject should have been boring only to one ! you know who !

Home and to a sumptuous dinner lovingly prepared by the couple with both Norwegian and Indian flavours tickling our palates .

The huge cottage with an internal swimming pool was homely with wooden floors ,wide verandahs and soft cushions ,bathrooms had floor heating which was a first for me ,their warmth and that of our hosts spread into our hearts as we slumbered like babies in the cosy bed for an undisturbed sleep .
Morning was bright and sparkling and with a cuppa of warmth we went under the apple tree in the compound which rained juicy apples and walked over the mushy apple strewn ground plucking ripe ones and crunching their sweet delights .
A walk into the town made us see more empty roads and lovely picture postcard cottages
One lingering thought we had of Norway was its emptiness .
Of course Oslo city where we went later in the day dispelled these notions as it was as crowded as any modern city could be .
Norway had a checkered history being under several countries over the times ,the early vikings were known for being fierce seafarers and Norway even today has retained its romance with the sea ,some of the best sailors and naval men are from this country and it is known for ship building and navigation .

The Viking museum in Oslo is just the place one needs to visit to dip into the fable of the great Vikings ,bearded and tall these brave men of the past strode tall in their exqusite boats which were as sturdy and powerful as them ,the boats were huge and were buried along with their statesmen and have been unearthed now to be housed in the museum ,every boat had the essentials needed for the nobleman and even his servants were buried with them ,the museum could take one back to those ages when the wildness of the earth was dared by the strength of the men who inhabited it
One bounces back to the present after leaving the museum to drive along the roads of the city ,climbing up a hilly road lead one to the famous ski jump where many have skimmed down into fluffy snow for the winter Olympics ,the jump has a park around it with benches for picnickers and this is when Andreas our Norwegian doctor brother in law joined us for an indian lunch eaten with hands
this evoked considerable curiousity for the locals as they saw one of their own sitting with two Indian women and an Indian guy comfortably tucking in with fingers ,spicy concoctions with ease !
There was a statue of the Norwegian king gazing at us benignly as he retuned from sking with all his dogs ,it is said he died of frostbite after one such unfortunate excursion .
Down the hill and into downtown Oslo we saw the heritage buildings like the parliament the Nobel hall where the Nobel peace prize is given ( only peace prize is given in Norway and all the others are given in Sweden )
We went tinto the cruise harbour and almost into a huge cruise ship getting ready to embark to Germany ,we did stop before getting into its bowels and into probably an unwelcoming Germany !
The opera house is a recent landmark to the city with its sloping roof touching the floor one could walk up the roof and gaze the skyline .
And suddenly it was all over as it was time for us to return
our Norwegian romance ended there but then we had fallen in love with the country and its people for ever
Night saw us flying back to Stockholm after fond farewells