Raring to go...

Amma always recounts this story of how she came to Udayamperoor (a sleepy village at the border of Kochi, nearest town being Thripunithura about 4-5 kms) and settled there…the sole reason being her cousin sister being settled there, a bright prospect of helping her take care of her 8-month old kid (me…:)) n “her people around” feeling, n also Achan’s adamancy to stay away from city traffic and turbulences…partly attributed also to their confidant shifting of their work places to Kochi, you can say the desire to be in Kerala or the desire to be close to their parents needs cum work needs…

So in between day cares, studies and frequent monthly visits to Kayamkulam, my native place, I spend most of my time in Udayamperoor…my second cousins and their first cousins, both sects in their college-age then, find me a wonderful prospect for their time pass…n as a baby I get all the adoration, attention and care I would have ever dreamed of…definitely more than I can ever dream of also…company comes as second cousin’s son…even though attentions shift, I should say I was mighty pleased…studies and friends in Ernakulam Town and Kothamangalam, but finally coming back to my nest in Udayamperoor…time has just flown by…

The kids brigade there started with me…N after I became the working gal, there is an army back home from 8 months to 10th standard…in all range of age and activities…I never thought I would have a life separate from Kunju, Chithu, Pachu, Cheekutty, Hari, Vysakh, Kukku, Ruku, Achu, Revu – the lil devils out there, my sis Punnan also included…but that is where my job has landed me, far from my niche and in the madding crowd…

The wonderful away-from-the-city village setting they get to spend their childhood, the vast expanse of “parambu” to run around and play their games, mangoes, jack fruits n cashews, traditionally celebrated Onam with Athapoo and Onathappan and Onasadhya, Vishu Kani and Vishu Konna, the thrill to walk thru muddy, un-tarred country roads holding colourful umbrellas to catch their school bus…far from the concrete jungles in an enlightened landscape, they get to spend a joyful childhood…I have over and over asserted my luck, but these kids of the modern age, are definitely luckier to have time and space saved for them for a “gem of a childhood”…

And I'm going back to that haven for a 3 day kutty trip towards the end of the week...:)"Raring to go" is my emotion summed in a few words...

Achan's Stories

Hmm…I’m thinking back…to some wonderful 70-80-ies stories narrated by Achan…true life incidents, the resemblances to characters living is purely not fiction, but reality…Achan has this hobby of making us (I n sis Punnan) understand life thru his life…thru the vivacious little stories in which he sums up his adventures, the tests he faced in life, his trysts with destiny…lil stories that he tells with the expectation that his kids who have lived in their cozy space in the world, well-provided and well-nurtured, understand the bigger world, appreciate all that we have got for ourselves, visualize hard realities n tough times he has come across, n use it as a treasure trove of knowledge for building our future…

After starting his life as an accountant in a small sugar mill in the border of Maharashtra and Andhra, it was all a big phase of learning things the hard way...as for everyone starting a career, there was a phase where he had to prove his worth to his employers, a phase where he struggled to fulfill his own aspirations for higher education, living his life under the watchful eyes of a strict maternal uncle (this uncle Meeshayammavan as I used to call him, was one of the most lovable people in my life), going back home for important family matters as his parents only-son and one and only brother for his sisters, marrying my Amma and building our home, life and future…

From him I heard about, walking all the way to school, with the paisa given by my grand dad as bus fare safe in his pocket, to buy a Hindu paper to put a foundation of English language...

From him I heard about, how due to a border/ownership dispute, some group burnt the erstwhile Somayya Sugar Mills where he was working as an accountant…the days when they waited for aid to reach the border where they were stuck…they displayed heroism protecting and taking care of the women and children in the group…

From him I heard about, perseverance to prepare for CA, by own means and earning for it…being a working student…putting in days and efforts…and rushing home getting the news of his grand mother’s illness leaving the much dreamt about CA exams…n never getting a chance to complete that coveted degree thereafter…

From him I heard about, discovering by accident, being blind in one eye from birth…n colour blind the whole life...

From him I heard about, clearing an Air India Examination with an overall 2nd position…going to the interview room with lot of expectations, well prepared, well dressed, exuding confidence…only to be told – “Mr.Pillai…We understand you have performed excellently…But what can you give us if we give you this job?”

From him I heard about, work stories from National Film Archives…Achan’s proudly declared “Film Institute dayz”…Mukesh Khanna (our Shaktiman), Salil Choudhary and numerous people he still admires…so much so that on his insistence his nephew, my cousin brother is named Salil after that legendary music director…

From him I heard about, Madras dayz after marriage, a small house in the corner of the street, heat, work, happiness, commitment and the joy of having rice and fish cooked by my Amma under the stars in the open sit out...

From him I heard about, having a vision and courage to follow the vision of building a house on loan, in the beginning of his marital life…I remember him sitting with that huge ledger-like book calculating and tackling monetary issues...

From him I heard about, a hard-earned M-Com, lot of credit to Amma who extended her full support writing notes for him, managing a small “me” beside…

From him I heard about, learnt, realized, admired, understood lots of things in life...So much, I don't think I can sum it up in this blog...a small attempt to summarize some wonderfully inspiring things I have heard from Achan...he starts talking and by the time he completes, at least 2 cigarettes would be completely burnt out...but the passion with which he speaks always remains the same...

I don't want this post to go as a belated Father's day tribute...well let it be a lifetime tribute...n I want to keep on adding to that wonderful list, all points given by Achan in my life, on and on, in the days to come…

co-INCIDENCES!!!

Do you know coincidences can shock you in life…:)…have been thru many in life…but only after I started having a blog space of my own I felt a need to record my thoughts…be it whatever…whether I end up posting it on www remains a choice “subject to conditions”…

I and Rathna came over to Bangalore in late November last year and in a week to 10 days, we were happily settled in our abode in NGV…projects separated us, and also our togetherness in office and in the company bus…I started finding the journeys to be big maritime odysseys in every sense…no friends even to talk to, except one training friend, letz call her “Softie”…the days I managed to catch my seat close to Softie time pass was easy…but catching seat near her was the problem…

N then one day, I don’t know how it happened, I just went and sat with a quite looking girl, the gud old homely kinds…we start our chat, n realize that we r both “Mallus”…so we Mallu sisters discuss our families as the first step…n viola…!!our native places are close by…:)…so “Ammu Kutty” becomes my best chum in bus…I talk n talk, n she listens…I tell my worries, some jokes, office stories, one time wet my hanky with tears in front of her, n she addresses me “kutty”(a Malayalam word that can be used for gals n guys n that means chweet one…!) in her own typical way, n always makes me think that hers is the most radiant smile that I have ever come across in life…

So the stage is set between us for the talk that “girls of our age” make “the topic of their age”…we finally start talking about marriage alliances…An interesting topic I must say, coz the diversity and wide range is amazing…N how every girl of that age can easily get adjusted to the topic, n find a point to present too…

Days pass by…we sit with each other once in a while when we don’t have our other friends in the bus…n on a fateful such day, after long days of absence from the bus, Ammu Kutty tells me that she her marriage is fixed…an old Satyam love story tumbles out…trials, tests and finally triumph…:)…N I spot the 2nd coincidence, “the guy is from Thripunithura”…the place where I’m settled and a place about which I have talked to her in my usual fervor and passion…hmm…some thoughts echoed by both of us – “I would have seen the guy somewhere in Thripunithura”…N I get to talk with the payyanz…n reach a familiarity over a local astrologer whom both of us know…:)

The newly-engaged n to-be-wedding-in-December couple takes over the mission of suggesting some prospective payyanmar (guyz on the lookout for matches) for me…U know, they had a bunch of resources, as friends and acquaintances, to pick up from…even though success eludes them, concerns make me happy n Ammu Kutty never gets tired of her concern and questions…makes me feel great, n looked after…:)

So days pass, n as usual, I have some news to telecast at the radio station of our bus chat…I make hushed hushed announcements of a match which shows some prospect of finalizing…:)…excited Ammu Kutty, try to curb the rising pitch in her voice…n asks me the general questions…gets a level further…n for the benefit of my readers, I translate as here-written…:)

Ammu Kutty: “Where did the guy study?”
Me: “CET”…
Ammu Kutty: “Ohh...even my sister studied in CET:)…Which batch?”
Me: “2001”…
Ammu Kutty’ eyes become round and an unbelievable kind of expression in her eyes….
Ammu Kutty: “Which branch?”
Me: “Applied Electronics and Instrumentation”…
Still rounder, a dazed moment, n a smile slowly trickles from the end of her lips..
Ammu Kutty (excited): “Heyy…my sister also…must be my sister’s classmate…:)”
Me (expressionless): …

Well well…she vouches to gather some knowledge about the guy for my sake…N we spend a moment thinking about the similarities that somehow echo in our lives and the small small links we discover time n again…

I actually dunno if the coincidences seem really the ones that can make your mouth open with awe…the biggest play was of our minds probably which forever gave us the feeling that we are in it for the longer time…n that we were the people destined to meet and become friends…

@Ammu Kutty: This post is for "OUR friendship" and in memory of the "MOMENTs we shared together"...! And wishing you all the best in all your future endeavours..:)...Letz stay in touch..!!

"People always ask me why I write gross stuff...I tell them that I have the heart of a small boy and I keep it in a jar on my desk."
- Stephen King

This quote has stayed in my mind since the time I spotted it in a Reader's Digest issue. Made me think of the only work of the author that I have read - the old gypsy man's curse to make the sinner THINNER...King of Allegory in the shrouds of mystery...