tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-70173052329458241722024-02-19T05:53:36.509-08:00Betty KuriyanBettyKhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14201088489627653644noreply@blogger.comBlogger21125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7017305232945824172.post-54757749533134935992021-01-04T21:49:00.004-08:002021-01-04T21:49:49.466-08:00Life is measured in Tea spoons<p><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">This is a legend in our family archives available
only to selected friends. There’s no gloating or hip-hip hurrahs for a small
act of mercy done. It dates back to the time when our children hadn’t reached
their teens.</span></span><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 14pt;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; tab-stops: 45.8pt 91.6pt 137.4pt 183.2pt 229.0pt 274.8pt 320.6pt 366.4pt 412.2pt 458.0pt 503.8pt 549.6pt 595.4pt 641.2pt 687.0pt 732.8pt;"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-IN; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-language: HI; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IN;"><span style="font-family: arial;"> One hot
Sunday afternoon as we were settling down to a siesta our doorbell stridently
rang. It was a young dusty famished looking young man with a ten-day old
stubble on his face. He asked for water and gulped it down.</span></span><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 14pt;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; tab-stops: 45.8pt 91.6pt 137.4pt 183.2pt 229.0pt 274.8pt 320.6pt 366.4pt 412.2pt 458.0pt 503.8pt 549.6pt 595.4pt 641.2pt 687.0pt 732.8pt;"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-IN; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-language: HI; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IN;"><span style="font-family: arial;">All he asked my husband was ‘give me a job Sir’. His
story was a sad one. A Hyderbadi welder, Faisal had been with a contractor in
Kochi. The contractor had decamped leaving six workers to fend for themselves.</span></span><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 14pt;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; tab-stops: 45.8pt 91.6pt 137.4pt 183.2pt 229.0pt 274.8pt 320.6pt 366.4pt 412.2pt 458.0pt 503.8pt 549.6pt 595.4pt 641.2pt 687.0pt 732.8pt;"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-IN; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-language: HI; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IN;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Faisal had walked kilometres asking for a job till
he was directed to meet my man who had an industrial unit. There was no job to
give but we suggested he go back to home to Hyderabad. The cost of the train ticket
was the next question.</span></span><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 14pt;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; tab-stops: 45.8pt 91.6pt 137.4pt 183.2pt 229.0pt 274.8pt 320.6pt 366.4pt 412.2pt 458.0pt 503.8pt 549.6pt 595.4pt 641.2pt 687.0pt 732.8pt;"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-IN; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-language: HI; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IN;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Our purses were on their last legs till payday but
we decided to scrounge all hidden sources within our walls. Our kids had been
promised a treat of Dacca ice cream on the last Sunday of every month. This was
Kochi of the old days and Dacca cream or pail I cream was available only in
CRH. There were no ice parlours then. </span></span><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 14pt;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; tab-stops: 45.8pt 91.6pt 137.4pt 183.2pt 229.0pt 274.8pt 320.6pt 366.4pt 412.2pt 458.0pt 503.8pt 549.6pt 595.4pt 641.2pt 687.0pt 732.8pt;"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-IN; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-language: HI; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IN;"><span style="font-family: arial;">The treat money was not enough to pay for the rail
ticket but somehow enough was found by some strange conjurances.</span></span><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 14pt;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; tab-stops: 45.8pt 91.6pt 137.4pt 183.2pt 229.0pt 274.8pt 320.6pt 366.4pt 412.2pt 458.0pt 503.8pt 549.6pt 595.4pt 641.2pt 687.0pt 732.8pt;"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-IN; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-language: HI; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IN;"><span style="font-family: arial;">His famished look of hunger broke my heart. So, my
daughter aged 7yrs was sent to bring him a mug of tea. She came back with tea
and slices of thickly buttered bread and jam which he wolfed down. </span></span><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 14pt;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; tab-stops: 45.8pt 91.6pt 137.4pt 183.2pt 229.0pt 274.8pt 320.6pt 366.4pt 412.2pt 458.0pt 503.8pt 549.6pt 595.4pt 641.2pt 687.0pt 732.8pt;"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-IN; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-language: HI; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IN;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Kneeling down he lay down his stack of certificates
and said “Sir keep these certificates with you till I return the money you give
me”. But we were no cut throats and he was told that if he wanted to repay, he
could give it to my father who was in Secunderabad. Touching our feet, he left
with a jaunt. Our Shylocks demanded a double helpings of Dacca ice cream for
their financial sacrifice.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; tab-stops: 45.8pt 91.6pt 137.4pt 183.2pt 229.0pt 274.8pt 320.6pt 366.4pt 412.2pt 458.0pt 503.8pt 549.6pt 595.4pt 641.2pt 687.0pt 732.8pt;"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-IN; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-language: HI; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IN;"><span style="font-family: arial;">My father was flabbergasted to have the visit of a
young man at his doorstep three months later, with the repayment of his travel
which we had proffered and he took along a basket of the choicest grapes. He
said he had a job. </span></span><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 14pt;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; tab-stops: 45.8pt 91.6pt 137.4pt 183.2pt 229.0pt 274.8pt 320.6pt 366.4pt 412.2pt 458.0pt 503.8pt 549.6pt 595.4pt 641.2pt 687.0pt 732.8pt;"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-IN; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-language: HI; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IN;"><span style="font-family: arial;">For the year’s our father was there, at Ramadan, Faisal
would visit him with the choicest of Hyderabadi cuisine. </span></span><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 14pt;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; tab-stops: 45.8pt 91.6pt 137.4pt 183.2pt 229.0pt 274.8pt 320.6pt 366.4pt 412.2pt 458.0pt 503.8pt 549.6pt 595.4pt 641.2pt 687.0pt 732.8pt;"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-IN; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-language: HI; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IN;"><span style="font-family: arial;">We had forgotten Faisal since my Father left. 7 years
later a well looking, well dressed Faisal knocked at our door. We could hardly believe
our eyes. He said he was on his way to Dubai and had come to say goodbye. He
asked for the choti-behen who gave him tea long ago. She was now fourteen. He
held her hand and gave her a small box. It was a pair of the most beautiful jhumuki’s
fit for a teenager. </span></span><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 14pt;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; tab-stops: 45.8pt 91.6pt 137.4pt 183.2pt 229.0pt 274.8pt 320.6pt 366.4pt 412.2pt 458.0pt 503.8pt 549.6pt 595.4pt 641.2pt 687.0pt 732.8pt;"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-IN; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-language: HI; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IN;"><span style="font-family: arial;">He left promising to keep in to in touch. But life
has a way of moving on.</span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<pre><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> </span></pre>BettyKhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14201088489627653644noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7017305232945824172.post-45198547307110412862020-12-24T10:03:00.004-08:002020-12-24T10:03:32.619-08:00A thought for the Aging generation.<p><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">There are things that grow more precious with age. Old wood to burn, old books to read, and old friends to enjoy.</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; tab-stops: 45.8pt 91.6pt 137.4pt 183.2pt 229.0pt 274.8pt 320.6pt 366.4pt 412.2pt 458.0pt 503.8pt 549.6pt 595.4pt 641.2pt 687.0pt 732.8pt;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 12pt;">Age is a question of mind over matter. If you don’t
mind it, it doesn’t matter.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; tab-stops: 45.8pt 91.6pt 137.4pt 183.2pt 229.0pt 274.8pt 320.6pt 366.4pt 412.2pt 458.0pt 503.8pt 549.6pt 595.4pt 641.2pt 687.0pt 732.8pt;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 12pt;">Actually, life gets more enjoyable the older you
get. The hardest years in life are between ten and seventy. One cannot help
being old but one can resist being aged.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; tab-stops: 45.8pt 91.6pt 137.4pt 183.2pt 229.0pt 274.8pt 320.6pt 366.4pt 412.2pt 458.0pt 503.8pt 549.6pt 595.4pt 641.2pt 687.0pt 732.8pt;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 12pt;">Remember that when you were born you cried and the
world rejoiced. Live your life in such a way that when you die, the world will
cry and you will rejoice.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; tab-stops: 45.8pt 91.6pt 137.4pt 183.2pt 229.0pt 274.8pt 320.6pt 366.4pt 412.2pt 458.0pt 503.8pt 549.6pt 595.4pt 641.2pt 687.0pt 732.8pt;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 12pt;">Age is a mirrored kaleidoscope. When people tell
you how young you look, they are also telling you how old you look. Age is not
a youthful friend but a sorry travelling companion and it’s impossible to get
rid of the pesky image.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; tab-stops: 45.8pt 91.6pt 137.4pt 183.2pt 229.0pt 274.8pt 320.6pt 366.4pt 412.2pt 458.0pt 503.8pt 549.6pt 595.4pt 641.2pt 687.0pt 732.8pt;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 12pt;">A Chinese proverb says that a woman who tells her
age is either too young to have anything to lose or have anything to gain.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; tab-stops: 45.8pt 91.6pt 137.4pt 183.2pt 229.0pt 274.8pt 320.6pt 366.4pt 412.2pt 458.0pt 503.8pt 549.6pt 595.4pt 641.2pt 687.0pt 732.8pt;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 12pt;">Once a foodie with great appetite for happy foods, you
know you’re over the hill, when you develop a taste for oatmeal, kanji, or
wheat flakes or toast.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; tab-stops: 45.8pt 91.6pt 137.4pt 183.2pt 229.0pt 274.8pt 320.6pt 366.4pt 412.2pt 458.0pt 503.8pt 549.6pt 595.4pt 641.2pt 687.0pt 732.8pt;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 12pt;">When a woman tells you her age, it’s alright to act
surprised but don’t scowl. When people tell you how young you look, they are
most likely calculating how old you are</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; tab-stops: 45.8pt 91.6pt 137.4pt 183.2pt 229.0pt 274.8pt 320.6pt 366.4pt 412.2pt 458.0pt 503.8pt 549.6pt 595.4pt 641.2pt 687.0pt 732.8pt;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 12pt;">Don’t be fooled. Forty is the old age to youth and
fifty-five is the youth of old age. There’s many a good tune in an old violin
or guitar and great comfort in a cosy chair.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; tab-stops: 45.8pt 91.6pt 137.4pt 183.2pt 229.0pt 274.8pt 320.6pt 366.4pt 412.2pt 458.0pt 503.8pt 549.6pt 595.4pt 641.2pt 687.0pt 732.8pt;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 12pt;">Friends, you begin to know when you’re growing
older when your children begin to look middle aged. Their sixties tell me I’m
aged.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; tab-stops: 45.8pt 91.6pt 137.4pt 183.2pt 229.0pt 274.8pt 320.6pt 366.4pt 412.2pt 458.0pt 503.8pt 549.6pt 595.4pt 641.2pt 687.0pt 732.8pt;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 12pt;">You’re growing aged slowly when you look forward to
a dull but quiet evening That’s the age when you know all the answers but
nobody is asking the questions</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; tab-stops: 45.8pt 91.6pt 137.4pt 183.2pt 229.0pt 274.8pt 320.6pt 366.4pt 412.2pt 458.0pt 503.8pt 549.6pt 595.4pt 641.2pt 687.0pt 732.8pt;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 12pt;">I’ve come to the strong conviction that there’s no
future in being aged but the wheel has to rotate of on its own volition.</span></p>
<pre><span lang="EN-US"> </span></pre>BettyKhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14201088489627653644noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7017305232945824172.post-89182777355113846612020-12-19T01:22:00.000-08:002020-12-19T01:22:01.481-08:00On Committees and time pass<p> <span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Apart from the mad rush of the mad rush of traffic, nothing has held our land together as committees.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; tab-stops: 45.8pt 91.6pt 137.4pt 183.2pt 229.0pt 274.8pt 320.6pt 366.4pt 412.2pt 458.0pt 503.8pt 549.6pt 595.4pt 641.2pt 687.0pt 732.8pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-IN; mso-bidi-language: HI; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IN;">Just even last week a blurb from the higher echelons of
the treasury said that a committee has been appointed to look into the
anomalies of pay revision for State pensioners. It’s a perfect weapon to
prolong or kill any forward payments.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; tab-stops: 45.8pt 91.6pt 137.4pt 183.2pt 229.0pt 274.8pt 320.6pt 366.4pt 412.2pt 458.0pt 503.8pt 549.6pt 595.4pt 641.2pt 687.0pt 732.8pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-IN; mso-bidi-language: HI; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IN;"> A</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"> committee is a
group who individually can do nothing but as a group decide that nothing can be
done. So, add a few, professional scatterbrains who have no ideas of the matter
at all.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; tab-stops: 45.8pt 91.6pt 137.4pt 183.2pt 229.0pt 274.8pt 320.6pt 366.4pt 412.2pt 458.0pt 503.8pt 549.6pt 595.4pt 641.2pt 687.0pt 732.8pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Just imagine, if Moses had a committee, the </span>Israelite's<span style="font-size: 12pt;"> would still be in Egypt never having crossed the Red Sea. Or imagine had
Columbus had an advisory committee he would never have been able to cross the
Atlantic but sit on his ship in his home port.</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; tab-stops: 45.8pt 91.6pt 137.4pt 183.2pt 229.0pt 274.8pt 320.6pt 366.4pt 412.2pt 458.0pt 503.8pt 549.6pt 595.4pt 641.2pt 687.0pt 732.8pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Seating is important at a committee meeting. Friends
should sit side by side to formulate strategies, and block out scattered
opposition.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; tab-stops: 45.8pt 91.6pt 137.4pt 183.2pt 229.0pt 274.8pt 320.6pt 366.4pt 412.2pt 458.0pt 503.8pt 549.6pt 595.4pt 641.2pt 687.0pt 732.8pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Having served on various committees I have formulated a
set of stringent rules never to be broken if you’re invited to join a
committee.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; tab-stops: 45.8pt 91.6pt 137.4pt 183.2pt 229.0pt 274.8pt 320.6pt 366.4pt 412.2pt 458.0pt 503.8pt 549.6pt 595.4pt 641.2pt 687.0pt 732.8pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Never arrive on time, for this will stamp you as a
beginner to be looked down but well-heeled members don’t say anything until the
meeting is half over, then they’ll look upon you as wise.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; tab-stops: 45.8pt 91.6pt 137.4pt 183.2pt 229.0pt 274.8pt 320.6pt 366.4pt 412.2pt 458.0pt 503.8pt 549.6pt 595.4pt 641.2pt 687.0pt 732.8pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Be as vague as possible so that you don’t irritate
others. If others are dithering about the problem suggest a sub-committee to be
appointed. Use your finesse to move for an adjournment and this will make you
popular as the tea and snacks are served.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; tab-stops: 45.8pt 91.6pt 137.4pt 183.2pt 229.0pt 274.8pt 320.6pt 366.4pt 412.2pt 458.0pt 503.8pt 549.6pt 595.4pt 641.2pt 687.0pt 732.8pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">You’ll never find a monument dedicated to a committee</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; tab-stops: 45.8pt 91.6pt 137.4pt 183.2pt 229.0pt 274.8pt 320.6pt 366.4pt 412.2pt 458.0pt 503.8pt 549.6pt 595.4pt 641.2pt 687.0pt 732.8pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-IN; mso-bidi-language: HI; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IN;"> </span></p>
<pre><span lang="EN-US"> </span></pre>BettyKhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14201088489627653644noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7017305232945824172.post-64276741645199713522020-12-14T23:35:00.004-08:002020-12-14T23:35:22.938-08:00 Grandparents and Grandchildren<p><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">‘Tis said that the simplest toy a small child can operate is a grandparent. Its only grandparents who can remember and preserve the generational veins of a continuing connectivity.</span></p><pre><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">The grandparent’s job is to give their grandchildren
wings and roots, so much so they form the web and woof of what children do to
society. No grandparent can ever watch but painfully a grandchild being
corrected. Grandparents are the magic talismans for their grandchildren.</span></pre>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; tab-stops: 45.8pt 91.6pt 137.4pt 183.2pt 229.0pt 274.8pt 320.6pt 366.4pt 412.2pt 458.0pt 503.8pt 549.6pt 595.4pt 641.2pt 687.0pt 732.8pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Grandparents sort of sprinkle dust over the lives of
little children. According to a child a grandfather is a man grand-mother.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; tab-stops: 45.8pt 91.6pt 137.4pt 183.2pt 229.0pt 274.8pt 320.6pt 366.4pt 412.2pt 458.0pt 503.8pt 549.6pt 595.4pt 641.2pt 687.0pt 732.8pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Grandmothers are the repositories for children’s doubts. If
mother says no, ask grandmother. Children like being with grandmother for she
smells like all the smell of happy foods,</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; tab-stops: 45.8pt 91.6pt 137.4pt 183.2pt 229.0pt 274.8pt 320.6pt 366.4pt 412.2pt 458.0pt 503.8pt 549.6pt 595.4pt 641.2pt 687.0pt 732.8pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Being a grandparent is Gods reward for growing old. They
take babies for a priceless cuddle and warmth of unpretentious love. A
grandchild is the press secretary of a grandparent.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; tab-stops: 45.8pt 91.6pt 137.4pt 183.2pt 229.0pt 274.8pt 320.6pt 366.4pt 412.2pt 458.0pt 503.8pt 549.6pt 595.4pt 641.2pt 687.0pt 732.8pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Every grandparent has the only perfect child and they are
the parents who have a second chance.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; tab-stops: 45.8pt 91.6pt 137.4pt 183.2pt 229.0pt 274.8pt 320.6pt 366.4pt 412.2pt 458.0pt 503.8pt 549.6pt 595.4pt 641.2pt 687.0pt 732.8pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Before she can sit back and relax from mothering her
young, a woman becomes a grandmother and the scenario changes.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; tab-stops: 45.8pt 91.6pt 137.4pt 183.2pt 229.0pt 274.8pt 320.6pt 366.4pt 412.2pt 458.0pt 503.8pt 549.6pt 595.4pt 641.2pt 687.0pt 732.8pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">It’s often quoted that God could not be everywhere and so
he invented grandparents</span></p>
<pre><span lang="EN-US" wfd-id="0"> </span></pre>BettyKhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14201088489627653644noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7017305232945824172.post-41862884221721936022020-12-03T11:04:00.002-08:002020-12-03T11:04:36.043-08:00The legend of Pussan<p><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Calling cats by their names is no doubt a difficult task. You may think I’m mad as the mad hatter to write about cats whom some of you abhor and aren’t interested in their ancestry</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; tab-stops: 45.8pt 91.6pt 137.4pt 183.2pt 229.0pt 274.8pt 320.6pt 366.4pt 412.2pt 458.0pt 503.8pt 549.6pt 595.4pt 641.2pt 687.0pt 732.8pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: arial;">We had a cat of indeterminate ancestry, a kind of
Tabby cat with dark brown stripes on a generally white background, with blazing
blue eyes.</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; tab-stops: 45.8pt 91.6pt 137.4pt 183.2pt 229.0pt 274.8pt 320.6pt 366.4pt 412.2pt 458.0pt 503.8pt 549.6pt 595.4pt 641.2pt 687.0pt 732.8pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: arial;">He mewed his way into our home, maybe discarded by
his mother or maybe decided to run away from the rest of the pack. We couldn’t
call him Jasper or Himansu or even duplicate Biden’s cat Socks in the White
House so we called him Pussan which sounded like Russian.</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; tab-stops: 45.8pt 91.6pt 137.4pt 183.2pt 229.0pt 274.8pt 320.6pt 366.4pt 412.2pt 458.0pt 503.8pt 549.6pt 595.4pt 641.2pt 687.0pt 732.8pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: arial;">My youngest son and Pusan jelled together like
butter and Jam which both liked. But Pussan showed his early preference for
fish at all meals. He would cock a snook at rice, veggies and curry and would
be sulking for half a day outdoor as no pets were allowed into the dining room
at mealtimes but Pusan’s preference was smuggled out very cleverly to ease his offended
psyche.</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; tab-stops: 45.8pt 91.6pt 137.4pt 183.2pt 229.0pt 274.8pt 320.6pt 366.4pt 412.2pt 458.0pt 503.8pt 549.6pt 595.4pt 641.2pt 687.0pt 732.8pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Pussan relaxed and snoozed in the boy’s rooms
calmly listening to the musical endeavours. His bushy tail which outdid any
modern brush swayed to the rhythms or maybe he was circulating the air from his
cushion.</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; tab-stops: 45.8pt 91.6pt 137.4pt 183.2pt 229.0pt 274.8pt 320.6pt 366.4pt 412.2pt 458.0pt 503.8pt 549.6pt 595.4pt 641.2pt 687.0pt 732.8pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Pussan grew round and tubby as well-fed cats always
do for, he never ran to catch rats or cockroaches. Live and let live May have
been his political policy. He was never curious as cats I presume are normally
are. He was rarely game for a cuddle with strangers but would unexpectedly leap
onto a lap which was shelling peas into a bowl</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; tab-stops: 45.8pt 91.6pt 137.4pt 183.2pt 229.0pt 274.8pt 320.6pt 366.4pt 412.2pt 458.0pt 503.8pt 549.6pt 595.4pt 641.2pt 687.0pt 732.8pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Pussan broke every human law of gravity by spending
his leisure time if nothing more important was happening terra-firma by
skimming up the mango tree to catch hapless sparrows, or the laws of levitation
which even a Houdini couldn’t imitate.</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; tab-stops: 45.8pt 91.6pt 137.4pt 183.2pt 229.0pt 274.8pt 320.6pt 366.4pt 412.2pt 458.0pt 503.8pt 549.6pt 595.4pt 641.2pt 687.0pt 732.8pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Pussan defied any description of being a real cat. He
was on friendly terms with Fluffy our Pom. Fluffy had not decided whether he
was a dog or a goat for he was on reconciliation with my Bai’s goats. So Pussan
joined the confederation of peace makers. Very often on hot afternoons one
could see Fluffy at his afternoon siesta and Pussan cuddling by his fluffy
side.</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; tab-stops: 45.8pt 91.6pt 137.4pt 183.2pt 229.0pt 274.8pt 320.6pt 366.4pt 412.2pt 458.0pt 503.8pt 549.6pt 595.4pt 641.2pt 687.0pt 732.8pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Pussan was a clean cat for he enjoyed wiping
himself top to toe and enjoyed doing it</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; tab-stops: 45.8pt 91.6pt 137.4pt 183.2pt 229.0pt 274.8pt 320.6pt 366.4pt 412.2pt 458.0pt 503.8pt 549.6pt 595.4pt 641.2pt 687.0pt 732.8pt;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-IN; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-language: HI; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IN;"><span style="font-family: arial;">But the day dawned when my son left the homestead
for greener pastures and Pussan felt orphaned for I had no time to cuddle him<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; tab-stops: 45.8pt 91.6pt 137.4pt 183.2pt 229.0pt 274.8pt 320.6pt 366.4pt 412.2pt 458.0pt 503.8pt 549.6pt 595.4pt 641.2pt 687.0pt 732.8pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: arial;">To get him over his sulks we decided to send him to
a place where he could meet his next of kin and may be have his fill of seafood.
It had to be done and we cajoled him into the dicky and dropped him about 35 km
away where there were plenty of thattu-kadas and many of his kind loafing
around.</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; tab-stops: 45.8pt 91.6pt 137.4pt 183.2pt 229.0pt 274.8pt 320.6pt 366.4pt 412.2pt 458.0pt 503.8pt 549.6pt 595.4pt 641.2pt 687.0pt 732.8pt;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-IN; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-language: HI; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IN;"><span style="font-family: arial;">But the traffic roared and Fluffy danced a gig on
his hind paws for in strolled Pussan, baggy kneed, one ear missing but the
glare of his eyes was enough to his hegemony. He resumed licking his thumbs, and
filled his feline gastronomy with a bowl of fish<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; tab-stops: 45.8pt 91.6pt 137.4pt 183.2pt 229.0pt 274.8pt 320.6pt 366.4pt 412.2pt 458.0pt 503.8pt 549.6pt 595.4pt 641.2pt 687.0pt 732.8pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: arial;">But left forever when the Chinese crackers and
fireworks was too much for him and maybe he had no sympathy for the Chinese
infiltration. He left for a quieter world.</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; tab-stops: 45.8pt 91.6pt 137.4pt 183.2pt 229.0pt 274.8pt 320.6pt 366.4pt 412.2pt 458.0pt 503.8pt 549.6pt 595.4pt 641.2pt 687.0pt 732.8pt;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>BettyKhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14201088489627653644noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7017305232945824172.post-78212459288714285372020-11-25T22:03:00.000-08:002020-11-25T22:03:26.466-08:00Thangassery a sheaf of memories thro the eyes of a ten-year-old<p><span style="font-family: arial;"> <span style="font-size: 12pt;" wfd-id="46">It was about the 16th century that the Chinese
discovered the sea route to Quilon from where they carried on a lucrative
trade. They were outdone by the superior power of the Portuguese, and they in
turn were driven away by the Dutch. The turn of events in history which is
unexplainable brought the British East India company to keep its stranglehold
on the sea coast as a stepping stone to establish a hegemony over India.</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; tab-stops: 45.8pt 91.6pt 137.4pt 183.2pt 229.0pt 274.8pt 320.6pt 366.4pt 412.2pt 458.0pt 503.8pt 549.6pt 595.4pt 641.2pt 687.0pt 732.8pt;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 12pt;">Thangassery was an enclave of about 200 acres of
pristine coastal land ideal for setting up a township dear to the hearts of the
foreigners. As one waveform domination bypassed another the foreigners probably
decided to keep away from the local Malayalee’s, to settle down with their desi
relationships to create a new home away from their land</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; tab-stops: 45.8pt 91.6pt 137.4pt 183.2pt 229.0pt 274.8pt 320.6pt 366.4pt 412.2pt 458.0pt 503.8pt 549.6pt 595.4pt 641.2pt 687.0pt 732.8pt;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCc0t5jSFVT8xWBKoUo46_Ej0ZOOAAUQqLs8KlqzWl7FQQzwltI3_-fjDcoXo4drzRHXI7LOBvdiixw4L3_aP1PvvHM7X1_70sB8ujNOkLaiUSodJec-h-J7gyY5DWx5XPgCKkmvFGxJY/" style="font-family: arial; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img alt="" data-original-height="259" data-original-width="220" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCc0t5jSFVT8xWBKoUo46_Ej0ZOOAAUQqLs8KlqzWl7FQQzwltI3_-fjDcoXo4drzRHXI7LOBvdiixw4L3_aP1PvvHM7X1_70sB8ujNOkLaiUSodJec-h-J7gyY5DWx5XPgCKkmvFGxJY/" width="204" /></a></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; tab-stops: 45.8pt 91.6pt 137.4pt 183.2pt 229.0pt 274.8pt 320.6pt 366.4pt 412.2pt 458.0pt 503.8pt 549.6pt 595.4pt 641.2pt 687.0pt 732.8pt;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 12pt;">I remember entering Thangassery thro the arch that
proclaimed its uniqueness from the humdrum Kollam or Quilon as it was called. My
father decided to settle down for a few years to educate my brothers and
myself, in an English medium school and so it was.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; tab-stops: 45.8pt 91.6pt 137.4pt 183.2pt 229.0pt 274.8pt 320.6pt 366.4pt 412.2pt 458.0pt 503.8pt 549.6pt 595.4pt 641.2pt 687.0pt 732.8pt;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-IN; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-language: HI; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IN;" wfd-id="38"><o:p><span style="font-family: arial;"> </span></o:p></span><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">I used to walk along the rocky sea coast along
which fisherfolk had taken a foothold. More enticing and rather scary was the
cemetery with gigantic </span>tombstones<span style="font-size: 12pt;"> commemorating those men who had come from
afar and lived and died in Thangassery. Dutch names engraved in marble
indecipherable to the Indian tongue.</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; tab-stops: 45.8pt 91.6pt 137.4pt 183.2pt 229.0pt 274.8pt 320.6pt 366.4pt 412.2pt 458.0pt 503.8pt 549.6pt 595.4pt 641.2pt 687.0pt 732.8pt;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-IN; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-language: HI; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IN;" wfd-id="36"><o:p><span style="font-family: arial;"> </span></o:p></span><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 12pt;">Today I hear that the heavy tombstones have been purloined,
to be used as flooring for houses nearby.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; tab-stops: 45.8pt 91.6pt 137.4pt 183.2pt 229.0pt 274.8pt 320.6pt 366.4pt 412.2pt 458.0pt 503.8pt 549.6pt 595.4pt 641.2pt 687.0pt 732.8pt;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-IN; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-language: HI; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IN;" wfd-id="34"><o:p><span style="font-family: arial;"> </span></o:p></span><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 12pt;">The Light house keeper satisfied our innate
curiosity by letting us climb to the top to view the blue sea and ships sailing
on the far horizon. It aroused the spirit of adventure in many of us</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; tab-stops: 45.8pt 91.6pt 137.4pt 183.2pt 229.0pt 274.8pt 320.6pt 366.4pt 412.2pt 458.0pt 503.8pt 549.6pt 595.4pt 641.2pt 687.0pt 732.8pt;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 12pt;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9xX16xYxRAX6wR4vmUx8rU4QUtdaThVhVG0GxlNjh1REAjvcsEKNR44gE6jdcRQ-AnK_cRD9FC2HvGDLO-WL_DMkjzTrOzW1vv3MLoUcBWfkRkz5jhPsrTOtiQ3NIvfEy7niyu28OWiM/" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="293" data-original-width="220" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9xX16xYxRAX6wR4vmUx8rU4QUtdaThVhVG0GxlNjh1REAjvcsEKNR44gE6jdcRQ-AnK_cRD9FC2HvGDLO-WL_DMkjzTrOzW1vv3MLoUcBWfkRkz5jhPsrTOtiQ3NIvfEy7niyu28OWiM/" width="180" /></a></div><br /><br /><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; tab-stops: 45.8pt 91.6pt 137.4pt 183.2pt 229.0pt 274.8pt 320.6pt 366.4pt 412.2pt 458.0pt 503.8pt 549.6pt 595.4pt 641.2pt 687.0pt 732.8pt;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 12pt;">I remember with nostalgia names and places of long
ago. Dr. Krishna Pillai who had three jars of medicinal mixture, one a light
pink, one a dark pink, and one a white one. For minor consultations to him one
would be administered to whichever illness was complained about. There was
never doubt about its efficacy for minor illnesses.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; tab-stops: 45.8pt 91.6pt 137.4pt 183.2pt 229.0pt 274.8pt 320.6pt 366.4pt 412.2pt 458.0pt 503.8pt 549.6pt 595.4pt 641.2pt 687.0pt 732.8pt;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-IN; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-language: HI; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IN;" wfd-id="31"><o:p><span style="font-family: arial;"> </span></o:p></span><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 12pt;">The Lulu Mall was probably an avatar of Ravi Stores
which stocked everything, and a shop where most households had running accounts
for come payday and go pay day were a part of finances. Very few of the
residents bothered about their tomorrows.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; tab-stops: 45.8pt 91.6pt 137.4pt 183.2pt 229.0pt 274.8pt 320.6pt 366.4pt 412.2pt 458.0pt 503.8pt 549.6pt 595.4pt 641.2pt 687.0pt 732.8pt;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 12pt;">At the junction where two roads bifurcated, young
Romeos would assemble in the evening for snacks and chukku kaapi from Shenoy
mobile snack cart. I can still savour Kooni Mariam’s toffees sold outside our
Infant Jesus Anglo Indian school. Kooni Mariam’s sweets were five pieces of
jaggery and peanut chewier sold for 1 Anna.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; tab-stops: 45.8pt 91.6pt 137.4pt 183.2pt 229.0pt 274.8pt 320.6pt 366.4pt 412.2pt 458.0pt 503.8pt 549.6pt 595.4pt 641.2pt 687.0pt 732.8pt;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-IN; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-language: HI; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IN;" wfd-id="27"><o:p><span style="font-family: arial;"> </span></o:p></span><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 12pt;">Speedy vehicles were rarely seen on the roads of
Thangassery except the lucky owners of bikes. The owners of these were envied by
the hoi polio and cars driving from outside to deposit children in school or
parents who had their small sons boarded in homes of friendly hosts.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; tab-stops: 45.8pt 91.6pt 137.4pt 183.2pt 229.0pt 274.8pt 320.6pt 366.4pt 412.2pt 458.0pt 503.8pt 549.6pt 595.4pt 641.2pt 687.0pt 732.8pt;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-IN; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-language: HI; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IN;" wfd-id="24"><span style="font-family: arial;">Our evenings
were spent running to the small beach behind the Mount Carmel convent, and we
kids and teens, classmates, friends, and cheery neighbours could wade into the
waist deep briny sea. We children collected clay from under the rocks, and
caught tiny colourful fish using towels. As the sunset, we shared pink ice-lollies
with friends.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; tab-stops: 45.8pt 91.6pt 137.4pt 183.2pt 229.0pt 274.8pt 320.6pt 366.4pt 412.2pt 458.0pt 503.8pt 549.6pt 595.4pt 641.2pt 687.0pt 732.8pt;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-IN; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-language: HI; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IN;" wfd-id="24"><span style="font-family: arial;"></span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUR9tSt8vEMsvMMQq9T2n8XmQTL-eRu2DdjTx8fmVwHDwfUQP1nBAUfZQGApIe2wuiCzQNT10JnrNm7TM_x8E4umQRvefk5JXycQLbj-v0XggKCFxNNbF5GRxoFclO1grQp8LK3pwHomw/" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="450" data-original-width="800" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUR9tSt8vEMsvMMQq9T2n8XmQTL-eRu2DdjTx8fmVwHDwfUQP1nBAUfZQGApIe2wuiCzQNT10JnrNm7TM_x8E4umQRvefk5JXycQLbj-v0XggKCFxNNbF5GRxoFclO1grQp8LK3pwHomw/" width="320" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /><br /></span><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; tab-stops: 45.8pt 91.6pt 137.4pt 183.2pt 229.0pt 274.8pt 320.6pt 366.4pt 412.2pt 458.0pt 503.8pt 549.6pt 595.4pt 641.2pt 687.0pt 732.8pt;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 12pt;">All was not fun and frolic in Lent. The divinity
and sanctity of the season was the procession of the Way of the cross round the
entire town on every Friday during lent.</span><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; tab-stops: 45.8pt 91.6pt 137.4pt 183.2pt 229.0pt 274.8pt 320.6pt 366.4pt 412.2pt 458.0pt 503.8pt 549.6pt 595.4pt 641.2pt 687.0pt 732.8pt;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-IN; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-language: HI; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IN;" wfd-id="20"><span style="font-family: arial;">Sounds of piano music we’re heard when Ms Sheela D’Couto
thumped at her piano encouraging the young to appreciate western music. She was
the first Anglo woman of Thangassery to become a graduate. She taught perfect
Kings English.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; tab-stops: 45.8pt 91.6pt 137.4pt 183.2pt 229.0pt 274.8pt 320.6pt 366.4pt 412.2pt 458.0pt 503.8pt 549.6pt 595.4pt 641.2pt 687.0pt 732.8pt;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-IN; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-language: HI; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IN;" wfd-id="19"><o:p><span style="font-family: arial;"> </span></o:p></span><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 12pt;">The young boys of the community were experts with
drums, guitars and flutes for they must have had latent musical genetic genes
from their forefathers.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; tab-stops: 45.8pt 91.6pt 137.4pt 183.2pt 229.0pt 274.8pt 320.6pt 366.4pt 412.2pt 458.0pt 503.8pt 549.6pt 595.4pt 641.2pt 687.0pt 732.8pt;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-IN; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-language: HI; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IN;" wfd-id="17"><o:p><span style="font-family: arial;"> </span></o:p></span><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 12pt;">Christmas was a time of fun. Groups of us serenaded
as Santa’s and his cohorts carolling our hearts to earn a little pocket money. For
the budding teens the East West club was the focus of merrymaking. Kids were not
admitted as strong liquor like arrack was the celebratory drink. The famous
Thangassery twists, jives, and rock roll, set the rollicking festivities aglow
from Xmas eve to midnight on Xmas day. Those nights when whole of Thangassery
looked like a fairy land of dreams where gaily dressed young girls with
beautiful make up danced with handsome companions.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; tab-stops: 45.8pt 91.6pt 137.4pt 183.2pt 229.0pt 274.8pt 320.6pt 366.4pt 412.2pt 458.0pt 503.8pt 549.6pt 595.4pt 641.2pt 687.0pt 732.8pt;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-IN; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-language: HI; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IN;" wfd-id="15"><o:p><span style="font-family: arial;"> </span></o:p></span><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 12pt;">Unforgettable were the sights and sounds of old
Tangy. Another memory that never fades is of the famous Carmel Bakery, owned by
Mr Andrew James. The aroma of freshly baked buns and pastries had many of us
crying for more. Carmel Bakery wedding cakes were a sight to the eyes and a
taste to the tongue. The rich and famous from all over had their offspring’s
wedding cake from Carmel Bakery. It was narrated that Carmel Bakery made the
wedding cake for Central Govt minister Henry Austin’s daughter’s wedding. It
was also said that the Kochi famous Mr Chackola wanted his daughter’s wedding
cake to be made by Andrew D Cruz who refused to make it in Kochi. The final
compromise was that the cake was made in Thangassery and transported to Kochi. The
sons of the owner of Carmel bakery had the nicknames like Roti, Bunny etc</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; tab-stops: 45.8pt 91.6pt 137.4pt 183.2pt 229.0pt 274.8pt 320.6pt 366.4pt 412.2pt 458.0pt 503.8pt 549.6pt 595.4pt 641.2pt 687.0pt 732.8pt;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-IN; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-language: HI; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IN;" wfd-id="13"><o:p><span style="font-family: arial;"> </span></o:p></span><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 12pt;">Thangassery was famously once in the news when
Thangassery girl Janice Spinks was declared Champion Hurdler.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; tab-stops: 45.8pt 91.6pt 137.4pt 183.2pt 229.0pt 274.8pt 320.6pt 366.4pt 412.2pt 458.0pt 503.8pt 549.6pt 595.4pt 641.2pt 687.0pt 732.8pt;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-IN; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-language: HI; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IN;" wfd-id="10"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;" wfd-id="11"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 12pt;">Anglo Indian young girls and boys became proficient
for their skills as office secretaries. At that time very few opted for
medicine or engineering. Eventually they found profitable livelihoods in
foreign countries like Britain and Australia.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; tab-stops: 45.8pt 91.6pt 137.4pt 183.2pt 229.0pt 274.8pt 320.6pt 366.4pt 412.2pt 458.0pt 503.8pt 549.6pt 595.4pt 641.2pt 687.0pt 732.8pt;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-IN; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-language: HI; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IN;" wfd-id="8"><o:p><span style="font-family: arial;"> </span></o:p></span><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 12pt;">The bounty of the sea can never be forgotten in our
homes, like 8 or 10 Anna’s for a kilo of fresh fish and lobsters almost a foot
long for two annas almost a pittance today</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; tab-stops: 45.8pt 91.6pt 137.4pt 183.2pt 229.0pt 274.8pt 320.6pt 366.4pt 412.2pt 458.0pt 503.8pt 549.6pt 595.4pt 641.2pt 687.0pt 732.8pt;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-IN; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-language: HI; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IN;" wfd-id="6"><span style="font-family: arial;">Thangassery munglish was the current lingo then. Some
Munglish notations reverberate in my mind after all these years. A sample reads
thus. Rasam was pepper water, Pappadom’s were curry biscuits, liquor was grog, Kanji
was rice porridge, non-Anglo Indians were called burgers. I once pestered my
mother for bamboo cake, which she eventually found was the Malayalee Puttu, and
Mafry was Mathi or sardines fried. The tete a tete of a young couple was called
mooching.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; tab-stops: 45.8pt 91.6pt 137.4pt 183.2pt 229.0pt 274.8pt 320.6pt 366.4pt 412.2pt 458.0pt 503.8pt 549.6pt 595.4pt 641.2pt 687.0pt 732.8pt;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-IN; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-language: HI; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IN;" wfd-id="5"><o:p><span style="font-family: arial;"> </span></o:p></span><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 12pt;">Social
camaraderie knew no bounds. Marriages between familiar families were accepted
as the young could relate to known social mores.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; tab-stops: 45.8pt 91.6pt 137.4pt 183.2pt 229.0pt 274.8pt 320.6pt 366.4pt 412.2pt 458.0pt 503.8pt 549.6pt 595.4pt 641.2pt 687.0pt 732.8pt;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-IN; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-language: HI; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IN;" wfd-id="2"><o:p><span style="font-family: arial;"> </span></o:p></span><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 12pt;">Today the old Thangassery is no more for those who
lent life and colour to this small enclave have twitched their mantles blue and
have gone to fresh woods and pastures new.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; tab-stops: 45.8pt 91.6pt 137.4pt 183.2pt 229.0pt 274.8pt 320.6pt 366.4pt 412.2pt 458.0pt 503.8pt 549.6pt 595.4pt 641.2pt 687.0pt 732.8pt;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;" wfd-id="0"><o:p><span style="font-family: arial;"> </span></o:p></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCc0t5jSFVT8xWBKoUo46_Ej0ZOOAAUQqLs8KlqzWl7FQQzwltI3_-fjDcoXo4drzRHXI7LOBvdiixw4L3_aP1PvvHM7X1_70sB8ujNOkLaiUSodJec-h-J7gyY5DWx5XPgCKkmvFGxJY/" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><p></p>BettyKhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14201088489627653644noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7017305232945824172.post-37320622587837795262020-11-17T22:27:00.000-08:002020-11-17T22:27:03.584-08:00A picnic to remember. A page from the past<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; tab-stops: 45.8pt 91.6pt 137.4pt 183.2pt 229.0pt 274.8pt 320.6pt 366.4pt 412.2pt 458.0pt 503.8pt 549.6pt 595.4pt 641.2pt 687.0pt 732.8pt;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-IN; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-language: HI; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IN;" wfd-id="65"><span style="font-family: arial;">What is this life if full of care? <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;" wfd-id="66"> </span>We don’t have time to stand and stare.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; tab-stops: 45.8pt 91.6pt 137.4pt 183.2pt 229.0pt 274.8pt 320.6pt 366.4pt 412.2pt 458.0pt 503.8pt 549.6pt 595.4pt 641.2pt 687.0pt 732.8pt;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-IN; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-language: HI; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IN;" wfd-id="64"><o:p><span style="font-family: arial;"> </span></o:p></span><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 12pt;">In my indubitable days of teaching in STC, I
desperately to accompany my students when they went out of Kerala on week long
excursions. But my dreams never materialised due to circumstances beyond my
control.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; tab-stops: 45.8pt 91.6pt 137.4pt 183.2pt 229.0pt 274.8pt 320.6pt 366.4pt 412.2pt 458.0pt 503.8pt 549.6pt 595.4pt 641.2pt 687.0pt 732.8pt;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-IN; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-language: HI; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IN;" wfd-id="62"><o:p><span style="font-family: arial;"> </span></o:p></span><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 12pt;">And then one day my dream came true when Sr Marie
Cecile asked Vilasini and me to accompany the final years to a destination they
had chosen, Goa</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; tab-stops: 45.8pt 91.6pt 137.4pt 183.2pt 229.0pt 274.8pt 320.6pt 366.4pt 412.2pt 458.0pt 503.8pt 549.6pt 595.4pt 641.2pt 687.0pt 732.8pt;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-IN; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-language: HI; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IN;" wfd-id="60"><o:p><span style="font-family: arial;"> </span></o:p></span><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 12pt;">The adage that when the cat is away the mice will
play literally worked for me, for the man around whom my existence was a rather
luxurious one, had gone on a month’s construction project to Tuticorin, and my
decision to make hay while the sun shone precipitated my desire though I did
miss him.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; tab-stops: 45.8pt 91.6pt 137.4pt 183.2pt 229.0pt 274.8pt 320.6pt 366.4pt 412.2pt 458.0pt 503.8pt 549.6pt 595.4pt 641.2pt 687.0pt 732.8pt;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-IN; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-language: HI; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IN;" wfd-id="58"><o:p><span style="font-family: arial;"> </span></o:p></span><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 12pt;">My mother in law bless her heart was happy to have
her grandchildren to Molly coddle and she waved the green signal. So, I set out
like a female Ulysses looking for Ithaca.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; tab-stops: 45.8pt 91.6pt 137.4pt 183.2pt 229.0pt 274.8pt 320.6pt 366.4pt 412.2pt 458.0pt 503.8pt 549.6pt 595.4pt 641.2pt 687.0pt 732.8pt;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-IN; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-language: HI; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IN;" wfd-id="56"><o:p><span style="font-family: arial;"> </span></o:p></span><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 12pt;">My companion was Vilasini well renowned as a guide
for college excursions and me a novice. We were told that arrangements made by
one of the girls, for our stay overnight in Mangalore and later in Goa, was made
by her cousin</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; tab-stops: 45.8pt 91.6pt 137.4pt 183.2pt 229.0pt 274.8pt 320.6pt 366.4pt 412.2pt 458.0pt 503.8pt 549.6pt 595.4pt 641.2pt 687.0pt 732.8pt;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-IN; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-language: HI; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IN;" wfd-id="53"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;" wfd-id="54"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 12pt;">And we set out with a bus full of budding rosebuds
waiting to bloom, full of the joie de vivre. With prayers and laughter we drove
off to green pastures.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; tab-stops: 45.8pt 91.6pt 137.4pt 183.2pt 229.0pt 274.8pt 320.6pt 366.4pt 412.2pt 458.0pt 503.8pt 549.6pt 595.4pt 641.2pt 687.0pt 732.8pt;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-IN; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-language: HI; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IN;" wfd-id="50"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;" wfd-id="51"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 12pt;">Miles and miles away and all their singing and
cheering, lunchtime meant a break. Somewhere on the highway we saw a gushing
stream and they pleaded for a break. Bikers on their way stopped to gaze at the
buxom girls and had to be threatened by the driver and Kili.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; tab-stops: 45.8pt 91.6pt 137.4pt 183.2pt 229.0pt 274.8pt 320.6pt 366.4pt 412.2pt 458.0pt 503.8pt 549.6pt 595.4pt 641.2pt 687.0pt 732.8pt;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-IN; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-language: HI; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IN;" wfd-id="48"><o:p><span style="font-family: arial;"> </span></o:p></span><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 12pt;">Night shadows had us in Mangalore to bed for the
night in a school room on school benches. The only source of water was a tap in
the garden. So bathing was by candlelight and moon light. There definitely was
a broken misunderstanding as Jeeves would say.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; tab-stops: 45.8pt 91.6pt 137.4pt 183.2pt 229.0pt 274.8pt 320.6pt 366.4pt 412.2pt 458.0pt 503.8pt 549.6pt 595.4pt 641.2pt 687.0pt 732.8pt;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-IN; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-language: HI; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IN;" wfd-id="46"><o:p><span style="font-family: arial;"> </span></o:p></span><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 12pt;">We hurriedly saw the college Sr Therese Marie
studied in and a magnificent St. Alosius college and church. </span><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 12pt;" wfd-id="45"> </span><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 12pt;">We drove next day over hill, plain rocky roads
and farmlands and landed in Panaji old Capitol of Goa. Our girls screamed in
delight. What I noticed was the sloping verandas in home stead’s brimming with
verdant growth, and ancient well-preserved churches at every turn of the road.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; tab-stops: 45.8pt 91.6pt 137.4pt 183.2pt 229.0pt 274.8pt 320.6pt 366.4pt 412.2pt 458.0pt 503.8pt 549.6pt 595.4pt 641.2pt 687.0pt 732.8pt;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-IN; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-language: HI; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IN;" wfd-id="43"><o:p><span style="font-family: arial;"> </span></o:p></span><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 12pt;">Then again evidently there was miscommunication or
some kind of voodoo for our bus took us to a seaside hillock called Dona Paula.
It was a small town where we saw young men lolling mindlessly probably sipping
feni in the cool sunshine. Our destination was a small school on a hillock
cheek by jowl with a Govt fisheries project on the side.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; tab-stops: 45.8pt 91.6pt 137.4pt 183.2pt 229.0pt 274.8pt 320.6pt 366.4pt 412.2pt 458.0pt 503.8pt 549.6pt 595.4pt 641.2pt 687.0pt 732.8pt;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 12pt;">Amid
grumbles and tears a comedown from hopes of decent beds and bathrooms we
settled the girls, soothing damaged egos and personality blips. Miraculously
food packets from a hostel nearby arrived. We finally settled on benches to
rest our tired bones. All was quiet till about the time witches usually fly. there
came a thunder bolt so deafening as it rolled from hill to sea in atomic blasts
wave after wave.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; tab-stops: 45.8pt 91.6pt 137.4pt 183.2pt 229.0pt 274.8pt 320.6pt 366.4pt 412.2pt 458.0pt 503.8pt 549.6pt 595.4pt 641.2pt 687.0pt 732.8pt;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-IN; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-language: HI; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IN;" wfd-id="39"><o:p><span style="font-family: arial;"> </span></o:p></span><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 12pt;">Vilasini and I found ourselves clutched by the
shivering hands and curdling cries of our wards. The sun rose the next morning
as tho the apocalypse of the night had never happened.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; tab-stops: 45.8pt 91.6pt 137.4pt 183.2pt 229.0pt 274.8pt 320.6pt 366.4pt 412.2pt 458.0pt 503.8pt 549.6pt 595.4pt 641.2pt 687.0pt 732.8pt;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-IN; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-language: HI; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IN;" wfd-id="36"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;" wfd-id="37"> </span>Some wanted
to go back to Kochi but good sense prevailed when we were told that it was a
common occurrence and many Goan’s believed the thunder was commentating the suicide
of a beautiful maiden called Dona Paula<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; tab-stops: 45.8pt 91.6pt 137.4pt 183.2pt 229.0pt 274.8pt 320.6pt 366.4pt 412.2pt 458.0pt 503.8pt 549.6pt 595.4pt 641.2pt 687.0pt 732.8pt;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-IN; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-language: HI; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IN;" wfd-id="35"><o:p><span style="font-family: arial;"> </span></o:p></span><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 12pt;">But the sunlight of the day and hours of roaming
the streets of the town without much supervision was a boon for our young
wards. Bike taxis a new concept for us, bike riders could be hired to take a
passenger or shopper to one’s destination</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-IN; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-language: HI; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IN;" wfd-id="33"><span style="font-family: arial;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 12pt;">They went wading in the placid sea waters
supervised by us who didn’t know the ABC of swimming. Shopping for strange Goan
artifacts, like soap on a rope, and religious icons were on the agenda. So was
a visit to the cathedral to view the casket which had once contained the
remains of the patron saint wasabi experience especially when we walked on the terracotta
flooring where thousands had walked. It seemed to be a hallowed floor too.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-IN; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-language: HI; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IN;" wfd-id="31"><o:p><span style="font-family: arial;"> </span></o:p></span><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 12pt;">There was a celebratory dinner and then it was time
to head back home after buying bottles of wine in beautiful glass containers as
mementos but we were warned that the excise officials would-be lying-in wait to
arrest us for contraband liquor for we had no license. But we were happily
advised to layer top layer of our suitcases with lingerie and the bottles of
wine to lie dormant at the bottom of ladies’ things.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-IN; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-language: HI; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IN;" wfd-id="29"><o:p><span style="font-family: arial;"> </span></o:p></span><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 12pt;">Sure enough we escaped as bootleggers no
doubt but it was all in the game. We drove into STC at midnight in pouring rain</span></p><br /><p></p>BettyKhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14201088489627653644noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7017305232945824172.post-18264155925343307212020-11-01T22:53:00.003-08:002020-11-01T22:53:30.288-08:00Requiem for an Island <p> <span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">I’d like to remember those halcyon days of the emerald
isle where one never had to read catastrophic headlines which screamed “Sri
Lanka is burning”; “Curfew imposed”; “Death toll rises”</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; tab-stops: 45.8pt 91.6pt 137.4pt 183.2pt 229.0pt 274.8pt 320.6pt 366.4pt 412.2pt 458.0pt 503.8pt 549.6pt 595.4pt 641.2pt 687.0pt 732.8pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-IN; mso-bidi-language: HI; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IN;"><o:p> </o:p></span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">The Sri Lanka of my memory was genuine, sun-filled land
of rolling hills and meandering roads, of white-washed stupas and
incense-filled air; of temples, temple flowers and lanterns swaying through the
balmy air. The haunting throb of the drums at Perahera fills my ears even now,
Kandy! Colombo! Gampola! stalks the land.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; tab-stops: 45.8pt 91.6pt 137.4pt 183.2pt 229.0pt 274.8pt 320.6pt 366.4pt 412.2pt 458.0pt 503.8pt 549.6pt 595.4pt 641.2pt 687.0pt 732.8pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-IN; mso-bidi-language: HI; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IN;"><o:p> </o:p></span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Gampola! Nestling amidst hills- a tranquil, little hill
town like many others of its ilk- of steep, sleepy roads ad old houses. The
pains of growing up tempered by the untroubled air, among the non-militant Goonewardene’s,
Fernando’s, Alwises, and Pelpola’s and still more no aggressive Kumaraswamy,
Selvanayagam’s and Muthunayagams.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; tab-stops: 45.8pt 91.6pt 137.4pt 183.2pt 229.0pt 274.8pt 320.6pt 366.4pt 412.2pt 458.0pt 503.8pt 549.6pt 595.4pt 641.2pt 687.0pt 732.8pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-IN; mso-bidi-language: HI; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IN;"><o:p> </o:p></span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Days of togetherness! Of treks along hillsides, resting
near miniature waterfalls and like all children everywhere, sharing the joys of
fruity loot or jointly shivering and quaking in fear at the scary walk to school
by the side of the cemetery. Could it be that the tranquillity of my childhood
days has really been desecrated? Could it be that Tamil, Singhalese and
Malayalee children will no longer play hop step and jump on the long flight of
steps that once led to a mythical King’s treasury upon Hill Street? Will they
no longer be able to peep in fearful anticipation of seeing the ghosts of the
Dutch descendants of the Jantzes or Stockman’s through the lace curtained
windows overlooking manicured lawns and prim hedges?</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; tab-stops: 45.8pt 91.6pt 137.4pt 183.2pt 229.0pt 274.8pt 320.6pt 366.4pt 412.2pt 458.0pt 503.8pt 549.6pt 595.4pt 641.2pt 687.0pt 732.8pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-IN; mso-bidi-language: HI; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IN;"><o:p> </o:p></span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">When “I summon up remembrances of things past”. I cannot
recollect a more exciting event in our world than perhaps the great flood,
where Barton’s Dam gave away. The homes were left wide open to swirling waters,
remained intact except for the damage done by swirling waters, timely help was
extended. We stayed, 45 families, in a sprawling mansion of a Sinhalese friend,
and were fed by a Muslim merchant who opened his godown and poured out a cornucopia
of good things. Mothers chipped in to help, and it was hey day for us children.
But it seems those dear days are dead and gone.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; tab-stops: 45.8pt 91.6pt 137.4pt 183.2pt 229.0pt 274.8pt 320.6pt 366.4pt 412.2pt 458.0pt 503.8pt 549.6pt 595.4pt 641.2pt 687.0pt 732.8pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-IN; mso-bidi-language: HI; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IN;"><o:p> </o:p></span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">“The woods are lovely dark and deep” but no longer safe
for a stroll when season is spring</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; tab-stops: 45.8pt 91.6pt 137.4pt 183.2pt 229.0pt 274.8pt 320.6pt 366.4pt 412.2pt 458.0pt 503.8pt 549.6pt 595.4pt 641.2pt 687.0pt 732.8pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-IN; mso-bidi-language: HI; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IN;"><o:p> </o:p></span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">It was a good time for both grown-ups and children,
Christmas, Wesak, Ramzan, and Pongal were exciting days for us. Hovering in my
memory are those delicious trays of sweetmeats, covered in snowy white pillows,
lace-edged tray covers, that were sent as gifts from house to house. Oh! That
delicious feeling of anticipation! No racial overtones there!</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; tab-stops: 45.8pt 91.6pt 137.4pt 183.2pt 229.0pt 274.8pt 320.6pt 366.4pt 412.2pt 458.0pt 503.8pt 549.6pt 595.4pt 641.2pt 687.0pt 732.8pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-IN; mso-bidi-language: HI; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IN;"><o:p> </o:p></span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Holidays saw our home filled to the seams with friends of
all groups, many of them staying on for lunch to taste Kerala food. Many was
the time we raided the meat safe to assuage those in between meal time pangs
with </span><i style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">bibinque. Kokis</i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"> or </span><i style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">kallu dodohl</i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">. It was a rampage with a big
difference.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; tab-stops: 45.8pt 91.6pt 137.4pt 183.2pt 229.0pt 274.8pt 320.6pt 366.4pt 412.2pt 458.0pt 503.8pt 549.6pt 595.4pt 641.2pt 687.0pt 732.8pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-IN; mso-bidi-language: HI; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IN;"><o:p> </o:p></span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Peradeniya gardens! So, exciting a botanical wonderland
for school children and picnickers. I wonder whether I would ever again be
fortunate to see the giant Wanda in full bloom in Orchard house-with no fear of
being attacked. The typical relaxation was to wander in the well-laid out
gardens or to browse with a book ‘neath the shade of some exotic tree or to
stand amazed in awe at the ancient travellers palm with the names form a century
ago carved on its fronds. The spirit of those days is gone forever’.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; tab-stops: 45.8pt 91.6pt 137.4pt 183.2pt 229.0pt 274.8pt 320.6pt 366.4pt 412.2pt 458.0pt 503.8pt 549.6pt 595.4pt 641.2pt 687.0pt 732.8pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-IN; mso-bidi-language: HI; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IN;"><o:p> </o:p></span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Nuwera Eliya, Mount Laviniya, Trincomalee.. names that
conjure up a thousand many splendored images. Images that now lay shattered.
Mythical sirens will no longer sing hauntingly on the coral strands off the
shores of Sri Lanka, for the mood of the serendip has been lost forever among
the gunfire and blazing human hearts.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; tab-stops: 45.8pt 91.6pt 137.4pt 183.2pt 229.0pt 274.8pt 320.6pt 366.4pt 412.2pt 458.0pt 503.8pt 549.6pt 595.4pt 641.2pt 687.0pt 732.8pt;"><br /></p>BettyKhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14201088489627653644noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7017305232945824172.post-1501184219235418522020-10-28T00:16:00.000-07:002020-10-28T00:16:22.050-07:00Mathan Chettan. A man for all seasons<p> </p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; tab-stops: 45.8pt 91.6pt 137.4pt 183.2pt 229.0pt 274.8pt 320.6pt 366.4pt 412.2pt 458.0pt 503.8pt 549.6pt 595.4pt 641.2pt 687.0pt 732.8pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-IN; mso-bidi-language: HI; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IN;">She looked up from where she was cutting some firewood
and saw a small ten-year-old boy in a grubby pair of shorts and a towel on his shoulder.
He looked famished. Her first reaction as a widow and mother of seven children
was that he must be fed.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; tab-stops: 45.8pt 91.6pt 137.4pt 183.2pt 229.0pt 274.8pt 320.6pt 366.4pt 412.2pt 458.0pt 503.8pt 549.6pt 595.4pt 641.2pt 687.0pt 732.8pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">It was my grandmother’s dictum that a full stomach would
drive away most ills. He wolfed down a bowl of rice, went to the well, cleaned himself,
and smiled broadly at her.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; tab-stops: 45.8pt 91.6pt 137.4pt 183.2pt 229.0pt 274.8pt 320.6pt 366.4pt 412.2pt 458.0pt 503.8pt 549.6pt 595.4pt 641.2pt 687.0pt 732.8pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Question and answer followed. He called himself Mathan
and said he had run away from home far North, cos he was beaten by his step
father on a daily basis. He wouldn’t go back and offered to stay as her servant.
She was horrified and said he could wait in the homestead till she decided to
make some inquiries. His talk revealed that he belonged to a well to do
background.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; tab-stops: 45.8pt 91.6pt 137.4pt 183.2pt 229.0pt 274.8pt 320.6pt 366.4pt 412.2pt 458.0pt 503.8pt 549.6pt 595.4pt 641.2pt 687.0pt 732.8pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">A friendly policeman neighbour dealt gently with the boy.
The cane marks on his back were sufficient evidence that he had been abused.
There were no legal or semi legal forums to deal with such situations then, and
so a status quo was made. He would stay with my grandmother till someone came
looking for him.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; tab-stops: 45.8pt 91.6pt 137.4pt 183.2pt 229.0pt 274.8pt 320.6pt 366.4pt 412.2pt 458.0pt 503.8pt 549.6pt 595.4pt 641.2pt 687.0pt 732.8pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">He categorically refused to be enrolled in the Govt
school near by which the sons of the family attended. He said he had passed the
4th class</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; tab-stops: 45.8pt 91.6pt 137.4pt 183.2pt 229.0pt 274.8pt 320.6pt 366.4pt 412.2pt 458.0pt 503.8pt 549.6pt 595.4pt 641.2pt 687.0pt 732.8pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Now happy as a lark, he drew buckets of water from the
well, swept the garden of recalcitrant leaves, cut firewood, swept the floors,
He played with the boys and catered to every wish of the chechis. But he was
always around worshiping his saviour my grandmother.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; tab-stops: 45.8pt 91.6pt 137.4pt 183.2pt 229.0pt 274.8pt 320.6pt 366.4pt 412.2pt 458.0pt 503.8pt 549.6pt 595.4pt 641.2pt 687.0pt 732.8pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">He grew tall and strong, and saw the girls of the family
married off one by one. Then the house was empty but Mathan was on call as he
had called himself to help whichever daughter of the house needed a hand. He
refused any cajoling to get married.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; tab-stops: 45.8pt 91.6pt 137.4pt 183.2pt 229.0pt 274.8pt 320.6pt 366.4pt 412.2pt 458.0pt 503.8pt 549.6pt 595.4pt 641.2pt 687.0pt 732.8pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">My grandmother now ageing went to be with her sons.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; tab-stops: 45.8pt 91.6pt 137.4pt 183.2pt 229.0pt 274.8pt 320.6pt 366.4pt 412.2pt 458.0pt 503.8pt 549.6pt 595.4pt 641.2pt 687.0pt 732.8pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Mathan Chettan now his nomenclature answered any call for
help and in any contingency where ever it was Trivandrum or Kollam, or Thiruvalla,
or Kottayam. He never asked for any favours or comforts. He had no bank balance.
The only cash he had was what was gifted by those he helped just enough for bus
fare, I guess. His main outfit was a white mundu and a towel on his shoulder.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; tab-stops: 45.8pt 91.6pt 137.4pt 183.2pt 229.0pt 274.8pt 320.6pt 366.4pt 412.2pt 458.0pt 503.8pt 549.6pt 595.4pt 641.2pt 687.0pt 732.8pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">He charmed the little ones and even gave them elephant
rides on his back, made playthings of coconut ola or rocked colicky babies to
sleep</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; tab-stops: 45.8pt 91.6pt 137.4pt 183.2pt 229.0pt 274.8pt 320.6pt 366.4pt 412.2pt 458.0pt 503.8pt 549.6pt 595.4pt 641.2pt 687.0pt 732.8pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">He was now growing old but he never let a call for help
go unanswered be it for festive arrangements, manning the kitchen for
ceremonial feasts or even organising funeral wakes.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; tab-stops: 45.8pt 91.6pt 137.4pt 183.2pt 229.0pt 274.8pt 320.6pt 366.4pt 412.2pt 458.0pt 503.8pt 549.6pt 595.4pt 641.2pt 687.0pt 732.8pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">And then one day my mother woke up crying her heart out. Broken
hearted, she said thro her tears, ’Mathan Chettan came to see me and say
goodbye dressed all in white’ He came to say his last goodbye in the home of a
family member far away.</span></p>BettyKhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14201088489627653644noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7017305232945824172.post-39373710843154800542020-10-24T23:56:00.003-07:002020-10-25T00:03:30.409-07:00A peep into the past of St Teresa’s from the 1950s<p><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-family: arial; font-size: 12pt;">Each breath of the past is fragrant with their scent, so
delicate and sweet. I walk the root strewn path with care, with flowers at my feet.
How difficult it is to go and leave the scene behind. Like Wordsworth with his daffodils,
I see them in my mind</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; tab-stops: 45.8pt 91.6pt 137.4pt 183.2pt 229.0pt 274.8pt 320.6pt 366.4pt 412.2pt 458.0pt 503.8pt 549.6pt 595.4pt 641.2pt 687.0pt 732.8pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-family: arial; font-size: 12pt;">St Teresa’s today
is a showpiece of an educational institution where we taught and survived, ere
the sun rose on the NAAC and UGC largesse</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; tab-stops: 45.8pt 91.6pt 137.4pt 183.2pt 229.0pt 274.8pt 320.6pt 366.4pt 412.2pt 458.0pt 503.8pt 549.6pt 595.4pt 641.2pt 687.0pt 732.8pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-family: arial; font-size: 12pt;">My mind travels back in time when I entered its gates as
acolyte for the intermediate course. Admission was easy as apple pie for all
that my guardian had to say to Sister Digna was this girl wants to study here, she
is from Sri Lanka. All done. Name entered, in register, class-room pointed out
and I was in.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; tab-stops: 45.8pt 91.6pt 137.4pt 183.2pt 229.0pt 274.8pt 320.6pt 366.4pt 412.2pt 458.0pt 503.8pt 549.6pt 595.4pt 641.2pt 687.0pt 732.8pt;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-IN; mso-bidi-language: HI; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IN;"><o:p wfd-id="6"> </o:p></span><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt;">There were two massive buildings supported by bulwarks.
The centre building encapsulated a small room for the tiny principal, and a
spacious office. Upstairs were the science labs. Classes were held on the
ground floor of the hostel just built while the staff quarters overlooked the
park avenue road at the back of these massive buildings.</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; tab-stops: 45.8pt 91.6pt 137.4pt 183.2pt 229.0pt 274.8pt 320.6pt 366.4pt 412.2pt 458.0pt 503.8pt 549.6pt 595.4pt 641.2pt 687.0pt 732.8pt;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-IN; mso-bidi-language: HI; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IN;"><o:p wfd-id="5"> </o:p></span><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt;">We could hear from our classes, the thathis beating the
laundry by the side of the big water tanks and saw soap bubbles floating and
winking in the sunlight. This was where we now have the old and plush
auditoriums.</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; tab-stops: 45.8pt 91.6pt 137.4pt 183.2pt 229.0pt 274.8pt 320.6pt 366.4pt 412.2pt 458.0pt 503.8pt 549.6pt 595.4pt 641.2pt 687.0pt 732.8pt;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-IN; mso-bidi-language: HI; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IN;"><o:p wfd-id="4"> </o:p></span><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt;">We intermediates were ordered to carry bricks to build
the old existing auditorium a testament to our grumbles</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; tab-stops: 45.8pt 91.6pt 137.4pt 183.2pt 229.0pt 274.8pt 320.6pt 366.4pt 412.2pt 458.0pt 503.8pt 549.6pt 595.4pt 641.2pt 687.0pt 732.8pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-family: arial; font-size: 12pt;">In my youth the auditorium was in the long hall of what
may now be the language staff rooms. Plays were acted on the stage then, us
girls made to look like men thanks to Miss Alwyn and Sister Hyacinth. Dancers
too rollicked there. There were a group of Jewish girls who performed their
traditional dances. There was no air conditioning only a few sad fans but
plenty of spectators who had to stand on tiptoe to watch the performances.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; tab-stops: 45.8pt 91.6pt 137.4pt 183.2pt 229.0pt 274.8pt 320.6pt 366.4pt 412.2pt 458.0pt 503.8pt 549.6pt 595.4pt 641.2pt 687.0pt 732.8pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-family: arial; font-size: 12pt;">The library was on the ground floor. Miss Alwyns eagle
eye kept the tomes slick and shiny. We thought then that the park belonged to
St Teresa’s and so on those fair evenings we were allowed to get a breath of
fresh air of course watched by crowds of young men salivating at such a galaxy
of young girls. We even had our sports day in the park.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; tab-stops: 45.8pt 91.6pt 137.4pt 183.2pt 229.0pt 274.8pt 320.6pt 366.4pt 412.2pt 458.0pt 503.8pt 549.6pt 595.4pt 641.2pt 687.0pt 732.8pt;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-IN; mso-bidi-language: HI; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IN;"><o:p wfd-id="3"> </o:p></span><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt;">College day was when all of us in our Sunday best sat
down in the quadrangle to meet our teacher. Prize distribution for academic
success was announced vocally on a makeshift platform, accompanied by loud
cheers. No teacher was alien to us</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; tab-stops: 45.8pt 91.6pt 137.4pt 183.2pt 229.0pt 274.8pt 320.6pt 366.4pt 412.2pt 458.0pt 503.8pt 549.6pt 595.4pt 641.2pt 687.0pt 732.8pt;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-IN; mso-bidi-language: HI; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IN;"><o:p wfd-id="2"> </o:p></span><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt;">A vortex of memories flood thro my mind. Sr. Digna, Sr.
Concepta, Sr. Seraphia, Sr. Marie Therese, Sr Therese Marie, Miss Muree, Miss
Cherian, Miss Ammu, Sr. Hyacinth, Sr. Theodora, Miss Mani, cosmetologist Miss
Pillai and the youngest Sr. Anne Felice. They did not shirk from teaching us
,They were the stalwarts who moulded our minds and actions</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; tab-stops: 45.8pt 91.6pt 137.4pt 183.2pt 229.0pt 274.8pt 320.6pt 366.4pt 412.2pt 458.0pt 503.8pt 549.6pt 595.4pt 641.2pt 687.0pt 732.8pt;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-IN; mso-bidi-language: HI; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IN;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt;">You may know some of them of the seniors league</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; tab-stops: 45.8pt 91.6pt 137.4pt 183.2pt 229.0pt 274.8pt 320.6pt 366.4pt 412.2pt 458.0pt 503.8pt 549.6pt 595.4pt 641.2pt 687.0pt 732.8pt;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-IN; mso-bidi-language: HI; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IN;"><o:p wfd-id="1"> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p wfd-id="0"> </o:p></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRXd7iNAma30ulvx1MJTorqj1MnXyI_0UvLHpdfm8mFdoiKySF_kKAILPTgyOuNBGw3boi_05Z03aj4-6LROWLrlPtSbNm2gjVxoLfRW3EXJ4h5R_r5iiMC4euaGRsbmU7JgAteWfwHjQ/" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="379" data-original-width="714" height="170" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRXd7iNAma30ulvx1MJTorqj1MnXyI_0UvLHpdfm8mFdoiKySF_kKAILPTgyOuNBGw3boi_05Z03aj4-6LROWLrlPtSbNm2gjVxoLfRW3EXJ4h5R_r5iiMC4euaGRsbmU7JgAteWfwHjQ/" width="320" /></a></span></div><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span><p></p>BettyKhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14201088489627653644noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7017305232945824172.post-29005556194280742642020-10-23T03:22:00.000-07:002020-10-23T03:22:01.409-07:00Keep your Temper<p> <span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 14pt;">You’re not a cynic person simply because you blow
your top. You will end in a bad landing if you fly into a rage.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; tab-stops: 45.8pt 91.6pt 137.4pt 183.2pt 229.0pt 274.8pt 320.6pt 366.4pt 412.2pt 458.0pt 503.8pt 549.6pt 595.4pt 641.2pt 687.0pt 732.8pt;"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-IN; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-language: HI; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IN;"><o:p><span style="font-family: arial;"> </span></o:p></span><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 14pt;">Actually, it is said that nothing will cook your
chicken faster than a boiling hot temper. To keep a cool-head keep out of hot
water. Poise is the act of raising your eyebrows instead of raising the roof.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; tab-stops: 45.8pt 91.6pt 137.4pt 183.2pt 229.0pt 274.8pt 320.6pt 366.4pt 412.2pt 458.0pt 503.8pt 549.6pt 595.4pt 641.2pt 687.0pt 732.8pt;"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-IN; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-language: HI; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IN;"><o:p><span style="font-family: arial;"> </span></o:p></span><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 14pt;">You can’t get rid of your temper by losing it. That’s
the funny thing about it. The emptier the pot, the quicker the boil watch your
temper. He or she who loses their temper usually loses</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; tab-stops: 45.8pt 91.6pt 137.4pt 183.2pt 229.0pt 274.8pt 320.6pt 366.4pt 412.2pt 458.0pt 503.8pt 549.6pt 595.4pt 641.2pt 687.0pt 732.8pt;"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-IN; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-language: HI; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IN;"><o:p><span style="font-family: arial;"> </span></o:p></span><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 14pt;">A person without self-control I as defenceless as a
city with broken down walls. Haven’t you realised that today’s temper tantrum
is tomorrows anti-establishment demonstration so guard your teens temper
outbreaks.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; tab-stops: 45.8pt 91.6pt 137.4pt 183.2pt 229.0pt 274.8pt 320.6pt 366.4pt 412.2pt 458.0pt 503.8pt 549.6pt 595.4pt 641.2pt 687.0pt 732.8pt;"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-IN; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-language: HI; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IN;"><o:p><span style="font-family: arial;"> </span></o:p></span><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 14pt;">If you lose your temper you should not look for it.
Let it be lost permanently in the lost department. Those who are short tempered
do foolish things.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; tab-stops: 45.8pt 91.6pt 137.4pt 183.2pt 229.0pt 274.8pt 320.6pt 366.4pt 412.2pt 458.0pt 503.8pt 549.6pt 595.4pt 641.2pt 687.0pt 732.8pt;"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-IN; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-language: HI; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IN;"><o:p><span style="font-family: arial;"> </span></o:p></span><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 14pt;">The world needs more warm hearts and fewer hot
heads</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>BettyKhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14201088489627653644noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7017305232945824172.post-59907449177919023402020-10-16T04:10:00.001-07:002020-10-16T04:10:54.383-07:00Full Many a Gem<p><span style="font-size: 12pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;">I think Pearls can be in the gem stone category.
Pearls are warm and beautiful and that’s probably why my we decided to gift our
daughter with a beautiful ensemble of pearls. Not for us the hoi-poi pearls
found among our Kochi jewellers</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; tab-stops: 45.8pt 91.6pt 137.4pt 183.2pt 229.0pt 274.8pt 320.6pt 366.4pt 412.2pt 458.0pt 503.8pt 549.6pt 595.4pt 641.2pt 687.0pt 732.8pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 12pt;">By a streak of good business returns we zeroed in
in buying pearls from Chennai as a friendly helpful cousin finally took us to
the famous jewellers in Chennai-Bapalals.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; tab-stops: 45.8pt 91.6pt 137.4pt 183.2pt 229.0pt 274.8pt 320.6pt 366.4pt 412.2pt 458.0pt 503.8pt 549.6pt 595.4pt 641.2pt 687.0pt 732.8pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 12pt;">She was right. As we stepped into the cool air-conditioned
comfort of the fashionable showroom, with showcases of glittering jewellery
like a mirage in the palace of Midas I stood agape, as was mindful of the Tamil
maami’s resplendent in colourful Kancheepuram’s with diamond nose rings, and
sparkling earrings. I felt like a country Cinderella.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; tab-stops: 45.8pt 91.6pt 137.4pt 183.2pt 229.0pt 274.8pt 320.6pt 366.4pt 412.2pt 458.0pt 503.8pt 549.6pt 595.4pt 641.2pt 687.0pt 732.8pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 12pt;">I was all for scooting out but a pleasant salesman
seated us and listened to our request. He assured us in true salesman spirit
that Bapalals would satisfy our every demand.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; tab-stops: 45.8pt 91.6pt 137.4pt 183.2pt 229.0pt 274.8pt 320.6pt 366.4pt 412.2pt 458.0pt 503.8pt 549.6pt 595.4pt 641.2pt 687.0pt 732.8pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-IN; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-language: HI; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IN;"><o:p><span style="font-family: arial;"> </span></o:p></span><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 12pt;">Now row upon row and clusters of pearls lay in pristine,
glorious, magnificence lay in front of us. Humming and hawing we chanced upon
three strings of pearls glistening like sunlit clouds, with intervals of golden
and coral clasps. This was my dream materialising right in front of me. The one
we saw was only a sample but the in-house designer drew our ideas into fruition.
An elaborate pendant of pearl and corals, with earrings to match completed the
set.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; tab-stops: 45.8pt 91.6pt 137.4pt 183.2pt 229.0pt 274.8pt 320.6pt 366.4pt 412.2pt 458.0pt 503.8pt 549.6pt 595.4pt 641.2pt 687.0pt 732.8pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-IN; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-language: HI; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IN;"><o:p><span style="font-family: arial;"> </span></o:p></span><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 12pt;">The deal was struck. The cash bill for Forty thousand,
not peanuts then was paid. Visa cards had not yet seen the light of day. They
assured us that the order would be executed within two months and would be sent
to us in Kochi. One didn’t have to doubt the credentials of Bapalals, as
vouched by my cousin a long-time resident of Chennai</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; tab-stops: 45.8pt 91.6pt 137.4pt 183.2pt 229.0pt 274.8pt 320.6pt 366.4pt 412.2pt 458.0pt 503.8pt 549.6pt 595.4pt 641.2pt 687.0pt 732.8pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 12pt;">I now dreamt of the gift for daughter in time for a
marriage do in the family. I even had ready a gorgeous Kancheepuram as I had
seen on the maami’s</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; tab-stops: 45.8pt 91.6pt 137.4pt 183.2pt 229.0pt 274.8pt 320.6pt 366.4pt 412.2pt 458.0pt 503.8pt 549.6pt 595.4pt 641.2pt 687.0pt 732.8pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-IN; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-language: HI; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IN;"><o:p><span style="font-family: arial;"> </span></o:p></span><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 12pt;">The two months hiatus was over. We rang up
Bapalals, only to be told that they had posted it two days prior to our call. Courier
service was still in the womb of time. Busy at work we sent our maid with
authorisation letters to the college post office. But day after day she
returned empty handed and sightless of our pearls like a female Columbus
seeking for lost land</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; tab-stops: 45.8pt 91.6pt 137.4pt 183.2pt 229.0pt 274.8pt 320.6pt 366.4pt 412.2pt 458.0pt 503.8pt 549.6pt 595.4pt 641.2pt 687.0pt 732.8pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 12pt;">My brave man strode the floor and I shivered with anxiety.
He fumed in smoke and he thundered like Churchill over the phone to Bapalals. Stress
was not in my dictionary then and so I met the Head Postmaster. He gave me a
tongue lashing as he said any ‘urupidi’ meaning jewellery worth more than ten
thousand had to be insured and were we ignorant of the rule?</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; tab-stops: 45.8pt 91.6pt 137.4pt 183.2pt 229.0pt 274.8pt 320.6pt 366.4pt 412.2pt 458.0pt 503.8pt 549.6pt 595.4pt 641.2pt 687.0pt 732.8pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 12pt;">Calls to Bapalals was no help, not insured and
posted by a peon who found out due to our insistence that he had posted it. </span><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 12pt;">And then like the dove that brought Noah a leaf as
the flooding receded my tears evaporated when the parcel was found after two
weeks</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; tab-stops: 45.8pt 91.6pt 137.4pt 183.2pt 229.0pt 274.8pt 320.6pt 366.4pt 412.2pt 458.0pt 503.8pt 549.6pt 595.4pt 641.2pt 687.0pt 732.8pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 12pt;">Our pearls, our treasure was sheathed in an eight
by eight inches cardboard box. The address was struck on a paper that had seen
better days. Sealing wax seals were absent.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; tab-stops: 45.8pt 91.6pt 137.4pt 183.2pt 229.0pt 274.8pt 320.6pt 366.4pt 412.2pt 458.0pt 503.8pt 549.6pt 595.4pt 641.2pt 687.0pt 732.8pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 12pt;">Call it a miracle or what you may call it. The
jewellery brought with</span><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 10pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 12pt;">sweat
and tears rose from the depths of a Monte Cristobal style postal cavern</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-IN; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-language: HI; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IN;"><o:p><span style="font-family: arial;"> </span></o:p></span></p>BettyKhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14201088489627653644noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7017305232945824172.post-28621310127675674962020-10-14T06:00:00.003-07:002020-10-14T06:00:48.975-07:00The Boomerang Effect<p><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">This is not our story, though with the benefit
of hindsight and a little emotional quotient we might look back and see things
we thought were about our actions than about Shantana Bose. The incident of
meeting with Bose was one of those happenings we call "suddenly business,”
We won't know when this comes but it does bring a tear to our eye and a leap to
our heartstrings.</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; tab-stops: 45.8pt 91.6pt 137.4pt 183.2pt 229.0pt 274.8pt 320.6pt 366.4pt 412.2pt 458.0pt 503.8pt 549.6pt 595.4pt 641.2pt 687.0pt 732.8pt;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Courier New"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">On a very hot summer afternoon, driving
along the highway, punctuated by occasional vehicles our eyes upon a lone,
lanky, dust covered young man, trying to thumb a ride. Other vehicles sped by
but we thought of one of our sons , if in some orb of the future, happened to be
in the same predicament</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">what might
befall him, and so we stopped.</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; tab-stops: 45.8pt 91.6pt 137.4pt 183.2pt 229.0pt 274.8pt 320.6pt 366.4pt 412.2pt 458.0pt 503.8pt 549.6pt 595.4pt 641.2pt 687.0pt 732.8pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: arial;">The young man took long strides and his
answer was that he was hoping to somehow go back to his home in Kolkata. His
search for a temporary job had been fruitless. He said he wouldn't have minded
a sweeper’s job, anything to earn enough, for a rail fare.</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; tab-stops: 45.8pt 91.6pt 137.4pt 183.2pt 229.0pt 274.8pt 320.6pt 366.4pt 412.2pt 458.0pt 503.8pt 549.6pt 595.4pt 641.2pt 687.0pt 732.8pt;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Courier New"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">"Sir could you give me a lift to a
point where I could look to find some work? We threw caution to the winds and
asked him to hop in. It didn't pass thru our minds that he could be a would be attacker.
Question and answer time in broken communicating language gave us his profile.
He was 23 years old and qualified as a welder cum plumber. He had come on a
contract. But one fine day the company decamped with the machinery and his due
salary for a month. He had to leave on his own and hoped to find a workshop
which would employ him .But no one it seemed would employ him without a
reference from his immediate former employers</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; tab-stops: 45.8pt 91.6pt 137.4pt 183.2pt 229.0pt 274.8pt 320.6pt 366.4pt 412.2pt 458.0pt 503.8pt 549.6pt 595.4pt 641.2pt 687.0pt 732.8pt;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Courier New"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">The
look of desperation in his eyes, yet the surety that he would be able to
survive if he got home to Kolkata was patent in every word he spoke. His
hopeless attitude when he said that he didn't wish to travel ticketless and his
dignity made us aware that he was the stuff that made the young person’s into
men of caliber.</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; tab-stops: 45.8pt 91.6pt 137.4pt 183.2pt 229.0pt 274.8pt 320.6pt 366.4pt 412.2pt 458.0pt 503.8pt 549.6pt 595.4pt 641.2pt 687.0pt 732.8pt;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Courier New"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">We
drove him home and offered him our hospitality, esp. with a bath in our
outhouse and a clean tee shirt...Our small daughter, unasked, made him a big
cup of tea and a pile of jam sandwiches which he wolfed down having been on a
diet of water for four days.</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; tab-stops: 45.8pt 91.6pt 137.4pt 183.2pt 229.0pt 274.8pt 320.6pt 366.4pt 412.2pt 458.0pt 503.8pt 549.6pt 595.4pt 641.2pt 687.0pt 732.8pt;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Courier New"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">We couldn't get him a job, but as an
alternative thought of giving him the price or a railway ticket to go home.
Payday was two days away and we scrounged thro the kitty to ti</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">lls, in stray hiding places for emergency
cash and promised the children ice creams if</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">
</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">they helped us garner from their pocket money, enough to pay for his ticket,
a couple of meals and tea till he reached home</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; tab-stops: 45.8pt 91.6pt 137.4pt 183.2pt 229.0pt 274.8pt 320.6pt 366.4pt 412.2pt 458.0pt 503.8pt 549.6pt 595.4pt 641.2pt 687.0pt 732.8pt;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Courier New"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">As
we handed him the money wishing him God speed, he opened his knapsack and
brought out a stack of all his original certificates. "Keep these with you Sir,
till I repay you as soon as I can. Let this be my assurance and
guarantee." Stranger words never hit us before but we were no Shylocks. At
his insistence we gave him my uncle's address n Ballygunge and said he could
repay it when he could when the fates smiled on him. Today the rail fare we
gave him would be a pittance but then it was a prize sum for a man making his
way in the world.</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; tab-stops: 45.8pt 91.6pt 137.4pt 183.2pt 229.0pt 274.8pt 320.6pt 366.4pt 412.2pt 458.0pt 503.8pt 549.6pt 595.4pt 641.2pt 687.0pt 732.8pt;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Courier New"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Typical of his culture he touched our feet,
blessed my daughter for the food and left with a spring to his feet.</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; tab-stops: 45.8pt 91.6pt 137.4pt 183.2pt 229.0pt 274.8pt 320.6pt 366.4pt 412.2pt 458.0pt 503.8pt 549.6pt 595.4pt 641.2pt 687.0pt 732.8pt;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Courier New"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">An
incident long forgotten for six months surfaced when the uncle in Ballygunge
rang to ask why a perfect Bengali</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">called
Santanu Bose brought him some money as a repayment for a rail ticket. Santanu
Bose had narrated the story .We had always believed that no one ever gave
anybody anything free but our faith in human niceties was renewed. Bose gifted
my uncle with a box of the most delicious Bengali sweets as sweet remembrance</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; tab-stops: 45.8pt 91.6pt 137.4pt 183.2pt 229.0pt 274.8pt 320.6pt 366.4pt 412.2pt 458.0pt 503.8pt 549.6pt 595.4pt 641.2pt 687.0pt 732.8pt;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Courier New"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">A
year later uncle rang to say that on puja day Bose now running his own welding
shop had gifted a box of choice sweets. He had said that he couldn't forget the
kindness done to him in Kerala. We were flabbergasted at Bose's gesture? He
wouldn't take no for an answer.</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; tab-stops: 45.8pt 91.6pt 137.4pt 183.2pt 229.0pt 274.8pt 320.6pt 366.4pt 412.2pt 458.0pt 503.8pt 549.6pt 595.4pt 641.2pt 687.0pt 732.8pt;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Courier New"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">For
the next six years Bose gifted my uncle with Bengali sweets of quality during
the puja celebrations, till the latter left Ballygunge...</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; tab-stops: 45.8pt 91.6pt 137.4pt 183.2pt 229.0pt 274.8pt 320.6pt 366.4pt 412.2pt 458.0pt 503.8pt 549.6pt 595.4pt 641.2pt 687.0pt 732.8pt;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Courier New"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Much
water flowed on and the on Sunday afternoon young Bose well dressed and
confident knocked on our door. Recognition was instant. We exchanged
pleasantries</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; tab-stops: 45.8pt 91.6pt 137.4pt 183.2pt 229.0pt 274.8pt 320.6pt 366.4pt 412.2pt 458.0pt 503.8pt 549.6pt 595.4pt 641.2pt 687.0pt 732.8pt;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Courier New"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: arial;">Like long lost friends still in broken
communicative mode.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; tab-stops: 45.8pt 91.6pt 137.4pt 183.2pt 229.0pt 274.8pt 320.6pt 366.4pt 412.2pt 458.0pt 503.8pt 549.6pt 595.4pt 641.2pt 687.0pt 732.8pt;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Courier New"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Bose was married to Suchitra who was soon
to be a mother. He was on his way to a job in the gulf.</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; tab-stops: 45.8pt 91.6pt 137.4pt 183.2pt 229.0pt 274.8pt 320.6pt 366.4pt 412.2pt 458.0pt 503.8pt 549.6pt 595.4pt 641.2pt 687.0pt 732.8pt;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Courier New"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Ere
he got up to leave he called out to my soon to be teenaged daughter and gifted
her with a pair of exquisite gold jumukas. It's for my young behen who gave my
tea and jam sandwiches, when I was almost dying.</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; tab-stops: 45.8pt 91.6pt 137.4pt 183.2pt 229.0pt 274.8pt 320.6pt 366.4pt 412.2pt 458.0pt 503.8pt 549.6pt 595.4pt 641.2pt 687.0pt 732.8pt;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Courier New"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">He touched our feet and left for better
shores having been refined in the fire of an ordeal which made him a better
man.</span></span></p>BettyKhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14201088489627653644noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7017305232945824172.post-67364371967774877052020-10-12T04:09:00.000-07:002020-10-12T04:09:08.769-07:00Change the way you think<p> <span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">We have our
own unique spin on different things because we are individuals.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; tab-stops: 45.8pt 91.6pt 137.4pt 183.2pt 229.0pt 274.8pt 320.6pt 366.4pt 412.2pt 458.0pt 503.8pt 549.6pt 595.4pt 641.2pt 687.0pt 732.8pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-language: HI; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IN;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Just
consider an accident scene we come across. Ten people could all witness the
same accident and each of them would have a unique perception of what had taken
place. One or two or more of us would spin the story one way focusing one the
people inside the vehicle. Someone else would spin another focusing on the
damage to the cars. Another witness would focus on the bad state of the road
which may have been the first cause of the accident.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; tab-stops: 45.8pt 91.6pt 137.4pt 183.2pt 229.0pt 274.8pt 320.6pt 366.4pt 412.2pt 458.0pt 503.8pt 549.6pt 595.4pt 641.2pt 687.0pt 732.8pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-language: HI; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IN;"><o:p> </o:p></span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Now come the
police in their screeching vehicles intent on settling who was at fault. The
insurance agent would have his own spin questions too. It’s possible the last
guy would make up the story so that his company wouldn’t have to pay more than
what is necessary.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; tab-stops: 45.8pt 91.6pt 137.4pt 183.2pt 229.0pt 274.8pt 320.6pt 366.4pt 412.2pt 458.0pt 503.8pt 549.6pt 595.4pt 641.2pt 687.0pt 732.8pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-language: HI; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IN;"><o:p> </o:p></span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">Perceptions
are different and unique. They can be tricky too. Sometimes we </span><span style="font-size: 13.3333px;">over-spin</span><span style="font-size: 10pt;"> things
making mountains out of molehills. I once made a mountain out of the muck of a
molehill and wallowed in self-pity but had the good sense to argue myself out
of it and see reason. Perceptions can make us discouraged even when there’s no
need for discouragement.</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; tab-stops: 45.8pt 91.6pt 137.4pt 183.2pt 229.0pt 274.8pt 320.6pt 366.4pt 412.2pt 458.0pt 503.8pt 549.6pt 595.4pt 641.2pt 687.0pt 732.8pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-language: HI; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IN;"><o:p> </o:p></span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">On the other
hand, good perceptions can lift our spirits up even though we see things as
hopeless. In these pandemic times a medical problem might seem to be the end of
the road to someone but a chance to trust God, for another.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; tab-stops: 45.8pt 91.6pt 137.4pt 183.2pt 229.0pt 274.8pt 320.6pt 366.4pt 412.2pt 458.0pt 503.8pt 549.6pt 595.4pt 641.2pt 687.0pt 732.8pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-language: HI; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IN;"><o:p> </o:p></span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Perhaps many
of us have a ‘woe is me attitude problem. Shouldn’t we think in a hopeful way
yet anticipating only the best. Today we can ask God to give us joy to meet the
right people who have a great disposition. Right attitudes produce right
thoughts</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; tab-stops: 45.8pt 91.6pt 137.4pt 183.2pt 229.0pt 274.8pt 320.6pt 366.4pt 412.2pt 458.0pt 503.8pt 549.6pt 595.4pt 641.2pt 687.0pt 732.8pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-language: HI; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IN;"><o:p> </o:p></span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">A gem cannot
be polished without friction, nor can any human being be cleansed without a
right attitude</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; tab-stops: 45.8pt 91.6pt 137.4pt 183.2pt 229.0pt 274.8pt 320.6pt 366.4pt 412.2pt 458.0pt 503.8pt 549.6pt 595.4pt 641.2pt 687.0pt 732.8pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-language: HI; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IN;"><o:p> </o:p></span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Let’s march
onward in our lives with right perceptions</span></p>BettyKhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14201088489627653644noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7017305232945824172.post-56608893787387628612020-10-07T23:42:00.000-07:002020-10-07T23:42:40.282-07:00A night spent stranded on NH disabuses A woman about a ‘Dog-eat-dog’ society<p> <span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">I never gauged human behaviour without taking
into account that a good percentage of people are uncaring. I first learnt of
it when my pen ran out of ink when I was appearing for my Class VII exam, and
asked a friend for a spare one. She pretended not to hear me and I lost 20
minutes till the teacher came to my rescue.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Each day I read about people taken for a ride
just because they were ingenious, and I can write volumes on our dog-eat-dog
world, the dog-in-the-manger attitude or the folks passing by like ships in the
night.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">But I have undergone a sea change. The world at
large has not changed and the dog still eats the dog, but my experience gave me
hope that all is not lost. My husband, our three kids and I had gone on a one-week
holiday to Bengaluru.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">The children were packed into the old faithful
Ambassador. They sang and looked forward to shopping and having a view of the
life different from what it was in Kochi, a sleepy backwater town then.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">We shopped to our hearts content, especially
the children who found “cool” clothes which they were eager to show their
friends back home. We dined like kings on exotic foods in restaurants with
interiors tastefully designed and beautiful menu statements, something that
Kochi did not have then.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Then it was time to drive home. The boot of the
car was filled with baskets of big tomatoes, fruits and vegetables we rarely
saw back home. A so with a full tank of petrol we left.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Our Ambassador suddenly sank into a muddy hole
on the Hosur road. Inspection revealed that one of the tyres had decided to
give up the ghost. As luck would have it, there was a good stepney, which two
or three local mechanics fixed, and we were off.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Three hours on National highway 47 at a place
called Perundurai, the stepney decided not to cooperate. The nearest city was
Coimbatore, almost 50 kms away. More nerve wracking was the fact that between
my husband and myself, we had money just enough to buy a bunch of bananas. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">So, with a prayer on is lips and umpteen
instructions like “sit in the car, and don’t talk to strangers” he hitchhiked
on a lorry, hoping to be back before the night fell.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Then the children had seen a small rivulet
nearby and clamoured to be let out. My motherly instincts told me it was well
nigh impossible to rein them in as my words were blown away on the “whys and
wherefores” of arguments<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">It wasn’t difficult to mind them as they played
in the clear water, but my heart was thumping as the sun began to dip in the
west. We returned to the car. Then came striding along an ebony, tall well-built
man clad in pristine white, accompanied by similarly built companions. They
peered at us and the children shushed. And then he spoke, his voice oozing politeness<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Mixing Malayalam and Tamil I told him out
story. After listening attentively, he said he was the village headman and
assured us that we would be safe. All we had to do was to honk twice or thrice
if we needed help, the man told me, his assuring smile worth a thousand full
moons. One of his men would keep watch till my husband returned.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Another half an hour later, two teenaged boys
came with a brass tiffin carrier and banana leaves and served us a hot meal.
When we were full, they left us with smiles. Among the distant trees I saw the
red light of a beedi It was undoubtedly the villager keeping watch over us. My
husband arrived with a new tyre before midnight.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Call it the hand of providence that brought us
a new tyre. Searching for his friend in Coimbatore would have daunted even a
searcher of the elixir of youth, but by a happy happenstance, the very friend
he was searching crossed his path. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">My husband walked the grassy path to the
village to thank the headman, and soon we were off on our journey.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>BettyKhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14201088489627653644noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7017305232945824172.post-49662177074398437382020-10-06T06:46:00.003-07:002020-10-06T06:46:39.609-07:00 My Childhood days in peaceful Sri Lanka<p><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Sri Lanka
known as the pearl of the Indian Ocean. It has a uniquely serene ambience
hardly found anywhere else.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; tab-stops: 45.8pt 91.6pt 137.4pt 183.2pt 229.0pt 274.8pt 320.6pt 366.4pt 412.2pt 458.0pt 503.8pt 549.6pt 595.4pt 641.2pt 687.0pt 732.8pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">For
centuries before the start of the civil war, people of all religious persuasions
lived harmoniously in the Island nation. In fact, the extent of camaraderie
shared by the inhabitants of Lanka was an envy of the world. Needless to say,
it was a wonderful place to grow up.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; tab-stops: 45.8pt 91.6pt 137.4pt 183.2pt 229.0pt 274.8pt 320.6pt 366.4pt 412.2pt 458.0pt 503.8pt 549.6pt 595.4pt 641.2pt 687.0pt 732.8pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">I spent my
childhood days in Sri Lanka. There were the days before the ethnic cleansing
and its ramification touched our lives. The town where I grew up had three
churches, two temples, two mosques, and numerous Buddhist places of meditation
noted by the whitewashed viharas</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; tab-stops: 45.8pt 91.6pt 137.4pt 183.2pt 229.0pt 274.8pt 320.6pt 366.4pt 412.2pt 458.0pt 503.8pt 549.6pt 595.4pt 641.2pt 687.0pt 732.8pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">We lived
cheek by jowl with the people of all faiths. We attended all religious
celebrations. We shared our teenage hiccups, weeping or smiling together. Our
culinary tastes were authored by the delicacies we shared. Non-vegetarian feast
for Ramadan, Kiribath (rice pudding) and savouries for Vesak, and my mom’s cake
for Christmas.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; tab-stops: 45.8pt 91.6pt 137.4pt 183.2pt 229.0pt 274.8pt 320.6pt 366.4pt 412.2pt 458.0pt 503.8pt 549.6pt 595.4pt 641.2pt 687.0pt 732.8pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><br />
Today I feel heartbroken for the hundreds who were killed on Easter day in
Negombo and other places.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; tab-stops: 45.8pt 91.6pt 137.4pt 183.2pt 229.0pt 274.8pt 320.6pt 366.4pt 412.2pt 458.0pt 503.8pt 549.6pt 595.4pt 641.2pt 687.0pt 732.8pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Negombo was
a peaceful coastal town. Fisher folk selling the days catch in the kiosks on
the main road was sight one wouldn’t miss. So are that of vendors by the beaches
selling home-grown fruits, vegetables as well as homes-spun curios and shells
in woven cane baskets. I remember how as a child I ran to catch the frothy
waves on the pristine beach. I recall the tolling of the Angelus bell, the
conch call and the muezzins call summoning the faithful to prayer. It was never
a place of religious fanaticism</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; tab-stops: 45.8pt 91.6pt 137.4pt 183.2pt 229.0pt 274.8pt 320.6pt 366.4pt 412.2pt 458.0pt 503.8pt 549.6pt 595.4pt 641.2pt 687.0pt 732.8pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">People led
simple lives, thanking the sea for the bounty. They would smile and happily
welcome visitors from all corners of the earth to their midst. Another icon
targeted was the Cinnamon Grand Hotel. Its large foyer catered to bridal
celebrations; it was a hotel that knew no religious restrictions. One wonders
what motivates hate-filled minds to commit crimes of such magnitude against
innocent people, what satisfaction do they get?</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; tab-stops: 45.8pt 91.6pt 137.4pt 183.2pt 229.0pt 274.8pt 320.6pt 366.4pt 412.2pt 458.0pt 503.8pt 549.6pt 595.4pt 641.2pt 687.0pt 732.8pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">The perpetrators
of this massacre have not won. For those innocents who lost their lives in the
attacks that day are martyrs.</span></p>BettyKhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14201088489627653644noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7017305232945824172.post-2262109137876286172020-10-02T06:52:00.000-07:002020-10-02T06:52:23.415-07:00<p> </p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; tab-stops: 45.8pt 91.6pt 137.4pt 183.2pt 229.0pt 274.8pt 320.6pt 366.4pt 412.2pt 458.0pt 503.8pt 549.6pt 595.4pt 641.2pt 687.0pt 732.8pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 18.0pt;">What to do
if you are a committee member<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; tab-stops: 45.8pt 91.6pt 137.4pt 183.2pt 229.0pt 274.8pt 320.6pt 366.4pt 412.2pt 458.0pt 503.8pt 549.6pt 595.4pt 641.2pt 687.0pt 732.8pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; tab-stops: 45.8pt 91.6pt 137.4pt 183.2pt 229.0pt 274.8pt 320.6pt 366.4pt 412.2pt 458.0pt 503.8pt 549.6pt 595.4pt 641.2pt 687.0pt 732.8pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Besides
traffic jams, nothing has held back our country as much as committees<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; tab-stops: 45.8pt 91.6pt 137.4pt 183.2pt 229.0pt 274.8pt 320.6pt 366.4pt 412.2pt 458.0pt 503.8pt 549.6pt 595.4pt 641.2pt 687.0pt 732.8pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Our women’s
club, loosely held together by housewives with time on their hands decided to
do our bit for the city. And so, committees were formed, after much bragging and
ego clashes. </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Only later
we realised that a committee is a group of men and women who individually can do
nothing can be done. First on the agenda was a meeting time, place and a plan.
Files, pens and paper were procured</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; tab-stops: 45.8pt 91.6pt 137.4pt 183.2pt 229.0pt 274.8pt 320.6pt 366.4pt 412.2pt 458.0pt 503.8pt 549.6pt 595.4pt 641.2pt 687.0pt 732.8pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Then,
problems arose when group division and allotment began. For example, putting
together neighbours which didn’t speak to each other was unacceptable. A doctor’s
wife didn’t want to sit with similar diamond studded dames and so on</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; tab-stops: 45.8pt 91.6pt 137.4pt 183.2pt 229.0pt 274.8pt 320.6pt 366.4pt 412.2pt 458.0pt 503.8pt 549.6pt 595.4pt 641.2pt 687.0pt 732.8pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">A biblical story
tells that Moses had no committee to help him steer the Israelites out of Egypt.
If he did have a committee they would have still been in Egypt. If Columbus had
been an advisory board, he probably would have never been able to sail the Atlantic
to discover a new land.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; tab-stops: 45.8pt 91.6pt 137.4pt 183.2pt 229.0pt 274.8pt 320.6pt 366.4pt 412.2pt 458.0pt 503.8pt 549.6pt 595.4pt 641.2pt 687.0pt 732.8pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">When
political leaders can’t figure out a solution to a problem, they had it over to
the committees, who in turn hand it over to sub-committees and ad-hoc
committees</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; tab-stops: 45.8pt 91.6pt 137.4pt 183.2pt 229.0pt 274.8pt 320.6pt 366.4pt 412.2pt 458.0pt 503.8pt 549.6pt 595.4pt 641.2pt 687.0pt 732.8pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">A committee
meet is perhaps the only activity for which no preparation is made except by
the chairperson. Committee meetings are definitely fun with tea and snacks
thrown in. What more do members want?</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; tab-stops: 45.8pt 91.6pt 137.4pt 183.2pt 229.0pt 274.8pt 320.6pt 366.4pt 412.2pt 458.0pt 503.8pt 549.6pt 595.4pt 641.2pt 687.0pt 732.8pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">The following
are some gems of thought retrieved from the recesses of my mind. I would offer
them to anyone on a committee</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; tab-stops: 45.8pt 91.6pt 137.4pt 183.2pt 229.0pt 274.8pt 320.6pt 366.4pt 412.2pt 458.0pt 503.8pt 549.6pt 595.4pt 641.2pt 687.0pt 732.8pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Never arrive
on time. If you do so, you will be stamped as a beginner and be roped in to
arrange the chairs and files. Don’t open you’re your mind or mouth until the
meeting is held over or else some might term you as being too pushy. Be as
vague as possible, thus avoiding irritating others. If and when you are in
doubt, loudly suggest that a sub-committee or ad-hoc committee be appointed.
This will make you popular, getting friends for an adjournment is what everyone
was waiting for. By the way has anyone seen a street or monument after a committee?</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; tab-stops: 45.8pt 91.6pt 137.4pt 183.2pt 229.0pt 274.8pt 320.6pt 366.4pt 412.2pt 458.0pt 503.8pt 549.6pt 595.4pt 641.2pt 687.0pt 732.8pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; tab-stops: 45.8pt 91.6pt 137.4pt 183.2pt 229.0pt 274.8pt 320.6pt 366.4pt 412.2pt 458.0pt 503.8pt 549.6pt 595.4pt 641.2pt 687.0pt 732.8pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></p>BettyKhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14201088489627653644noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7017305232945824172.post-58822380803478208542020-09-29T05:14:00.008-07:002020-09-29T05:31:29.564-07:00Star Bright Star Light<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; tab-stops: 45.8pt 91.6pt 137.4pt 183.2pt 229.0pt 274.8pt 320.6pt 366.4pt 412.2pt 458.0pt 503.8pt 549.6pt 595.4pt 641.2pt 687.0pt 732.8pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Astronomers manning giant telescopes somewhere in the world, have
discovered new galaxies and new stars trillions of light years away.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; tab-stops: 45.8pt 91.6pt 137.4pt 183.2pt 229.0pt 274.8pt 320.6pt 366.4pt 412.2pt 458.0pt 503.8pt 549.6pt 595.4pt 641.2pt 687.0pt 732.8pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Our lack of technology.to scan the stars with our plebeian eyesight is
sometimes so tragic especially when we try to see Orion and his dog or our
zodiacal icons</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; tab-stops: 45.8pt 91.6pt 137.4pt 183.2pt 229.0pt 274.8pt 320.6pt 366.4pt 412.2pt 458.0pt 503.8pt 549.6pt 595.4pt 641.2pt 687.0pt 732.8pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Just once in a lifetime, I saw the Milky Way as I sat sleepless on a flight
from Shanghai to Bangalore. In the depth of the midnight sky, I saw millions of
glowing stars, row upon row in perfect synchronisation like kids in a march
past. The plane flashed by but my mind still relives that sight. </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Many do not know of a supernova that appeared many years ago on a small dot
of our world we call home.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; tab-stops: 45.8pt 91.6pt 137.4pt 183.2pt 229.0pt 274.8pt 320.6pt 366.4pt 412.2pt 458.0pt 503.8pt 549.6pt 595.4pt 641.2pt 687.0pt 732.8pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">It was the birth of STARS which brought
together a conglomeration in various sizes and shapes which astrophysics alone
could define. Stars created out of Botany, Chemistry, English, Economics, Home-science,
Physics, Sociology, Zoology and Languages that defined the STARS. The nom-de-
plume or acronym STARS is </span><b style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><i>St Teresa’s Association of Retired Staff</i></b><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">. </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">It has now become a beacon to those struggling with online lecture classes
and tons of paperwork to comply with.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; tab-stops: 45.8pt 91.6pt 137.4pt 183.2pt 229.0pt 274.8pt 320.6pt 366.4pt 412.2pt 458.0pt 503.8pt 549.6pt 595.4pt 641.2pt 687.0pt 732.8pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">We the STARS don’t have to deal with such deadlines, no deadlines to meet,
no HOD's to drag us thro their firebrand mandates, no UGC strictures. We the
stars are our own mistresses and our younger STARS gaily trot the light
fantastic toe and the older STARS talk at length with wisdom and shared
experiences. We don’t have to struggle thro the grind of one upmanship who’s
got the doctorate first, who’s getting awards by the bushel, who’s organising
inane seminars. None of these matter except when we think of our own offspring.
We have our own agendas.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; tab-stops: 45.8pt 91.6pt 137.4pt 183.2pt 229.0pt 274.8pt 320.6pt 366.4pt 412.2pt 458.0pt 503.8pt 549.6pt 595.4pt 641.2pt 687.0pt 732.8pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Our multiple choices range from helping the birthing of our daughters or
daughters in law, baby-sitting may be in London or Australia or Bengaluru,
creative talents lying dormant, tailoring marvels, or perfecting cordon bleu
culinary delights.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; tab-stops: 45.8pt 91.6pt 137.4pt 183.2pt 229.0pt 274.8pt 320.6pt 366.4pt 412.2pt 458.0pt 503.8pt 549.6pt 595.4pt 641.2pt 687.0pt 732.8pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">All these once took a back seat but now there’s more cranial activity which
once lay dormant like Rip Van Winkle during our professional career. We have
now awakened to a brave new world. Time by the bushel is now our mistress. Our
get togethers may not start on time but that hardly raises an eyebrow, for the
limping, the hobbling, or the illness recovered Stars have come with fortitude,
to the forge of companionship, to have a pow wow with old friends.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; tab-stops: 45.8pt 91.6pt 137.4pt 183.2pt 229.0pt 274.8pt 320.6pt 366.4pt 412.2pt 458.0pt 503.8pt 549.6pt 595.4pt 641.2pt 687.0pt 732.8pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">There is no malevolence no malignancy no conflict of interests. It’s just a
sparkling of Stars, like the Milky Way somewhere beyond the blue. The fleeting
years will call us one by one leaving spaces for brighter Stars.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; tab-stops: 45.8pt 91.6pt 137.4pt 183.2pt 229.0pt 274.8pt 320.6pt 366.4pt 412.2pt 458.0pt 503.8pt 549.6pt 595.4pt 641.2pt 687.0pt 732.8pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">The baton will pass on. That is our legacy</span></p><pre class="moz-quote-pre" wrap="">
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p wfd-id="0"> </o:p></p>
</pre>BettyKhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14201088489627653644noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7017305232945824172.post-19814730867301172792014-06-13T01:45:00.000-07:002014-06-13T01:45:09.935-07:00Retirement blues<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
The oncesweet smelling jasmines garlands texture lie brownpaper scraps The nostalgic air of a longwhile ago is sultry and humid.The beautifully crafted eulogies which wafted me up to cloud nine only faintly reverbate once in a while butto no purpose.<br />
'I'm retired leisure' to quote Lamb.Retired at the age of 55,with all my faculties intact, senses in fine fettle, and a insatiable zest for life.Once retirement meant something else to me.I watched my grandfather and fatherbegin to walk cautiously,their frame bent with age,holding on to walking sticksto balance themselves.I saw them with thick lensed specs scanning obituary notices to see who was gone and who was lucky to be here.Most often they may have been too bushed whacked to move out of theircanvas easy chairs ,as the seasons turned relentlessly and memories glimmered at the edges of their minds.<br />
But me!I have no vision of that ageing process for I feel fit and fine,up and about ,all geared up for a full day's work when suddenly I'mpulled upby the unpleasant thought 'I dont have to go and punch in at thePlayinyor taking a days leave just for the heck of it was a pleasure as sweet as stolen love.But now each day seems hellbent on reminding me that I'm no longer needed at the workspot.</div>
BettyKhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14201088489627653644noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7017305232945824172.post-6658440988437777212010-10-15T21:08:00.000-07:002010-10-15T21:08:03.867-07:00Mothers day out<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:WordDocument> <w:View>Normal</w:View> <w:Zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:PunctuationKerning/> <w:ValidateAgainstSchemas/> <w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid> <w:IgnoreMixedContent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent> <w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText> <w:Compatibility> <w:BreakWrappedTables/> <w:SnapToGridInCell/> <w:WrapTextWithPunct/> <w:UseAsianBreakRules/> <w:DontGrowAutofit/> </w:Compatibility> <w:BrowserLevel>MicrosoftInternetExplorer4</w:BrowserLevel> </w:WordDocument> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:LatentStyles DefLockedState="false" LatentStyleCount="156"> </w:LatentStyles> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if !mso]><img src="http://www.blogger.comhttp://img2.blogblog.com/img/video_object.png" style="background-color: #b2b2b2; " class="BLOGGER-object-element tr_noresize tr_placeholder" id="ieooui" data-original-id="ieooui" /> <style>
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</style> <![endif]--> <span style="font-family: Arial;">The old song goes like this "twas on a Sunday morning'' la la la .And one lazy Sunday morning when I was pondering on the earth shaking problem on what to cook for lunch I was literally catapulted out of the depths of rocker when my son Deepak [hereafter known as DK] announced that he was taking me out a see a movie at the one and only multiplex complex in our one and only shopping mall Oberon mall.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">Normally it may not have been such a big deal, I mean going for a movie which I do when out with my cronies. But he said ,categorically I want you to see it in the Cinemax .Twill be an eye opener I guarantee Incidentally the Oberon mall is the currently hotspot in our city for Hanging out' as the jargon goes.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">"Don’t worry about lunch well pick up something there' he said. That was the comet flashing thro my kitcheneering mind.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"> And soon the bright Sunday morning Dk drove me to the mall.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">Now I must make it clear that I'm no stay at home shopper but I was content to shop at the local supermarket or the nearest shopping outlet at ground level. Here at the Mall he drove to zero level parking the car in a slot amid a plethora of cars of all colours shapes and sizes .The area was well lighted and clean. Then up the lift to level two or some place and I was aghast when I saw the escalator a contraption an anathema to my senses.Dk solicitously shepherded me to a lift and pampered me 'Amma do you want to use the restroom, Amma do you want a drink, Amma why don’t you pick up some books you fancy and so on. I felt like Alice in Wonderland after she'd drunk the 'drink me potion</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"> I strolled leisurely alongside glass fronted beautifully window dressed shops blazoned with branded ware. I inched my way past hordes of youngsters out for a fun day, parents with toddlers in tow, shy brides in semi bridal finery by the side of their proud grooms strutting like cocks of the walk ,,senior citizens like me treading it carefully ,all surrounded by loud raucous music belted out in a fusion of scales ragas , and rhythms.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">Dk was at my side taking care that I didn’t stumble as I gawked at sights and sounds unfamiliar to my retired senses.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"> And then into the plush comfort of the movie house .Here one didn't have to lift ones feet cautiously to avoid rat as one did in the movie houses in town. The huge screen and the sound effects that swept thro' one's senses was overwhelming to say the least. Hot cones of cheesy popcorn completed the ambiance. I was left with a sense of deja vu when we came to reality hours later. Like Aladdin’s genie Dk seated me and appeared soon with trays of appetizing hot food and drinks. I didn't have to wait in a queue or jostle a crowd for he saw to it I was comfortably seated, my plate was full and my heart sang along</span>. <br />
<div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Tho’ no stranger to culinary comforts like no need to wash up or clean up. Not a care I sang to myself as I tucked into crisp potato finger chips tho that perky voice said mind the calories, and the kidney or something inside me said ‘your sugar level is sure to go haywire. I shushed those doleful fatwa’s and enjoyed my gargantuan repast like there was no tomorrow. The best part was not the chocolate brownie with lashings of ice-cream, but DK’s calm acceptance of me and my follies. He promised to bring me again. That was dear reader the icing on the cake. What more could one ask for.?</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial;">I slept soundly and like the ruminating cow I relive those wonderful moments which flash upon the inward eye when I sit in solitude</span></div>BettyKhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14201088489627653644noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7017305232945824172.post-12355630411898477862010-09-26T20:40:00.000-07:002010-09-26T21:20:26.019-07:00parents<div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">They were like two identical peas in a pod.When thy started life together were as different as chalk from cheese</span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">He was doughty and fought for his growing family. She was beautiful as an angel could be soft spoken and had infinite patience, a calm nature and was infinitely talented be it housekeeping ,training her daughters to grow up efficient polite and as accomplished as they possibly could tho it was an uphill task what with his blood coursing thro their veins.</span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">They were there when the "birdies" left the nest to start life of their own .but the parents rushed from one part of India to another to baby sit or keep vigil at the bedsides of one offspring or the family.</span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">There were no hitches no later perhaps or complaints to any one.</span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Then at the age of eighty he was put in charge of supervising his NRI son's house building. He traveled by bus everyday to the workspot hail or sunshine long before the tardy workers put in their stint. He saved his son much money as he personally went scrutinizing every tap or wire or nail that went into that house.It did take a big toll on his frail body but he persevered till the end </span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Two old people now became the caretakers and spent their twilight years planting fruit trees and coconut palms the result of which the could only imagine.She indulged in her love for flowering plants the result of which was that her green thumb or fingers produced a riot of colours which brought sighs of envy from neighbours.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Once an occasional child would come to soak in the love and care that came with no prompting,Cares were gently scoured away with gallons of a love that transcendent all human endeavour..</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> </span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">I would sometimes lay my head on her lap just to have the pain of a busy life smoothened away and then go back to get rushed and hasseled thro the rat race..In the house the built there was always an extra place for some friend or other who would drop in to taste her inspired cooking.Even at 80 the culinary skills never suffered a lapse from memory.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Finally the day of his reckoning had to come but it had never crossed our minds that he would go so fast.He entered a last notation in his diary that he was going for a checkup .He did go but his heart stopped 10 hours later.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">She was now like a bird with a broken wing.,for he had been her strong mast all the years of their togetherness.They had prayed together for over 60 years for their children and all concerns that came to their knowledge.He had read to her when her eyesight failed , had done all the shopping for her including selecting her sarees which were exclusive..We could see the loneliness in her quiet eyes the pain of bereavement when she smiled with nary a word of irritation or crankiness.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Then she left as quietly as she had lived with a beautiful smile on her still beautiful face.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">They were my parents!</span></span>BettyKhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14201088489627653644noreply@blogger.com3