The Miracle Makers (continued)

Of  late this has become our annual routine. We make it a point to visit  one of our colleague's house every year on her birthday.  She is very much younger to us and if she so wished she could easily come to our house to get our blessings and wishes. But the choice being ours  we make the visit with a happy heart. The reason was her 96 year old mother.

We called our colleague to tell that we will at her place giving her the approximate time. But we were delayed due to an  unanticipated visit. " Mam .. what time you will be here?" her cell phone rang. I explained our situation and said that we would be there very soon.

"I am not worried mam. I know you both always keep up the timings which I learnt from you. But mum is the person who is worried." she laughed.

we wondered ! Such a sharpness of mind!

As we went in she hugged affectionately and asked her daughter to get us something to eat and drink. At this age the lady retains her smiling face. Even though the church is opposite to her house her legs are not permitting her that much of exercise. But she is bestowed with a gift of hearing so the prayers reach her house very clearly!

She manages her show very well without any one's help and the food she eats is the same as she had in her youth except that the quantity is less now. She retains her reading habit

As we chat along, our colleague said "Mummy is into a hobby nowadays. She writes the prayer she loved when she was young and makes several copies every day and asks us to distribute it in the church and to all our friends. So saying she showed us the copy of the prayer. We were dumb struck looking at her pearly handwriting both in Tamil and English!

We expressed our sincere feeling of gratitude to her which made her happy!

"We tell mum that we would make photo copies of her written prayer and distribute it  but she insists  on writing  though it's an  effort on her part."

At that moment I was reminded of Andal of Thiruppaavai her dedication to the Lord and the love with which she made the flower garland and wore it and enjoyed the whole process before making the offering. So too is this lady! She wants to offer to the Lord  something of her own, her pearly hand writing rather than the machine made one! It is her enthusiastic tribute, a penance  for the greater glory!

We shared this view with our colleague and encouraged mum to go on for many more years.

Before  we took leave we asked her if we can have a copy too. "It is for you both I have written today!" she proclaimed with her radiant face! As we received the precious  gift from her we too  became the partners of that gracious penance.

Miracle Makers

He was on a marketing job, away from home for weeks.  Back home his father was not in good shape. He wished that he could finish the deal as fast as he could and be with his father for a week  taking care of him. When he returned the  crowd in  front of his house told him the sad story. His father was  no more. Added to this sadness there was a big commotion in the house. The priests who were there to assist his father in his final journey came rushing towards him and in their grip was hiss  nine year old son.

“Listen to the high handedness of your son. We tried our best to stop it. He had pulled out your father’s eyes. This brat deserves nothing less than to be cast deep hell”

The father was confused and  took his 9 year old son aside and asked him to explain . The son told “Appa, as soon thatha (grandfather) died I couldn’t contact you since you were on the move (This happened on those cell phoneless days), hence I called for the eye donation team from the hospital from the number you had noted in your telephone diary. I remember you telling me once  that the eye had to be donated within four hours of expiry and  I talked with amma  and  took the decision on your behalf. Is there anything wrong appa?” the boy asked. “The priests were shouting at me and almost stopped the team from touching the body. They threatened me with dire consequences for my audacity   and one of them even kicked me appa.” The boy was in tears. The father hugged him and took him to the gathered priests who were expecting a through dressing down and ask their pardon for the misbehavior of his son. On the contrary he praised his son who did a very  noble deed without waiting  in his presence. They were flabbergasted and put their head down in shame!

When I heard this I was touched by the nobility of the father and son duo, an ideal gift passed on  from one   generation to the other which i am sure would definitely be passed on to the progeny too.

A wedding in South India is no doubt a grand affair. and personal deliverance of  invitations with betel leaves and nuts  and money carries  lot of weight. "They have  respected us coming  to our house  and we should reciprocate the same." is the unwritten dogma. This practice  is still followed!

I witnessed another miracle from the same family when they personally invited all the scavengers who work in their street for their only son's wedding! It was  a VIP treatment for them  when the family presented the first invitation cards to them along with betel leaves and nuts and a thousand rupees in cash.

I well very well know that this is never for publicity or trumpeting.

When we were informed of the same it was indeed a sincere sharing  on their part to   persons  close to their heart!

In our lives we witness so many such small miracles. Do we register them  in our hearts and ever think that we can also be 'miracle makers' in our own inimitable way?

Retiring to Become an Egomaniac

It was an  exhilarating experience getting up as he wished, sipping  his morning hot decoction coffee listening to Subrabatham of MS in Tamil and comparing notes of the superior melody of the Sanskrit version, and the dislike for Thiruvasagam by Ilyaraja set in western music style yet listening to it.. These melodies which have to be enjoyed early in the morning was on listened to later in the morning. The boss was relaxing!!

After years of being in service his retirement was what he dreamed of as a heaven of bliss.

He was lying in the bed brooding over..

At that moment the servant lady popped in to clean..

"I will put off the fan Aiya.” Making a statement she started sweeping.

"Ill-mannered brute... Should she not request my permission before she could start her work?  Could it have happened in my office? This threw open the Pandora’s box!

And the wife of mine gives her all sorts of concession. These people should be kept in their place.

How beautifully I managed my show?

His powerful connections, the reverential salaams, the compliant driver opening of the car door with his head bowed,  the attaché case reverentially carried by the peon  etc .. in short people waited for his command.

"Stop the lunch for this lady. Now that both of us retired we should make our finance go a long way.. understand?" He commanded his wife.

"mmmmm.. "  a neutral reply came from his wife. If she replied to reason out to him that getting a reliable person was a rarity   it would be no more than an angry exchange. She had to  bid  for the right time!

As days went by the boss felt that something was missing!

Like in the old clock  requiring it's wound up on every day basis to keep its springs sprite, he needed something revitalise him.

Missing the office?

Missing the colleagues?

Without a chance to exercise his authority he felt like punctured tyre!

Neither M.S. Subbulakshmi nor Ilayaraja fascinated him anymore!!

Sitting at home  he was gaining weight and hence he decided to do some house hold task.

One day Jana the friendly laundry man of the street was standing by the door.

"Amma  why are you sending Aiya (sir) to the market?"

"My dear Jana.. sir is retired now.. And he needs some exercise.. It's a good walk to the market."

"You are also retired amma.... and you too need some exercise and you can go to the market. Ask sir to go to the Besant Nagar beach instead."

But she knew that this man bored his fellow walkers with his own tales of glory that they tended to avoid his company.

"Why Jana aiya  bargains better than me.  The other day he bought a bunch of spinach for Rs.8 for which I usually pay Rs.10. You know in retired life every paisa saved is every paisa earned!"

"You are right. but at what cost amma?  He threatens the sellers with his big post and his powerful connection and says just one word from him to the right person they would be evicted from the place. These sellers who have to take care of the police on a daily basis did not want to be deprived of their livelihood too and give the vegetables  to him with a curse of course! It is not good amma.. scaring the poor! I is sad, Aiya is such a big man.”

"Thanks, Jana, I will take care of it.”

The other day one of his colleague along with his wife came home to extend the wedding invitation of his daughter.

One look at the invitation he knew that the girl did not study beyond high school.

"Has he saved enough for a big dowry for the girl? We had to toil and sweat for Neha.. oh my." 

The boss was shaking his head profusely thinking about the loads  he had spent on his daughter's wedding. He knew that this man is neither in a big post like him nor his wife is working. In addition the girl does not seem to have a college  education! And the demand from the boy's side should be heavy!

"Marriage expenses are always heavy my friend."

"That's true sir.... " his colleague said "but my daughter Diya is well employed with an American firm.

Boss could not fathom. A girl without a degree in an American firm..? May be a clerical job...

But to establish his American connection he said

"Remember the time I was deputed to America?"

"Yes sir.. definitely sir.. we all came to the airport to send you off”

"Mmmm... how well the Americans took care of me - Five star hotel. They were fascinated with my English. Those were the good old days”

Boss was gloating impressing the guests.

"You are very clever sir”

By the way what is Diya doing in the American firm..? A receptionist? she doesn't seem to have a degree...

"But sir today's children don't want  to flaunt their degrees in the wedding invitation. They think it is naff  to do so  and Diya is no exception. We struggle, beg, borrow to give them a good education and they don't give us the simple joy and pride we deserve by printing their degrees in the invitation. Generation gap indeed  sir”

"True.. true..” The boss concurred

Sir .Diya is a technical coordinator for the firm and flies to America on the monthly basis and it seems a room in Hilton is always reserved for her”

Boss’s ego was totally deflated. It is his wife who saved the day with her grace!!

The more he heard the stories of success from his friends and relatives' children  earning 6 digit salary on their first job which he could reach only before retirement, the more depressed  he became and the more was his  need to prove to the world that he was indeed a big achiever!

Standing near the gate of the veranda he would beckon all and sundry to be his audience so much so that the audience were prepared to take a long detour rather than go through  his street and listen to the repeats! 

When  odd invitations came his way for dinner he would witness youngsters coming in group  for dinner in those posh hotels in half trousers  without a hoot for any etiquette while he was meticulously suited and booted!!

"Who gives these uncouth fellows the money?"

They were loud too along with equal number of girls with big laughter!

One day as he was walking back from the temple along with his wife enjoying the ozone filled atmosphere provided by the  plentiful  neem trees a man accosted him with a salute said

 "Good morning sir, I am Raja Durai from the airport. Do you remember me sir? We used to admire you in your majestic coat and suit and my goodness you were so handsome sir. We used to watch you from a distance and you remember once I had the audacity to come close to you  sir to wish you good morning and  I was indeed in luck sir ... In spite of your heavy schedule you smiled and shook my hand..!  It is indeed a blessing and my fortune to meet you today sir..!  The man bowed his head and the man was exhilarated  with this recollection from his admirer. The boost from this unknown quarters perked him up and with a flourish he took out a 500 hundred rupee note and blessed his fan.  The man saluted him and in a  in a hurry jumped into one of the moving buses.

"Robber sir, real robber this chap. today he is in this locality and tomorrow he would be in the Marina beach with a knack to locate the right persons. and it is your turn today to make his day. He tried this with me once but as luck would have it I just had 10 rupee with me. Otherwise I would be right royally onto the trap like you " A  passer-by witnessing this show made a comment as he walked on that the boss was an irredeemable egomaniac.

The paucity of recognition for which he was aching made him a depressed man and it was his wife who smoothed things out  He started tumbling down the steep and irreversible slope which made him mentally and hence physically week!

Wheelchair  became part of his gear. He became an introvert lamenting his fate within.

"There is some problem regarding your account and the  bank manager requested you to come in person once." His wife who returned from the bank told him.

There was a big crowd in the bank.. He was diabetic  and had to have his food often. The delay indeed irritated him. The application form was properly filled signed and handed over long back . He was at the end of his tether.

"There seems to be some confusion." his wife who had gone in to find out the cause for the delay told him. "Now an officer is coming here to meet you."

"At last someone worth his salt is coming to meet me." boss thought.

"Good morning sir, nice meeting you sir. but sir. your signature seemed to have changed a bit sir."

Boss couldn't understand what he was telling. He was an expert  signatory and thousands and thousands of files  bore his powerful signature during his tenure!

"Come back again" he told him

"Sir your signature does not match the previous ones .. Would sir mind putting his thumb impression instead?"

That was indeed the last straw, it blew his lid!

Do you know who I am ? I am an old MA. mind you. old MA.  when most of the country was illiterate  and old SSLC was what most of the people paraded with pride! Do you want me to put my thumb impression? How dare you? I can sue you and take you to the court for your criminal assault on a person like me”

The realisation that there is no absolute power bestowed on anybody and the authority  one enjoys emanates from the positive vibrations and the motivation and the empowerment  accorded to the team  which in turn makes a good leader

Life is indeed  a positive experience.

To make it or break it is always within us, 

Bagging A Sustainable Future

"Amma if only all my customers fall in line with you I would save an amount of Rs.500 on a daily basis from two of my fruit shops in this market." said the fruit seller after his earlier unbelievable expression on seeing my cloth bags for the fruits!

But he continued "Amma do you believe that but for these plastic bags trading in general would take a big hit? People love plastic bags? It's not just fruits, flowers vegetables groceries why even medicines thrive on plastic.."

It is true. Crunchies kept in plastic bags retain their crispiness! Groceries remain fresh inside the bags! But the damages it causes to mother earth, seas and the oceans and the creatures there in  cause are innumerable!

Better be alone than in bad company!

People look down upon me  in the grocery shop as a strange creature when I bring out my cloth bags for various items.

 "Why carry bags when the shop keeper willingly provides you as many bags as you like?" enquired a lady.  As we started talking about plastics she was dumbstruck  and  revealed that  she was the headmistress of a suburban school and  fervently requested me to come over to her school to talk about the consequences of plastic usage. But her request remained just that. With  her heavy work load, her priorities might have changed! Hoping against hope I wished  that she had addressed her students in this regard and made at least her school a plastic free zone!!

 For the same reason I avoid supermarkets as much as possible. Packs and packs of varied items which could be easily be sold loosely fill the shelves! But still certain items have to be bought there and I too become a sinner in this regard.

I went to a very grand wedding reception.  The mouthwatering  mutton biryani was a great hit. Chicken gravy was delicious. Apart from the two ghee laden sweets  the high  quality ice cream was on the dessert menu. In short it was a sumptuous feast! The vegetarian feast was an equally grand one!

In India, especially in the south,  serving  a meal  to a guest in a  pristine green banana leaf is the traditional and respectful way and it is more so for a feast on this grand scale.

In the above reception  the leaf was green but it was not a banana leaf! It was just a pretense, a waxy banana leaf manufactured with a combination of plastic and God knows what other material!  The chicken gravy was served in shimmering white thermocol (Polystyrene) bowl while cut fruits with ice cream were served in bigger bowls of the same genre  and the ghee laden sweets in little plastic cups!! To crown it all there was a plastic bottle of water!

These bogus leaves and the thermocol and plastic cups are cheap. Accepted. But in comparison with the lakhs of Rupees spent on biryani and its cohorts, the banana leaves and the beautiful  paan  tree barks bowls and cups would have cost  just a minuscule of the whole expense!!

 Is it the penny wise and pound foolish  economy? Or is it the ignorance about  spoiling mother earth? Or is it the attitude that the food has to be good but never mind  about the receptacle?

The level of indigestion mother earth is going through is enormous! While our digestive system takes six to eight hours  to assimilate the food  the plastics we throw at this GRAND LADY takes 400 HUNDRED  PLUS years to become part of her system!

When we took leave after the reception I kept  my mouth shut  in this regard lest I spoil the happy occasion.

But  when they came home to extend another invitation in that large family I had a  cordial discussion with them which was taken in the right spirit and as an add on  they said that they would definitely spread this important message among their big circle!

For the wedding reception our friends went a  step further  and astonished us by gifting away saplings to the guests. With plenty of choice the guests were invited to choose as many saplings as they liked! What a satisfying celebration!

I cringe whenever guests come home with fruit laden plastic bags but never open my mouth lest it hurts their affectionate gesture! I collect them, store them use them reuse them and re reuse them but never ever throw them. My helpers are also trained to follow my dictum.

MY WASTE BIN IS NEVER COVERED WITH BLACK PLASTIC BAG. All my food waste become part of my little  garden. And only the dry ones go to the bin.

Last year we hired a service apartment for a family get together for three relaxing days of rest and recuperation and  blabbering around sweet nothings  goaded with plenty of selfies!! We consciously avoided gathering in one house lest it would  involve loads of cooking for the lady  of the house. The service apartment came with complimentary  breakfast  and we planned to get lunch and dinner from outside.

Early next day morning there was a call from the reception if they could bring in  our breakfast. Salivating we  asked them to bring it all. And there arrived a dozen plus of  pristine  white trays with the same pristine white covers filled with south Indian goodies!! I was aghast!

THREE DAYS OF THESE THERMOCOL TRAYS WOULD BE CAPABLE OF CREATING A BIG MOUND OF  MASS DESTRUCTION!

And imagine the end result in case all the apartments were occupied!!!

My nephew, an IT wizard, vouched by the tastiest lunch he daily had in the road side stall in front of his office and said that this would be his treat to the gang. True to his words it was steaming hot  appetising  food but there was a glitch! This luncheon feast was much more abominable than the morning breakfast since we had to face loads of individually packed polythene carry bags starting from rice sambar rasam curd and assorted vegetables and crunchies! And the thought that we are going to fling all these bags into the reluctant mouth of the terrorised  GRAND LADY was horrifying.  One cannot imagine the number of road side stalls in the city and the number of packing they do on a daily basis!

We sat and thought over this phenomena which proved to be an annoyance to the otherwise happy gathering!  We found a solution wherein, my niece who was hosting the show decided to tell her dad to look for a caterer who could bring the food in vessels and give a  happy ending to our horror story!

We can witness this  routine affair in any vegetable market when around eleven' o clock in the morning the shop keepers start packing their various vegetables into small polythene bags and  send them to vantage points in the city where commuters going back home weary and tired find an easy solution to their cooking needs. The bus stands and the train stations  are crammed with these bags vegetables or fruits and are cheap at Rs.10. Thus on a daily basis thousands of disposable bags are thrown into the dust bins and gutters.

For years when we celebrated our annual day in our  organisation where our meticulous planning made sure that the yearly gift to the staff was given in a jute bag and the dinner was served in stainless steel  and melamine plates covered with round cut banana leaves  and water in paper cups! (Even though we know that we were responsible for felling off trees we had to choose the lesser of the two evils). And the minimum number of guests for these gatherings of parents and other family members were around 750.

I was indeed happy when the Tamil Nadu government announced the ban of every day plastic from 2019 on! But the proud announcement is just one part! Sub clauses of concessions  allowances and grants should not submerge the boat!

Your own experience and your effort to safe guard mother earth however small it might be is welcome as a precious add on to this blog! Reducing the usage of disposable plastic  starting from our own house will have great effect on sustainable ecosystem .

My cloth carry bag accompanies me wherever  I go.

To be ill or not to be

"With God's blessings my daughter landed in a nice job with a good salary. Of the many benefits from the company medical insurance is also part of it. You know how I suffered in the crowded government hospital when my gall bladder was removed." As I was doing my weekly shopping this overheard conversation interested me.

On the very same day I saw in the Facebook this message :

"I am a subscriber to an Insurance policy called Red Carpet as I am a senior citizen. I had to undergo a surgery for replacement of my hip a few days ago. I was admitted and got the surgery done in a corporate hospital. The doctors and the whole treatment excellent and I was very much satisfied. As I was getting discharged and as I was waiting for my insurance money and I was a shocked to realise that I had to pay an equal amount of money as hospital expenses. Further I was held up for nearly 9 hours in the hospital after my discharge. Though I was eligible for 87% of my hospital expenses, I was awarded only 50%, how it is calculated and why I had to pay the other 50% I am not able to understand. I only realized that I was cheated. Who cheated me? Is it the Insurance company or the corporate hospital or both?"

This message was from one of my close relative who underwent the  surgery recently.

As a reply to him I would  vouch "My dear friend this is never personal and all of us who enter into a corporate medical establishment undergo the stress in one form or other!"

 In those early days, three decades back, the medical insurance system  was different. The hospitals gave the bills to the patient which was submitted to the insurance company through the organisation and the insurance company in turn made  a cheque in the name of the concerned employee. 

Once the hospital came to know that the patient was under the insurance scheme the charges became exorbitant as faced by my relative. I was HR General Manager of a multinational company during that time. We wondered how we could circumvent this situation in favour of the employees. We devised a method   by which any one going for hospitalisation  should not reveal that he/she was under insurance cover but the organisation where he worked might  give a part of the expense.  An advance would be provided  for the employee towards the expense. The important condition in this method was that  the family should make  sure that all the bills were  meticulously collected and submitted to the HR department which in turn would forward it to the insurance company and when the payment was made in the name of the employee the advance amount was returned to the organisation. With this little bit of hoodwinking we created a win-win situation which made both the employer and the employee happy!

But the methodology is  very different now where our system is no more relevant .

Years back we had a chance meeting with a reputed family in Chennai,  This relationship, though it began on a business level, blossomed into a friendship over the years. The family was well connected  in the elite social circle  to the extent that one of our major streets in our city  proudly bears the name of one of its forefathers.

A major surgery to  the head of the family  took place in a corporate hospital and after an interval we went home  to visit him . Their story at a renowned  city hospital indeed shook us beyond belief. This was their horrific narration:

The operation went off  smoothly and after days of monitoring and medical care, he was ready to be discharged. The necessary forms were filled up and the payments duly made. Since  there was a major accident in that area, the ambulances were in heavy  demand on that particular day  and the doctor advised  that the patient could go home early next morning.  Settling all the dues the family members left for the day leaving him in the care of his personal assistant.

But the morning dawned differently for the patient. All of a sudden the hospital  administration found out that there was a pending amount and wanted the settlement before the patient could be discharged. The personal assistant neither had the needed amount nor a credit card. These were the days before the availability of mobile phones. He  informed the account section that he would go home settle the account. However much he tried to convince them including the status of the family there was no budging  from their stand.

Though the assistant made innumerable phone calls, courtesy of the hospital, to the house proved futile. In the meanwhile the convalescing  patient who had been brought to the airless verandah waiting for his ambulance was restless and hungry and wanted to know the reason for the delay and the assistant had no other go but to tell him the truth. This statement infuriated him.  When a man of his status could not expect a humane treatment he couldn't envisage  the condition of ordinary citizens in this notorious place!! His pressure shot up and he refused even an  emergency treatment  in that nasty place! After a lot of  uproar and commotion  he was discharged. But the man who had to enjoy his rest and recuperation in his house was again readmitted into another hospital thanks to the  mean  and uncompassionate corporate hospital!!

Another incident was even more pathetic. A  famous and prolific Tamil writer living in our street (I was fortunate to be gifted with some of his books) got into an accident while driving his car and became unconscious and bleeding. In the commotion his valet was lost  before the police could sort out things. He was sent to a nearby corporate hospital. Without proper identification he was left to lie down like a poor orphan!! It was too late when the family members got the news and rushed to the hospital and the  precious life was lost. His children  had a stiff fight with the management and their stoic reply was "We didn't know who would pay for the operation!!

 "Money, money, money
  Must be funny
  In the rich man's world"

A precious life was indeed assigned to a value in cash in that rich and worthless hospital!!

My sister was admitted in a hospital and her son who had a fat insurance policy made sure that she got the best of treatment. He called me up one day to tell that a particular medicine which she had to take thrice daily was not available in the hospital pharmacy and could I be kind enough to get it from outside.  After some 'no stock' replies I got the needed numbers. The boy thanked me  and said " You should have paid through your nose for these tablets."  " Not at all. " I said "It is not that expensive."  Saying so I showed him  the bill. The boy  was bewildered and flabbergasted! Each tablet cost triple the amount in his bill! The hospital and the insurance company were indeed hand in glove in looting the common man!

 But what I am going to narrate takes the cake!

The patient was terminally ill with his blood oxygen level very much below the survival level for someone with multiple organ failure. But still he continued to be under ventilation.  The doctors with their sophisticated medical terms were convincingly giving the near and ones the hope that was not there. He was a guinea pig for all the high machines in which the hospital had invested in. Actually it was a planned deed that he would continue to be in the ventilator till  the insurance amount was fully utilised!  I got this confidential information from a very reliable source within the system!!

After reading my blog many of you  I am sure would come out with even more horrible experiences from your personal level than mine!!

 But in spite of all our Indian tribulations and ordeals with the medical field English people envy our medical system and say " Never ever think that the  grass is greener on the our side of the fence."

NHS which provides  free medical care  for all the citizens has its own drawbacks. Unless it is an emergency the queuing system for different operation could take months. For example, in India, if you want to do a knee replacement operation it can happen at your own convenience but not in the UK.  You have to bear with the knee pain on one side and  the anticipation of when it will get relieved is indeed a double edged mental torture.

In India we probably get the best medical care with all its minor monetary aberrations.

Let us be thankful for small mercies!

Cambridge of South India

My college established in the small, yet cultured, town of Kumbakonam in 1854 was the oldest and prestigious one around the locality and well known as 'The Cambridge of South India' for two reasons.

Just as Cambridge is sitting  on the river Cam, the  Kumbakonam college took  its roots on the banks of river Kaveri. It followed Cambridge's  footsteps in holding the festivity of regatta annually.

Just as Cambridge is one among the premier educational institution in UK this institution too had praise worthy and renowned teachers like the 'grandfather of Tamil literature' Mr. U. V. Swaminatha Ayer and students who became internationally famous, like the  mathematics genius Mr. Ramanujam.

Our college was a spacious one with big verandahs and well ventilated class rooms. But the benevolent management bent upon providing  more oxygen  to the student's brain activity along with  the cool breeze from river Kaveri had fixed huge cloth fans covering the width of the room called 'punkhas' and appointed a person called 'punkawalla' to operate the system by pulling it with the ropes attached! And whenever professors tend to put the students into deep slumber the somber 'punkawalla' provided the needed entertainment for an hour with his nodding sleepy head yet engaged thoroughly in his work!

But this was the story passed on by our progenitors since by the time I went to college I just saw the remnants of the old system, dirty old torn punkhas in the middle of the room and the management decided that the cool breeze from mother Kaveri was more than enough for our brain activity and installing the electric  fans was immaterial!

In the era of minimal transportation the students usually walked the mile to their respective educational institutions and I  was no exception. Even though the college sojourn was similar to that of  school there was a bit of a variation, a more romantic one at that ! There was a walk  bridge over river Kaveri  connecting the road to our college. The cool breeze of  this stretch indeed had the efficacy to take away the tiredness of the long road walks! Hugh trees on the college side would perpetually  play with the flowing waters making me ache for a seat amongst them.

You may wonder  what was the  problem in sitting there and why should I ache for it? After all it was your own college!

I beg to differ.... Our existence as girls in that coeducation college at the end of fifties was a very different one and it would be hard to believe our restricted existence by the modern day college folks.

While our college campus was a  huge one we girls were confined to the 'two room prison' very close to the principal's office.  We were not allowed even to participate on the weekly flag hoisting and our salutes to mother India travelled from the verandah of our rooms!

And there was another adjacent room for  the odd lady lecturers who occasionally got transferred and whose only aim during this phase of their life  was to get a transfer to another place as soon as possible and were capable of achieving their goal by hook or crook!

While the boys enjoyed  the  cool shades of the trees on the river bank to deliberate on political situation, to gossip  and for  a few scholastic ones to study we the outcast group were cocooned inside the 'two room prison'! The exception to this rule was the regatta day. Like Cambridge our college too excelled in this sports and on this festive day the management allowed  the girls to gather and enjoy the water sports on the shades of the trees whose lower branches were in perpetual embrace with the Kaveri waters!

While there were facilities for the boys to participate in various games including the prestigious lawn tennis  and a rowing  club with a tank for beginners and practitioners, we the lesser beings were destined to walk on the bridge over river Kaveri as soon as the classes were over!

If this was the story on the outside  precincts,  the class room were even more claustrophobic. In those days it was customary to move to different classes after every hour of lecture. It was a good system which allowed one  to relax and stretch before dealing with a new lesson. While the boys entered the classes and seated themselves freely and comfortably the girls had to wait outside till the lecturer entered the class. Our seating arrangement was restricted to the first two rows closer to the door. And it was compulsory to leave two more rows behind us for the boys to seat themselves. And after the lecture hour  it was obligatory on the part of the lecturer  to wait in the class till we girls moved out!

The election process for the college president and various other posts for the year was a properly fought one and by default a  male bastion, capable of ending in big squabbles and quarrels similar to the political ones! During this period the fathers took charge of protecting their girl child and lead her through the vulnerable bridge where the boys vied with one another with trays of scented roses and bit notices trying to attract the attention of all and sundry and especially the girls. Like the new brides of the olden days the paternal instinct made sure the that their girls heads were properly bent till they reached their 'two room prison'.

If this was status in an educational institution the one which was supposed to  open up our mind we could gauge the level of  social conditioning in the households.

It was customary for the girls to go to the college in  cluster if they lived in the same street and we were no exception. The mother of one of the street mate was paranoid about sending her girl child to the college. She made sure that her dressing was indeed more like a purdah rather than a proper sari for a college going girl, and a look at her would remind one  of the  medieval Victorian skirt bulging away on all sides! Her daily dose of advice consisted of bent head, nil eye contact, no talk with the other sex and return back on time with girls! And I was elected as the de facto guardian angel to monitor her behaviour.  If on a particular day she didn't return from the college along with me she would be hysterical cursing the whole college system in not allowing the girls to be back home on time. Her extreme worries lead her into health problems. In that fatherless household the forward thinking brother's efforts to give a good education to his younger sister became futile.  Irrespective of the ranting from his sister, the man was compelled to arrange for her marriage but appeased his conscience by choosing a  highly qualified match! 

 I would have never faced such a problem as my parents especially my mother was a revolutionary of her era bent upon giving equal education to her girl children too!!

Like our nose getting adjusted to bad smell in the course of time, we in our checkered coeducation life started enjoying our existence in spite this limited freedom. The exchange of variety of heady scented jasmines on a daily basis and double tiffin boxes on days  goodies were prepared at home perked up our camaraderie and we slowly became a very close knit gang to the extent we planned for a trip to the city of Madras, the dream land of every Tamilian!

And it all happened because of our political science lecturer, whom we nick named as 'rain man'. Instead of using his allotted podium this man had the notion that being closer to the students and  raining his wisdom oozing saliva along with his lectures was the proper way of propagating knowledge and we the girl students occupying the compulsory front rows were his victims while the boys found their escape routes at the back benches!  Yet he was a dedicated man, a great fan of Queen Elizabeth the second. We came to know of this interesting facet when he was dealing with the unwritten Constitution of the English. On that particular day he passed on the information that the queen was making a three day visit to Madras and that we should be lucky and blessed to have a 'darshan' of his 'goddess'! Enchanted by his assertive declaration we decided on a trip to Madras indifferent to the scolding from various quarters of the household! And our justification was that this visit was an imperative one in our   learning curve in political science!!

This successful execution without the knowledge or support from our  classmates of the other sex creating respect and reverence on  our capability.

Another incident which happened  during the college days left an indelible mark in our life!  There was a birth in the family of one of our friends and her sister had  delivered a baby boy. In the family of four sisters the boy baby doubled the happiness and for the naming ceremony she invited all of us for lunch. She suggested that we could come home during the lunch interval and return back for the next hour of lecture. On that appointed day as the gong went off we crossed the bridge carrying a gift for the baby. As we entered the house there was a shouting" Don't touch... don't touch..... go away! We were taken aback and  retreated our steps  back to the front door. But  our friend came running saying "Granny is bit orthodox.  you should have gone on the side she had dried her clothes." After a thorough wash we entered a room.

"Can we see the baby?" we thought we would give the gift and wish the baby before the lunch.

"The baby is sleeping . Can you give it to me please? Come and have your lunch. You have to go back to the class" She literally hurried us!

It was indeed a sumptuous vegetarian feast  except that we felt something was amiss. No one entered our room to serve  or wish us. If only this royal feast was in my place my mother would have made it a grand occasion of it with her friendly gesture.

"All the fingers are not equal." I philosophised 

As we thanked our friend and bade good bye a booming voice from inside said "Is the cow dung ready? Clean the place at once."

We ran out of the house and  our innards were revolting to transfer its festive content into a bitter vomit to pour out un to the street.

The Brahminical  orthodoxy  was at its zenith and especially in a place where majority belonged to that faction and unknowingly we became the victims of this humiliation and indeed made a haunting impression.

 Some years back we were there in the place. The beautiful Kaveri river had turned to a receptacle of plastic waste with small drains from the nearby eateries joining the gang! The morning glory bushes  coated with dust the with the  fast moving transportation added to the misery of the scenario!

The orthodox street where we had our life lesson had  modified itself into offices and shops and people roamed freely into that sanctum sanctorum sans the dread of humiliation!

While on one hand, I was indeed elated by this metamorphosis, on another count my heart ached for the beauty and serenity of the old days.