A Cure for all these Illness

Her naïve doubt was enough to turn on the edge of a ‘season ticket guy’ in me.
Gaping into the slowing down Intercity Express, she enquired:
“Is it a reservation compartment?”
I said ‘No’ and ushered her in.
A forty plus looking lady…she has a young girl and an elder lady with her.
The eldest one is in a Purdah and the young girl has a shawl cum thattam.

Once inside the train, with no hope of getting a seat, she took no time to throw her first query at me.
“What you do?”
“Where will you get down?”
I tried to answer as subdued as possible.
(One who screams his details inside packed buses and trains are as boring as
R Sreekandan Nair…I believe)
But it was no check dam before the flurry of questions.
Then I had to hear what she has been doing here…at Ponani.

She has some cancerous tumour.
Her daughter is studying in 8th and her husband left them and remarried 12 years back.
“I have suffered a lot and am working hard…”
Yes, she deserves respect…I should be attentive to what she is telling.
For her illness, she is taking treatment from Ervadi.
Ervadi…the name reminds mental asylums. She has been in a calm and safe house in Ponani where she gets drugs from over there.
“What kind of medicine they give you?” I can't help ask.
“A whole lot of kashayam, tablets, oils…”
By the time the train pulled into Tirur, we were talking in a very familiar tone.
It was then that she leaned towards me and asked in a hushed voice.
“Are you a Muslim?”
Shocking! Why should she ask that? If she wants to know, why can't she ask it aloud?
“I don’t believe or follow any religion”
The hopelessness of my reply dimmed her eyes.

I returned to the pages of my Mathrubhumi weekly, out today.
Hamid Chennamagalur argues, quoting Muslim scholars, that as per orthodox Islamic rules any Muslim who renounces his religion is sure to be beheaded…
if he is in an Islamic state.
An year back, I had a doubt related with this…while translating a story from Pakistan.
Will a Muslim killed for such an ‘offence’ be given a decent, religious funeral?
I haven’t yet got a categorical answer.

It was her blunt question that haunts me now…deeper than the plight of slain kafirs.

Now, into the compartment, comes a stout man…requesting
“…all my brothers and sisters help me… what ever coins you have…
ayyappa swami will save you all…”
He has lost both his palms. My lady friend starts quizzing him.
Happy, he replies and we hear about his diabetes and wife’s psoriasis as well.
“Do you want a cure for all these illness?” Her voice is now shrill.
“How can I…?” His voice was mellow.
“Tell me… do you want a cure for all these illness?”
Now, many others in the compartment turn into rubbernecks.
“Yes… if possible”
“Can you become a Muslim?” She had no air of asking anything awkward at all.
The poor guy stood perplexed. The whole compartment too.


Yes, we were in the sixth compartment from the engine…
Today, the 15th December, in the Ernakulam- Kannur Intercity Express.

What's in a Homepage?

It was my craze to copy write that took me one day to the website of the world’s perhaps best ad agency Dentsu.
They had just begun operations in India then.
I simply wanted to see what they would say if they see my copies.
(The same craze took me to the office of Maitri at Cochin
They were rocking then with the Mathrubhumi’s ads…
The Thrissur wallah who curses Mathrubhumi weekly and so on…)

The day I visited the Dentsu home page…that sensation…wow!!!
First I thought something had happened to my monitor.
This 8 plus year old Compaq!
How simple a page! You know, the same guys charge millions of dollars to design
a logo or an ad!
Since then, I simply visit that page…just as I spend sometime on a sea shore or so…

Today,
It was after watching a TV clip that I googled my friend Leenn Thobias.
He is doing experiments in 360 degree panoramic still photos.
Google took only 0.18 seconds to list 4300 pages on him.
I had in mind a beautiful frame, perhaps a panoramic still or a triptych photo in the homepage.
But Leenn was too smart…
In some way smarter than the smart brains @ Dentsu.
http://www.dentsu.com/
http://www.leenn.com/

The left-middle is a cosy seat…

be it in politics or in a trendy Innova .

We were on our way to the Sabarimala.

Ammu is in a happy daze on my lap thanks to the Avomine tab she was forced to gulp before breaking the smallest possible coconut that early morn. She was cross checking the contours of the thrown coconut when the Guruswamy vetoed: “Its no matter for kids”

I am on my second trip to the Holy shrine of Ayyappa after a gap of 22 years. (A sacrifice@ Ammu’s repeated requests. She shouldn’t be denied her right to visit a temple on account of my lack of faith.)

Things have changed a lot since. Quite a lot!

Sajiv, our team leader was very particular about having breakfast at Elite, Guruvayur. I couldn’t object for two reasons. I too am a fan of tasty food. More over, he was kind enough to accommodate me though he knew well that I had my Chicken roll and JDF even the other day. I am among the pilgrims not as a swami but ‘to take the holy dip and pray’.

Getting into the back seat of the Innova was a bit tough. Once the seat bolts got jammed and there was no way out. The words came from Sunil, who was in the rear seat then. Yes, the first ever reference to lord Srinivasa. “ithippol Srinivasante Sabarimala vandi poleyaanallo”.

‘If we stop before the Lord of Vaikkom, we will miss the mosque at Erumeli.’ Driver Rajan had no illusion. Spare Shiva for Vavar…Wise indeed. (Shiva is kind: Vavar need not be always)

Erumeli: Ammu has one coconut held in hand now. It’s her share for Vavar. Ever since stepping down from the cab, she was spotting stones encircled with post ASEAN pieces of coconut. Each time she asked: “Is it here that I should throw this?” When Sunil said a third “No” she had a counter question. “Then why they are throwing coconuts there?” Pointing at the Annachi swamis, Sunil shot back: “They are crazy; just as those pray before Srinivasan in Syamala”

The trekking path from Pampa seemed breezy and energising. The Police began to block the devotees from Marakkuuttam itself that night. (it was three holidays on a row. Three Holy Days too) Its past 10 at night and woods around…lovely dark and deep. By all chances, we have to spend hours in the queue. “It would be good if we stay here No?” Innocent was my query. But Anil wanted to celebrate it. “You wanna stay here? Shall we call you Vijayan Master?”

On our way back, I rang up home quite early to ensure a good supper. 10.30 is not a bad time to take a full meal….that too after a long trip. But the dining table had just one upperi and an aviyal. I felt sad and dared to grill her. “Why? Only veggies even today?” She took no time to snap. “What else you had in mind? Chicken stew?” The pot full of chicken curry that Srinivasan chucked into his backyard was enough to satiate my hunger.

Who is this Srinivasan?

Sreekandheswaram Padmanabha Pillai says he is none other than Lord Vishnu.

Srinivasa suthanae…Saranam Ponnayyappa!

Dear Mallu readers,

Don't get upset if you see the next day an article in any Malayalam journal by

our MT, Azhikode, Leelavathy Teacher or Karasseri with their full naked photo.

Things are fast moving in that direction.

It was the new editorial team in Mathrubhumi weekily who started excavating the very

old photos of seasoned columnists and showcasing them in their pages so as to surprise

the readers and imparting 'better' aesthetic appeal.

Older the photos, better your readership.

You are reading, say, an article by MV Devan...the very name brings an image of

a free flowing beard, glistening forehead and sharp eyes.

On the contrary what you sight on the page is the pallid photograph of a teenager and your eyebrows twirl..."who this chap is?"

The copy editor is at your help and you read the photo caption...

"MV Devan when he was 14"

Oh God! You wonder.

Pachakuthira, in its last issue, was magnanimous enough to show three such

photos of a major women writer from Kottayam.

You are reading a good article by this 40 plus teacher/writer but you come across

the B/W photo of a girl in LKG.

You wonder..."Aaha... Who this kiddie is!"

It's none other than the writer when she was actually a 'kutty'.

Now it's the image of a four year old...

Next time, it will be that of a toddler.

Most probably, New year specials of these magazines will offer

us photos of these octogenarians as they were eight months

young...

in a ruby red loincloth!