My Appachen
My Appachen! Like Ammachy he never called me, or any of my siblings by any terms of endearment. In Malayalam, we have a common endearing term for boys ‘Mon’ and girls ‘Mol’. Never did he call us by those terms. But we could realize his intense love in his heart for us. He never beat me; never did he beat any of my siblings either. He never scolded us; never spoke angrily to us. Never did he mistrust us. He was such a simpleton. Very kind. He was fooled or cheated several times by others because of this kindness in his nature. I am sharing some of my memories at random. I had shared some already in my memories.
Appachen was the eldest of the four. Two sisters and a brother, who was the youngest. Vallyammachy had done much penance and offerings at church for want of a baby and Appachen was the answer from God for all her prayers. He was his mother’s darling boy. They called him ‘Kochu’ meaning “Small one.” As a young man, he had to shoulder the duties and the burdens of the family, and he did them faithfully. We have heard that he was naughty in his childhood and used to get some beating from Vallyappachen. Vallyammachy was always there to protect him. But when years passed by, he grew into a good, honest, gentle and trustworthy person.
He had a favourite radio. Philips. Most of the time when he was at home it would be on. He listened to the news and the football commentaries. In the later years when the radio became an extinct species, he moved to the TV and watched sports and games, movies and serials. I think “Ladies Hostel” was the last serial he saw. We were at Puthenangady after college, one evening. We returned to Kalathipady after watching the serial. As we were leaving, he told us about the family tour he was planning, either to Thekkady or to another place, I forgot the name. The next day he had a stroke that eventually led to his death. He was very fond of tours. Years back, we had gone on a family trip to Munnar. But, as it was a one-day tour, we did not get enough time to visit Silent Valley Estate. It was a matter of regret for all of us. Whenever we think of Estate life, we feel so happy.
The good old days! Appachen was adored by the labourers of the estate in Silent Valley. They wept when we set out after his retirement when all the things were packed in the lorry. They had never come across a Writer-Ayyah like him! Memories roll on and off the path.
He had the mind of small children. Childlike, he was! Rarely did he give a full smile.
When he did, it was the most beautiful smile we had ever seen in anyone. He gave one such smile when some topics about children’s taste came into the conversation. He was a very reserved person; highly reticent. But he became eloquent when he had to talk about the antics of monkeys. He was very fond of monkeys. Also of kittens, cats, and dogs. In his quarters in Silent Valley, occasionally a man would come for alms with a monkey called “Kunjiraman.” We all, including Appachen if he were there, would be extremely happy to see him play. After his retirement, in his post superannuation days, he would tell us his idea of getting a monkey for plucking coconuts.
In those days it was very difficult to get the special category of people who plucked coconuts. He told us the story of the clever monkeys in Neyyardam or so, who would tie a rope around their waists, pick up a number of tapiocas and get them stuck around. The monkeys were clever enough to collect as many as possible at one attempt. We found the story amusing. Ever since he heard the story, he started talking about getting them for plucking coconuts. Of course, partly in fun and partly in seriousness.
He was gentle with his grandchildren also. Occasionally, his grandchildren would sit together for a meeting and he would be asked to preside over the function. When the president started speaking, some of the mischievous ones would start hooting and howling. He developed a great passion for agriculture during his superannuation period. As we were living in Puthenangady, he had to go to Veloor to look after his paddy cultivation. He walked the three miles to and fro every time he went. Watching the harvesting might have been fun. But as the fields were far away, I could never watch it. Only once I visited the place after the harvest when there was a small open hut (maadam) on four wooden pillars. My brother Babu was supposed to keep vigil there that night. It was fun sitting in the hut eating raw pieces of mango with salt during the day time. It was in the same plot that my brother and friends played a rustic game “Kuttiyum kolum”- an ancient form of the modern cricket.
He was fond of sports and games and partook in them in his school days. During his estate life, he used to play football with the Europeans. Once he had a severe fall headlong during one of the matches. It took a long time for him to lift his left hand as an after-effect of the fall. There was a slight shivering of his hands when he wrote and took the cup of coffee to drink in the later years. It was also attributed to the severe accident he had in his twenties.
Appachen was an early riser as he used to be in Munnar. He also went to bed early. He was a healthy person. He hated hospital life and never complained of any illness. We never saw him lying on the bed even in his old age. He would sit on the chair and doze off. Only very late we came to know that he had fainted on one or two occasions while he was in the paddy field in Veloor and during the construction of the building for my brother Babu near the Medical College. He never told us about it. In my memory only once he was in the hospital for getting the intravenous drip due to dehydration.
He wanted to live up to 100 years, he said in fun. He used to say jokingly that he would walk to the graveyard by himself. But his life ended at 83. He was bedridden for just 40 days. For twenty-five days he was in hospital with all the tubes fitted to his body. The stroke might have happened because of his blood pressure we had no prior knowledge of.
The hospital days. They were full fasting days for him, except the liquid food he was given through the nasal tubes. We wondered whether God was allowing him lessons in fasting as he never had the habit of observing lent as was the custom in Christian families of those days. For Christians, fifty days of fasting and prayer were compulsory till the Resurrection(Easter) Day of Jesus Christ. Appachen believed in Christ, but he was not particular about the rituals attached to the church. Even Ammachy was like that, whereas Appachen’s Mother and his siblings were all very much ritualistic and pious. This kind of piety was not seen in Appachen and Ammachy.
Appachen had cerebellar haemorrage. As a result, one side of his body was paralysed. His speech lost its clarity. But in the hospital, he laughed with us. Shook hands with all the visitors. The taciturn person seemed very jovial and friendly those days. He chanted the nonsense song which he and his siblings used to sing during their childhood. It was his younger sister, Pallom Kochamma, who reminded him of the rustic song.“ “Aliyan alinjangu puliye kayari/ puli odinju thazhe poyi…”(The brother-in-law climbed up the tamarind tree; the tamarind tree broke and fell…)“ Only Joychayan, his family, and I were in Kottayam then. All my siblings were away in the Gulf countries, except Omanachechy in Ernakulam. All of them came. We were in the hospital. Some of us siblings were seeing one another after a long period. So it was more like a happy occasion of reunion for us. At night, the nurses had to come and ask us to keep quiet. We had all the news to share. Appachen showed no signs of irritation. He was with us occasionally in his not-so-clear rejoinders.
Appachen could not eat anything solid. Food was given in liquid form. He would pull off the nasal tube and smile in freedom and victory from time to time. On Christmas day Aji, Joychayan’s son, bought ice cream as Appachen showed a liking towards it. Moreover, he was fond of sweets The doctor had said that semi-solids could be given as they easily slipped down the throat. At the sametime, he was to be protected from contracting cough. He was very happy when it was given. I said, as Appachen might develop a cough we could give him a little. Then Appachen grunted entreatingly as children do, meaning he wanted more. He ate the full! It was the only food (though semi-solid) he had in all the forty days he remained sick. The doctors had said that he would lie in this paralytic condition for a few months or a few years. You could not predict.
My Father
(Cont’d)
