Sunday, September 14, 2014

good night



Life is quite funny.. and full of innocent and harmless actions which become attached to the persona of someone as if it were an ornament or appellation
I was reading about error in communication here
I worked in Incometax Pollachi for a few years and used to commute by rail from Palakkad daily.. There was a Passenger train between Palakkad and Pollachi in the morning and from Pollachi to Palakkad in the evening and the benefit of a ridiculously lowpriced season ticket too.(Now they have dismantled the rails and are trying to convert metre gauge to broad gauge.. the stations in between are Pudunagaram, Vadakannikapuram, Kollengode, Muthalamada, and Anamalai Road)
Usually we the daily passengers land up in some groups.. and the friendship of such groups to my pleasant surprise is even more cordial and sincere than family relationships.. I have a lot of warm memories about friends working in or furthering different jobs or avocation.. From different social and educational levels and even speaking different languages and of different age groups.
I was in my early thirties.. and there was a boy studying in the eighth standard as also a revered senior citizen of 82 years in our groups.But we were all united in utter affection and devotion for one another at least during the morning and evening hours..We shared our happiness and anxiety.. We shared our food packets.
If anyone was absent for more than a couple of days all of us would fret. We would even accuse the person who is living nearest to that person's residence that he should have enquired about the friend by visiting his house.
When the friend appears after even a short absence, he would be greeted with shouts of joy.
In our group there was a tall wiry person who commuted between Olavakkode and Muthalamada daily.. He had vast expanse of agricultural land and a farmhouse at Muthalamada.. a place covered by a railway station about thirty miles away from Palakkad. He traveled daily to look after his agriculture.
Our group gave the appearance of being very elite and educated..
You know I was present in the group.. a crackpot with lots and lots of wisecracks.
Our friend has noticed that everyone would say Good Morning in the time-slot representing the appearance of the red sun first in the day , and he had also noted that all Said Good night when the Sun has retired to his bedroom. But his knowledge and understanding of English language and Customs were quite sketchy.
So when our train from Pollachi entered Muthalamada station and it would be already dark after sunset, his thin long form would make appearance in the bay of the compartment where our group had gathered,and with a hearty smile, he would greet us with a sweet "Good Night" immediately on seeing the gathering of his dear friends.
We knew it was funny.. But we did not have the heart nor could brace ourselves to correct him,, and he did not appear to be a good learner or observer. .
But we with time running, we tended to forget the fact that he had a name and we would enquire with one another ഗുഡ് നൈറ്റ്‌ വന്നില്ലേ ? has good night not come today, whenever we found him mission on a rare day.
Even after three decades, i remember him with a lot of affection.. I have attended all his family functions and he has attended my marriage. we were in touch even after I was transferred away from Pollachi.. And he was about sixty at that time and sadly, without giving any warning to anyone, he bade us a permanent good night and left the world so abruptly, so unbelievably..
I remember him as Good Night.. with some search in my memory or in my papers, I can recollect his name. but is it necessary?
RIP my elder brother "Good Night"

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