My remembrance of those innocent days

After Office, as I got off the bus and walked to my room, I happened to overhear a conversation between two vandoos. One of them was saying that his uncle, a policeman, had a lathi the size of an electric pole! Not to be left behind, the other claimed that his uncle(also a policeman) had gun with which he would shoot any wrongdoer! I had passed them by, and couldnt hear the rest of the conversation, but it brought a flood of memories about a similar fight I had with my friend Karthic when I was a vandoo myself. It embarasses me now, but also brings a smile to the lips in remembrance of those innocent days. So here we go...

Karthic : My father is a policeman. His lathi is so long. I'll ask him to beat you with it!
Me : My uncle is a bigger policeman than your dad. He also has a long stick and I will ask him to use it on you!
Karthic(after a while of deep thought) : My father has a Bullet Bike.
Me : My uncle has a gun and another uncle of mine is a military man and he has all the guns in the military with him.
Karthic : I'll ask my father to arrest your uncle!
Me : My uncle is a military man. Your father cant arrest him. I will tell both my uncles to shoot you!

By now Karthic was getting scared and I pressed home my advantage. I called out aloud to my brother to call our uncle. Karthic had had enough and he ran into his house.
Several years had gone by when I came to know that my Policeman Uncle is a Constable who works under Karthic's father - a Sub Inspector! And that my other uncle is an ex-serviceman - he had retired from service even before I was in Kindergarten!!

My first train journey

All of us have surprising and unforgettable events in our lives. I am going to relate one such event which occurred during my college days. 8 of us were very close friends during those days; Tiju, Thameem, Meenachi Nathan, Prem, Mohideen Meeran Sahib, Begin, Chidambaranathan. Each of us hailed from different places and in the final year of the UG course we decided to visit everyone's homes. We started with Tiju's home in Kerala.

We started our journey from Tirunelveli. The journey was by train and it was my first train journey!. We had to wait for nearly an hour at the station for the Passenger train to Kollam. As soon as the train arrived, I rushed in to take seat for me as well as my friends. The train started after another half an hour at the station and was chugging past one small station after another. We settled in our seats and started our chit-chat about everything under the Sun; our classmates, the boring lectures, principal etc, etc..

A small girl, standing in the seat in the seat facing us was keenly observing our every word. Tiju started to talk to her by asking her her name, the class and school which she studied and so on.. After a while, she got sown from her seat and came near us and we asked her the same questions that Tiju had asked.. She answered every question. She was SwathiMathi from Chennai, and after a while we began to play with her. She didn't mind our banter and paid us back in the same coin. She was fluent in both Hindi and English. We struggled to answer her questions in HIndi though eventually Tiju managed it. After about 2 and a half hours, the train stopped at a station near Tenkasi. We were thirsty and one of us got down to get bottled water, water melon and snacks. We shared it among ourselves and gave some snacks to Swathi but her parents did not want her to take that. After an hour, the train was approaching the station where she was to alight, and her parents started packing their belongings. At the station, her father pulled her towards the exit of the compartment but she was unwilling to get down. Her father was holding her hands tightly. She struggled to get out of his clutches. As he released his grip, she came to us. She kissed and shook hands with everyone and said "Good Bye, Happy Journey" to each one of us individually. We watched her wave goodbye to us with both her hands till she disappeared from our vision. As she left, there was shock and sorrow in everyone's face. We were dumbstruck and it took us quite a while to get back to ur chirpy selves.

These memories come flooding to my mind each time I go to the Tirunelveli railway station.

மனதைத் தொட்ட உண்மைக் கதை

அது ஒரு விளையாட்டு மைதானம். 8 சிறுவர், சிறுமிகள், வரிசையாக நின்று

கொண்டு இருந்தார்கள். அவர்கள் ஒரு ஓட்டப்பந்தயத்திற்காக தயாராகி கொண்டிருந்தனர்.
ரெடி, ஸ்டிடி, கோ
விளையாட்டு துப்பாக்கியின் சத்தம் கேட்டு குழந்தைகள் ஓட தொடங்கினர்.
ஒரு 15 அடி சென்று இருப்பார்கள். அவர்களில் ஒரு குழந்தை திடிரென்று கீழே விழுந்தது.
அடிபட்ட காரணத்தால் அந்த குழந்தை அழ ஆரம்பித்தது.
ஏதோ சத்தம் வரவே ஓடி கொண்டிருந்த அணைத்து குழந்தைகளும் திரும்பி பார்த்தனர். பின்னர் அந்த குழந்தையை நோக்கி ஓடி வந்தனர்.
அதில் ஒரு குழந்தை கீழே குனிந்து அவள் நெற்றியில் முத்தமிட்டு கேட்டது.
"இப்போ வலி போயிடிச்சா"
அதை பார்த்த மற்ற குழந்தைகளும் அவளை முத்தமிட்டனர்.
பின்னர் எல்லோரும் அந்த குழந்தையை தூக்கிணார்கள்.
பின்னர் அந்த குழந்தையை தூக்கியவாறே வெற்றி இலக்கை நோக்கி ஓடிணார்கள்.
அதை பார்த்த விழா குழுவினரும்,பார்வையளர்களும் அதிர்ச்சி அடைந்தனர். எல்லோர் கண்களிலும் கண்ணீர். அந்த பரவசத்தால் எழுந்து நின்று கை தட்டி பாரட்டிணார்கள்.கண்டிப்பாக அந்த ஒலி கடவுளுக்கும் கேட்டு இருக்கும்.
ஆமாம். இது உண்மை. இது நடந்தது வேறு எங்குமில்லை. நம் இந்தியாவில், அதுவும் ஹைதராபாத்தில் நடந்த உண்மை.
அந்த விழாவை நடத்தியது மனநலம் குன்றியவர்களுகான தேசிய நிறுவனம்.
அதில் கலந்து கொண்ட குழந்தைகள் மனநலம் குன்றியவர்கள்.
ஆம். அவர்கள் மனத்தால் குன்றியவர்கள்.
ஆணல் குணத்தால்?

இதிலிருந்து அவர்கள் உலகத்திற்க்கு சொல்வது என்ன?
மனித ஒற்றுமை
மனித நேயம்
மனித சமத்துவம்.

வெற்றி பெற்ற மக்கள், தன்னை விட தாழ்ந்தவர்களுக்கு உதவிட வேண்டும். அப்போதுதான் அவர்கள் தாழ்வு மனபான்மைக்கு ஆளாக மட்டார்கள்.

நம்மில் பலர் இதை செய்வதில்லை.
ஏன். நமக்கு மூளை இருப்பதணால்.

அன்பு மட்டுமே இந்த உலகை நிற்காமல் ஓட வைக்கும்.