6.Stay in the R E C Campus

After  getting married we could go to our native village in Alapuzha  only during the Xmas holidays. It is customary in our families for the newlyweds to visit all the elders and seek their blessings  by visiting their homes. Even though transportation facilities in 60’s  were  not as good as of these days, we managed to visit almost all our elders taking  two three  houses every day and returning home by evening. Everyone was eagerly waiting for us with special festive delicacies and it was a very difficult proposition not to eat their specially prepared food. In fact, by eating the rich food for so many days at a stretch, with difficulty we managed to keep our stomach unaffected. If we eat, our stomach will be in trouble but if we don’t eat, the elders will be offended. So, we had to strike a compromise.  In these visits, our ten days holidays were gone and the time came to re-join the college came up. Now other problems started coming up one by one.

It was   easy to get married within a few months after joining REC but as I was one among the junior most members of faculty, getting an accommodation in the campus was almost impossible. The residential accommodation for faculty was quite inadequate and many who had got married earlier than me were in the queue as per seniority in the waiting list. Having decided to take my wife to the campus, getting an accommodation was of immediate concern. Houses outside the campus for rent was not available. Fortunately, there was a temporary guest house which was nothing but an assistant professor’s quarters with just two bed rooms. Being a guest house, college guests are given preference and so even if   allotted to a teacher temporarily, they have to vacate   the room if college guests arrive. No separate guest house was available at that time. Anyway, we were allotted one room in the guest house on the side of the main road from Calicut to Mukkam running right through the middle of REC Campus then and even now. As cooking was not permitted in the guest house, we had to take food from outside. Fortunately the REC Canteen was just opposite the road and whenever we wanted, we could go and eat there. There were also two guest house watchmen  one  elderly Govinda Marar and an youngster Ashokan. Both were very helpful and they used to bring us dinner from the canteen. So, we started living in the REC guest house expecting eviction orders any time.   

We could stay in the guest house for two days all for ourselves, but on the third day, the very first Director of Physical Education of Calicut University joined us as real guest in the other room. His name was Jacob, a person who had travelled widely in Europe and rich in experience. He was very good in chit chat and he used to share his travel experience with us in the evenings. Initially, I was the only listener but later my wife also started listening to his long descriptions of travel outside.  But this did not continue for long as in another two days four to five official guests were to come soon and will be staying for a few days. We had to vacate the room allotted to us. Luckily only our dress and a few books only were our belonging and movement was easy, but  ‘where to’ was the big question.

Staff quarters in REC campus was categorized into different types A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H. Among these A type was exclusively for the Principal, followed by B for Professors, C for Assistant Professors, D and E for lecturers, F, G, H for non-teaching  staff. Only one B type quarters was available where the first Principal Prof. M.V.Kesava Rao stayed specially designed  with a large prayer  hall as he was  a staunch devotee of Sai Baba and had regular prayer  meeting once in a week in his house. Four numbers of C type quarters were available in two blocks on the road side out of which one was used as the Guest House. The other C type  quarters were occupied  Dr K Ragunathan Sir, PhD from a University in France, Sri. Manicka Selvam both from Civil Engg. All the D type and E type quarters and a few F type quarters were allotted to members of faculty, even though F type was the eligible type for those with Foreman   designation.

A few staff members were living in F type and someone told me that one  lecturer  Sri.K.P Sam  was staying in an F type and his wife has gone home for delivery of their first child. One senior suggested to me, if I ask him, he may allow us to stay there for a month or two until his wife returns after delivery with the child. Even though I did not know him personally, I made a request to him through a friend of mine. There was a Bachelors’ flat nearby and he readily agreed to move to a  place in the flat and allow us to stay in one the rooms with all his things  kept in the master bed room. We had the kitchen, one bed room and drawing room left for us. It was very kind of him. Our neighbour was the Asst Engineer Sri Padmanabhan and his wife Usha who was very helpful for my wife in setting up the kitchen.

With guidance from our neighbour, we purchased essential utensils from Kattangal and few things from city including a kerosene stove. Kerosene was available freely at that time. But my wife was used to   our rural cooking with firewood and cooking with kerosene stove was new to her. With help from Mrs Usha  Padmanbhan  she got familiarised in a few days and we started  formal residential life  in a temporary  place for a few months. As Mrs. Daisy Sam was likely to return only my summer vacation, we thought it is safe to stay till   summer holidays.

Even though uncertainty persisted in getting an accommodation other thing progressed as usual as my wife was getting ready to become a mother, in a way, too soon. The usual vomiting and morning sickness were a little severe and by the time it was March, she became too tired and thin. At that time, the only good hospital nearby, other than medical college was Nirmala Hospital and an Italian Gynaecologist Sr.Maria Alberoni  examined her and suggested usual pills for iron and vitamins. She found that on examination one unusual worm was resident in her bowels and gave medicine  for removing those parasites. So, at the beginning of summer holidays in April, I took my wife home and returned to Calicut. All permanent faculty  had two months’ vacation,but as I joined only in September, I was not eligible for full vacation. I had vacation for just over a month. So I spent the vacation shuttling between Alapuzha and Calicut during the week ends travelling on Friday night train Malabar Express to Alapuzha and returning by Sunday night  KSRTC buses reaching the college early  morning.