49 Three female musketeers of REC Campus

When we returned from I.I.T. Delhi, the quarters we were allotted was a very old one, but close to the Calicut Mukkam road, just one row behind those on the main road. Occasionally we had to use an umbrella inside the house due to leakage during rainy seasons, we liked the quarters for several reasons. The proximity to the main bus stop to send the children by college bus in the morning, to the shopping complex where my wife could send the maid servant at least three times a day, the milk booth just near our house etc were all positive things. There was a slide and mini-park nearby for the children to play. Just behind the quarters was a shuttle badminton court for ladies and Calicut REC Nursery & Primary School. The previous resident in this  quarters was an engineer on deputation from Kerala  PWD and seeing the  sorry plight of the quarters, he had initiated some steps to stop the  leakage. We had occupied the house when he returned to his parent department and were hopeful that something will  be done. The good thing was  that  when it does not rain, there  was no leakage at all.   

The quarters  of Sri.C.Kolappan Pillai(CKP) who had  helped us  in Delhi  and on return  for getting admission for children  among many other things were staying right in front in another quarters, just opposite the old building where the  pay office of the State Bank of India was located. If we   pass through the premises of this quarters to the main road and then to shopping complex we could save a clear 10 minutes. Mrs.Seetha  Pillai and Smt.Elizabeth Varghese Philip(VP) of Maths department were  the close friends of my wife. The campus friends called them the Trimurtinis of REC Campus. Mrs. Seetha  was from Chirayinkil and Mrs.Elizbeth from Tiruvalla. Sometimes  they used to have minor quarrels but this will last only a few hours as they were such intimate friends. All three families  had two children each, one boy and girl  for  CKP and me  and two girls for VP .  The children were also  almost of the similar ages and were class mates in the  Nursery school. We used to go for shopping, cinema etc all three families together.

CKP was  from Thiruvananthapuram , basically a family migrated  from Tamil Nadu and they were  speaking Tamil in their house, but  Mrs. Seetha’s family  from Chirayinkil had deeper roots in Kerala. CKP and family used to celebrate all Tamil  and Kerala festivals with vigour. Mrs. Seetha used to make all the Deepavali sweets  in her own house and on the previous day  we used to help her in rolling laddus from the  hot ‘boondhis’  made  from  flour. On the Deepavali day, al the three families used to take food from their house for the whole day. In the morning, special dosa with tasty chutney and dosa powder  made of urud dal mixed with pure gingelly oil was  really tasty. Dosa  will look like  those  from Udupi hotels, but  very tasty. Lunch with typical sambaar, aviyal and rasam with one or two payasams were too heavy. Since they were all vegetarian, there was no possibility of chicken on such days.  Our children used to enjoy the food from the other two houses better than the food cooked in our house and similarly their children enjoyed our food.  Probably, we and our children must have eaten food from Mrs.Seetha’s house much more than from any other house. In fact, we found that Mr.Kolappan Pillai & Mrs Seetha  were  competing with each other  in feeding the  best quality vegetarian food to us. CKP , like  my wife, was a pure vegetarian. Mrs.Seetha and children   used to take some nonveg food whenever possible from our house as they never used to cook nonveg food in their house. Those who had been taking nonveg food, it is a pleasure to take a little nonveg stuff once in a while.

On Xmas days we used to assemble in Dr.VP’s house  for lunch. Dr.VP & family were not orthodox Christians and rarely seen going to church, but they were  very liberal in their celebrations. All three  families used to assemble  in our house  during Onam or Vishu.  

Another side of our campus life was some vegetable farming some of us had. Banana of different varieties used to be planted as banana leaves are essential for vegetarian  feasts. On special occasions  like  Vishu, Onam, birthdays  etc  we used to take  vegetarian food on banana leaves only. Once in a while we used to get a bunch bananas as well. After cutting it off from the banana plant and getting it ripe, we used to distribute it  in all our neighbourhood. On the side of D9B quarters, there was a jack frit tree with very sweet jack fruits. Usufructs in the campus was auctioned once in an year and we used to take the yield from such trees paying certain amount to the person who got the usufructs on auction. Some teachers also used to enter the auction in in someone else’s  names as well. The deal will be fixed before jack fruits appear on the tree. Sometimes, we used to get plenty of fruits and sometimes less. Anyway, when the fruits become ripe, people will start booking for one two fruits each. We used to call someone to pluck the  fruits and deliver them to the houses free of cost. A few of them gave some money to the labourer , but it was our pleasure to distribute  the jack fruits to all interested. There was  no money transaction either way and it was our pleasure to  share  the  tasty  jack fruit with others. In spite of some minor pin pricks here and there, the life in the  campus was beautiful. We lived as a  single family  loving one another  and happily sharing  whatever we  had.

Those days, only even in our campus only gents were employed. Ladies had very little work at home after 9 AM. The children used to go to school by 815AM college bus to Calicut town and we the staff members by 9AM. Once we are all away, the ladies used to assemble in one of the houses and chit chat till 11AM. Since cooking was with  gas and pressure cooker etc, preparation of lunch    would take only an hour and so  their discussions on anything under the sun would continue  till half an hour before our lunch break between 1215 and 130PM. The place for the gossip or chit chat, will change from day to day. Only much later,  both husbands and wives started going  out for jobs. Suddenly everyone was busy , giving breakfast to all, packing up lunch for kids and those working away from the campus( wife  or husband) etc. All  will  assemble  by evening by 5PM or so and then the children  may go for playing, husband to the staff club and lady of the house will start cooking the dinner. Even holidays used to be spent on cleaning the house, washing clothes, pressing them etc. There was practically little time for socializing. And once the idiot box (tv) came to  most of the houses, evenings after 7PM, ladies used to be glued on the tv set watching  serials. Even if a guest comes to the house, those who watch tv will be in a hurry to pack them off  before their favourite serial is about to start. The social life in the campus nowadays is limited. Once in a while a get together  on an independence day or a club day.  Apparently the new technology seems to have made the world smaller by rapid communication but human beings are  becoming  farther and farther from others. Even among children, give and take is absent  they are  so possessive that  they do not even share anything with their friends. ‘I’ is the watch word but ‘We’ is  totally absent.

We were very close to Mrs. Seetha  Kolappan Pillai’s family. Her brother Krishna Pillai was of immense help to us in Delhi even after CKP and family returned to Calicut. Similarly her eldest brother Viswanathan Pillai and her sisters considered  my wife as their own sister. Their father, late Kuttan Pillai, who won a Karshakasree (best among farmers) award from Govt of Kerala,  visited  REC  once or twice  and he was like  my father. They had also another thing in common, both used to take snuff  in their nose. Once in a while I also used to take a pinch of snuff from him.  Unfortunately this habit took away his life. He was having a perpetual cold and cough. Doctors took his chest X-ray and asked him whether he used to smoke. He said he never had even a single smoke in his life. doctors said his chest showed that he is a chain smoker. This only shows that the effect of nasal snuff and chain smoking on the lungs is more or less the same. Just as smoking is injurious to life ‘snuffing’ is also equally injurious, even if it is not displayed anywhere. Doctors found that there was also a growth inside his  nose. This growth was malignant and a major surgery was suggested. I was  in the hospital  a few days before the surgery , but the surgery could not save his life.

CKP’s mother was equally lovable with our family. They used to call her aachiyamma (grandma). Whenever  she visited  her son and family, she used to spend a lot of time  with my wife and children. She speaks a Malayalam with  heavy Tamil  accent. She calls me ‘son’ and my wife ‘daughter’. She will   inspect   my wife’s wardrobe every time she comes and will count the number of sarees and ask my wife which are the sarees I bought her for Onam, Deepavali, birthday, wedding anniversary etc. If she finds that I have not bought a saree for any of those occasions, she will even scold me and say it is not fair. She was  a widow, but  had a pleasant outlook for life. In Thiruvananthapuram, she used to stay with her younger two sons and two daughters turn by turn and   regularly see most of the newly released films by going to the theatre sitting as pillion on the scooters of her son in law or sons. A lady with a very good sense of humour and she was enjoying every moment of life. We have also gone   to see  movies with her in the Kattangal and Kunnamangalam theatres.  Achiyamma had some  heart trouble  due to chronic diabetes and hypertension and was admitted in the hospital when I visited her. After a few days, she breathed her last.

 When we   meet such simple human beings like  Mrs.Seetha’s  dad or  mum  of CKP, we  feel so happy and feel that our father or mother are with us. They were so innocent and could make everyone around them happy with their pleasant outlook for life. They are simply raw human beings with no inhibitions who can only love others. None of these people are alive now, M/s Kuttan Pillai, Aachiyamma, Prof. C.Kolappan Pillai and Dr.Varghese Philip. All of them loved us like their own sons or daughters or brothers or sisters. I take this opportunity to pay our respects and regards to all of them from the bottom of our heart. May God allow them to spread happiness in the other world also, wherever they are.