Nurungukal.......contd....

                When I was in 9^th standard a new batch of young graduate teachers, fresh from college joined our school. They were a different lot,both in teaching and approach. Because of it students liked them. Among them was Gopettan. He was a distant relative of us. His favourite subject was history. His narration about Emperor Asoka, quoting H.G.Wells and other historians was not only informative but interesting also. We  heard him in pin drop silence. Apart from his teaching ability he was a social worker also. Although in the initial days he had a limited circle of activities, later he became an ardent follower of communism. As he was a good orator, gradually he was accepted in the high echelons of  the Left movements in Kerala. He used to keep the audience spell bound for hours during his public speeches and his counters to the opponents, with penchant remarks were received with loud applause. But some of his opponents with in the party did not allow him to climb up the ladder. Many allegations were framed and finally he had to quit from the Left movement unceremoniously.

                He was of the age of my elder brother. Mother depended on him in many of her social activities. When ever there was a problem which could not be settled she sought his help and in no time he found out a solution. I remember two such occasions. The first was when she was the acting president of  a co-operative milk society. The sales man without her knowledge was adulterating the milk. One day he was caught by the food inspector and was booked. It was a criminal offence and if punished mother being the president had to go to jail. Mother approached Gopettan to find a solution. And even now we do not know how mother was freed out of the harassment , only he does.  Another incident was related to when mother was the president of a Mahila Samajam. As we know in our society there are always some opposition to any good initiative. Because of her concerted efforts this Samajam was able to provide a livelihood to some down trodden women by way of running a tailoring venture. But to some ,it was not acceptable. From some where on a fine morning a mad women who was in an acute stage of a malignant disease was housed on the veranda. Nobody even went near her. It was altogether a bad situation. Mother was in a fix.Even police did not come to her help. Finally the issue was placed by mother before her saviour, and to the surprise of all next morning it was solved . But even now we do not know how??.

                        The third occasion in which he showed his cleverness to handle a difficult situation happened in his own house. His uncle Chathettan, about whom i had mentioned in a previous post, expired all on a sudden. He was a good farmer and had stored a huge  quantity of paddy in his wooden granary [pathayam]. Chathettan was a bachelor and he was looked after by his sister Janaki etuthi who was the mother of Gopettan. But when Chathettan died other sisters raised a claim on his properties. They also planned to take away the paddy stock by force. Some how Gopettan came to know about it. When the paddy dealer came next morning to cart the paddy, to the surprise of all, even the wooden pathayam was missing !!. Gopeetan was standing at the end of the veranda throwing a sarcastic smile and the dealer vacated the premises in dismay.

                He was loved by all and he loved all. A man who forgot to make a living of his own while taking care of others,!!