Nrungukal...2...contd...

    Days,weeks and months passed, I was not successful in finding a suitable accommodation to increase the capacity of the warehouse. Although Pondy was in the high light of maritime business, when French was ruling , after independence the situation had changed. Those godowns constructed during French rule were already occupied by other agencies before our entry. A dilapidated pier and some adjacent godowns remained as remnants of a past glory. Ships used to anchor in deep waters. The cargo was brought ashore in small boats and unloaded with the help of an outmoded hand operated crane. Once in a way Food Corporation of India, who had built a warehouse in the port premises used to receive wheat from a mother ship anchored in Madras port.

   My superiors started expressing concern about my delay in locating a godown. Many offered small sheds, even a car shed, which were not complying to our norms. My only hope was to grab an accommodation, already in possession with a cooperative marketing society. As a bolt from blue the society faced an issue in managing their stock. I managed to convince the secretary about our flawless functioning and he readily volunteered to surrender their rented accommodation with the consent of the owner to us. It was a big offer,because they required the entire space on a reservation basis. This gave me a boost to work still harder and convinced me that perseverance is the only way to success.

       I was , all those days fully engrossed in my official commitments and settling down in Pondy.  It was long since I made a visit to my mother in Ponani. She was alone there,aged, yet fighting to live happily without any complaint. Her eye sight was fading, yet managed to read the news paper and holy books. She used to follow a strict schedule in daily chores. First the lighting of the lamp before her favourite Goddess Saraswathy. That photo still adorn our pooja place in Ponani. Then the recital of 20 stanzas from Narayaneeyam. She had her owner tune of reciting, which even now reverberates in my ear. To freshen that I am also reciting the lines in the same way she used to do, every day. It helps me to keep her fresh in my memory always. Bhagavatham was very dear to her. Every day at least one episode she would read, after lunch. As children we used to hear it fully engrossed. But her elder sister, we call her Valyamma was an expert in narrating the stories from puranas. May be that, such exposures during our childhood had enthused us to read many classics, even before completing SSLC. ....contd...