Nurungukal..2.

    

      As usual I was slow to respond the early morning call. It was an unsaved number and the voice I could not recognise. On the other side it was a woman. She said pardon for disturbing me in the morning and introduced herself as one of my staff who was working in my office many years ago. I tried to figure out the caller in her present state.  She is retiring from the job with in a few days and wanted me to be present in the farewell party. She was trying to pay respect as I was responsible for selection and persuading her to accept the job. In the official language she was I remember a dedicated  worker with a clean service record.

      Many of my colleagues used to be in touch with me even now although I left the service in 1990.  It may be due to the work culture and harmony we could maintain through out our service.

     As I sat on the dais of the farewell party I saw many of the retired hands  vociferously exchanging pleasantries so cheerful and healthy. Many have become grand fathers and mothers, grey and bald. I was particularly happy to meet with some of the friends who are at an advanced age, still working as assistants in goods handling, contend with their daily earnings and without any retirement benefits. We are yet to recognise their contribution in the nation building process. I bid good bye with an excitement of a few moments of nostalgic memories although  with a heavy heart.

Nurungikal…2…

      It was not a usual gathering. I sat amidst a group of differently abled girls and boys. Some were a little older than the others. Still they mingled and behaved same. Some kept aloof from the proceedings. It was a function to inaugurate a new building of an institution dedicated to take care of such children. The funds for which was donated by a benevolent couple who hailed from a far off place.

     I used to visit this school on and off to share a few moments with the children. Each time I was moved by their loving gestures. While I held them close to me  rays of love imparted , electrifying my senses, clearly communicating their feelings. They held refusing to part, and trying to retain an invisible bond. Among them a small girl used to come to me gleaming with a broad smile as if we knew each other since long. Without any hesitation she would stretch out her little hand for a hand shake. As I lifted her she would clap ending in a loud laughter. There is another who is always ready to oblige you with a popular movie song which she would render like a professional singer. Yet another would come running to you to show her painting. A few sat here and there pondering or engaged in some activity.

      Only a few members of the local community turned up for the function. I feel more than any financial assistance this special school aspire for a moral support from the immediate neighbours. There is no words to appreciate the dedicated functioning of the staff of the institution, who unlike many others are embodiments of love and patience. I can understand how much the parents of those children and the community at large are indebted to them in accepting a responsibility which others would shudder to take up. I would appeal to the local government bodies to take a leading roll in providing proper infrastructural facilities to such institutions, While let the public offer unreserved  support in the form of love and care to those who are God’s own children.