Lasting Impressions(Part1) : The Old Man and His Son

      "Nani",a  quiet old, probably 70 years old person, used to visit my home to meet my father for Homeopathic treatment, for almost a decade. He had become almost a regular patient naturally because of his old-age problems. His son sometimes used to accompany him. He used to reside in Kunkoliem village on the foothills of Kundaim, a place famous for its "pineapples", huge, fresh, juicy pineapples, not available anywhere else. Anytime if u have been traveling on the ponda-panjim highway during rainy season, u would see vendors sitting with heaps  of pineapples along the national highway. Nani too was one of the owners of pineapple gardens.
Nani was the oldest person in that village and was also a famous quack. People used to visit him for treatment of Rabies, but don't know how much it was effective.
Every year during the rains, mostly in July-Aug,when the pineapple production is at its peak, Nani used to give us a cluster of 7-8 pineapples. My grandma used to prepare jam from those pineapples. I still get nostalgic when i see any jam. I used to love it!. This tradition continued until one day we heard somewhere in September that "Nani", passed away.I was  barely 8 years that time.
Days passed and rainy days were back again, and whenever i used pass by the highway, seeing the  piled up pineapples used to remind me of "Nani".It was almost 10months since Nani passed away. I used to go home and ask my mother, when will "Nani", bring pineapples?, reply used to be "Now Nani is dead, we won't get anymore pineapples now".
One day it was raining heavily in the afternoon, and the bell rang. I opened the door guess who was he? Nani's son!. And what what in his hand..... ? You r right! I took the huge cluster of pineapples tied to-gather and  ran inside!, Shouting "Aaiii"(mamaa)....

P.S. Sometimes in life something extraordinary happens to us or we meet people who rise above the normal, because of their different way of thinking and doing. I don't know if Nani told his son to give pineapples even after his death and his son fulfilled his wishes, or his son thought it on his own to do so. In either case Nani and his son (Whose name i don't remember now), are among the those extraordinary people who keep humanity alive and leave a lasting impression on those involved, who are sensitive enough to apprehend it!. 

The Goans Pain !

When any non-goan meets me(“Any Goan friends”), the first thing that comes to their mind is “Party, Drinks, Pub Culture(???) of goa”. Before you tell them anything about goa, they will start telling about the culture of goa, how forward the people are (some even start  arguing that its not possible to find “vir***” goans), and they will never  forget to ask about that famous “Nude Beach” of Goa. My family has been in Goa from atleast last 7 generations, but I never heard about such “Nude Beach Stories!”.

While many people feel that goans must have been holidaying in goa 365 days ssitting on beach and drinking feni. They will be taken aback if you tell that you are a Hindu, or if you talk about any temple, while once someone went to the extent of asking “Are your father and mother Indians?”, he din’t even know that “Indians” too  stay in Goa!.(Its different issues that many “Russians” already have bought land and settled in Goa, recently..).

 And worse if u tell them u don’t drink or that you are a vegetarian, they will refuse to accept it completely.  I know so many goans who don’t drink, and any way everyone has his own life. 

The identity of this misconstrued  goan, a “cool-dude” who knows only  “party”, who  hardly lives with family, who lives in very “open” society, who is supposed to enjoy the trans music(at least rock), and attend Rave-Parties on every weekends on beaches. If you don’t subscribe to any of their imagination of their (misconstrued ) Goans “, you might  be called a “Farji(Fake) Goan”.

Go to any village and ask any goan how many beaches are there in Goa(forget about those nude beaches) you will hardly find anybody giving correct answer. In my village itself, you can count so many people who had never been to the beach, while some know that there is only one beach (That is Miramar). Ask how many people go for movies (how frequently)  and how many people do go to temples(and how frequently) , you will surely get disappointed. Go to any goan village and count how many women wear only “sari” and how many college girls still don’t wear “Jeans”. 

 As far as “Openness” of goa is concerned I never found any difference between areas  of coastal states of Karnataka or Kerala from Trivendrum to Ratnagiri, like Mangalore(Karnnataka) or Kasargod(Kerala) and goa. 

Whenever I go home… I still check if my “goa” has changed … and I still don’t forget to search for that mysterious “Nude Beach” of Goa whenever i am at home…

Size Matters!!

 

Damu my childhood friend met me after a decade, while I was going home from Bangalore.  He studied with me for a decade right from 1^st standard. He was a simple guy, always helpful and my great friend.  Although good in studies he never got a chance to go for higher education, but had to drop out by chance.  I believe  he was much  better than me in many respects. I remember him walking almost 2 km from his home .early morning to our government primary school..mostly with his mother.Being from a poor family I  used to see him selling bananas, and “niro” (cashew juice) in summer on the ponda-panjim highway. 

I can’t recall meeting him after our  10^th standard.  I even failed to recognize him when I was sitting just next to him in the bus while going from Ponda to Mardol(my home), but he din’t.  He kept quite for a while, then said “chinmay”,  I stared at him. “valkhata?”, do u recognize me?, he asked.  I must have forgotten his face but not his voice, “Damu” I said. I could even recall his handwriting and the punishment he used to get because of his bad handwriting. Though I felt proud that time because everyone praised me because of my beautiful handwriting..and sometimes laugh at such people for not “writing beautifully”, I think I was  wrong so did the teachers.  Handwriting does not at all reflect the person.. its just inborn..i have never seen someone with more than one handwriting..it comes from birth. Gandhijis handwrting was so bad but that did not deter his progress.

I was one of the brightest kid in my school..but I remember on day when in the maths class he solved the “venn diagram” problem when no one else could!. The day when I felt it was the circumstances which made him belong to the “dull” students in the class, else he must have achieved much more than me.  His father was a farmer and they had a “gado”, petty shop near our school. His mother died when he was 8, he had a younger brother  who was 2 yrs younger to us.

His father had a petty shop near our school.. We used to go there with 25 and 50 paise to buy chocolates during the school interval... Some used to buy biscuits and some “manikchand”. After the school, always he used to be seen sitting in his “gado” selling the petty items.. mostly sitting idle, but still one customer was great for him.

He used to be very simple and humble, never saw him fighting with anyone… May be that was the reason everyone used to make fun of him, when he used to come to play with us, every one used to say “aaj gadyaar vachuna?” , dint u go to the shop today?. or "business kaso challa?", how is your business going? While the other children would play he used to look after his fathers “gado”.  But other children used to make fun of him because of his “gado”, I saw similar attitude in almost 99% of the  people,  I have met or seen so far, that makes me believe that “size does matter”.

When we do something big people will praise you, but when you do same thing at a smaller magnitude people will make fun of you. 

When "Siddhartha" left his palace and the affluence in which be was brought up,  he was said to be a fool, but the same "fool"("Gautam buddha") and his principles has 400million followers("buddhism") today after some 2500yrs the world over!!!(But are not called fools!).

All businessman will be essentially doing the same: “ sell the product”, but when “Damu” sells chocolates on his “gado” people make fun of him, but when the same chocolate is sold in a “Reliance Mall” people call him businessman and praise him.

In olden times and still the “chambhar”(shoe maker) used to be looked down, but when the same shoe is sold under the brand “Bata” its called business. 

Esssentially both do the same thing but the magnitude differs, so does people’s perception!.

Whenver I go to my village, I have a haircut  at “Ramakant’s” shop at bus stand in Mardol, an old fellow who cut my hair from childhood, but his shop now is in a dilapidated state, just like his health in this old age. Ones I showed my college friend the place where I have haircut, the shop without the comfortable chair, no big mirror, no floor tiles, ceiling leaking during rains and no shaving cream(may be he doesn't know  what is shaving cream.. Liril soap has been his shaving cream from the day he started his profession!,). My friend just laughed at me, and asked dint you find any better barber shop? But even  today whenever I go home, I still go to the same “Ramakant’s” shop for a haircut, The world might have changed, people prefer to go to the “posh” saloons…. but Ramakant has not changed so do I.

All these thoughts came to my mind on the way while chatting with damu…and when the bus stopped  near "paatyer", damu got up to get down…when he got down and waved his hand to say goodye.. I asked him what I forgot to ask " kaamak bin khai vata?”, “where r u working”?,  He just smiled and walked away, may be  he remembered those childhood days when children made fun of him..He might have thought  I might make fun of him for his “gado”, so walked away without speaking a word…

*[Later I came to know that his father passed way and he is still running his childhood “gado” after his father(petty shop).]