CS PURAM 6

MY LIFE – CS PURAM-6 KOLANCHERRY HOSPITAL The elders in the village tell us, that the river was full of sand, when they were dhildren. In summer, they used to dig the sand, about two feet deep, and find enough water for taking bath. Today there is hardly any sand left. The river bed is a rather steep gradient, causing swift flow of water , suddenly appearing and pushing violently, every thing in its way. Once, three brahmins went to the village, not far on the opposite bank of the river, to attend a marriage or so. There was no water in the river.On their return, in the afternoon, carrying papadam, ripe bananas and chips etc. with them in a bath towel, as was their habit, they saw some flow in the river , but thought they could cross it, before the water level rose higher. As they shuffled across, through the sand , their movement was hampered by the flow of water, which started rising every second. When the level reached their waiste, they began to stumble and fall. Somehow, two of them managed to make it, but the last man was carried away by the current. His body was located a few miles down the river, after the flash floods retreated. There is a saying: don’t cross the river if you see clouds in the sky! Every year, the river claims a few lives. Sudhir was very popular in the village. He was managing his work in in the photo studio well and his boss, the owner, was very pleased. One day, during lunch break, the other workers were seeing some blue film. Sudhir objected. When they ignored him, he told the owner, when the latter returned. The workers were reprimanded severely.There after, they threatened to throw him out of the studio. One morning, when he reached the studio for opening it, he saw a lemon and some items used for black magic and he became restless. We took him to Poomkudil, where they treat mental cases in their own traditional way. They gave some madicated ghee etc. Afterwards when his condition became worse, he refused to go to work. Then we took him to Kolancherry Hospital, where a Namboodiri doctor has a reputation for treating such cases. I alone went with him as he was irritated by his mother’s presence. First we camped at Mangalapilly Narayanan’s house at Kalady, as I was not confident of handling him alone. Narayanan is my niece’s husband, working in the Bank of India. He is a hard working intelligent guy, starting his career as a bus condutor, and reaching to top level managment in the bank. He came with us to the hospital and did all formalities, of which I am somewhat scared. After a week or so, I brought my wife. Sudhir was extremely pleased and told every body: my mother. There were many families like ours for company. But the food was unpalatable. Brahmins’ restaurants are very popular in our area. While we were at Kalady we saw the original home of Adi Sankaracharya, on the bank of the River Periar, where great seer was caught by a crocodile, when he was but a child. The boy exrated his mother’s consent for him to become a sanyasi, while still in the animalis clutches. She agreed and the crocodile left him. Her name was Sharada. The place where she was cremated is a math now. There is a Krishna temple near by.