STORY-LEARNED LUNATIC

LEARNED  LUNATIC

I used to see a bearded old man walking along the road, grumbling something. When I went near and listened, it was the sacred manthra GAYATHRY. Being a Brahman, I could easily recognise it. I invited him to have tea with me and he readily agreed. I had seen him taking snacks there. It appears that local people knew him and gave him free food and free lift in buses. I asked him, while he was eating:”Who are you? Which is your home?” “My whole life, I have been asking myself these questions. My name is Kunjunni, if that is what you mean. I left home in Vellikulangara, near Pudukad, at an early life. I was married and had children; they used to come to see me often.”  “Why did you leave home and wander here and there?”

“You want to hear my biography?”

“Exactly”  “Then go to my home first.”

I found out the address and got into a bus which goes to Vellikulangara. It turned Eastward, after reaching Kodakara. At one point, the bus stopped and the conductor told me to get down. I then hired an auto.

The village is picturesque, as if I am watching a TV. We went through fields and came near a river. The driver showed me an old Namboori tharavad. I gave him Rs. Fifty and dismissed him.

Hearing the sound of the auto, an old lady came out and asked:”Who are you?”

“I was in Delhi till recently. When I came to my village, I saw Kunjunni. He directed me here.” She called out and a young girl came out. I repeated my purpose.

She is fair and appeared glad to receive strangers. She invited me to come inside and we began our dialogue. The old lady went to bring tea. “Give him something to eat; he must be hungry. It is ten already.”

I felt I am dreaming. Not for one moment, could I free myself from her gaze, I was riveted to her eyes. “Take your food and tea.” Her voice awakened me. I felt sorry to be disturbed from my dream.

“Tell me about yourself.”

“There is nothing to say. I was born and brought up in Delhi, after graduation, I toured the Himalayas. Before joining the forest department, I wanted to see my Keralam. Here I met your…?”

“Grandfather, I wish I could see the mountains, which changed the life of the old man.” I took out me note book and pen and sat, waiting for her to finish. She called the old lady. “Grandma, tell him about the childhood of your husband.”

It seems he did not go to school. Instead, he learned Samskrutham from a guru and then studied Ashtangahridayam, the treatise on human physiology, without any help. After marriage and begetting children, he left home, without telling anyone. After considerable time he returned, but was told by his uncle, never to set his foot here.

The girl became very much upset. I said to console her:”You do not know, what these old guys do or say; they are inhuman, to say the least. If you agree, I shall take you and your grandpa, with me to Delhi; from there we go to the mountains; your grandpa will be our guide.” She looked here and there, to ensure that we are un-observed. “It was He who brought here. Promise me that you will not abandon me.”