It was a cool December morning, when
the yuletide charm was advancing towards its acme!
Here was I, sipping a hot cuppa
chaai and reading the day’s The Hindu, ensconced in my favourite rattan
armchair in my balcony, when my phone rang! It was a call from Ms. Reethi, The
Cochin College, Kochi, asking me if I could deliver the key-note address in
their UGC-Sponsored National Seminar in end January.
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| The Cochin College, Kochi |
I was, like Moses in the Scriptures,
asking her to please go for someone else, and suggested quite a few eminent
names too. But she was persistent and unrelenting! After a brief tug, she won!
I reluctantly said a ‘yes’.
As if, this was the word she was
waiting all along for, Ms. Reethi now became ‘surprisingly’ crisp! She says,
“Okay Sir, we’re meeting ‘next year’… on the 28th of January. This is the
topic. Bla bla bla… bye!”
Haiyyadaa ;-)
I had said an impromptu ‘yes’ by the
momentary impulse, on the spur of the moment, little realising the enormous work I had to do, to
brace myself up for the task!
One whole month, with Ponzanesi and
Waller for company, and Sembene and Denis and a host of other big shots and
critics to give the much needed props, it indeed took me a hop stop to a few
libraries in the city too, to frame the skeletal structure of my ta(s)lk.
But to my dismay, right on the eve
of the Seminar, I had lost my voice to a ‘below 3 degree’ cold and subsequent
sore-throat far away in Haryana!
Now these were the twin Himalayan
challenges that lay ahead of me! One was to subtly outsmart the terrible throat infection that
had befallen me, and next, to deliver the goods to the august audience in
‘God-knows-how’ way I could!
I was perplexed and bemused to the
core! Puzzled and rattled, and yes you may add your share too!
God was my only solace to resort to
at this critical juncture! And He never let go my hand!
Cos the moment I stepped inside the
portals of The Cochin College, Kochi, on the wonderful morning of 28 January,
all my nervousness and anxieties disappeared in no time! Thanks to the trio of
professors – Dr. Mridhula Menon along with two others, who were there with a
warm smile on their faces, to usher me in! They were so hospitable – to such an
extent, I felt that I was in homeland! And my lub-tub started their normal
routine too! I was ushered in, met with the Principal Dr. Jose P. Abraham, who
welcomed me with a wonderful cuppa strongggg chaai, ;-) and with whom I had the
opportunity to discuss quite a few interesting avenues on the academic front!
They were all in unison, all praise for their ‘techno-girl’ Reethi! Way to go
Reethi mam!
Sri. T. Vidyasagar, the Manager of
the college too, had great words of appreciation for Madras Christian College.
‘A product of MCC has a great reputation all over the world. I want our College
students to also rise up to the standards of MCC’, he said in his inaugural
speech to the audience, comprising students and delegates from various colleges.
After the lecture, we were all
treated to the grand and sumptuous Kerala Sadhya, one of the most delectable
and toothsome dishes that can be rightfully called ‘Kerala’s Own’! Kudos to the
mighty Cochin College, and all best wishes on your Golden Jubilee celebrations
too!
Hospitality apart, the people of
Kochi are also known for their integrity! An auto driver who said it will cost
Rs.80/- to commute to a particular place, on reaching our destination,
apologized - all by himself, and said, ‘it’s only Rs.40 saare’! I had
miscalculated the distance and thought it was another place! Kudos Kochiites!
At the same time, there were things
that I regretted too about good ol’ Kochi. Having been a regular visitor to
this part of Kerala for well over a decade now, years before the world-famous
Lulu Mall and other shopping arcades had mushroomed, I had the privilege of
seeing a Kochi which was sylvan in setting and rural in ambience. But over the
years, things have worsened, and now, what I see before me is a concrete
jungle, with a ‘long delayed often expected’ Metro rail work staring at all and
sundry, and modernization taking its toll on the forest cover that is thinning
by the day!
If forest cover dwindles, then
tourist arrivals also suffer a huge blow, and subsequently, as the butterfly
effect unfolds, a whole range of consequences follow.
Moreover, the government, already
mired in one controversy after another, would have got little to do on the
tourist front at the moment! Election year has made them swing in yet another
direction, praying for a huge reversal of fortunes, what with all opposition
parties, along with a majority of student unions, baying for their blood left
and right!
But here was I, as Wordsworth says
in his Prelude, literally “A discontented sojourner: now free, Free as a
bird to settle where I will”.
Oh well, methinks a momentary lapse
into the Nature poet’s ‘charmed magic casement’ would indeed do us a ‘whale’ of
goodness! And here goes:
OH
there is blessing in this gentle breeze,
A visitant that while it fans my
cheek
Doth seem half-conscious of the joy
it brings
From the green fields, and from yon
azure sky.
Whate'er its mission, the soft breeze
can come
To none more grateful than to
me; escaped
From the vast city, where I long had
pined
A discontented sojourner: now free,
Free as a bird to settle where I
will.
What dwelling shall receive me? in
what vale 10
Shall be my harbour? underneath what
grove
Shall I take up my home? and what
clear stream
Shall with its murmur lull me into
rest?
The earth is all before me. With a
heart
Joyous, nor scared at its own
liberty,
I look about; and should the chosen
guide
Be nothing better than a wandering
cloud,
I cannot miss my way. I breathe
again!
Trances of thought and mountings of
the mind
Come fast upon me: it is shaken
off, 20
That burthen of my own unnatural
self,
The heavy weight of many a weary day
Not mine, and such as were not made
for me.
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