I remember very well the holidays at Ullanur with
Anukuttan and Joshin. It was such fun and we
just had to eat and play.Ammachy used to store
up all the dabbas with so much goodies. And chachen
would alert us at nites and we used to wait for the crackers
to start as the raasa in church would start anytime.
I was amazed at his collection of his shirts and how so well
he used to circulate and wear them so that he won't repeat
anything. Also I started abank account with Rs 50 he gave
in 1986 at Ucobank Nlk.
Anukuttan and Joshin. It was such fun and we
just had to eat and play.Ammachy used to store
up all the dabbas with so much goodies. And chachen
would alert us at nites and we used to wait for the crackers
to start as the raasa in church would start anytime.
I was amazed at his collection of his shirts and how so well
he used to circulate and wear them so that he won't repeat
anything. Also I started abank account with Rs 50 he gave
in 1986 at Ucobank Nlk.
-simon(Kochumon)
I am not much of a writer and write emails very rarely.
However, this is one occasion when I have to put aside
my reservations (about my letter writing skills) and
tell you how I feel about Chachen.
He was Doctor-Appachen to me and my brother.
When we were really young, Doctor-Appachen used to
scare the daylights out of us. I always thought that
since he was a doctor, he would lovejabbing needles
into people and kept a safe distance from him when
ever we went to visit him. (of course that was
compounded by the fact that he onceprescribed Gelucil
(and I am not saying why) and mamai made me drink it
However, this is one occasion when I have to put aside
my reservations (about my letter writing skills) and
tell you how I feel about Chachen.
He was Doctor-Appachen to me and my brother.
When we were really young, Doctor-Appachen used to
scare the daylights out of us. I always thought that
since he was a doctor, he would lovejabbing needles
into people and kept a safe distance from him when
ever we went to visit him. (of course that was
compounded by the fact that he onceprescribed Gelucil
(and I am not saying why) and mamai made me drink it
for a whole week...aaargh...) !Of course that changed
when we grew up...we loved
discussing things with him and were always in awe
of what ever he had to say. By no means was he an ordinary person.
And his life was full of achievements. There are many many people
to whom I have proudly said “My grand uncle is in his
nineties and he is still practicing. And what’s more,
he even trains people." The fact that he saved lives
would be enough to class him in the hero category.
I know he was one hell of a doctor (pardon my language)
as quite a few people have told me
(including Chacha and Mamai) that he was the best one
around and if there was anything that was wrong, he'd find out.
He touched the lives of a number of people. (He once told us
how he removed the local children’s tonsils… very interesting
story…and of course very hilarious…probably not for the
when we grew up...we loved
discussing things with him and were always in awe
of what ever he had to say. By no means was he an ordinary person.
And his life was full of achievements. There are many many people
to whom I have proudly said “My grand uncle is in his
nineties and he is still practicing. And what’s more,
he even trains people." The fact that he saved lives
would be enough to class him in the hero category.
I know he was one hell of a doctor (pardon my language)
as quite a few people have told me
(including Chacha and Mamai) that he was the best one
around and if there was anything that was wrong, he'd find out.
He touched the lives of a number of people. (He once told us
how he removed the local children’s tonsils… very interesting
story…and of course very hilarious…probably not for the
patients but for us listeners!)I doubt if there was any subject
Doctor-Appachen wouldn't be able to talk to you about!!! And yes,
he had the most amazing memory. We would go to
Ullannur every holiday and when we met him, he would
knew exactly what we all were doing and what we liked
to do. He would even remind us of something we had
said the last time we were at Ullannur! We used to
attribute this excellent memory to the fact that
Doctor-Appachen was being a doctor was invincible.
This may sound naive but I never thought that
Doctor-Appachen could pass way...ever... I never
thought that my grand parents could pass way... Death…
It is something I still have to come to terms with.
he had the most amazing memory. We would go to
Ullannur every holiday and when we met him, he would
knew exactly what we all were doing and what we liked
to do. He would even remind us of something we had
said the last time we were at Ullannur! We used to
attribute this excellent memory to the fact that
Doctor-Appachen was being a doctor was invincible.
This may sound naive but I never thought that
Doctor-Appachen could pass way...ever... I never
thought that my grand parents could pass way... Death…
It is something I still have to come to terms with.
My prayers are with you at this time.
It was just a few weeks ago that I was thinking of coming to India.
Doctor-Appachen was the last person I knew very
well in Ullannur. It seems strange, but even thinking
of Ullannur and the fact that the people I knew and
loved are no longer there makes me feel so sad.
But, I am glad that every one of my holidays were spent
in Ullannur, that so may wonderful people touched my
life and of all the things I could learn from them.
Those were truly the best days of my life.
Doctor-Appachen was the last person I knew very
well in Ullannur. It seems strange, but even thinking
of Ullannur and the fact that the people I knew and
loved are no longer there makes me feel so sad.
But, I am glad that every one of my holidays were spent
in Ullannur, that so may wonderful people touched my
life and of all the things I could learn from them.
Those were truly the best days of my life.
Aneesha
I am Tanya. I consider myself to be a proud and lucky person. Yes proud… of being Chachen’s granddaughter and lucky because I was there with him in his last days.
I am the youngest of Chachen’s grandchildren. I’ve spent most of the summer vacations of my 15 yrs at Ullannur. Ammachi was bedridden since I was 2 yrs old and hence I didn’t get to see Ammachi like everyone else. So to me Ullannur meant CHACHEN.
I’ve been in awe of Chachen ever since I can remember. Tinku (my sister) has always been more talkative than me. I was always jealous of her because she would engage Chachen in a conversation and wouldn’t give me a chance to get Chachen’s attention! All I could do was listen, observe and giggle when I had to giggle, which I think I did very often. (Honestly, I think I actually got to speak to Chachen only when Tinku went to college & her holidays didn’t coincide with mine. Thank heavens for that!) We both loved to hear his stories. Though I couldn’t follow all the characters in his life stories, his way of explaining the situation was what was so interesting. I loved the parts when he would narrate the very same dialogues but with so much expression - it made us laugh our hearts out. Chachen’s memory was simply amazing. He would not only remember each character’s name but would also tell us a little about his family history also. Truly truly amazing ……at Chachen’s age.
When Isaacpappa and Mollyammachi told us that Chachen was not eating at all and that he was not well, I thought not much of it, infact I thought “Chachen not well, impossible!”
We reached Ullannur on 28th June this year. It was a cloudy & dull evening and there was nobody to welcome us. We went in to see Chachen. He was in bed, bearded, bare –chested and just skin and bones. It took sometime for reality to hit us. Couldn’t believe that this was the same robust, well- dressed Chachen that I always pictured in my mind. pappa and I stood horrified. Mama couldn’t control her tears and when Chachen saw her, he smiled and said “Why are you crying?”
In the first 2 days that we were there, in spite of our earnest coaxing he had only about 3 gulps of COLD water and nothing else .In the beginning we found it difficult to understand what he used to say because he didn’t have his dentures on. In the following days ,we got used to it and Chachen would converse with us often. Amazing considering that he was hardly drinking anything, leave aside eating. In case we didn’t follow what he said and looked confused , he would write the spelling of the word in the air as “T-E-A”, “S-A-L-T” etc . In the first few days, even lying in bed he would make actions and say things with a hint of his old humor and his usual smile.
As the days passed he became weaker – he had a sore throat and chest congestion. I would sit with him even when he was not talking and simply hold his hands . Sometimes, he would open his mouth & ask Pappa to use the torch to see his throat and to remove the phlegm. On the morning of 5th July, Pappa called the nurse who had long worked with him and also Dr. Damodar (a doctor staying at Pywazhi who used to check on Chachen now & then). When Dr. Damodar wanted to check his pulse, Chachen commented, “Doctor, what is the necessity now for medicines & check ups, I’m dying anyway …..
I remember that last morning, Pappa and Kunjukunju (who used to take care of Chachen) moved Chachen onto an ‘airbed’( which we had brought from Kuwait). After Chachen was finally settled in the new bed, he gave us a rare, a very fatherly smile like some kind of sign of relief.
But by late afternoon Chachen was uneasy & seemed to have severe ache in his body especially legs. So mama & I sat with him throughout taking turns in massaging his legs. In between all this he called out to me twice, “ Tanya ,Tanya”. I was surprised to hear him & stood up. He then told me to sit down and he held my hand. We sat with him all along & by dinnertime, it seemed that he was better for he was then sleeping.
That night Chachen passed away peacefully in his sleep sometime between 10 and 10:20pm. Pappa woke me up to tell me the bad news. It was difficult to believe immediately. He was lying straight in bed and really looked like he was in a deep sleep. I couldn’t help remembering his words to us on the 2nd day “I was waiting for you all”. Now it made sense to me.
I admire Chachen’s strength and personality. He had a lonely life which I feel sorry about. I miss him badly… He was always the first to wake up in the morning, loudly singing hymns, unlocking the doors and going about his morning routine every single day at the same time. I will also miss his exclamation of “YESHUVE KARUNSANA !”every now and again. I miss him…...but I still feel greatly blessed to have been with him for that, last week.
If only…. if only….. I can take on atleast a shade of his wonderful personality………then I’ll know that I’m truly blessed……
I am the youngest of Chachen’s grandchildren. I’ve spent most of the summer vacations of my 15 yrs at Ullannur. Ammachi was bedridden since I was 2 yrs old and hence I didn’t get to see Ammachi like everyone else. So to me Ullannur meant CHACHEN.
I’ve been in awe of Chachen ever since I can remember. Tinku (my sister) has always been more talkative than me. I was always jealous of her because she would engage Chachen in a conversation and wouldn’t give me a chance to get Chachen’s attention! All I could do was listen, observe and giggle when I had to giggle, which I think I did very often. (Honestly, I think I actually got to speak to Chachen only when Tinku went to college & her holidays didn’t coincide with mine. Thank heavens for that!) We both loved to hear his stories. Though I couldn’t follow all the characters in his life stories, his way of explaining the situation was what was so interesting. I loved the parts when he would narrate the very same dialogues but with so much expression - it made us laugh our hearts out. Chachen’s memory was simply amazing. He would not only remember each character’s name but would also tell us a little about his family history also. Truly truly amazing ……at Chachen’s age.
When Isaacpappa and Mollyammachi told us that Chachen was not eating at all and that he was not well, I thought not much of it, infact I thought “Chachen not well, impossible!”
We reached Ullannur on 28th June this year. It was a cloudy & dull evening and there was nobody to welcome us. We went in to see Chachen. He was in bed, bearded, bare –chested and just skin and bones. It took sometime for reality to hit us. Couldn’t believe that this was the same robust, well- dressed Chachen that I always pictured in my mind. pappa and I stood horrified. Mama couldn’t control her tears and when Chachen saw her, he smiled and said “Why are you crying?”
In the first 2 days that we were there, in spite of our earnest coaxing he had only about 3 gulps of COLD water and nothing else .In the beginning we found it difficult to understand what he used to say because he didn’t have his dentures on. In the following days ,we got used to it and Chachen would converse with us often. Amazing considering that he was hardly drinking anything, leave aside eating. In case we didn’t follow what he said and looked confused , he would write the spelling of the word in the air as “T-E-A”, “S-A-L-T” etc . In the first few days, even lying in bed he would make actions and say things with a hint of his old humor and his usual smile.
As the days passed he became weaker – he had a sore throat and chest congestion. I would sit with him even when he was not talking and simply hold his hands . Sometimes, he would open his mouth & ask Pappa to use the torch to see his throat and to remove the phlegm. On the morning of 5th July, Pappa called the nurse who had long worked with him and also Dr. Damodar (a doctor staying at Pywazhi who used to check on Chachen now & then). When Dr. Damodar wanted to check his pulse, Chachen commented, “Doctor, what is the necessity now for medicines & check ups, I’m dying anyway …..
I remember that last morning, Pappa and Kunjukunju (who used to take care of Chachen) moved Chachen onto an ‘airbed’( which we had brought from Kuwait). After Chachen was finally settled in the new bed, he gave us a rare, a very fatherly smile like some kind of sign of relief.
But by late afternoon Chachen was uneasy & seemed to have severe ache in his body especially legs. So mama & I sat with him throughout taking turns in massaging his legs. In between all this he called out to me twice, “ Tanya ,Tanya”. I was surprised to hear him & stood up. He then told me to sit down and he held my hand. We sat with him all along & by dinnertime, it seemed that he was better for he was then sleeping.
That night Chachen passed away peacefully in his sleep sometime between 10 and 10:20pm. Pappa woke me up to tell me the bad news. It was difficult to believe immediately. He was lying straight in bed and really looked like he was in a deep sleep. I couldn’t help remembering his words to us on the 2nd day “I was waiting for you all”. Now it made sense to me.
I admire Chachen’s strength and personality. He had a lonely life which I feel sorry about. I miss him badly… He was always the first to wake up in the morning, loudly singing hymns, unlocking the doors and going about his morning routine every single day at the same time. I will also miss his exclamation of “YESHUVE KARUNSANA !”every now and again. I miss him…...but I still feel greatly blessed to have been with him for that, last week.
If only…. if only….. I can take on atleast a shade of his wonderful personality………then I’ll know that I’m truly blessed……
TANYA
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