REMINISCENCES OF UPPAPPAN

What do you write about somebody whom you knew for almost half a century but really knew nothing about his life? What do you write about somebody who left this world without really any enemies? I am talking about UPPAPPAN (my aunt Maryammamma’s husband) who passed away recently in the U.S.

I first met him when he was courting Maryammamma. It was a time when courtship was unknown in this part of the world. So for us children this was a new experience. We had taken for granted that they are as good as married even though the ceremony took place a little later. He was an amicable guy; a gentle giant… a harmless sort of person lost in his world. Maryammamma must have found him a great guy who accepted all her decisions.

When I was in the boarding home in Kottayam, Maryammamma was my local guardian and I spent my holidays with her at a place called Kurichy – 15 km from Kottayam- where she was the head mistress of a girls school. Uppappan was there once in a while and I had some great time with him since JUST FOR FUN he used to psycho analyse us children with his background in psychology. It was the first time that I came across the ink thread graphics (designs created in folded paper by pulling a thread soaked in ink)which he used . I understood that he was doing his M.Sc or PhD at that time.

It was when Saji – now a gastroentrologist in the U.S.- was born who was taken care of by Sara Chedathi. He was a very cuddly sort of baby and we enjoyed carrying him around even though he was on the heavy side.

One of the incidents of the time I remember is when he missed the train somewhere in Andhra Pradesh. He had accompanied Maryammamma to Guntur (I think) where she was appearing for her M.A. examinations. While returning to Kerala, Uppappan was on the platform at an intermediate station when the train moved off without anybody realizing that he is still on the platform. He was very resourceful and he contacted the stationmaster and ensured that Maryammamma was informed at the next station about the situation. He caught the next train the next day. He had no reservation or enough money for food I think. He was a picture of misery when he was back home the next day.

In course of time I lost touch with the family since they were moving around. Only news I remember was the family’s meeting with Mrs. Indira Gandhi. It was no surprise for me since I knew that he was very resourceful.

I started to hear from him when they moved to the U.S. I think he was realizing his dream of being his own boss with his holistic church activities since he hated working for somebody.

I met him once in Kerala during this time. He had come for a visit. He had this black round neck shirt with the clerical collar. He made an impressive sight. I accompanied him to visit The Christian Literature Society’s bookshop at Thiruvella. They were very happy to give a hefty discount on the books he bought, since I think they had no hope selling these and were very happy to somehow get rid of them. On the way back, at Pandalam, he felt a little unwell and wanted to have a dose of Dasamoolarishtam from an ayurvedic pharmacy. It was the time when these pharmacies were selling alcohol disguised as medicine and visiting such places attracted curious attention from the bystanders. He was not deterred. He had his medicine and the onlookers a food for thought( an alcoholic priest?????). This single incident exemplified his life for me. He never cared what others thought; he did what he thought is right and enjoyed.

A few weeks ago I got his last letter to me. It was about starting an acupressure clinic at Ullannur. I was planning to investigate this during my visit to Kerala this summer. May be I will do some thing about it.. as a memory to him and also chachen-my father.

GARBAGE DISPOSAL - COCHIN STYLE

I recently moved to Cochin, in God’s Own Country. After having lived in Hyderabad for over 3 decades I hoped that this move should be an enjoyable one. It is so except for the garbage disposal. I never realised it is going to be such a nerve breaking problem. We have an arrangement with a Kudumbasree group( a women’s group which collects the garbage from home and converts it to vermicompost) to collect the garbage from home. For a few days now this arrangement is not functional. So I had to resort to the ways a harassed Cochinite deals with his garbage problem.

“Shoot and Scoot” (like the bofors guns)method. Drive around in your car with the garbage in a plastic bag; look out for a place where nobody is around (which is very rare in Cochin) and throw the bag out of the window. It is more easier if somebody is with you to throw the garbage bag since in this case you donot have stop the car. The disadvantage of this method is the cost of petrol and the smell, which remains in the car. Also the danger of alert local people catching hold of you and dumping all the garbage around in your car exists.

“The Brahmos” ( remember India's supersonic cruise missile !!!!) is an option for people who are averse to transporting the garbage in the car. In this method, you wait till late in the night and throw the garbage bag with a low trajectory from your compound. The disadvantage of this method is that the payload viz. the size of the garbage bag has to be small to get a longer range so that the garbage does not land close to your home.

My favorite option is the “PSLV” (remember India's polar satellite launch vehicle !!!)method. Here you throw up the garbage bag a few degrees off the vertical. Depending on the height you are able to reach, the garbage bag lands further away from home. Here again the payload problem exists and how well the garbage bag is tied up counts. Also the wind is a very important factor. If you do not take care of these, you could land up with the garbage strewn around in your compound itself.

I invite you to propose more exotic methods mainly for flat dwellers.

I am also planning a garbage throwing competition provided I am able to get a sponsor… I am scouting for one… Any takers???