Daughter ! Oh Daughter !!

Daughter ! Oh Daughter !!
As I stepped into home one evening, my wife announced that “Radhika, had become a big girl” I stood there like a muff, not able to understand and said “Oh yeah, she has always been one !” While Radhika coyly turned her face away on her mother’s lap. I knew it was another bloomer of mine! Being the only boy child, brought up in a Boy Zone from birth, it was more of fights and games rather than girls, so when this little angel was born, with dainty fingers that clung on to my thumb, and hugged me with all her might it was a mind blowing experience. My friends teased me when I rushed home to clean her, change her nappies, mix her milk and carry her thru the night when she was sick, instead of spending time with the boys at the local pub. I had become a nanny!
Days went by and my angel had become a lady. From running around in a “shameeze” swinging on a tree limb and tumbling on Tipsy our dog, overnight, Radhika, became a bold tom boy. But she took to classical dance and creative arts with a flair for clothes. There was a need every day, started with a Bi Cycle to school, Scooter to College and Clothes, clothes and more clothes with matching slippers that could fill a room !And everything had to be done or bought “NOW”. My friends and family ridiculed my indulgence, and I scoffed, she will be the purpose of my life and would do anything I desired to please this little Princess of mine!
Suddenly, my little angel, tomboy lady, graduated from College, got a job in Chennai and left home. It was truly an empty nest syndrome. Being a private person, I took the loneliness as a part of life and consoled that my angel was Gen Next and she would be a trail blazer. Things went horribly wrong thereafter. Biz went bad, financial turmoil, misunderstandings galore and gossip mongers ruled the roost! A lovely family, shattered to bits. Its three long years since I heard her voice or seen her. In her eyes the lovable Dad who could do nothing wrong became the epitome of evil!
Life goes on, and this excess baggage weighs heaviest in my heart. Every little girl at the Temple, Teenagers on a picnic or a bright young Executive with a cheerful smile in an Office makes my eyes go moist !! Will our magic days come back ? Will she take me out to the best restaurant again and buy me two pairs of shoes as a gift !! Only to ensure that she gets double that a few days later !!
Daughter Oh Daughter! May you always smile, and cheer everybody in this world, the way you did to me for so many years and – Be a Princess……
Remain a candle in the wind that doesn’t get blown away !

Rajan.chettur@gmail.com

Unwanted !

UNWANTED!!
“Let a man lift himself; let him not degrade himself; for the Self alone is the friend of the Self and the Self alone is the enemy of Self!!” Bhagavad Gita

These profound words prompted me to look around and do a reality check!! In Kerala, it’s a fact that most people have been earning a livelihood somewhere else and after much work and hardship reached “God’s own country” to settle down... or hope to!!
You find them mostly in Bars, Restaurants, Railway Waiting Room, Vegetable Shop, Milk Vending Booth and Bus Stand’s to name a few!!! Senior Citizens mentally, men in particular, physically fit than today’s generation. Dressed in clothes that had seen better days and invariably the “Belt” is a give away! Discoloured leather, the Buckle has lost its sheen; the hole is wide and pulled so tight, it just about holds up the pant. The Face is stoic, voice low and firm, slow motions, grey hair or bald, a sardonic smile, but the eyes still twinkle on the thought of yester years! Meet the faceless multitude of senior citizens in Kerala, big guns once upon a time, now relegated to doing domestic chores and chaperon work. They hardly speak, smile little and spend time on the easy chair until death comes mercifully, to rid them of the daily agony of ignomity for having become like a fried curry leaf – Used for flavour and aroma, Discarded since its not aesthetic looking in the curry of Life !! Men who have reared a family with pride, given their all for family and friends, but age caught up somewhere, times changed, kids grew up and suddenly its all over!!
Fast forward to a sight that’s pretty common.A young man sprawled on the foot path totally drunk and smashed. Blissfully asleep with his shirt open, dhoti affray and unaware of the people who were walking or the Traffic roaring past a few feet away .It set my feelings surging and thought of the happiness this man’s birth would have brought to his parents – A son ! So much of delight, and so much of determination to work hard for the Dad, to give him the Best in love, food, clothing ,education et al! Life would have stepped in somewhere to break the crystal ball. Dreams would have crashed, ambitions taken a beating and the young man would have crossed the line from Dreams to reality or vice versa from Reality to Dreams in a glass of alcohol!!
So we have two scenario’s. An old man who has survived and is a ghost of what he was. A young man, who lost his way in the great canvass of life!! Common denomination: Unwanted! By family, friends, society but most important by HIMSELF !!!
Why, where and how does this happen ? What are the factors that contribute to this failure as most would like to term it. Perplexing and confusing one turns to Astrology, Spirituality by appeasing the Gods with a million offerings and of course Godmen make hay , any straw that will keep one afloat in this world ! The management gurus will per force say “Lack of killer instinct”. Its all cool to say this in an Aircon room to a set of well heeled and Aramis smelling executives. But to an ordinary soul struggling to eat 3 times a day, without a roof to sleep under - Is it ? the answer lies in the words from Gita quoted earlier. Simple lines of wisdom to be taught very early to children of impressionable age. Then the thought process changes to one of values from money and to love from envy ! It’s the mantra for the Seniors who have seen the best and worst of life. Now waiting for the Golden Sun in the form of a smile from a loving soul.
Until then they trudge along like the prisoners at Auschwitz prison, being asphyxiated by a poison gas called “ LIFE”