One of my childhood friends
father passed away on Friday and he’s not only my friend’s father but a long
time neighbor and family friends whose relationship were grown from my
grandparents generation. Karthi and Vela are our (me and bro) best childhood
friends and our friendship lasted for very long time but only Karthi was in
touch with me and even after we shifted our home a decade back we used to
enquire every time meeting either. But after shifted back to the neighborhood
(close to our native house here) a year back, I happen to meet him often while
coming around the neighborhood in the wheelchair by evenings, and I also meet
his father while crossing his home where he used to be reading newspaper
sitting outside his home. I can’t believe he’s no more! Even few days before
his death, he inquired me on walk – what they refer me to be out in wheelchair
and he showed no sign of demise. A severe cardiac arrest, all of sudden, ceased
his breath.
To describe our relationship, I
need to go back to the childhood days and back from school most of our evenings
were spent at their home front (which was at our backstreet), playing with our
best friends – Karthi and Vela. During those times he used to come back from
work, pedalling his bicycle but we continue engage with the play and I showed
little or no attention towards him unlike his bike. He was working in a private
company and his only mode of commute to work was in bicycle, the traditional
one aka utility bicycle. A classmate of my uncle (dad’s brother), he’s a very
family man and irrelevant to anything outside his family and showed great care
for his children and though economically backward he was more concern about
their studies and health. For any ailment he would take them to the ESI
(Employees’ State Insurance) hospital, which is a self-financing social
security and health insurance scheme for Indian workers with less income. Placing
one in front and back, he used to pedal them to the hospital. The way he fed
his son with cough syrup is still vivid in my memories J
His elder son and my friend Vela
is a very intelligent student and so bright in studies. I have seen him even
correcting his classmates’ exam notes that were given to him by their school
teacher and he was such genuine in his assignment showing no favor to anyone even
if they are his close friends. Being family friends, his father treated us no
different and we even had fun playing at their bed room, jumping here and there
and he never scold us anyone. One time, he took me to beach along with his sons
in the bicycle; putting his younger one in the baby seat in front; me and Vela
shared the rear carrier. We had fun playing at the beach sand and the duo went
against the waves to take bath in sea and a scare being, I decided to stay back
in shore taking care of their things while they enjoy the waves. Anytime he
sees me, he never fails to enquire and also tease me sometime with nothing ill
inside. Moreover, I ever seen him serious and an easy going personality really
makes me wonder what cause him heart attack. I know a person’s attitude doesn’t
expose on his health but ignorance plays an important role and being unaware of
the causes and symptoms of heart attack pull us into trouble that leads to
nothing but death.
I know he has experienced mild
stroke in past that forced him to drop his security job, after the company he
worked was shut down or he left the job. The only complaint or disappoint I
hold for him was that he stayed away from his mother due to some personal
regrets related to their transformation from thatched house to a concrete floor.
I have watched through their building home and destruction of the former, but
my connectivity with the friends (Karthi and Vela) and visit to their house has
diminished slowly as my mobility become restricted, the diversion in lifestyle
brought each ends loose and tied somewhere. But shifting back to the native
neighborhood makes me feel of reconnecting and creates chances to keep in
touch… but I didn’t expect this disconnection from him quite. I really forget
to say about his wife, who has been a great support to their family not only by
love and affection and caring but also economically she aided by grinding flours
to others who can’t do themselves at their
home. Hope his family and my
friends gather strength to bear his lose.
