THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: I was bitterly disappointed when a break of one year occurred in my university education in the year 1968 despite having cleared the qualifying Pre-degree examination. Seeing my mortification, my father, an unpretentious primary school teacher, consoled me saying among other things that it could turn out to be a blessing in disguise. What he had told me then was simply beyond my naive comprehension as I had no alternative but to miss out a whole year of academic career.During those days, he encouraged me to read English publications. The very first such publication that I laid my hands on for serious reading was the Express newspaper. To be honest, it was not at all easy for me to comprehend the English language and its usage as the medium of instruction during my school days was vernacular and coupled with this, the break in my university education happened after my very first two years in college. However, slowly but steadily I came to terms with the English newspaper making use of a handy dictionary that my paternal uncle had preserved. During the early days of my bout with the paper, I had glanced through the headlines, the articles of Frank Moraes, the sport columns of Keith Miller and Ron Hendricks, and the cartoons (Private View) by Abu Abraham. The then Sunday Standard carried columns like Peter Vidal’s What the Stars Foretell, Political Diary by R.V.Pandit and many an enthralling feature. Later on, the epic battles waged by the late lamented and indomitable Ramnath Goenka fascinated me and fired my imagination.The daily reading of the Express inculcated a habit of reading unknowingly in me and also emboldened me to go through other English publications. This helped me view life and things in a new and different perspective. The best period of my thought orientation and personality development was the year in which the break occurred in my academic career.During the last 43 years, the Express has become an integral part of my life and “my love life” with the newspaper is still going great guns.My father had taught the best lessons of my life and advised me to always take things, good and bad with a smooth handle. He bore no ill-will at all towards anyone with whom he fiercely differed with or to anyone who had despised him. He told me how pleasing and influential are the words - thank you, if you please and sorry - if they are used sincerely and timely.When I got my first employment, he had opined that showing respect to one’s superiors is one’s duty while being just and fair to his peers is courtesy but the way one treats his subordinates reveals one’s real character.Charity towards all and malice towards none was his life-style. He died peacefully in July. Six months ago, he had expressed to a neighbour his desire to die on a Saturday and to be buried on a Sunday. To our utter surprise and bewilderment, the Almighty was pleased to call him back on a Saturday itself.And we tearfully bade him farewell on the following Sunday.email: [email protected]
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