A day in Uzhavoor !
Ever since I had started working in Coimbatore, I wanted to pay a visit to a dad's friend who lives in Uzhavoor. The last I had seen them was in 1998, during a trip to Bombay. The fondest memory I have about them is writing them hand-written letters as part of a letter writing assignment during 5th Standard or so. My joy knew no bounds whenever I got a reply in my name.
When my parents planned to come down on a short trip to Coimbatore in November, 2018 and get around, I included this place in our itinerary as the first stop. After a lot of waiting, we finally managed to reach Uzhavoor. The moment we saw the couple, there was a pleasant feeling but with a tinge of sadness. They looked fragile and aunty's Parkinsons disease had taken a toll on both of them. Loneliness was evident as their kids settled abroad looking for greener pasture. After having breakfast we settled down and were having a chat about random things.
My father had known them from the mid 70s when he started working as a tailor in Bombay. While uncle worked at a private company, aunty worked as a nurse at one of the famous hospitals. My father expresses his gratitude for everything they had done. While a significant chunk of dad's family stayed in Bombay, nobody cared when he underwent an ear surgery. It was only this couple who took care of him. Also my dad's first passport has their residential address which he proudly shows off. Not just my dad, but most of their relatives in Kerala who finished a degree or 12th standard and were willing to work were called to Bombay and shown a path to flourish. Their small 1 BHK apartment in Vikhroli was home to almost two dozen people over varied time periods. After almost three and half decades in Bombay, they decided to hang their boots and settle down in Uzhavoor, their native place.
The town has a competely different vibe from the places I usually frequent; with abundant rainfall, tropical vegetation and hardly any pollution. The numerous streams around and huge houses made it picturesque. The town more or less resembled a post-retirement township. The huge bungalows gave me an eerie feeling as they served only as guesthouses because the owners are either expatriates or had settled down abroad. They were surrounded by an air of melancholy.
One thing that made us happy was the people who kept on coming one after the other to check on uncle and aunty. Most of them were in no way related. They crossed paths with them sometime in the past and became friends just like my dad. A lady auto driver who fondly calls them mummy and daddy talked about how much this couple meant to her. An army veteran dropped by for an evening drink and told about his friendship with uncle that began when they were hardly 3 years old. The bond is still strong even after almost 7 long decades. Lunch and dinner were more like a reunion fare with their relatives coming down to meet dad as he knew most of them. They talked about their time and struggle in Bombay, the Middle East and so on and so forth. As I sat in the verendah, I couldn't stop but wonder about uncle and aunty. Time had taken a toll only on their age but they are still the same when it comes to their way of life. I just hope I could emulate a thing or two by taking a cue from their lives.
While a lot of people I see thump their chests talking about kindness and compassion though in reality are poles apart & people who always want to be at the receiving end and wash their hands off in other situations; there are still a few people like this couple who restore faith in humanity by silently walking the talk. And these are the people who actually matter !
When my parents planned to come down on a short trip to Coimbatore in November, 2018 and get around, I included this place in our itinerary as the first stop. After a lot of waiting, we finally managed to reach Uzhavoor. The moment we saw the couple, there was a pleasant feeling but with a tinge of sadness. They looked fragile and aunty's Parkinsons disease had taken a toll on both of them. Loneliness was evident as their kids settled abroad looking for greener pasture. After having breakfast we settled down and were having a chat about random things.
My father had known them from the mid 70s when he started working as a tailor in Bombay. While uncle worked at a private company, aunty worked as a nurse at one of the famous hospitals. My father expresses his gratitude for everything they had done. While a significant chunk of dad's family stayed in Bombay, nobody cared when he underwent an ear surgery. It was only this couple who took care of him. Also my dad's first passport has their residential address which he proudly shows off. Not just my dad, but most of their relatives in Kerala who finished a degree or 12th standard and were willing to work were called to Bombay and shown a path to flourish. Their small 1 BHK apartment in Vikhroli was home to almost two dozen people over varied time periods. After almost three and half decades in Bombay, they decided to hang their boots and settle down in Uzhavoor, their native place.
The town has a competely different vibe from the places I usually frequent; with abundant rainfall, tropical vegetation and hardly any pollution. The numerous streams around and huge houses made it picturesque. The town more or less resembled a post-retirement township. The huge bungalows gave me an eerie feeling as they served only as guesthouses because the owners are either expatriates or had settled down abroad. They were surrounded by an air of melancholy.
One thing that made us happy was the people who kept on coming one after the other to check on uncle and aunty. Most of them were in no way related. They crossed paths with them sometime in the past and became friends just like my dad. A lady auto driver who fondly calls them mummy and daddy talked about how much this couple meant to her. An army veteran dropped by for an evening drink and told about his friendship with uncle that began when they were hardly 3 years old. The bond is still strong even after almost 7 long decades. Lunch and dinner were more like a reunion fare with their relatives coming down to meet dad as he knew most of them. They talked about their time and struggle in Bombay, the Middle East and so on and so forth. As I sat in the verendah, I couldn't stop but wonder about uncle and aunty. Time had taken a toll only on their age but they are still the same when it comes to their way of life. I just hope I could emulate a thing or two by taking a cue from their lives.
While a lot of people I see thump their chests talking about kindness and compassion though in reality are poles apart & people who always want to be at the receiving end and wash their hands off in other situations; there are still a few people like this couple who restore faith in humanity by silently walking the talk. And these are the people who actually matter !
👍
ReplyDeleteFeeling great after I read it. You have narrated everything in a pleasant way that everyone can play the scenes while reading.
ReplyDelete