Thursday, January 7, 2016

Dedicated to my dear friend Sri.C.K.Nalina Babu

Dedicated   to  my Babu –( Late Sri .C.K.Nalina Babu of Ernakulam, ) –the angel in human form

P.R.Ramachander







  



     I am taking you back  to  around sixty  years   back.  I had   just  joined the  hostel of Annamalai university  .  I was living   with another five students in a room.  My condition was miserable  . If a vote   would have taken I was one of those  poorest dressed   in the hostel though students used   to greatly honour my intelligence  . One day  I met some  students   from Kerala  who took to me to their room   and  were making   fun of me  especially   about   the way   that I was dressed. Suddenly  my angel, my savior , my own Babu  appeared in that room.  It was  just like  a scene    from a Tamil Cinema. He shouted    at those students     for making fun of me (who was a stranger to him)   and took me to his room. He called  me “Sami”   with great respect  . He  had a very attractive personality   and was possibly one of the best dressed  in the hostel. His original name  was Sri. Nalinakshan, which he changed to  Sri.C.K.Nalina Babu .He belonged to a village called Moothakunnam near Alwaye  but had a very big house  in Ernakulam.   We had a long talk that day. Babu told me that  I was under his care  and I should not be afraid of any body  . He was about 6 years older than me and a post graduate    student of sociology   He told me  that those who did not respect me   for what I am but were  only bothered   about how I am dressed were fools and I should not have   them as my friends. Just like purifying gold  , he brought  changes in me. Another  of Babu’s charges,  P.Sivadas came and later   joined as a  post graduate  student. Unfortunately he had not got his application   signed by his father , Babu told  me ,
“Sign the name of his father”     and I did with lot of hesitation  .Whenever  Babu remembered   about it  , he used to tease me about it . Babu who had very large number of  friends  and who used to converse  , laugh and enjoy   had set apart   a time for his Sami.  He used to take me for long walks    and we used to only talk  . Babu had  a great faith in my intelligence and advice   and    would  discuss many of his problems with me Slowly step by step he improved me. Next time  when I came back  from vacation I brought   a cloth  for a shirt . Babu took me    to the tailor    and gave him detailed instructions   how to stitch it in the latest style.  He some times   used to come along with me to Barber shop    and instruct the barber   how to cut my hair.
      In  the month of April 1960 I left Babu. I was   the same poor man but   I had tremendous confidence instilled in me . From then on I was not scared of any body   and  I had tremendous self confidence and wherever  I went I  attracted  people    with my intelligence  ,Looking back to my life ,  I think,  I never failed in any interview all my life  after that . All my  life  I knew  I was  only a  statue    chiseled   by my Babu   . Now Babu is not there in this world    , Two years   back when his daughter   contacted me to say  that had my Babu had been alive  , he would have  celebrated   his eightieth birthday  , I was virtually in tears
       I remembered a day   when I was  studying in Delhi , when Sri Sivadas   came for an interview   for his Ph.D. Scholarship  . I received him and he lived with me in the hostel. Babu who knew  how fond I was of pickles , had got pickles of  Nellikka( gooseberry)  made   by a cook in the hostel     and send it along with my friend Sivadas. 
 
    Later   when his younger brother  Bharathan joined  Manipal medical college  , Babu was  particular   that I should be his local guardian  , as I was working near Mangalore at that  time , Later  I had the good fortune to visit  his home when he was along with his wife and daughter . Slowly the contact   with Babu became less and less   and long long  afterwards  I   heard that he  is no more  from my friend Sivadas.I wept like a child .Though  my parents were responsible for  educating me   and getting me employed  it was Babu   who made me what  I am –a very intelligent, confidant human being  not scared by any one .

   One photo of Babu was sent by his brother Dr. Radhakrishnan and another by  his Daughter Chithra.I am ever grateful to them ,
                                                                                               

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