NEWS REPORT CAME ON LEADING MALAYALAM NEWS PAPER MATHRU BHOOMI
The flickering light from the smoky chimney of a kerosene lamp draws shadows that play hide and seek inside the room. Two shadowy figures sit silently in that single room house. They take a look at each other, occasionally, with empty eyes. There is nothing to say, no meaning to convey.
In her prime years Radha Rani had a hectic life as Senior Engineer in All India Radio New Delhi. But at 79, she sees everything in their darker shades. Above her, the shaky tiled roof hardly resists the strong monsoon fall. Around her, much of the plastering on the wall came out and the brickwork underneath has become loose. In this dilapidated house even a pleasant breeze gives her shivers. The building may fall anytime.
Once upon a time, Kaivalyamandiram was a well known tharavadu (prestigious ancient joint family with wealth and fame ) in Anchuthengu, Alleppy, Kerala. Now, covered with the overgrown wild plants, the past glories of this prestigious ancestral house has gone into oblivion. Amongst its ruins, there survive two helpless lives in great pain and sorrow.
In 1987 Radha Rani quit her job as Senior Engineer in All Indian Radio New Delhi. She was not entitled to pension and other benefits for want of the required minimum service. Her dreams to get hold a job once she reached back in Kerala did not materialize. Years passed by and her health became poorer and gradually she lost the strength of mind too.Punitha, Radha Rani’s daughter and sole companion took charge of her mother. She takes tuitions to the neighborhood kids and her meager income is barely sufficient for food and medicines. Most often, food means just bread and water only.The mother’s worries on the daughter reflect in her wide open eyes. Perhaps the duo feels loneliness in this much crowded world. Adding to their misery, a tree fell down onto the roof of the house recently and that made the public and their representatives to have a look at the life these two helpless souls lead. They came to Radha Rani’s home and cut the tree off the roof top.The roof was repaired under Ashraya scheme of Annchuthengu grama panchayath. However the water penetrates, into the cracks and crevices, and keeps the building under risk of a collapse, anytime.
Contributed By: Jayakrishnan Bea,AIR Trivandrum,M:09447205020,jkrishnan005@rediffmail.com