A part of my schooling, from class V to VIII, was done at Kollam, under the guardianship of my maternal grandparents and my mother’s youngest sister. I had my younger brother for company. My parents were convinced that we brats would be ‘taken care of’ better at their home. It is customary among Christian families to express love and respect for the departed by visiting their graves in the cemetery, placing flowers and reliving their memories by recalling old tales on their death anniversary.
The death anniversary of my grandfather’s brother drew nigh. We decided to accompany the departed’s family to the cemetery to pay our respects. While the rest of us left in a car, my aunt decided to walk to the cemetery. We completed the proceedings and waited for my aunt. After waiting long enough, we decided to return home. We concluded that our aunt, after her ‘paying the respect’ procedures, would walk back home which was not far from the cemetery. Reaching home, the rest of us awaited my aunt’s return.
Minutes turned to hours. It was already dark. My aunt who was supposed to have reached home within an hour under normal circumstances did not turn up. At dusk, the entire household was in utter chaos. My grandfather nervously paced up and down the driveway. My grandmother was in tears. To us boys, the drama seemed straight out of a horror movie. Alarm bells sounded around the neighbourhood.
My aunt’s cousins, the dead man’s children, formed a search party. Some of them looked behind half-closed doors. Some looked inside the well. Another poked inside sawdust stored in the kitchen with the wooden rod used to compact sawdust. My aunt was nowhere to be seen.
As the search party almost gave up, somebody suggested alerting the police. Soon, a group of people was seen crossing the busy junction near the house. My missing aunt was spotted among that large group. Oblivious to the ruckus she had created, she proceeded along the driveway and entered a relieved house. As she passed by, my grandfather, usually a calm person who hesitated to harm even an ant, landed a heavy blow on my unsuspecting aunt’s head with a torch in fury and force unseen until then.
On questioning, it turned out that my aunt had left in the other direction to attend the last rites of a former minister who hailed from Kollam which was being held on the same day. She thought the rest of the family had planned to take part in that function, while the original plan was to visit the cemetery to honour an entirely different person. Even the dead confuse us sometimes!
Dr George Jacob
Email: earaly@hotmail.com