Though born in a middle-class household, I, being the last child in the family, grew up enjoying much pampering from my parents. Problems in my life began in 1982, when I was 30. Inevitable circumstances constrained us to dispose of our rice mill and house in my native Vellanguli in Tamil Nadu for just Rs 43,500. My share was Rs 5,000.
Worried about how to run a family of seven members, including my aged mother, we moved to Tirunelveli. As advised by my brothers and youngest brother-in-law working at the collectorate, I chose to work as a typist on the court premises. With a second-hand Remington typewriter costing me Rs 3,750, my second life-innings started with just Rs 1,750 in hand. My first day fetched me Rs 7, instilling in me an ‘I-too-can-manage’ hope, but destiny had something different in store.
Despite learning and improving my English with the help of The Indian Express, life was not easy; many days, I returned empty-handed. When my wife was to give birth to our last child, I took her to the nearest government hospital for delivery, penniless. My wife’s condition became serious and I was advised to take her to the Tirunelveli Medical College Hospital. I had not a single pie on hand. Then came to my rescue the Almighty, in the avatar of the doctor there. He hired a taxi with his own money and my wife was transported to the district hospital. I still remember in gratitude that doctor for his humanitarian gesture.
1982 to 1988 was a cruel time in my life; so much so that I was unable to pay house rent for months together and the deposit was adjusted against defaults. Days were aplenty when we were unable to take our children to private clinics when they were unwell. All the same, having grown up in tough life environs after losing her parents, my better half, though uneducated, had groomed herself as a homemaker of calibre and managed the family with what little I brought home. In September 1988, we all moved to Kollam, Kerala on the advice of my kanakkappillai (accountant) brother-in-law and I began my life on a better footing in a private firm.
Those days of misery and penury notwithstanding, the Almighty had been merciful in giving me the fortune of taking care of my aged mother till her last days except during her occasional stays with my siblings. She breathed her last on my lap. Can anything else make a son feel proud and blessed?
E SETHURAMALINGAM
Email: esrlingam@gmail.com