Memorabilia and Roses

Memorabilia and Roses

It was a December evening. We had found a deserted place in the Park and settled down on a cement bench near a large Mango Tree. The wind swept through the dried leaves on the ground and scattered them to the neatly laid foot path. It formed small circles and went away very fast like tiny twisters. Parched and dark mango flower buds were mixed with sand and had spread black shades around us. There were little tender mangos for us to taste. Some were good.

A while ago, shops on our way to the Park were glittered with Christmas trees, decorations and stars. There were heavy rush in all the shops selling cards for Christmas and New Year. Rich aroma of cakes filled the street. The mood was upbeat.

My own memories of Christmas were mixed with the tastes of 'Vattayappam' and cakes. Appams were made of rice powder, coconut milk, jaggery, yeast and special ingredients. We got it always on Christmas from Joss's home along with specially made wine by his 'Mamman'. We distributed this from his home to all neighbors. They took fast during the month and went to church during nights. I joined them on many occasions to hear the Priest and most of the time, the songs. I also joined them in the carol processions.

They prepared dress for the Infant Jesus and made a decorated tree and a little home with grass, hay and twigs. I was part of these chores. During the evenings, I could hear recorded music coming from the Church, from the hills across the river and paddy fields. This was often interrupted by the wind which swept away parts of the song.

"Do you know the value of your life?" you could hear the Priest. "Jesus is the only way" he always repeated.

"Give ear, O Shepherd of Israel,

Thou who leadest Joseph like a flock!

Thou who art enthroned upon the cherubin, shine forth

Before E'phraim and Benjamin and Manas'she!

Stir up thy might, and come to save us!

................................... (Psalms 80)

"Yet, Christmas days left Sheila and her family in eternal grief" Asha was now speaking in a low and soft tone about the incident. Her face bore a serious and depressed expression. In a burgundy dress, she looked dark and beautiful. She told me the story of Sheila's brother.

Young Paul was very serene. The whole family revolved around the boy. Sheila had often said that the meaning of loving Jesus was deeply felt by her only when she saw the boy lying near her mom. When he was born, there was this calm, jolly look in the large blue eyes which looked at them. The look was reassuring, rather than a curious gaze.

He was brought up like a prince. Yet, he was aloof to luxury and liked books as friends. He would go to church and read bible at home. He was bright in his school. He was their hope.

Asha and Sheila were studying for the last year of their Bachelor's Degree classes in the college. During those times the eleventh and twelfth classes (of school) were being taught in colleges under the nomenclature of 'Pre -degree' course. Sheila's brother joined for the first year of the Pre degree which was equal to the eleventh standard.
There was a talk that the two year course was to be de-linked from the colleges. They were henceforth to be held in schools as was the practice everywhere. Some of the lecturers were afraid of losing their status in the University, once they are forced to teach in schools. They resisted the move.

These teachers formed a pressure group within their unions and decided to fight against the move politically. The Opposition in the State Assembly found it a very convenient opportunity to strike against the ruling Front and took up the teacher's cause. The portfolio of the education ministry was always controlled by regional political groups blessed by the Church. Since the majority of the educational institutions belonged to the various Churches, they controlled its ministry as well, whoever was elected to rule the State.

There was initially strike by the teachers and then the student organizations allied to the Opposition parties took up the cause. They had ideological reasons to be in enmity with the Church. They created allegations and stories about the change and created horror in the minds of students and the public. Very soon it grew into a strike of abominable proportions and the students boycotted all classes and took to the street.

Little Paul, that was his full name, had just joined the college. After the strict ten years in a convent school, he found it hard to cope up with the new freedom, which the other boys celebrated. Almost on any day there were no classes due to the strikes and boycott. After boycotting classes his friends went to see movies or spent time idling in the streets and parks. Those flaunting money wandered in motor bikes and spent time in bars or hotels with a bunch of cronies.

He was very studious, the glass wearing type and had to find private tuitions outside to continue his studies. Sheila also helped him. After his friends joined the strike, and the classes were dissolved, he used to go to the library and read there. The lecturers and the Principal knew him well and because he was the top scorer in his school, he was considered to be a prospective rank holder.

Those days, such bright students came from well run private schools compared to the government run schools. The elite private schools protected their children from the strikes and political movements. The medium of instruction in such schools (mostly run by the Churches) were in English. The students who came from these schools were highly motivated and they could easily get admitted to the elite engineering and medicine courses through the tough entrance examinations without any difficulty.

All the political parties recruited students from the Government and aided schools and shamelessly used the students for their activities and agitations which were common for or against the Government on one or more pretext. It was joked during those days that one need to go to school only after looking in the news paper (Daily) whether some student leader has called for a protest day for some silly reasons.

There were a handful of brilliant students who came from the 'inferior' schools as well but they were mostly children of teachers or those who could take extra care for their kin outside the school premises. The teaching hours were very negligent in these schools after the umpteen boycotts either by the students or by the teachers.

On the ill fated day, the student organizations had declared an education stoppage throughout the state in protest against the move to de-link the course from the colleges. Students' union leaders had issued statements to the press which warned summarily that no single education institution should be allowed to work on that day and no school bus will be allowed on the road.

These warnings being the order of the day, the elite schools however decided to conduct classes even as the school managements decried the statements issued by the Opposition parties. They suggested that such statements are a challenge to the peaceful education system in the State and these parties are holding individual freedom as permitted by the Constitution to ransom.

Little Paul had to return a book to the College library and his Chemistry lecturer had promised that he would explain a certain experiment to him on that day. Since nobody would mind him sneaking into the college through the rear gate, he started early in the morning. Sheila had cajoled him not to go for the day as he could have done anything the next day, being a Saturday, and there would be no disturbance. He however promised that he will be back very soon.

It was a black Friday. The students were out in procession on the streets and the police stood their position with tear gas shells and lathies in most streets. Special armed police were out in the main cities. When Paul came to the main street, he saw an old pal who was junior to him and this boy asked him to get into his school bus as it was safer than walking to the college. Paul instantly agreed. Since he was known to the staff of the school bus, nobody prevented him.

It went perfect until when the school bus turned to the street named after the college. Midway, Paul was supposed to get out and walk to the rear of the college through another pass and get through the security gate. Even as the school bus approached this street, a group of students who were waiting for the bus started pelting stones at the bus. The police who were also present rushed to the rescue of the bus, but the students outnumbered them and were coming up in waves. The front glass of the bus was shattered in no time and the driver was injured with a number of students who were sitting in the front.

The driver had the better sense to stop the bus on the roadside before he jumped out and ran away. So did the peon as the stone and cane wielding students came charging at the school bus. The children who were mostly little children ran out of the bus and were running helter skelter even as the few teachers inside tried to control and pacify them. Most teachers and children were crying aloud and all lost their senses about what was happening for a long time.

The striking students got all of them out of the bus very fast and pushed old rubber tyres under the bus, sprinkled diesel and set it on fire. The Police had by now been able to contain the students in the street and some turned to the bus which was now engulfed by fire.

Paul was by now running to the street which leads to the college when a group of college students were running towards the bus and him. They were supporters of the striking students and they were pelting stones at the Police preventing any attempt to put out the fire.

Paul fell down at the first stone which struck him across the forehead. The group which was running at the Police did not even notice Paul as he was very short stature and it was difficult to determine what was going ahead  in the confusion and the smoke emanated from the burning bus. The diesel tank had exploded and by when the fire engine came, most of the bus had gutted. The group of students had in the commotion and confusion trampled over Little Paul who lay in a pool of blood on the road.

The whole city was grief stricken for days. There was a hartal (close down) declared and there were silent processions. There was no end to the suffering of Sheila's family. The politicians visited their house one by one. The police were frantically making a case and conducting inquiries. Sheila and family endured everything in silence. Her father was a Gulf returned Planter and her mother was an ordinary house wife. Financially they were quite well off, but nothing equaled what they have lost. Asha still remembered with dread, the grief stricken Sheila and her mother walking behind the coffin carrying Paul to the cemetery.

I had read about this incident. Even I had participated in this strike as part of a campaign by the youth wing. Our leader had reiterated many a time during our meetings that there was no question of allowing a separate Board to be established for the pre degree course which was unnecessary (according to him or the Party) and was a pretext for the Government to create political posts in the Board and to cover up the failures of the education ministry!

No sooner than the opposition party joined the next ministry after the elections, (which followed soon) another faction leader with leanings to the Church was made the education minister and his first achievement was to de-link the Pre-degree from the colleges and establish a separate Board. So much for politicians!

The strike ended statewide with a lot of destruction to public property. Many students and many policemen were injured during the riots. Nobody asked what was achieved by the strike. The ruling front had to resign very soon. That was a political achievement for the Opposition. But the students who agitated were left in the lurch and were made to look like fools.

Nobody enquired what happened to Sheila's family. Not that there were no memorial meetings! Jojo somehow felt guilty of the whole incident and this was why he tried to woo her to become a candidate in the college union elections. On the other hand, he thought he could tap the sentiments of the students. He was shrewd, but did not succeed as Sheila saw through all of it.

Biju who was also with the striking students got separated from them after the incident and was a regular visitor to her house hold. He then had almost retired from student politics except for his close contacts with the state level leader of the youth wing. This man who had very close connections with the central leadership was a regular visitor in Biju's home. However the circumstances and Jojo's many political moves brought Biju back to his old days as he had to protect his followers and friends. Biju was far from a student's union leader now. He had a gang of his own which could do anything he told them.

Asha was with Sheila for days at her home as she was afraid that Sheila would attempt suicide. This was in December and all those days were spent in dark grief and mortification. The sight of Jesus in any card or picture was unbearable for Sheila. Her parents never came out of their room and Asha and some neighbors were helping in all the errands at home.

"Tragedies in life strike us in many ways. Sometimes an accident, a disaster, a cancer diagnosis, and sometimes loss of all wealth. But why, why do some create catastrophes intentionally, and leaving others to carry the Crosses of pain and sorrow?" Asha asked me. She did not know that there were no politics, if there were no power.

She had finished her story. I was lying in her lap. The night had overwhelmed the Park. The lights and the shades of the bushes gave the Park a mysterious milieu. I stood up and wiped my face. We could see the star lit sky. The sky looked magnificent from the hillside on which the Park stood and which went down as far as the river and the water works plant.

"There is one glory of the sun

    And another glory of the moon

       And another glory of the stars;

          For star differs from star in glory" (1 Corinthians 15: 41)

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('Memorabilia and Roses' is part of "The Inverted Tiq Marqs ©" from A P)