Friday 5 November 2010

back home

my son was back home today from bangalore third month into his first job, lean and clean eyed.

he brought neha a toy, a dog that rolls paw over paw, shaking its head, when dragged by a string;

his sister a watch and his brother-in-law a shirt;

his mother a mobile phone

and his father two books--'Communism & Zen Fire, Zen Wind' and 'Vedanta: Seven Steps to Samadhi'-- both by Osho,

and a Peter England shirt,
in which i looked handsome
in the mirror.

*****

8 comments:

Balachandran V said...

Narcissus reborn! :D

Arun Meethale Chirakkal said...

Great. Have a great time!

kochuthresiamma p .j said...

a proud and contented father!

kalpana said...

Must be a great feeling I can imagine.. :-)

Parents really love gifts to them ny their children

P. Venugopal said...

Balan, KPJ Ma'am, Arun, Kalpana: yes, it was a proud moment. after amma's passing away the visitors and guests had all gone and only myself, Ambi, Lakshmi and Neha were home and then came Vishnu from Bangalore. he had come for a day earlier for the cremation and had gone back because he was under training in the company where he got his first job. now he comes back and there are these things he brings us.
i have often thought these are the things life is made of. i am not a sentimental person and i say this without sentiments. on auspicious days such as Onam, her birthday, etc. etc., after bath she used to sit in her chair nicely dressed but not conscious to the outside world because of the condition in which she had been for the last nearly 10 years. she wouldn't recognise me, but she used to respond vaguely when my wife or children addressed her. on the day of Onam etc. she would be sitting there and there is this thing of giving her a new dress, 'pudava.' then i had seen her shivering fingers testing and feeling the texture of the new cloth and her face slowly lighting up with pleasure.

Prabhakar said...

My sons keep stealing all my good clothes. Hope when they start earning they remember this. What a great feeling it must have been for you!

Sumi Mathai said...

and a clean post :)

P. Venugopal said...

it was a special feeling, Prabhakar, although i have written only the bare facts. and he is a funny chap. there is a streak of the Bhishma in him, always on the lookout to sacrifice something for his pop. not only pop, but mom, sister, his friends and anyone. he wants nothing (except, of course, good food, which he would rather not sacrifice for others).

@ Sumi: yes, this is an experiment at writing the minimum. does it convey?