Interesting Characters I've met 1

A trip down the memory lane. Some interesting character I met in my life,

Vellakovil Veerappan was a HPCL petrol pump owner in Avanashipalayam. He also ran a reasonably big provision shop in Vellakovil. A self made businessman who was very astute, I was shocked the first time he came to my house and I asked him to sign a document, he looked around for a stamp pad, for he couldn't read or write. Before that, he walked into the house on a summer afternoon and asked me whether 'kattadi' was not working in chaste tamil. I didn't understand and blinked. I had never heard anyone say 'kattadi' for a ceiling fan. Next thing he asked was for a glass of water from 'isupetti', meaning icebox or refridgerator. It took me a year or so to get used to his language.

Once I was in Eranakulam and stayed for 3 days. Every day on the footpath below my hotel, I saw a bearded young man selling sandaks while leaning on the railing. He was holding the Hindu paper in his hand with a pen. Curious, I peeked and saw that he was working on Hindu Crosswords. The guy had a ragged look, wearing a lungi and a well worn shirt. I got to talking to him and to my astonishment found that he was a double post graduate having Master's degree in English and History. Since he couldn't find a decent job, he got to selling slippers. In his words, "I make at least Rs 3000 a month, so why not? There is a dignity in even this job'. Felt a lot sad that someone with such a nice attitude and qualification had to be jobless.

Then there was this guy in rural Kerala, where me and my father had gone for electrifying the village (my father was an Executive Engineer in State Electricity Board and I used to accompany him as a kid), who steadfastly refused to allow the stay wire of a post which is used to give a counter support to the electric pole to be fixed within his premises. Someone has scared him by telling him that current passes through the stay wire which will endanger his life if touched. No amount of convincing by all of us and even the village elders budged him. His college educated son was so frustrated with him that we had to restrain him from physically harming his father. A real obstinate character if I have ever met one.............. to be contd