“Naalumanikaat” — Place of the 4 o’clock Breeze
Life took a full circle when I moved back to Kottayam after sixty years. I was born here and spent my school years here. I started college in Trivandrum, initiating a series of year-long absences. I was an avid learner and found myself as a postgraduate in 1962. Two years of teaching at Kothamangalam found me impatient to pursue research for a PhD, which took me to Aligarh in 1964. An offer of a faculty position at the University detained me in that small town until 1972. I started my research career when I joined the Physical Research Laboratory at Ahmedabad in 1972. I helped create the Institute for Plasma Research and moved there in 1984 where my professional dreams were fulfilled. A year-long stint took me to Vienna with the International Atomic Energy Agency. From 1984–2012, short trips took me around the world.
Tired of living in rented houses, I decided to build a home of my own in 1987. Sterling City Development Co had acquired a huge tract of land in Bopal, on the western edge of the city with a plan to develop a housing complex. The remote sensing satellite data had found subterranean water in that area. The owner of the company was known to me and I bought a plot of land there.
I had great fun designing a three-bedroom house thanks to a young architect Kandarp Bhatt. With visions of spending many hours painting, I managed to squeeze a studio into the design. Building the house was like chasing a dream. Raising the walls brick by brick, and adding a lintel and roof, finally done, perfectly meeting my modest expectations. It was far from the city and the crowds we detested. Those who saw the house said that we would be lost to the world in this barren patch that we called home.
My wife Minnu wanted to convert the little piece of land into a lush green forest: perhaps to remind us of the emerald-green Kerala. The plants would be clustered to give a lush, woods-like effect. The division of labour was that I would take care of the lawn and she would handle the garden part, trees and flowering plants. Her passionate care of the garden was by incessant watering to take care of the dry hot Ahmedabad weather. We planted Korean grass and made a contoured lawn sloping away from the house. With time, trees grew, the barren earth bloomed into a garden and the speckled sunlight played on the verdant lawn. Flowers nodded to the passing wind and the house slowly turned into a home.
I had earlier thought that I would spend the evening of my life in Ahmedabad. Ahmedabad is a clean, efficient city and has all the facilities for a comfortable life. Good shops and malls, cinemas and multiplexes, people who appreciate business-like dealings. Institutions like IPR and PRL are closely connected with my work. Good roads, airport connectivity, Internet access: everything denoting good urban existence.
Then, why leave Ahmedabad?
Minnu’s growing sense of insecurity in the absence of a close family nearby was the primary reason. She missed her close relatives and cousins. I missed my brothers. Both our families are extended and numerous, the proof being the large number of familiar faces we encountered during our past trips to attend weddings and funerals.
While Minnu’s reasons for moving to Kottayam got stronger, my justification to continue in Ahmedabad began to weaken. She had followed me in the past; hence it is fair that I let her lead the way now. Conferment of Padma Shri had revived a large number of forgotten contacts and connections from my early days; classmates, colleagues from Kothamangalam etc. Going back to Kottayam would certainly allow me to refresh and re-cultivate these connections.
Children have taken the idea of moving in their stride, insisting that we should do what works for us. I believe that they shall also gain since their annual visits to Kottayam will enable them to meet their uncles and cousins and know them more. Our being in Ahmedabad has seriously deprived them of this important network.
On the day of Dussehra in 2011, I finally made up my mind to concede to my wife’s desire to leave Ahmedabad. I never realized that I was stepping into two years of anxiety and uncertainty associated with my efforts in selling my property.
Someone advised that the best way to go about it is to find an agent. We found one in the Bopal area who assured us that the deal would be done in no time. Then he began to bring all kinds of potential buyers to look at the house. All of them wanted a complete tour of the house. A few months of this and we could bear it no more. We told the agent that his services would no longer be required.
Helpful friends said that the best way was a word-of-mouth campaign. So I requested friends and acquaintances to spread the word. Another stream of visitors informed about the availability of the property began to stream in. The crowd was now more bearable as many of them were known to us. However, I soon realized that my skills as a salesman were quite limited as I became tongue-tied when I was expected to extoll the virtues of the house. There was also no meeting of minds on the financial aspects of the sale.
Finally, after almost a year of despair produced by no forward movement in the that no acceptable offers were coming, I was approached by a colleague in the Institute for Plasma Research saying that he was quite keen on purchasing the house as he had seen it and was impressed its aesthetics and architecture. We had no problem in agreeing. He wanted copies of the property papers for him to approach a bank for financing the purchase. This started another paper chase as some of the documents originally issued by the developers had problems and had to be rectified by filing affidavits and other legal documents. Despite everyone trying to be helpful, the pace was unbearably slow and full of procedural hurdles. After many months of these, the papers were finally ready. The bank was satisfied with the papers and we were able to sign a purchase agreement by August 2012.
The associated problem of finding an appropriate property in Kottayam for us to buy became imminent. Enquiries made through my brothers elicited a response from the Skyline Builders in Kottayam offering an apartment close to meeting our specifications. We travelled to Kottayam and were satisfied by the Skyline offer. The only problem was that the owner was away in England and he had to find a suitable time to come to India to execute the sale agreement. This also happened without too many hurdles.
Moving was the next major problem. In our ‘grihastha’ spread over almost 40 years, we had accumulated an enormous amount of junk, which we were carrying over from home to home. We had great difficulty in rejecting many of these mementoes of our existence. We got a transporter to move the things to Kerala. He was so professional that he packed even an unfinished cup of tea with a cigarette stub. Everything went into the truck, which we followed by taking a flight. Everything arrived in Kottayam safely and without any damage.
We came back to Kottayam in November 2012. We arranged a customary housewarming by inviting friends and relatives to share our happiness of finally reaching Kottayam. My membership in the Senior Citizens Forum has given us social interaction, fellowship and close friendships. I have been able to develop associations with MG University and became a director of the MG University Innovation Foundation, a Section 25 company to stimulate and support startups. My professional interaction with the Institute for Plasma Research continues long distance.
Of the many things we missed in Kottayam, places where we could spend time over a relaxed cup of coffee or take a stroll around a garden were the main ones. We missed the Malls and coffee shops of Ahmedabad as there were no equivalents in the small town of Kottayam. Then we found ‘Nalumanikaat’- the place of the evening breeze. About 10 km east of Kottayam, on the Manarcad-Ettumanoor bypass. “Naalumanikkaattu” is a roadside park, or an amusement stop-over on the Manarcad-Ettumanoor Bypass road, close to Thiruvanchoor. You can park your vehicle, enjoy the caressing cool breeze (the term “Naalumanikkaattu” in Malayalam means “the 4’O-clock breeze”), and relax on the benches provided here. The scenic view has lush green paddy fields on either side, especially charming towards the end of the monsoon and winter seasons.
Hour-long weekly ZOOM meetings keep contact with children and grandchildren strong and warm. Much of my time goes into watching movies. I am re-discovering old westerns on YouTube. Reading books and painting are other diversions. I became a member of Medium, a blog-publishing site, publishing an article weekly and have acquired a following of over 3000 readers. So, moving back as a whole was a satisfactory experience.
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