Vagabond

That was another tough day for all of us in the hostel; the examinations would start the next day. Unusually, all the hostelers were in their room, glued to their text books and notes at 6:30 pm in the evening.

Myself and Chandru braved out of the hostel as if there was nothing unusual to happen the next day, unmindful of the exams, to the nearby Lioness Club that was in a lane just behind our hostel in Eranakulam.

At the Lioness club, there was a presentation by those team members who had returned from their Expedition to Antarctica recently. The delegates included Scientists from National Institute of Oceanography, two Naval Officers and one Geophysicist from Geophysical Institute.

The lights were off and the documentary film show started. It showed the Ice filled terrains of Antarctica. The team which camped in Antarctica gave a name to their camp site as 'Dakshin Gangotri'.

Whilst the show was on, a member of the delegation was narrating their experience of Antarctica as to how difficult it was to manage the cold climate during their stay and what was their routine and the diet they had, etc,. Also they showed their only neighbors with whom they could be friendly with, showing those Penguins on the screen, which merrily flapped their wings and jumped about here and there.

I learnt, for the first time, that the penguins cannot fly and they had enjoyed our southern delicacy, "upma", the method of preparation was researched and prepared by The Food Research Institute, Mysore, specially for this Antarctic Expedition!

As we were engrossed in the meeting, somebody from behind vigorously patted my shoulder saying, 'hey subu... onga appa vandhirukaardaa' meaning, my father has arrived at the hostel... Which I couldn't just believe and so I ‘phooed’ him away by saying, "kathai vidathe da"... meaning 'don't lie'!

"Promise! Your father is sitting in my room and swore that he will declare you as a vagabond, if you don’t turn up within 15 minutes!"

This response from him made me immediately realize that my father was indeed around there, as he is the only person in this world that I know who would use the word ‘vagabond’!

Excusing with Chandru, I left the venue immediately and reached the hostel to see my father sitting in my study chair, giving a suspicious look as to why I went to Ladies Club and that too at night!

I have just returned after my emergency trip to Chennai and during my stay, my friend called me up after seeing ‘The Hindu’, “Hey Vagabond, sorry to hear about your Dad!”

Yes, the inevitable had happened; my father peacefully passed away on 3rd November, 2011.