KASI VISWANATHAN… (By Ramanathan Menon Moothedath)
A Real Life Story Of A 5-Year Old Boy Kasi Viswanathan (Kasi) Whose Favourite Tamil Song Was ‘Un Kan Unnai Emattinal Unakken Kopam Undakuthu’ From Tamil Film ‘Vazhkai’ Released in 1949… === It is 5 A.M. The bugler blows the bugle to wake up the policemen to get up and prepare for their morning parade at 6 A.M. It was Armed Reserve Police Quarters having 196 single room kitchen apartments in a row of 10 each in Langs Garden Road, Pudupet, Madras. My dad was a Police Inspector.
first thing I will do is to inspect my things and make sure Kasi has not touched any of them.
I was so selfish and hated Kasi too much. Whereas, he was so fond of me, always used to hug me and play with me like kitten…but I will always push him hard to relieve me from his embrace…many a times he had fallen down because of that but I never helped him to get up…I simply walk away from the place…I was that cruel…. My dad Sivashankaran, my mom Devaki, my younger brother Kasi and I lived in Q-Block, Door No.167. My parents had no child for more than 14 years of their marriage and I was born to them on August 13, 1947. Being born after 14 years, I was treated like a Prince. I was selfish, adamant, naughty, jealousy and cruel. Kasi is the laurel of everyone in the quarters, from little kids to grandmas…he used to help them in pounding the beetle leaves and argonut because those elderly women had no teeth to chew or bite. They ask him to sing a song..and Kasi will always sing his favourite Tamil song ‘Un Kan Unnai Emattinal Unakken Kopam Undakuthu’ (that means if your own eyes deceive you why you get angry?). I always get up at 8:00 AM and go to school at 9:00 AM. Kasi will get up at 5:30 AM, help my dad getting his things as dad will be in a hurry to go to the parade ground…my mom busy in the kitchen. Kasi will have a look at me to make sure whether I am asleep…and silently wear my chappals (which are little bit larger than his foot) and go out…have a stroll and come back and keep the chappals at its original place where I kept. Because, once I get up, the
Exactly at 8:00 AM, the time my dad come back from the parade, Kasi will be sitting at the verandah with a towel in
his hand, waiting for my dad. When my dad comes home and sit at the verandah, removing his khaki uniform, Kasi will wipe the sweat on the back of my dad with that towel and kiss my dad. This is a regular feature. Meanwhile, I will be sleeping until my dad comes and wakes me up.
dad called Kasi and asked him to say what my dad has brought for him…Kasi began weeping, saying that he could not see anything…first my dad thought he was joking..but later he realized that Kasi is speaking the truth….my dad and mom got a shock…they were in tears…immediately my dad took Kasi to the Eye Hospital…the doctors after checking Kasi’s eyes said…sorry…the child’s vision has gone….that time medical field was not that developed…my dad brought Kasi home…he lied to my mom that everything will be all right in a couple of days.. Kasi never went out…elderly people who played with him every day came home inquiring what happened to Kasi…what they saw made them cry….Kasi could not see anyone or recognize anybody…they wept….and Kasi wept…they prayed to God to give Kasi his eyesight back…it became a ritual for a couple of days…
When I play with my friends Kasi will try to join us but I used to drive him away…he will then go weeping. When anybody touched me or fought with me, Kasi will stand in between to save me…even he will bite the hand of the one who was fighting with me…he loved me so much…but I hated him much more than that… I was jealous of Kasi who is 3 years younger than me. He had wheat complexion, beautiful eyes, curly hair, sweet voice..Me, rough voice, shabby hair, neither black nor white complexion and people never shown any interest in me. When they see Kasi, they will forget the world and make him happy by giggling him, hugging him, kissing him, giving him chocolates, bla, bla…When I see those acts I will burn inside me and wait for a chance either to beat him or push him down to hurt him.
One evening he went into a coma…shivering heavily, his body ice cold…he was biting his teeth…when my dad took him on his shoulder kasi had bitten my dad’s shoulder …my dad rushed Kasi to the hospital…. …the doctors said…if he recovers his consciousness after 12:00 midnight he is your son…otherwise he belongs to God…they consoled my dad that way. My dad came home with Kasi on his shoulders….words spread around the 196 homes…there was a huge crowd in front of our room…around 12:00 midnight Kasi murmured Ache Amme (Dad, Mom) then went into a long sleep of no return. Everyone cried loudly…Kasi, their laurel has left them forever…. Meantime, for the first time, I sat in a corner and wept and wept…because that moment only I realized the value of my brother’s love…his loss…and how cruel I was to him…
Once, my mom was feeding him around 7:00 PM. His favourite food curd rice with roasted potatoes…while eating he should see the Moon…he used to stand on the small little place in front of the 3 ft. high window..Mom was feeding him…when Kasi had a hick up my mom went to the kitchen to fetch drinking water….meanwhile nobody knows what happened…he was lying on the floor and crying…my mom rushed to the spot and picked him…luckily there was no sign of any injury or blood stain…when Kasi had fallen, he did fall with his face down.. A couple of days later, my dad came home at 8:00 AM…he had a gas balloon in his hand to surprise Kasi because Kasi loved gas balloons…There was no sign of Kasi with the towel in his hand…my dad came inside home searching for Kasi…Kasi was still on his bed…when my
I heard people talking about Kasi’s favourite song…that has become a reality in his life…From that day, I became a new person…Kasi lost his eye sight but he had opened by eyes…… ==ENDS==