Janani
1
Depression in Bay of Bengal.
Widespread monsoon Rains in Tamil Nadu.
Chennai. Very heavy rains. Continuous downpour.
Flooding.
Water
~~~~~~water ~~~~~~~ everywhere.
Flood water entering the houses in low lying
areas,
people were sheltered in Schools,
Temples and other public places.
NGOs and the Government Agencies giving
Food packets
to them.
Even after 15
days, no signs of the rain stopping.
Along with flood waters all creatures,
reptiles, poisonous snakes, python
entering their homes, the people had no other alternative
except to seek asylum in public places.
With large thermocol packaging material,
Make-shift boats were made to shift
Their valuables, children, aged and sick.
It was nearing mid-night.
I was preparing for my
School final Exam.
It was a sincere attempt
for top scoring.
Just then, I heard the
knocking of the gate.
Who is that at this odd
hour and in this heavy rains?
Father has also not gone out due to the flooding enroute.
Again the knocking. Hearing the knock my mother came out.
Switched on the lights. I joined her
. Along with an umbrella we went to the gate and opened.
A middle aged lady with a girl of the age,
may be 8 or 9 years old were standing
I invited the lady “ it is raining very heavily. Please come
inside.”
My mother also invited them to come inside the house.
But the lady told, “no madam we will stay outside.
After the rain stopping, We will go”
Their clothes and the bag they were carrying all wet.
“No, no, you can not stay out.
Please come inside” my mother insisted.
Hesitatingly they entered the house.
“We were staying in the nearby Amman temple.
The water entered there also. So we came here.
Pardon us, very sorry we have given you lot of trouble
in middle of the night”, the lady told,
may be short introduction.
My mother went inside and brought a towel and some clothes,
“Go to the bath room Clean yourself and wear these clothes.”
When they returned my
mother served them with hot iddlies
“eat well, don’t feel
shy” After finishing the food they were provided
with mat and pillows, and
my mother told “sleep well without any worry.
We will see in the
morning”
Early morning when I woke
up, I saw them in their old clothes
and were ready to leave
the house with their belongings, that single bag.
My mother was standing in
front of them,
“what? have you started
to leave? But the rain has not stopped.
Where you have to go? How
will you Go?”
The lady
told, “We don’t know where to go, Any household work,
If I can get,
I can stay in that house with the girl.
If you know
anybody, please tell me madam.”
Just then I
saw the girl, small girl, innocent eyes, looking down always with
Typical shy.
My mother called her near and asked her,
“What is your
name?”
“Janani”
2
thank god,
you heard my prayers
and stopped
the rains
not hearing
properly, my mother asked the girl's name again
" what
name you told ?"
" Janani
"
pronounced
her name with much more shy.
The hardship
and poverty make the people to feel shy about themselves,
than the
situation and condition, ruining their self-confidence
By then my
father has also joined called the girl near,
“Janani, Very
good name! Which class you are studying?”She looked down.
But her
mother replied, “She was studying in Fifth class”
Janani was
obliquely looking all including me.
I don’t know what made me to go to my mother and tell her,
“We will keep them with us”
My father then asked, “What jai is telling?”
“He wants us to keep them with us” my mother revealed.
“What then? if it is Ok for you, keep them with you”,
immediate consent from my father.
“Ok Amma, if you like, you can stay here itself
with your daughter, Janani.”
“Very happy, thank you, madam”
“ How are we to call you? What is your name?”
my mother enquired the lady.
“My name is Lakshmi”
Lakshmiamma with her clean look, conspicuous
sindhoor thilak on her forehead
and her saree fully covering her body, gave the
impression, no doubt, she hails from good and
respectable family from south Tamil Nadu.
No more questions we asked her till to-day
even after 15 years, who is she,
from where she has come from?
The relationship between us started establishing.
she called my father Anna (brother)
and my mother Anni (sister-in-law).
And for me she was aunty
But, Janani though initially shy and hesitant,
soon developed quick intimacy with all.
She adopted my parents as her own by calling them
Appa and Amma, father and mother respectively.
My parents were also happy with this new
relationship.
Possibly, they were longing for a daughter all
along.
Janani, with her legs on my mother,
and her calm
sleep used to
evoke a mixed feelings in me.
But, I was happy as her loving brother, Anna.
In her new silk dress and half-saree purchased by
my mother,
she appeared like a butterfly, happily running
inside
the house and flying in the garden outside.
Also my mother arranged for her admission in the
school.
She in a short time picked up her studies
and stood first in the prestigious school.
From there no looking back.
She grew and the family grew in prosperity and
happiness.
With her walk, talk, smile and service, she won
the heart of everybody.
She was very happy and made us all happy.
she was the darling of the house.
Everything was now identified with reference to
Janani.
Janani’s house, Janani’s father,
janani’s mother and me as Janani’s brother.
She ruled the home with every activity.
But shortly, I left my home to Coimbatore for my studies.
Completed the course but returned home
with the wounds on body and mind in an accident.
It is Janani’s total dedication and care,
I recovered to normalcy in three months.
During the period, I rarely seen her sleeping.
Whenever I woke up from sleep,
She was readily there to ask me, “Anna, what do
you want ?”
In my absence Janani took care of my parents
and her mother without any shortcomings.
I joined the
Scientific Service,
serving the
Institution at various places.
When Janani
was to write her School Final Exams,
she was
afflicted with chicken pox - reddish patches all over her body,
high fever
with dark red eyes. All were worrying whether she has to miss the Exam.
With all her
high hopes for high scoring, Janani started weeping.
But I used to
sit by the side of her neem-leaf bed
read and explain the subjects.
Being a
bright girl, she used to grasp very easily.
I took her
for the Exams with necessary confidence and courage.
" Anna,
is it possible for me to pass the exam ? "
"
janani, don't worry, you will score very high marks, you see. "
The results
showed that she not only topped the school ranking
but topped
the state ranking.
We were all
very proud of her achievement.
Why not?
3
Janani
succeded in getting admission in IIT Madras,
the
Institution very adjacent to our house.
Though she
stayed in Hostel, because of her activities
it appeared
that our house was an extension of IIT Madras.
She coming
home with her friends, studies and discussion,
our house was
very busy and buzzing with academic activities.
Janani not
only excelled in her studies.
Anything
related with home and studies, she learnt with interest.
She was the
consultant for my parents.
Cooking,
drawing, singing, dancing, sports,
swimming she
was heroine in every field.
My mother,
she herself being proficient in singing and dancing,
she taught
Janani every nuance in the art.
We used sit
around and watch their performance.
For the
melodious voice of my mother, the dancing of Janani was perfect.
Her movements
were like moving blooming Jasmine creeper.
Oh! No more
words! enthralling performance!
Appreciation
by our long clapping but a gentle satisfactory smile
by her mother
sitting at a corner of the house.
Before
completion of her course, Janani received many
offers of
appointments in various reputed MNC’s and elsewhere.
But she on
her own selected an organization
in Tidel Park
near the house.
We and the
neighbors used to stare with proud,
when the
driver of the car salute Janani with respect,
“Good
morning, madam”
and drive her
to the office carrying her briefcase.
Is it the
same girl standing in front of the gate
with shy 15
years back?
yes, hard to
believe !
I used to
take her help in prototype analysis,
design and
development and flight data analysis.
For many of
my success and technical achievements,
I should
acknowledge janani's help.
She was
meticulous in her work and very happy to help me
sitting very
late in the night. She was the only person
to understand
and support me in every aspect of my life.
she went to US for two years for training and
returned
to handle and manage the affairs of the MNC in India
proficiently.
talents gifted or acquired?
*****
