The debt of gratitude

Usually, Delhi airport would be very crowded and some days there would be mayhem causing a lot of inconvenience and delay. Luckily it was not so today and Madhavan could board the plane for Chennai easily. The plane was expected to depart on time. A brief profile of Madhavan would not be amiss here.

Madhavan has been working with the Government of India in New Delhi for decades and residing in a large apartment allotted to him. He had a year for superannuation. After a good education, his two sons and one daughter found jobs abroad in the US, Australia and Germany and settled there. He wished to spend his final years in Chennai where he had spent all his childhood till he completed his education. His wife had no objection as she had her siblings and other relatives in Chennai and other towns nearby. He was on the lookout for a small plot of land to build a modest house and had spread the word among his relatives and a few friends about his requirement. Nothing was materialising as quickly as he had hoped for.

He was bound for Chennai to attend a conference for two days. Having been away except for occasional visits, he was wondering who could help him in locating the land as he had lost touch with the folks he knew.

As his mind was reminiscing about his younger days, his memories took him to his boyhood friend and neighbour Pacha of the same age but short in height. While Madhavan lived in a separate bungalow with his parents, sisters and brothers, Pacha resided in a thatched hut at the rear corner of a vacant plot next to Madhavan’s house, The owner of the vacant plot, it seemed, lived in Singapore or Penang and the residents in the street have not seen him. There was a barbed wire fence separating the house and the land.

Pacha’s father Manoharan, a Tamilian, was a painter by profession, colour-washing and painting houses in the locality with irregular income, especially during monsoon months. His mother Bhuvana was from Andhra and Pacha had two sisters. It was a tough living for them with a meagre income. They were a nice family, non-interfering and helpful when a need arose. Although not on socialising terms, the relationship was neighbourly and cordial.

 Madhavan suspected that his father had the house colour washed every year, more to help Manoharan with some money than real need. His mother too did not lag behind his father and gave without fail daily the leftovers to Bhuvana. Here again, Madhavan felt his mother was consciously cooking more than required for the sake of the poor family. After a few months of use, she also gave the family her saris and his sisters’ clothes. The coconuts, plantains, papayas and mangoes that the trees/plants yielded were shared liberally with them. Madhavan’s father was a lawyer with good practice and was affluent. He got varied gifts from his clients on all festive occasions some of which were again given to them by his mother. Pacha’s family was treated with dignity despite their poor circumstances.

Madhavan lost touch with them after he moved to Delhi but had heard from his mother that Manoharan had fallen one day from scaffolding and broken his legs and was rendered unfit for work. The two girls had discontinued study and took up jobs as caregivers to aged people either immobile or affected by dementia. Pacha who had studied up to class ten undertook odd jobs till he finally attached himself to a politician as his acolyte and assistant. Years passed by and Madhavan’s parents had passed away and their house was sold. Pacha’s family, he came to know, were forcibly removed from the plot years back by some relatives of the owner. Their whereabouts were not known.

When there was an announcement about the fastening of seat belts as the plane was to land soon, Madhavan woke up from the reverie and wondered whether he could ever meet Pacha again.

The next day he was busy the whole day in a conference with state government officials and business honchos that included foreign companies too. It was there he befriended a senior state government official with whom he worked closely during the day. They decided to meet the next day in the official’s room to finalise some pending issues before the report was made. They took a liking for each other and the official insisted on Madhavan having lunch with him the next day.

Things went smoothly the next day and by lunchtime, the pending issues were sorted out for the report to be ready by evening. It was during lunch with the official, that Madhavan mentioned his efforts to find a small plot for his house through the Government Housing Board. The official suggested Madhavan should meet the minister in charge of Housing and Urban Development that afternoon if the minister was free and in office. Madhavan was lucky to get an appointment at 4 PM thanks to the efforts of the official.

When Madhavan was ushered into the large and luxurious room of the minister, he found a fat and short man in a spotless white shirt and dhoti standing to receive him. The face seemed familiar and Madhavan was trying to recollect when the minister exclaimed with a beaming face,” Are you not Madhu who lived in T. Nagar years back.”

“Yes Sir, would you by any chance be connected to one Pacha who lived adjacent to my place?” asked Madhavan deferentially.

“Hey Madhu, how could you fail to recognise me? I am the same Pacha, your good friend. Thanks to the affection and support of my benefactor to whom I attached myself when young as his errand boy, I have risen in the political party and am presently a minister after a long stint as Corporation Councilor, and Chairmanship of several government boards. Nothing of these would have been possible but for the kindness and benevolence of your parents in feeding and educating us when my parents were struggling against poverty. My sisters are married and well-settled in life. I have dedicated my life to working for the betterment of poor and disadvantaged sections as your parents did in a small way. I have not married,” he said.

“I am so fortunate and lucky to see you, Pacha, in a comfortable and high position. I attribute this good turn to your parents who were honest and hard-working and never strayed from a straight path despite the poverty,” Madhu replied.

“Madhu, I am happy you will be coming soon to Chennai and I want your help in guiding me on the several philanthropic activities I am doing. I heard about your search for a plot of land to build a small house. I came to know your children are abroad. It is not safe for elderly people to live alone in separate houses.

Let us not get involved in government lands. I have a well-thought-out suggestion. I have built four apartments next to my house in Raja Annamalai Puram, spacious three-bedroomed apartments, each slightly more than 2,000 square feet in area. I have rented them out and one of them is vacant. I have decided to transfer that apartment to your name if you kindly agree and thus the matter bothering you would get sorted out. What do you say?” asked Pacha.

“A 2000 sqft apartment in RA Puram must be costing a bomb and I cannot afford it. I am looking for a tiny plot, not in a posh locality, to build a small home,” Madhu demurred,

“Who asked you for money, Madhu? Why do I need four apartments beside a house for a single person like me? This is not given to you but is a very small token of boundless gratitude of me and my family to your parents. But for them, we would have all starved. I cannot take a no from you. If you feel embarrassed, you can donate a small portion of the money you intended for land towards the charitable destitute homes that I have built. When it is convenient for you, please visit Chennai with your wife so you can both see the apartment and register the sale deed. That would discharge me from my debt of gratitude to your parents” pleaded Pacha as he hugged him affectionately.

Madhavan was very happy that the power, high position and fame he had acquired from the political field had not sullied Pacha’s noble character and he continued to be an honest and humane person devoted to the cause of the poor. Madhavan was also pleased that he could continue to be with his friend adjacent to his house and assist him in his philanthropic activities.