SLICE OF LIFE
A friend from the past
BY V. GANGADHAR
|
It can be disarming and pleasantly surprising meeting old friends after a gap of fifty years.
|
Illustration: Surendra
EVEN when Sachin Tendulkar was in school, his classmates and teachers were certain he would make it big in cricket. So it was with Shah Rukh Khan in a Delhi college where he was a star in dramatics. But there are thousands of us who are surprised at the careers chosen by some of our old school and college friends and their success in these fields. This element of surprise is all the more when we have not been in touch for long periods.
Some days back, a voice over the telephone asked me if I remembered A.R. Kalyanasundaram from my days at Palakadu Government Victoria College. Some 50 years back, Kalyanasundaram and I were classmates who shared the same bench for two years. But then we had lost contact, till that voice came over the telephone. He was in Mumbai visiting his son and was keen to see me. The feeling was mutual and I promised to meet him.
Pleasant surprise
Gosh, what a pleasant surprise! Since I hadn't studied for more than two years at any educational institution, it hadn't been possible to develop a circle of old friends and keep in touch with them. I sat down and thought about our old association. Besides sharing the same bench, I was a constant visitor to Room number 99 of the college hostel where Kalyanasundaram stayed. I remembered the fun we had in that room and wondered how he would look after more than 50 years. And what had he been doing all these years?
The answers came quick when we met. Of course, Kalyanasundaram had aged but his features, particularly the sharp nose, remained the same! I was pleasantly surprised that he had kept track of me through the "Slice of Life" column, where occasionally I had mentioned my old college and some of my old professors and classmates. He had come to Mumbai earlier but somehow had missed contacting me.
What had my friend been doing all these years? After graduation he had joined the Life Insurance Corporation and worked at its Coimbatore branch office. What I had not expected was the fact that he had become a Marxist and an active trade unionist. I had had several old friends doing different things but none of them had distinguished themselves in the field of trade unionism. For years Kalyanasundaram was a top office bearer of the union and continued the good work even after retirement. He had refused promotions which would have affected his trade union activities and was happy protecting the interests of the employees. Popularly known as "ARK" he was obviously a big name in the insurance trade union movement in the South.
Well, that is life for you. "ARK" in college was a bright student, much better than I was in our subject, Maths. He had the brains to be someone really big, but had chosen trade unionism and helping the workers movement. We discussed Marxism and the lessening clout of trade unions in our industry. In my career as a journalist, I had also been a member (but not an active one) of a union, had sported black badges, shouted slogans and participated in strikes, though rather unwillingly because I believed that journalists should never go on strike!
We agreed that the present contract system in most industries had weakened the trade unions. In a poor and backward nation like India, with its high percentage of unemployment, job security was essential and only a strong trade union movement could guarantee this. One cannot but respect an old friend who had spurned promotions and high salaries so that he could help the employees with their problems.
Vagaries of life
What had happened to our other close friends who also thronged his hostel room? Most of them had taken up jobs at various banks and were posted in Kerala and Tamil Nadu. It was hard to visualise another old friend, Senior Under Officer (NCC), Muralidharan, who used to play plenty of pranks in the class, doing a bank job. But that, again, is life. We had limited options in careers those days and chose whatever job was available and those who were a bit lucky (like myself) finally found our true vocation. Alampallam Ramaswamy Kalyanasundaram found his vocation in trade unionism and was perfectly happy in what he was doing.
My wife and I were treated to a typical South Indian lunch which included "Olan", a Kerala speciality. We met ARK's wife, their son and grandson and promised to keep in touch. There had absolutely been no awkwardness in meeting and talking freely with someone after a break of half a century. The hostel room scenes were still vivid in our memory. From there, ARK had graduated to a simple LIC employee, putting the interests of workers before personal ambition. It is good to have such friends.
Printer friendly
page
Send this article to Friends by
E-Mail
Magazine
