A Breather for Bala.

The day dawned hot and humid.The temperature has `steadily hopped ,skipped and jumped from 34 c to 38 c in a short span of a week! I was debating whether or not to leave the cool confines of my house and trek down to the blind association in the heat that doesn't seem to abate even at 4 pm ,to return the MA English guidebooks to Rajendran ,that have been lying around in my house for the past 3 months ,when my cell sang.

It was Rajendran on the other side ,with his characteristic slow ,measured speech ,inquiring whether he could come over to my house in a hours time . He was assuming work in the coming week as English teacher in a govt school in a village in Villupuram district . He wanted to take leave.A reprieve from a walk in the blazing sun ,delivered from the very person I had intended to return the books.!

As usual he was punctual and sauntered in smiling accompanied by one of his flame's ,leading him by hand.He gave me a box of sweets and thanked me for reading ,explaining lessons, etc.

We started talking and somehow or topic veered to Chandrashekar and his caustic views on Bala and other film directors ,depicting the VI,s as beggars and making them a butt of jokes.

Rajendran alias Nagraj in his usual slow drawl labelled Chandrashekars views as a over reaction to normal course of things.His view is diametrically opposite to Chandra.

He asks ''What is wrong in singing and earning money In what way is is showcasing one's talents demeaning?Whether one sings or sells things,what one is aiming is for money . Those who give or pay are either giving it out of honest appreciation or out of sympathy .both ways''.
He continued''I studied in a convent and felt shy at the beginning to sell snacks etc on trains since I feared that I may come across my friends which could embarrass both of us . But our family is poor and if I didn't raise my voice ,how was I to fill my stomach?He added further ''It is all commerce . Bala and others are also driven by commerce . They have to make money by selling what sells. There is nothing wrong in it !''

He in fact hailed Bala for showing the blind heroine in a pitiable manner as he felt this would make viewers more sympathetic towards the blind.

Regarding the comedians he has a refreshing view. ''Their job is to make people laugh and that is what they are doing . They have no personal ill will towards us.''Then he quoted an incident from his life . One day whilst he was napping in the noon in his hut his sister [normal] who had gone out on a errand had left the door open and a cow had ambled in . He woke up thinking it was his sister and asked it to serve him food ''.He paused here and said ''if Goundamani and Senthil enacted this piece wont you laugh''?His sister came back and chased the cow away and that he scolded her for leaving the door ajar and she chided him for being so thick skinned as to be unaware of a bovine standing next to him .

I asked'' I heard blind people have sixth sense . Didn't that help you''?He replied ''I have no sixth sense . Had I concentrated on my surroundings and had that cow snorted aloud I would have become aware of its presence and not otherwise''.

He has a question for Chandra '' would you take up cudgels if other handicapped people like ortho's are made fun off ? And answered it himself ''You wouldn't''.

According to him films are commercial ventures . They are helping themselves just as he was helping himself.He made another interesting point , that illiterate people that India abounds in are also handicapped and compared to them he was better off as he is educated and is going to earn Rs 20,000 per month here after,.The only grouse to this positive and rosy outlook to life was the difficulties in securing a good scribe and that this dependency was galling .

He concluded that one shouldn't be too sensitive at one's handicaps and life should be taken in its stride .

Two opposite views !

We had long discussions on various topics for 3 hours .He was reluctant to leave , enjoying our talks ,and finally left only after extracting a promise from me that I would read out lessons from MA English guide and have similar discussions,when he takes time off from his work in the following months!