NEW YEAR RESOLUTIONS

I first heard about New Year resolutions in school. Some of my teachers used to talk about their New Year resolutions and advised us to make our own. Somehow, I have never made any New Year resolutions.

I have made some changes in my lifestyle but not during the New Year. Most of the time, I was forced to make those changes. I changed my profession because I was fed up with my first one. I went abroad because I needed more money. I started doing some exercises because I felt my health was not good. Recently, I had to make some changes in my diet, again for health reasons.

I was thinking of making some New Year resolutions for 2012. I don’t smoke, so I don’t have to stop smoking. I am thin, so I don’t have to lose weight. I drink only occasionally, so I don’t have to reduce my alcohol intake. I never borrow money, so I don’t need to get out of debt.

I will try to have a less stressful life for 2012.

MERRY CHRISTMAS

S.S.RAJULA

I had my first voyage on S.S.Rajula in 1962, when I was about five years old. We were going to India from Singapore for a vacation. I was very young then and cannot remember much about the voyage now. I do remember watching the other ships on the sea. They were steamships. I noticed the bigger ships had two or three funnels and as a child, I used to draw pictures of ships with funnels. S.S.Rajula had only one funnel. A man would go around ringing a bell to announce that it was meal time. We would then head for the dining room. We had western food. It was an eight day voyage from Singapore to Madras (now Chennai). On reaching Madras, I noticed some Tamil women on board, getting ready to disembark. They had big earrings that stretched their ears. Passengers were accommodated in different classes. The higher classes had cabins. We returned to Singapore after the vacation on the same ship. A man on board sold us a toy musical string instrument. He demonstrated its use by playing some music. After he left, when we tried it we could not produce any music. 

On March 14, 1972 we again traveled from Singapore to India on the S.S.Rajula. I was fifteen then and my parents had decided to settle in India, so this was my final voyage on this ship. As the ship pulled away from Singapore, I watched the receding skyline and felt sad. There was a TV in the lounge and I saw a cartoon “Felix the cat” for a short time, since the image was getting blurred as the ship moved away from land. When the ship reached Penang, many westerners came on board. They were mostly hippies. Singapore’s strict laws made it difficult for them, but Malaysia was more tolerant. They were headed to India for drugs and a cheap life. A man was holding a roll of toilet paper, one end of which he gave to a woman. The woman held the end of the toilet paper and the man holding the roll, unrolled it as he got down from the ship. He was staying back at Penang. As the ship started pulling away from Penang, the toilet paper tore into two pieces. Both of them rolled up the pieces they held unto. It was their idea of a farewell. There was a 20 year old Australian going to India to study yoga. He had met with an accident and was using the insurance money he got to pay his way. 

On some nights movies were screened. I saw a Hindi movie and “Cat Ballou” which had Lee Marvin and Jane Fonda.The captain visited each cabin and talked to the passengers. He asked us whether we were enjoying our voyage.When we reached Nagapattinam in the early morning we could see many small fishing boats in the sunrise. It was a beautiful sight. Soon we reached Madras and disembarked. S.S.Rajula was sold in 1973 and scrapped in 1974.

I received the following photos from Martin Cotsford  ex 3/O SS Rajula.

TALKING IN INDIAN

In China, people speak Chinese. In Japan, they speak Japanese. In France, it is French. Most countries have only one language.

In India, each state has a different language. Even within a state there are regional differences in the spoken language.

When I was in Africa, I used to go to a church where people of different nationalities gathered for prayer. After the service, there was a get together for Tea and snacks. One day there were a few people from Kerala and we started talking in Malayalam. An American lady looked at us for some time and said “All the Indians are talking in Indian.” I realized then, most people do not know, there are so many languages in India and that some even think Indians speak in a language called Indian.

FOREIGNERS AT THE TEMPLE

Twenty years ago, nobody knew that there was an enormous amount of wealth in the form of gold jewelry and gems hidden in the vaults of the Sree Padmanabhaswamy Temple. So there was almost no security system at the temple premises then.

At that time, I was working for a private firm in Trivandrum City. I had to visit ISRO often, since I was marketing products which they required. These products were mostly manufactured in USA or Europe.

Sometimes we had Engineers from abroad visiting Trivandrum to promote their products. On such occasions, we had to accompany them to ISRO and arrange their meetings with the ISRO Engineers.

In the evenings, when we were free, we used to take the foreigners around for sightseeing. One of the popular places was the Sree Padmanabhaswamy Temple.

One day we took a British Engineer to the Temple. He looked at the Temple and said “It’s Magnificent. Truly Magnificent” He took out his camera and began taking pictures of the Temple from various angles. He was very impressed by the Temple but a little disappointed by the notice saying foreigners are not allowed inside the Temple.

Some months later, we had a French Engineer visiting Trivandrum. We took him to the Temple. He had an expensive camera with him and we thought he would take some pictures of the Temple. He did not use his camera. He looked at the Temple for some time and said “It’s dirty; I think you should clean it.”

ASTHMA

I was above thirty when I first felt a difficulty in breathing. It would last a few minutes and then go away. I did not know why it was happening. I thought it may be due to a lack of exercise and I started to do some exercises, but to no avail. The wheezing occurred more during the night and I had to sometimes get up from sleep and stand bent to get some relief.

I had heard of asthma and began suspecting it. I started to read about asthma. Meanwhile a doctor recommended theophylline slow release tablets. It only made it worse, since it was nauseating.

Later, I happened to see a program on TV about asthma. A doctor was explaining that the first step in the treatment of asthma was the use of an inhaler. Only if it did not work should tablets be used. At that time, I was using salbutamol tablets which took about twenty minutes to provide some relief. The doctor on TV explained that an inhaler works faster because it delivers the medicine directly to the lungs whereas in the case of the tablet, the medicine will take much more time to reach the lungs. I started using a salbutamol inhaler and felt much better since I now got a quick relief.

One day, I got continuous asthmatic attacks at night and could not sleep the whole night. I consulted a doctor the next morning and he recommended a Seroflo (salmeterol xinafoate and fluticasone propionate) inhaler. I used it that night and could sleep soundly.Regular use made me feel uneasy and caused palpitations. Since I had the habit of carrying the salbutamol inhaler with me, now I started carrying the Seroflo inhaler. Whenever I had a difficulty in breathing, I would use it. I did not realize that it should not be used as often. One day, I felt my heart pounding and left my workplace in a hurry to take some rest in my room. After sometime my heartbeat became regular but I felt extreme thirst and had to drink a lot of water. I felt very weak for a few days after that. I could not understand the pounding heart and extreme thirst. I asked a doctor about it but he could not tell me the reason. I searched for information on the internet and found that these are the effects of salmeterol overdose.

AHMED

I was returning to Kerala after attending a program at Annamalai University in 1990. My friend was with me. We reached Chidambaram Railway Station in the evening to board the train. When we entered the compartment, we saw a young man already occupying one of the seats. He was going to travel with us. We talked to him. He told us that he was on his way to Trivandrum to catch a flight to the Maldives. His name was Ahmed and he was working at a hotel in the Maldives.

A few minutes later, two middle aged women appeared along with a man. They sat next to us and were talking among themselves. The man then left the compartment. The train was about to start. Suddenly, the two women realized that their ticket was with the man and they started to panic. Ahmed asked them about the man’s compartment number and volunteered to locate him. Since the train was about to start, he had to hurry. He left us and within a few minutes was back with the man. The man gave the women their tickets through the window.

The train started and it was beginning to get dark. The women started talking to us. They were both doctors and were jointly running a clinic. They told us that it was very difficult to run their own clinic. Patients would come to them at odd hours and ask to be treated. They said that they would not like to see their children becoming doctors.

Later, the women started talking about their locality. They said it was not a good place anymore since many muslims have begun to settle in that area. On hearing this, I noticed that Ahmed was feeling embarrassed. The women did not know the name of the man who had just helped them.