MY VILLAGE

                               
                                                       A  BEAUTIFUL VILLAGE

                              If  memories are reasons for our construction of  identity,it is impossible for me to stop remembering about my village.Onakkoor is a scenic village,in which I lived a major part of my student days.In cities, people have to rely on tubs or showers in the bathroom to take a bath.My village has a temple pond with sparkling water,which shines in the morning light as stars do in the night sky.The main attraction of this temple pond is the neat division of it for men and women.There are neat concrete structures,which separate the portions of the pond for men and women.Small boards are fixed on these structures,which clearly state that one portion of the pond is restricted to another gender.I have not seen such a division of temple pond in any other place.

                  There are stone steps behind this temple pond,which will lead us to Onakkoor Devi Temple.Whenever  a person prays here with an open mind,his prayers will be rewarded.I have personally experienced  this. Most of the people living around the temple are frequenters of  this place.The festival of this temple injects the whole village with energy and enthusiasm.There are people,who know how many circumambulations  a person has to  do around the sanctum sanctorum during this season..

                  One thing has to be said.Despite the amenity for a fresh bath each day,I was not a regular of the pond.Reasons galore for this act of mine.There were people among the regulars,who talk too much of unnecessary nonsense.After a point,they irritate anyone with common sense with their pointless talk.Not that they are ill intentioned,but cannot help it. Everything comes with a prize in this village.

                   From childhood itself, I longed for books.During the Lower Primary days,my father bought me children's publications like 'Balarama'  and 'Poompatta.'It wouldn't have attracted me to reading if my mother wouldn't have a way of reading the stories of these publications to me.The stories taught me that good will always emerge victorious over evil.To every word I write,I am grateful to my angel mother.She taught  beautiful kirtanas,which were recited at twilight.Even after all these years, my mother remembers all those kirtanas.

                 The advent of cable television is an another great thing that changed the attitudes of people.Before that ,people thronged in front of  Doordarshan Malayalam to watch a Malayalam film,which had hit the screen at 4 pm. every Sunday.The telecasting of ''Oru C.B.I. Dayarikkurippu''  was a celebration.There was inexplicable  excitement in watching many good films those days.It was not possible to get people their fill of regional entertainment.In 1997,cable television brought in a change.Asianet was the only channel on offer.The day the operators started telecasting,people were glued to the television screens till midnight.

               The first pay channel we got was National Geographic.After a point,we started to get HBO.It was a moment of eye opener to me.Till the advent of HBO,I had seen only two English films -'Jurassic Park' and 'Anaconda.'I understood what Hollywood movies are through this channel.I watched 'Godzilla' like a boy,who was hit by a new visual experience which he never believed to have existed.