SUBBIAH AND THE POLICEMAN 336

 VK PURAM TO KOVILKULAM VIA AMBAI

Subbiah was very tired and profusely prespiring as he rolled his cycle near his house . His wife Velammal was quick to notice the bulging package on the cycle's carrier .

She enquired as to what was inside the parcel .Subbiah hesitantly informed her that he had just bought the groceries for their daughter from the Rs 2000 that he had just recieved as the Givt Covid assistance .

Velammal was immediately upset . She wanted to know if  both of them did not have a stomach to fill and other very long pending items like the Asthma Inhaler and other medicines that he had always been promising for her .

With a heavy heart he told her that he would surely  do so when the 2nd installment was given .

 Right now their daughter Sivakami and the two grandkids were having a rough time because of the Pandemic and also their Son In Law was not having much of a business as an Auto Driver as there is hardly any movement in these difficult pandemic  times . 

Velammal is quick to retort that she had always been against the marriage . It was only because her daughter was very adamant and mainly  because Subbiah had also suppoerted her that she had agreed for the marriage .

She wanted to know how he was going to travel from Moonru Lamp to Kovilkulam as it was a total lockdown and no Auto or Bus services  were available . Moreover , the police were very strict in enforcing the lockdown and that they were punishing the people caught and  asking them to do pull ups and other equally silly but strenuous excercises . 

He informed her that it was not a problem and that he was still healthy and would cycle it to Kovilkulam to hand over the much needed items to their daughter . He even refused to have lunch and said that he would have it at daughter  Sivakami s place . Velammal s  taunting remark  that their daughter will be ready to welcome him and  offer him a special lunch did not affect him in any way . Velammal s  final warning that he would end up in police custody with the cycle and Rs 2000 worth of groceries seized by the police hardly had any effect .

Clad in a soiled dhoti and a torn shirt , Subbiah set out from Moonru Lamp in the cycle with the package firmly tied to the carrier . There was hardly any traffic except for the few known faces who waved at him near the Amali School .

It was almost noon and the scorching sun had left him perspiring profusely and his torn shirt clung to his body as he paddled his way to Kovilkulam . 

It was only at the Ambai Level Crossing where trouble awaited him . The road was barricaded and a few constables were questioning a group  of  youngsters , some drunk , all without masks or ruding motorcycles @ 3 in a bike . Velammal s elaborate warnings came to mind .

The constable waved him aside and asked him to park his cycle  and  bring the parcel near him  and keep it open. After inspecting the same he asked Subbiah to meet the Inspector who was seated in a Jeep just ouside the Rani School . The Inspector was a portly man with a huge mustache . The dark glasses gave him an even more ominous profile. The first thing the Inspector asked Subbiah  was , what was he an old man nearing 65 , doing in the heat and riding a cycle in the scorching sun when there was a total LOCKDOWN in place and what was it that Subbiah was  carrying in the parcel .

Subbiah  visualized himself  being asked to do the situps and his  cycle and groceries for his  daughter and  Grandsons being confiscated by the police . Even more scarry  was the music that he  would have to face when he  meet Velammal .

The Inspector gave a patient hearing to all that Subbiah  had to say . The none too soft  tackling of the 4 youngsters by the Inspector who were on a single  motorbike made Subbiah even more nervous .

Nonetheless he was surprised when the Inspector asked the constable to hand Subbiah  a packet of food and  a bottle of water . He instructed Subbiah  to sit under the huge banyan tree and eat the food and meet him later .

This really surprised Subbiah  , the Inspector afterall seemed  a very nice man . He asked the constable to return the cycle and the parcel and asked Subbiah  to proceed to Kovilkulam . I was totally dumbfounded by his action . I cupped my hands and expressed my thanks .

His reply surprised me even more . People were using the Govt assistance of Rs 2000  to get drunk or gamble. I was using the money to help my daughter . As a parting gift he offered me  a POLICE VOLUNTEER T SHIRT and was glad to see me put it on . I could not believe what I was going through .

Sivakami and my Grandsons were very happy to see me . I handed over the parcel to her . The first question Sivakami asked was why I had come all the way from Vk Puram and that too on a cycle and why Velammal , her mother  had not accomplished me . She also enquired about the VOLUNTEER T SHIRT that was on me .

I explained everything that happened at Ambai Level Crossing . She seemed even more surprised than me . 

I enquired as to what Saravanan , my Son In Law was doing . She informed me that he was now busy with making use of the Auto for the Vegetable Sale as Prescribed by the Govt . She handed me bag of fruits for her mother and also the Inhaler and Asthma medicines for her mother . She further explained that they had bought all these last month itself . Just when I was getting ready to leave she thrust Rs 2000 in my new T Shirt pocket and added that it was Saravanan s instruction as they both felt that they could earn the money but it was our duty to help the elders in the family .

His heart was left at his loving daughter's place even as he started his  journey back  to Moonru Lamp , a much happier man than what he was on his onward journey .

What stands out is , 

THE LOVE OF A FATHER FOR HIS DAUGHTER AND HER FAMILY 

A DAUGHTER AND HER FAMILY'S LOVE FOR HER AGED PARENTS 

THE INSPECTOR S HUMANITARIAN HELP TO AN ELDERLY ORDINARY MAN ON THE ROAD