THE TALL DWARF

                                                

He was short. He was my grandfather’s friend. My father’s friend too. The history untold, I do not know the details of the equation of their friendship. But I assume that they were childhood friends who grew up in the same neighborhood. Years later, after my grandfather passed away, when my father got transferred back to our native he became a constant visitor to our home. My parents called him ‘Pothechan’ as he was elder to them. His name was ‘Pothen’; the suffix was added as a mark of respect while addressing him. He called my father ‘kunj’ (son) considering their age difference.

I remember him since my school days. He was as tall as my six-year-old sister. I still recall her standing next to him and comparing their height differences. She would pass a childish grin after that and he would smile as well. He was short, dark and had grey hair neatly side parted, with two thick strands of hair sticking out on to his forehead like that of Lionel Messi. He was a self made man. He supported his family with his permanent and lot of other odd jobs. The time I remember him he had already retired from his work. He was a frequent visitor to our house even if my father was not there. What he would come for was for a glass of water as he was always walking and rarely used any mode of transportation. The next thing he would ask for was the newspaper seeing if there was any progress on their case on pension. He would walk to church daily. He would halt at our place in case of rain, borrow an umbrella and proceed to his destination. He was very prompt in giving back whatever he borrowed may it be money or things. He was happy with the freedom at our house. It came as a surprise to us when we learnt that he was a stern person at his house, who would lock up his room whenever he went out so that his grandkids would not mess up the things, arranged in the room. His constant walking kept him in the pink of health almost till the end. He laid sick for a week or so. The self-made disciplinarian who was a stern believer, now stands tall in our memories.