THE LETTER FROM ARULMANY

Life in Tarashiv continued to be uneventful. Days were short because of the winters. December was coming to an end and we were at the threshold of 1984. The only thing (or so it seemed to me) that made life eventful at all were our occasional visits to Tilda, Kesada or Bhiladi, or the more regular evening waits by the roadside in the dark for the milk collection van to bring us letters from our friends. Our batchmates from IRMA where we were doing our Rural Management course, were spread across many states for our mandatory 2 month rural orientation.

Letters from friends describing how they were getting along in their respective rural environments was pretty interesting and insightful. But the one that took the cake was the one we received from Arulmany who was in Erode, Tamil Nadu. This was soon after the New Year, in early January. He was writing this letter soon after one of the faculty members, Srinivas, had just stayed with him for a couple of days on one of the routine visits that the faculty did while the students were in the field. Srinivas was a relatively new member of the faculty and this was probably his first rural visit and stay. Having graduated from one of the elite Indian Institutes of Management in India and teaching Financial Manager, poor Srini (as he was fondly referred to) may never have expected to undergo this kind of an experience ! Arulmany's letter went something like this :

“ Having Srini around was great fun. You know what a simple, nice and shy fellow he is ! He was quite cool and we had a good time. His only problem was going to the toilet. We didn’t have one. On the day he arrived, he asked me where the toilet was. I said there was no toilet. He was horrified. What do you do then, he asked. We go out in the open, I said. But where, he asked. This place is full of houses. We do to the side of the road, I said. But then there is so much traffic passing by, he said. But I said, there is no choice. When does the traffic stop, he asked. I said, the last bus passes by at 11.30 p.m. Ok then, I will go only after that, he said. But what will you do till then, I asked. I will hold on, he said. So, he would wait till it was night. I would then escort him through the lanes to keep an eye on the snakes that could be around and about which, Srini was scared stiff. When we came up to the road, he would fit a suitable place to squat and then ask me to switch off the torch, while he went about his business. On the second day too, the same thing happened. I sat up till late and after 11.30, escorted Srini to the road which was a little distance away. At the appointed place across the road, Srini sat down and asked me to switch off the torch. I was on the other side of the road. I switched it off. And while I looked around gazing at the starts, enjoying the cool night breeze and listened casually to the sound of insects around me, I heard Srini ask, ‘Arulmany, what is the time’ ? ‘Can I switch on the torch to check’? I asked. ‘Ok, but turn the other way and switch it on. I am not finished as yet’, he said. I turned around and switched on the torch to check my wrist watch. It was five minutes past twelve. ‘It is 12.05, Srini’, I said. ‘Thanks Arulmany. Wish you a Happy New Year’, came his reply. That’s how I welcomed the new year this time ! Hope you guys had a better way of celebrating the new year!”