My Days in My Years

                                           Chapter 5 (continuation)
Another person who comes to my mind is Sethu. He was a very tall and hefty person and seemed to be the tallest boy in the school. He had a rounded face and his long hair touched the shoulders. That was not a style statement or any thing of that sort but was  very common among Hindu boys. He had pierced his ear lobes and like girls he wore golden  ear rings. That was also very common among Nair boys at very young ages. In those days, even the grown-ups wore ear rings and long hairs.   I recall that he was in the fifth standard when I was in first or second standard. Sethu never used to take part in  any game and he seldom spoke to anyone and always kept himself alone. There was another girl, I do not recall her name and  which class she was in. Perhaps, in the same class as that of Sethu. She was the only person whom Sehtu talked to and I was told that Sethu was her maternal uncle's son and they were staying in the same house as was quite usual  among Nair families. I was told that she was his Murrapennu (according to matriarchal system, brother and sister's sons or daughters can marry each other). Both Sethu and the girl were too young to think of such things but there was some bonding between the two.

Once there was an uproar in the school. We heard some shrieking voice and loud cries. On inquiry, we were told that it had come from the fifth standard. The school had only five classes and each room was assigned to a class. We all rushed to the place from where the sound came. There were teachers and students in the middle of the class. We all entered the class and saw Sethu lying  on the floor and shivering. Saliva like a froth came from his mouth. His entire body was gyrating in an uncontrollable manner. I had seen someone rushing to the spot with a bunch of keys and a pair of  sandals worn by some teachers. He placed the bunch of keys in the hand's grip of Sethu  and sandals on his nose. After a few minutes, gyrations stopped and Sethu lay flat  on the ground motionless. I had seen the girl, whom I referred to, crying. I thought something sinister had happened. After a few seconds, Sethu regained consciousness and water was sprnikled on his face. I was told that he had suffered from fits and that happened to him sometimes. Later in the day, I had seen Sethu going home accompanied by the girl. That was the last time I had seen Sethu. I do not know whether he married his Murrapennu or married at all.

Another of my childhood acquaintance was Cheriakuuty. We studied in the same class and he was a puny little creature with a girl's voice. He talked  very fast and  his steps were  rhythmic like a male dance teacher.  Cheriakutty was an orphan and belonged to some other village. After the demise of  his parents, he came to stay with his maternal uncles. The least Chriakutty was interested was in studies and no one was there to advise him. He often skipped the class. On inquiring what prevented from coming to school, he used to fabricate stories about his absence. Most often it would be about church festivals in his relatives houses or similar reasons. He dropped out of the school after his fourth standard  or so.
After a years , I came to know that Cheriakutty was the lead person who celebrated the church festival that year. To top it, he also organized a play spending money from his own pocket. He must have been 13 or 14 years at that time. He invited some professional theater group for the play. Before the start of the play, they wanted to  have the entire money. Cheriakutty did not have the money and the artists were not budging.  The play was delayed by an hour or so. For a while Cheriakutty was missing. He reappeared after some time. This time he was carrying a golden necklace, weighing not less than 10 tolas. He gave that necklace to the theater group and the play started. No one knew from where he got the ornament. Some guessed that it could have been something that his mother would have bequeathed him after her death.  I have not heard about Cheriakutty later.