A Gallant Knight in the New Year
T he New Year was celebrated by us in a small family gathering with few relatives. Apparently everyone wanted to bid farewell to a year which was not too pleasant in many ways. The world at large was still under the tentacles of recession. In India we were witnessing some of the most blatant instances of corruption in public life. Inside Kerala the paradoxes were on the rise with the highly literate state getting ashamed over police excesses, systematic destruction of administration and rising prices. To top it all, the housewives were seriously concerned over the unheard price rise of onions. Raj, younger son of legendary musician LPR Varma was on a vacation from the Middle East and his house by the side of Tripunithura backwaters was the venue for our get-together. A perennial entertainer that he is, he along with his gracious wife Thulsi took the initiative. His sister Beena, brother Prem with his family, turned up along with Jamuna Varma their aunt-Cheriyamma-with whom my wife Sin