UNCLES

I was 6 years old and going home on my first vacation in my official capacity as a boarder. I don’t remember too many details but that that vacation was one of the rare occasions when my dad had come to pick me. Being away from home for more than a year, I was a little shy of my dad which soon vanished to be replaced by immense shyness toward his best friend, Kannan. That was the first person I ever called as uncle because my own uncles were called accurately by their titles in my mother tongue – either as kochaappan (father’s younger brother), acha (mother’s brother) or veliappichi (older brother to either my father or mother).
So the first person I called uncle was one of my father’s best friends, Kannan. I was asked to call him as Kannan uncle. He was very tall, fair, hefty, handsome and a jovial man. Maybe I even had a crush on him at that age because he was unmarried. Yes, myself who was just a teeny weeny wide eyed, shy girl with a pixie face and long hair who hardly reached my father’s knees maybe. And any guesses of the model of the vehicle we were going to travel? Nothing except the huge and costly heavy vehicle – ASHOK LEYLAND – you are right, a lorry.
If I didn’t know better now, no father could have become dearer to a hardcore dreamy but talkative girl than with a trip on a real lorry. I think dad just met his friend Kannan by chance and deviated his plans of taking me home by any of the many traditional means of transport. They must have had lots to catch up on after a long time and decided that the best way for Kannan uncle to be on duty and for them to catch up on each other’s lives would be to travel together. I for one was very thrilled and by the time we were half way across our journey, I became an adoring fan and a pet of Kannan uncle. He changed his plans again and decided that he would deviate a bit and present me, his best friend’s daughter, to his parents.
We had a pleasant trip to his home with Kannan uncle bringing out all the scholarly fun things I had learnt in ENGLISH, much to both their delights and me being entertained by their past numerous adventures which I don’t remember now. I think I would have adored him even if he was dumb because he was my dad’s friend and handsome to boot. If I was eighteen I would really have married him. He had all the strappings – good looks, a huge and exciting vehicle with a bird’s eye view of the road and lots and lots of stories. Yes, I would have changed my policy not to adore anybody who had no stories, for him.
We went to Kannan uncle’s house in Kollam. Kollam is situated approximately a three forth way between my boarding school in Tuticorin in the state of Tamilnadu and my hometown Kochi in the state of Kerala. His house was in the midst of a lot of trees and I had my first taste of fresh jackfruit chips from his home. I did meet his family which eludes me much to my amazement. The only other thing which remains in my mind now of that time was that both Kannan uncle and I were delighted with each other. I would have had loads to talk about to my friends when I went back to the boarding after that particular vacation.
I didn’t see him at all after that and the last I heard about him from my parents was that he got married. My dad actually had to prod the archives of my memory to make me remember this person.