Kuttan Nair forgot his house keys

                   

_{Kuttan(Ku) Nair was}  staying in a remote village in Kerala. The house  was constructed by his ancestors   years back. _{It   was  made out of mud. Even in summer, the inside of the house was quite cool His  wife Sulochana (Su)  and} daughter Parvati  (Pa) were with him. There were a large number of coconut, areca nut, jack fruit, teakwood trees in the house  compound. Also he  was nurturing a quite big  vegetable garden. The surplus vegetables were  sold in the nearby market. In his house compound, there was a small  pond. Water was drawn from the pond. In front of the house there was a small stream. Beyond the stream was paddy fields.  Altogether it gave  really a panoramic  view.

_{Ku’ spent most of his time in the field and garden. He was able to raise sufficient money from the sale of the}  agricultural products. There was a Krishna temple near his house. Pa’ and Su’ used to go to the temple regularly in the evening. Once in a year in the month of October there used to be a  pooram celebration in the temple. The celebration  lasted for three days.  Various cultural programs like Ottam thullal , Dance, Chakyarkooth   etc were being enacted during this period. Su’ spent her spare time in reading books. There was a small library  near to her house. She used to get books from  there. She  was interested in painting also. She taught  few students  painting.

_{Pa’ was studying in a nearby college. She took part in various cultural activities and won many  prizes. She also acted  as}  the editor of the college magazine. After graduation, she joined as a teacher in the nearby school. At the same time she  continued with  her  cultural activities. By that time her parents started searching a suitable boy for her marriage. They gave advertisement in a local news paper. Pa’  told her parents that she was not interested in marrying a boy working in  the middle east. She wanted the boy to be from near her place. After lot of searches, they could identify a boy from the  neighboring town. He was working in the state government revenue department.

_{The marriage was solemnized in the traditional style. Only close relatives were invited for the marriage. After marriage,}  Pa’ shifted to her husband’s house. She was happy with her in laws. Father- in- law was a retired government servant. The school in which she was working was very near to her house. She could come to the house for lunch also.

_{It was a Sunday evening. Pa’ was seeing a cinema in the}

_{TV. Mother - in - law  was  in the kitchen preparing evening tea. At}  that time, she got a whatsup message. After reading the message, she started crying  loudly. Mother in law came running from the kitchen enquiring about the reason of the cry. Pa’ was not in a state to talk. Mother- in- law  sprinkled some water on her face. Then she murmered that her mother was no more.

_{Pa’ along with her husband immediately rushed   to her house. Almost all the neighbors were there. Her immediate neighbor}  started consoling her. She paid respect to her departed mother and sat near the dead body. She could not imagine that her mother would meet such an untimely death. She was told that mother was watering the kitchen garden. Suddenly she felt  some uneasiness and  fell down.  She was immediately taken to the near by hospital  but was  declared as brought dead.

_{After the death - ceremonies, Pa returned to her}

_{husband’s  house. She requested her father to come and stay with her.} But he did not agree. He told that he has to look after his paddy fields and vegetable garden. But  he agreed to come to her  house in the week end.

_{As agreed,  he used to come to Pa's house on week ends and stay with her. On one Sunday evening, he was retuning to his house from  his daughter's house.} He  walked a bit fast. It was getting dark. Children in the nearby houses started chanting  prayers slightly in a louder voice. The village road was almost empty. The  sun was approaching the western horizon. A group of cranes flew over the green fields.  Children were playing football in the nearby ground.

Suddenly he remembered that he has forgotten to take his house keys from Pa's house. He turned back and walked to Pa's house. _{He opened the gate of her house. Walked} towards  the portico. He was about to knock on the door.  At that time, he heard a conversation   in a very  low tone between Pa’ and her husband.

“I don’t think the old man will die in the near future.” said Pa's husband

“Father  is  keeping good health now also.”  Pa

"When he dies, I  want   to sell  the property and purchase a new flat in the town.” Pa's husband

“That will be nice. I am completely fed up with

 this  village  life.” Pa

Ku’   could  not  believe his  ears. He was till now thinking that his daughter was  not so greedy and   was loving her father  very much.  In an angry and desperate mood Ku’   collected   the keys. He did not talk  to Pa’. He came out of the house and started walking  to his  house. Old memories cropped up in his mind. He could not control his sorrow. Tears rolled over his cheek. That is life. All in this world are for money only. Even blood relations have not got any place.

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