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Stories / Novel – The Halo Reams
The Souvenir
by TA Ramesh
The whole of
the next week went without any relief for Kannan. He did not get time to
breathe free air in order to indulge in the literary activities. No
letter came to him either from Balu or Gopal. There was perfect silence
from the side of Vaithianathan and also Selvam. Another Sunday had also
come. It was not as interesting as the previous one till the evening.
In the evening he felt why he could not think of writing a short history
of the Halo friendship. The very idea gave him a sort of relief to
overcome his mental stagnation. Then a few questions cropped up in his
mind. The answers he obtained for those questions he decided to write in
the form of a preface to the history in two parts with a view to publish
it one day. He sat by his table and wrote the preface. To his great
wonder the excerpt of the preface turned out to be a grand one!
Preface to The History of The Halo
Friendship
To raise one’s voice and make others accept and follow it genuinely, one
requires power. This power could be achieved only by one’s position in
the society. To achieve this position or status one has to make use of
one’s talent, intelligence, wisdom, genius and so on which are inherent
in everyone. It all depends upon the intelligent use of opportunities
one gets in life,
To fulfill the above notion, the personalities of the Halo are
responsible for the formation of the Halo friendship of the five
individuals. The friendship of these individuals though has not achieved
anything in particular is interested in learning, understanding and
following the true importance of education in order to live a purposeful
life. So, naturally each one is trying his level best to exploit his own
talent by slowly adopting a system suitable to him. The realization of
the hidden skills in them are being appraised and stimulated by the
process of thinking, speaking and writing. As reading has become a
habit, understanding the internal and external crises of each one has
become an easy thing. The pleasure of reading has developed and enhanced
the knowledge of the individuals and which, in turn, after giving apt
exercise to the mind has made the art of speaking and writing look
towards perfection.
It is well known that to make a history is not so difficult as to write
it. “Anybody can make a history, but a great mind is required to make a
history great.” To ask a question is not so easy, because one requires
not only the knowledge of the subject but also a bit of prudence. A
historian has to do both the works equally well. Despite he is prudent
or intelligent, a balanced and impartial mind is absolutely essential
for him to produce effective history. This is because history is not
only a lesson but also a pragmatic guide to the noble minds and the good
hearts to effect creative changes essential for the welfare of mankind.
By and large, history is a complete record of the epoch in which rise
and fall of great empire, war and peace of great nations and so on that
have taken place are distinctly depicted.
There will be a vast difference between the ideal history that has been
discussed and the history of the Halo friendship under preparation. The
two methods produce different results, but each result may be a fair
answer to the particular questions posed in the beginning. They become
misleading only if either of them is accepted as the whole truth. In the
former case, a historian would gather information from the reliably
important persons, who were aware of the causes, the events and the
results of certain upheaval or incidence that took place earlier, from
his own experience on such periods, from the remaining ruins of the
places and from the legends. But it cannot be so in the latter case; for
the latter case, the prerequisites are the hints from the friends of the
Halo or the Haloens who are involved in the Halo activities, the entire
portion of the information found in the Halo reports and a vast amount
of recollections of all the incidents by the historian who is also one
of the Haloens.
From these sources the first part of the history i.e. The Birth of The
Halo Friendship will be completed and the succeeding or the second part
can easily be written to a certain or a convenient period. Further this
history will not only be a lesson and a guide to others as said before
but also a record of errors and misjudgments of their minds leading
towards maturity has yet to be developed. How bitter the task will then
be for this poor historian! Besides other things, this pleasingly
weighty work offers me an opportunity to penetrate deep into the surface
and throw light upon the motives and impulses that united the friends of
this group together. Naturally, this is a kind of adventure to me; yet
this is quite inevitable too!
~*~
Nearly two hours had gone by. Kannan kept the papers and the pen in the
first drawer of the three drawer table and closed it. He looked at the
table clock. The time was 7.20 p.m. He felt someone was coming to his
room. When he turned to the door, he saw Gopal entering the room as
usual without any excitement. As soon as Gopal saw Kannan, he gently
smiled and looked at the table.
“Hello!!” said Kannan, “Do come in and take a chair I have seen you long
ago. How are you, man?”
“I am fine. My days are going on after I have become a junior criminal
lawyer. How do you do?”
“As usual I am doing well. Our industry and businesses are all going on
well. In the evenings I am spending my time by relaxing myself over
literary subjects. That is how my days are going on. Are you meeting our
friends and are you writing letters to Balu and Vaithianathan?”
“Daily I am meeting Selvam in the Law Office and in the Court. I am
dropping letters to Balu, but not promptly to all the letters he writes
to me. Yesterday I received a letter from him. He is coming here in the
middle of next week. I don’t know anything about Vaithianathan.”
While listening to Gopal’s talk, Kannan changed his dresses with a new
one. He combed his hair and made himself ready to go out for a walk.
“Okay, we shall go out to a hotel,” said Kannan, “have a walk in the
beach and discuss a lot of matters both general and personal. I think
you don’t mind.”
“I don’t have any objection. I also like to have a talk to my heart’s
content since it happens to be a longtime back I have seen you.”
Soon they came out of the house and stood on the platform looking at the
vehicles moving in the street.
“Shall we go to the left or right?” asked Kannan.
“Either way as you please!” said Gopal.
“Shall we go to the hotel now itself or shall we go there after we had a
walk in the beach?”
“We can go to the hotel afterwards.”
“Okay Gopal, I feel that’s better.”
They turned to the right and reached the beach. Kannan commenced the
conversation with Gopal.
“How are you managing yourself and your family, Gopal?”
“I am teaching lessons to two school boys as a tuition master for two
hours in the morning. I am getting tuition fee for every month. For
every case I am also getting a certain percentage of commission from my
senior lawyer. From these two channels I am getting sufficient amount to
maintain myself and my family.”
“So, for the present you don’t have financial problem and you think you
can pull on the days like this.”
“Yes, Kannan, for the present I can manage myself in this way. But only
when I become a full-fledged lawyer, I can be confident about my future.
I am trying my level best to achieve that position.”
“What about Selvam as far as you know you can say?”
“The senior lawyer of Selvam is a well known personality in this town.
Selvam can certainly shine well, if he is prudent and confident. Even
though he is sincerely trying, he is not intelligent and doesn’t know
how to take initiative in his profession. Others who are colleagues to
him are taking initiatives and they seem that they will come up at a
shorter period than Selvam. He does not have any other work to mind
other than legal cases as he is well off financially.”
“Gopal, in Madras and other places there are solicitor firms. Why can’t
you and other friends in this line venture upon starting a solicitor
firm?”
“It is a good idea, Kannan. We can do that if we try in that line. It
needs a joint effort of a few lawyers. That is all.”
They stopped walking near a cement seat in the beach and sat on it
looking at the sea. They spent a few minutes gazing at the waves of the
sea. Most of the visitors were dropping out of sight. The place was
becoming desolate. So, they thought it would be better to go to the
hotel then. They decided to go to the Vietnam Hotel. In the second line
beach, they reached there, entered it and settled themselves in the two
sitter table in a corner. As per their requirements after consultation
they gave orders to a waiter. They sat there silently for a few minutes
observing the place and resumed their conversation.
“You have not said anything about Vaithianathan. Is he staying there? Is
it not possible for him to come here for the week end?”
“I don’t know much about him nowadays, Kannan. But I have heard that he
is coming here every Saturday and going there on the morning of every
Monday. I too have learnt this news from Selvam. Selvam has not said
much about him, even though Vaithianathan never fails to meet him
whenever he comes here. There is an understanding between them. We shall
know about their plan as the time passes on.”
“O, I see! Let it be. In my last letter to you, I wrote about the fate
of our Halo friendship. You have not said anything about it. What do you
think of it, man?”
The waiter brought ordered dishes for them, arranged the items on the
table in a beautiful order, filled the glasses with ice cold water and
with a bow left them. Then their attention was on the delicious fish,
chicken, tomato sauce, well sliced bread and mutton curry. They started
to show their skill in slicing the items with the knife and in mincing
and swallowing them using the fork. It was interesting to both of them.
Whenever they paused, they continued with their conversation too.”
“Well, the Halo friendship was a good one,” said Gopal. “It was useful
to develop the mind and the heart to a better standard. In the developed
society, people like to get together, discuss upon good and useful
topics, come to a better understanding and follow better ideas out of it
by using them in one’s life and profession. It required certain amount
of perseverance, intelligence and knowledge. In fact, we wanted to be
like that. The atmosphere in which both Selvam and Vaithianathan were
brought up has failed to inculcate perseverance and intelligence. They
could not coup with you and Balu to achieve that higher standard of
life. To be frank with you, I did not like the idea of publication then
and now too, but I am interested in increasing knowledge useful to me
from discussions on various topics.”
“What you say is quite understandable, Gopal. When we were together we
formed this Halo friendship. When I was out of station, Balu was
managing it well. When he too left for New Delhi, these two fellows also
stopped getting together with me and you to continue the Halo activity.
Once in a blue moon they met me under some pretext or other just to know
about Balu’s feelings through me and something about you because I am
regular in my contacts with him through letter correspondences and now
and then you were paying a visit to me. That means what? They consider
Balu alone a suitable friend to them. Why? They don’t know how to move
with us.
In fact, no one could be friends to them except Balu because he alone
knew how to adjust himself with them. God knows how these fellows could
pull on the days separately without having connections with others. They
do so for the simple reason that they get themselves hurt if their
ignorance on common matters are known to others. They have inferiority
complex. They feel they are far below others in ability. Because of this
nature, the good intention of the Halo has been spoiled and destroyed. I
find it quite impossible to digest their failure even though our
intention is not an impossible one.”
“Quite true. What is the use of talking over spoilt milk? Their nature
cannot be changed.”
“If you say their nature cannot be changed, how will they do their
professional works? One is an inspector and the other one is a lawyer.
Both of them have to write reports, discuss their concerned cases with
the authorities, colleagues and officials. How will they conduct
themselves and perform their duties everyday? Will not each and everyday
be a place of hell for them while they attend to their works?”
“They have to face all troubles, trivialities and tribulations. What to
do? They must be getting themselves hurt as often as possible. It may be
a shameful thing for them to meet us and talk about such matters with
us. Poor chaps, let God save them from such a hell!”
Kannan wanted to talk on the same note, but he felt it was futile. So,
he started to give full justice to the dishes before him. Both of them
left nothing on the plates. Finally they had orange juice, paid the Bill
and coolly left the place. They bought cigarettes in a petty shop, each
one lit a cigarette and started to walk in a leisurely manner.
In a thoughtful mood Kannan resumed his talk with Gopal. “From the
conversation we have had just now I have come to the conclusion that the
revival of the Halo activities won’t be possible at all. The friendship
among us may go on somehow or other, but that Halo friendship is once
and for all over. The activities we had in the past are not the episodes
of a dream. It was not a dream to forget. It was a reality we five
experienced and witnessed. With whom shall I talk about this? Will
anyone believe that we did such a thing when we were together? I don’t
know how Balu feels about this. But I know that he is silently
undergoing the experiences of a loss at a distant place. At least to
compensate for his loss I am going to send a souvenir.”
“May I know what souvenir you have in your hand and when do you propose
to hand it over to him, Kannan?”
“A short history of The Halo Friendship, which is dead and gone!”
“Have you written it?”
“No, I am going to write it in two parts. I got this idea this evening.
I am going to collect facts regarding this from the Reports of our Halo
magazine and from the discussions I am going to have with you and our
friends!”
“This is a good idea. I wish you every success in all your ventures.”
“Thank you, Gopal. I have written a Preface for it, which I will show
you, if you are interested.”
“Sure, I like to see your Preface. When can I have the pleasure of
seeing it, Kannan?”
“Well, if you like, you can see it tomorrow evening say at six or so
when I shall be at home.”
“Then I shall try to meet you in your house at six-thirty in the
evening. What do you say?”
“Agreed!”
Everything was silent in the street. They walked with a quick pace.
After the park, as usual they departed to their respective destinations.
–
Continued
January 20,
2008
The Halo Dreams : A Novel
Writing a Novel | The Park |
Philosophy | The Confusion |
The Conversation
The Appointment | The Journey
| The First Publication | The Change
The Secret | The Painted Veil |
The Halo Magazine | The Debts |
The Break
A Letter | A Surprise Letter |
The Literary Muse | The Souvenir |
The Questionnaire
The Reconciliation
| The Lake
| The Final Meets |
The Surprise |
The
Settlements
The Result
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