kochappan and the missing Hyphen

By the time I reached Koratty it was Five in the evening.I walked through the road, crossed the railway line, and reached the market.That's where he had told me the car will be.I felt relieved when I sat in the car. The bus journey was tiring.The road to Valoor, the place of kochappan's origin, was narrow but neatly laid. I could see the the paddy fields on the right hand side of the road.
On the left hand side were old houses separated from each other

by huge trees;Mango, Jackfruit and Teak.From the gate of the house the drive way ascends, and reaches the garage.In the front, beyond the gate and across the road was a paddy field.

Behind the house, ran the Chalakudy River ; flowing in all it's glory.

I exclaimed while sipping tea.'' Lush greenery in the front and a flowing river beyond the backyard ; heavenly abode!''.

'' Does that word 'abode' remind of you of something else?.'' He asked. Without waiting for my answer he continued.'' have you noticed Acrobat reader - Adobe on your Desktop?

'' Do you know how that name Adobe came?'' .

I admitted my ignorance;an act which comes to me with ease as it has been a routine.

'' John warnock and Chuck Geshake are the founders of Adobe. They named it after the river ' Adobe creek' that ran behind their house."

'' How did you become so studied and meticulous about, say, even usage of words?''

Kochappan started confessing.

If you have a single track dirty mind, when you hear a title, say, "Confessions of 'a' or 'b''',

you link it to amorous adventures or sexual escapades of say 'a' or 'b' . At that age, when I took the book 'Confessions of an Advertising man' I hid it from the eyes of others and read it late night ; to find that it was only an account of the professional experience of the famous David Ogilvy, considered the father of Advertising.

Kochappan's was in the same lines; How he lost his first job as news reporter.

The head line and and an extract of his report published in the news paper was like this.

'' The US ' Vice President' arrives for bi lateral talks'' and the text followed.

Kochapps was fired the same day the news was published.

I found nothing wrong about it. '' Why''. I shouted , roared ,etc etc, in disbelief.

'' When you mention ' US Vice President' it implies that he is the president of all the ' vices' of the US. To report it correctly there should have been one Hyphen between

' vice' and 'president'. It should have been Vice-President of US meaning the visitor was the next in authority to the President of US.

And what bilateral talks it could have between the ' presidents of the vices ' of US and India !..

Bad memories weighed him down. He moved to his room to retire for the day.

It was the missing hyphen that cost him his job.

Had the Vice President been Clinton, the missing hyphen may not have made much difference in the meaning !!!

From the the bed I could see through the window ; the river was serene,tranquil,calm,as ever.

I closed my eyes for the day ( or is it ' for the night' ) . I will ask him tomorrow !!!

menon (aniyan)