Kochappan's thumb rule

Having suffered two falls caused by my improvements in English, and the examples of the academic brilliance of the saucy Bipansha, kochappan approached me with appreciable caution and diligence, the like of which, according to his learned wife, he has never shown in the recent past.

Kochappan, in his inmitable style, would have decribed the sentence I have written above, as a glorious example of ' verbal diarrhoea and costipated ideas'.

Now that I have made a maiden attempt at perambulation of the Dr.Johnson variety, let me come down to the reality show.

We settled down with a cup of tea. I was keen on avoiding quoting film actresses to avoid further instances of gravitational pull , primarily considering the safety of the ceramic tiles of the flooring , on which, Kochappan is likely to find solace.

'' How is Komala and her school?'' He asked me. '' It must be tough teaching Social science

to students most of whom may not have a liking for it''.

'' I also thought so'' I told him."But she says that most of the students commit some spelling mistakes and misunderstanding of the meaning of few words here and there, but they all do well in their exams''.

He, being meticulous and studious, wanted examples.

'' About Napolean, they mention that he was a well known man but a bit unlucky.' Napolean wanted to have a heir to inherit his power but since Josephine was a ' baroness' she could not bear children for him'.'' I gave an example.

Kochappan was not satisfied with one. I gave him another one ; in fact two; of wrong spelling and confusion of ideas

'' Abraham Lincoln became America's greatest precedent and his mother died in infancy'' Was one, followed by one on Columbus.

'' Columbus was a great navigator who discovered America while cursing about the Atlantic''

I looked at kochapps .Therewas no sign of any gravitational pull occuring. I was happy.

'' The thumb rule is that a Bhavans student is hall mark gold'' . I concluded.

He walked with me to the gate and then suddenly asked me '' Do you know what is real 'Thumb Rule' ?''.

I admitted ignorance.

'' It's an old English Law which states that you cannot hit your wife with anything broader than a thumb''. He continued '' It refers to rough and ready practical experience in getting things done.For eg, one can use the first joint of a thumb to measure one inch, the distance from the tip of the nose to the out stretched finger is roughly a yard and the width of the palm and closed thumb, is four inches'' . He stopped and smiled.

I felt like taking a walk. I walked along the pavement of the broad street. The recently done up , well lit street looked neat and wide. There was hardly any traffic. The street stretched in front of me; stretching itself for some sleep after bearing the load of life for a full tiring day.

I thought of Kochappan and all the conversations with him. I remembered the saying

' Some drink from the fountain of knowledge; I just gargled'.

There was no noise of traffic; the street was tired, drowsy and was in slumber. I ambled along ; without making noise, silently.........

menon ( aniyan )