Acchande Peru Nannakki

Acchande Peru Nannakki
(He earned a good name for his father )

I do not know whether you have heard this story. In a village in Kerala there was a river. There were houses and farmlands on either side of the river. The market place, a small school and a post office, etc were on one side. People had to commute daily to these. There was no bridge on the river. A boatman was operating a ferry He was very good-natured and considerate to travellers. He even used to physically assist the old and infirm commuters. When he died, his son took over and started operating the ferry. Seniors in the village advised him “Nokku Mone, acchande peru nannakkanam kitto” (look, son, you should earn a good name for your father i.e. be a good son and keep up your father’s tradition). The young man said “Oh theercchayaum cheyyam “ (I shall certainly do so).
The young boatman would never wait for anyone if he had enough passengers to get a minimum profit. He would not give any concession to the poor and sick persons. He would moor his boat in knee-deep water and expect people to wade out to the boat. He would never chat with or exchange greetings with the passengers. In fact he did not even respond when greeted. Initially, people began murmuring and later started telling him openly that he was not behaving in a manner worthy of his father. They started extolling the virtues of his father and told him that he should mend his ways. This went on for some time and almost every passenger said it in one form or other. He never responded.
One day, a woman who was very weak, found it difficult to wade out to the boat and she was about to fall. The onlookers caught her and shouted at the boatman for being totally unhelpful. They said his father was a gem of a man and it was a pity that he should have produced such a worthless fellow. The young boatman looked at the passengers for a long time, heaved a long sigh and said “look, all of you told me repeatedly “Mone, acchande peru Nannakkanam Kitto” and I have seen to it that every one of you mentioned the virtues of my father every time you got into my boat. Would you have remembered him if I had been as good as he was? You would have started singing my praise. Am I wrong in complying with your requests?”
People like me who are in the evening of our lives find plenty of occasions every day to recall with nostalgia, the conditions of life and the behaviour of people, the materials and services in yester years, right from the morning cup of coffee and the quality of news coverage in the papers and the standards of integrity and efficiency, most of which have deteriorated, despite the giant leaps in technology and material prosperity. The overall sense of contentment which used to be there, is lamentably lacking. People are always in a rush from morning to night and even during the night, forever seeking something which seems to elude them perpetually. Even in so-called spiritual matters, there is a proliferation of institutions, functions, godmen and godwomen, miracle and manthra shops, but where have the happiness and peace, the basic satisfaction and tranquility of mind gone? For us, it just appears that the old order has changed but the present set up has done only what the young boatman has done vis-à-vis his father i.e. “Acchande peru Nannakki” IN HIS OWN WAY. Frustration at its worst comes up frequently. Is it due to problems of perception, wrong priorities, mismatch between ambition and ability, error in value assignment, obsession with sentiments and traditions which do not blend with the modern set up, lack of infrastructure, lack of proper leaders and sense of direction and so on and so forth? Can this trend be reversed or has it gone to” the point of no return”?
All in all, I pity the younger generation, because whatever has happened is not intentional and most of them, in their heart of hearts want to be helpful and peaceful. May be the fast pace of life does not give them time to think in the broader perspective. It is an irony of individual achievements and collective failure !!
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