Day: February 10, 2012
This Ole House Of Ours
I miss the house that I lived in from April 1987 till Sept, 2006. 19 years in that house. Well actually my family & I did spend a couple of summers in the same house during 85-86. The house was built in 1984 and it was completed in early 85 while we were still in Kuwait. We moved in completely after we left Kuwait for good and took all of our stuff – more than we should have shipped over from Kuwait actually – and spent April, May of 1987 settling in the big house. Coming from our small 1 bathroom, 2 bedroom apartment, where my sister I shared one bedroom – a bunk bed where we slept in and the dining table took up most of the space in that room – it was a big change moving into a huge house.
We had some land in front, the back and the left of the house where we planted coconut, plantain, jackfruit, mango & gooseberry trees. We also had a well. The house was built on a slight slope and we had 10 steps from the concrete ground to the veranda/front porch. We had two doors, one leading to the big living room/dining room combo, then a pantry, kitchen, store room, a second store room, separate washing room/dish washing area that leads out to the back yard area. We also had a bedroom and bathroom in the ground floor level. Upstairs we had a common open area, 3 bedrooms and a den/library that from 1997 onwards would serve as my computer room as well. Lots of space. I would spend a lot of time in my room, losing myself in my books and my music and creating my own universe.
When we had to sell the house I was initially happy to be moving to the city but eventually sadness took over. I miss the old house. It was an escape and it was beautiful. Now someone else owns the house and another family lives in it and they have made a lot of changes to the house.
Assault On Lady Passengers
Something similar to what happened to Soumya back in February 2011 another attack in a ladies railway compartment happened yesterday. Around 9am near Kuruppanthara railway station on the Kottayam bound Ernakulam-Kottayam passenger train, a man who the police later identified as Sadananda Deshmukh, 42 of Maharashtra, forcibly entered the ladies only compartment and attacked some of the passengers. Majority of the women in the compartment were students and in the melee a 19 year old Polytechnic student Jisha Jose was injured and later admitted to the hospital.
Deshmukh was apprehended by other people and handed over to the railway station master. The cops arrested him and took him to the police station but have said that initial interrogation has not yielded much results. They say that his statements are vague and that it keeps changing every minute. A case has been registered against him based on the statements of the students and other women passengers. Other eyewitness claim that he has been seen boarding the ladies compartment on other days. He is said to be acting like a psychopath in custody. The case against him is under 345 IPC for attempt to outrage the modesty of women and also charged with attempted robbery. He is remanded for 15 days.
People had been hoping that last year’s incident, which shocked the citizens of Kerala, the security of women traveling in trains would be strengthened with either guards or police stationed in the compartments. However it seems that there is still a lot left to be desired in that situation.