Victim: The strike on Wednesday stopped Rodia from rushing to Kottayam from the capital city after her four-year-old son died. Here, she walks out of the Kottayam railway station with her elder son.
KOTTAYAM: In a heart-rending scene at the Thiruvananthapuram Central station on Wednesday, a young woman (Rodia Santhosh) was seen weeping even as political activists picketed the train which was to take her home for a last glimpse of her son.
Rodia Santhosh had come to the capital city to consult doctors at the Regional Cancer Centre in the hope of prolonging her four-year-old son, Richu’s life. Richu (Ronal Santhosh), afflicted with blood cancer, was fighting for life at a private hospital in Ernakulam. For the mother, it was the last ray of hope.
But, the world collapsed before her when news came in that the boy had given up his fight against the silent killer. Ms. Rodia received the shattering news on Wednesday morning. She rushed to the station to take the Bombay Jayanti-Janata Express, scheduled to leave at 7.10 a.m., to take her to Kottayam. However, what greeted her was something different — political activists were picketing trains, leading to long delay. She, along with her brother, had no option but to wait in the waiting room, weeping in silence.
Finally the train resumed journey after a delay of one hour and the authorities interfered to make her travel as fast as possible, as television channels aired the story.
She arrived at the Kottayam railway station by 2.20 p.m. Her elder son Jithu (Sonal Santhosh) and other relatives were waiting here to take her to her house at Kattachira, near Pala.
Police help out
A consoling factor was that police personnel took the initiative to make her travel from Kottayam to Kattachira as easy as possible. The mother and her relatives were taken home in police vehicles.
Ronal was the son of Santhosh Mathew of Ponkathil House, Kattachira, a businessman settled in Ernakulam. His wife Rodia is a beautician. The funeral will be held at St. Xavier’s Church cemetery, Kattachira on Thursday morning. Every hartal begets its own stories of inhuman sufferings caused by the insensitivity of this strange political weapon. On Wednesday, it was Ronal’s mother’s turn.
------------------------------------------------------------------The passing away of the infant was long anticipated; the Bandh had nothing to do with it. The mother's not being able to rush back was unfortunate; but in Kerala, such delay could have happened on any other day also, due to any number of silly causes including a text book-agitation morcha or train picketing by the UDF. That the CM and the DGP rose to the occasion is unfortunately not being highlighted elsewhere. Why did the other passengers in the Waiting Room omit to do anything at all? Lucky that the affected happened to be Christians from Manorama territory!
What can we expect from the LDF in Bandh matters when the Opposition is so ridiculous as to call for Bandhs even against Chikun guniya?
In the early 1970s, the CPM burned a transport bus in Malabar during a Bandh. A passenger’s burned corpse remained in the bus, sitting on a scorched seat, with its arm raised and bent as if in a question mark to the society. Manorama had made a lot about it in those days. Unfortunately, none of their new boys know about such bloodier early times of Kerala Bandhs.
Hope now lies on goondas and bullies like the NDF and RSS moving against Bandh-ers on behalf of the MNCs in the near future. Ushnam ushnena shanthi! The Church can also help with a few Idaya Lekhanams! Bandhs by the Church and the RSS/NDF would also be suitably defeated by the others then.
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