An adventure on the lake

As I  have mentioned before in this blog, good friends are the best things that have happened to me. I don't have too many friends, but the ones I do have are truly solid friends and I consider myself fortunate in having them.

Romesh Mehta is one such old friend. We first met in Hyderabad in 1972, when as young Probationary Officers in the SBI, we attended a training programme in the Bank's Training Centre in Banjara Hills. I took an instant liking to him and from then on, we became the best of friends, sharing many adventures and experiences. We worked together in the Planning Department in the New Delhi Local Head Office of the Bank, and for quite some time I even stayed with him in his comfortable flat in Greater Kailash II. Then we were partners during the Bank's Lead Bank Programme in Garhwal (in today's Uttarakhand) and spent a lot of time together in Pauri. During a break in the work, we travelled down to Kerala, bringing my motorcycle along (by train) and went around many places in the state on it, before returning to Garhwal. It was a most enjoyable trip.

After the two of us got married, we both took up flats in Saket and were neighbours till Simmy and I took a transfer to Kerala. Though far away, we always kept in touch and made it a point to visit one another every now and then.

In December 2016 Romesh and his wife Shobha paid us a short visit. We went up to Mavady where Romesh had stayed many years back during our memorable motorcycle  trip and when Ammachi (my mother) was still alive.We also spent a day with my sister Laila in her beautiful house near the old ancestral Mavady tharawad. 

     On board the boat 

On returning to Kottayam, we then went to spend a day and night  at the Sailing Club in Kumarakom, where we had a minor adventure when we went boating in my speedboat Spirit of Meenachil. 

Romesh has described the incident very well on Facebook and it aroused considerable interest and concern among his friends. I think it would be best if I reproduce his writing verbatim:

“Being Religious”

Most of us believe in God but are not religious in its true sense. A boat ride on the speed boat driven by our friend Thomas Vallikappen on 3rd December 2016, has made me realize the power of a prayer or chanting of any mantra, as the invisible source of energy for human body and spirit.

Early morning on that day, Thomas (ex-SBI 1971 batch) took us out for a joy ride from the Kottayam Sailing Club in the Vembanad Lake in Kerala. While I sat in front in the 4-seater boat Spirit of Meenachil , our wives (Simmy and Shobha) sat on the seats behind. In a few seconds, the boat picked up speed and was cruising at around 20/25 kms an hour giving us a panoramic and awesome view of the vast, serene and still waters of the lake. Suddenly the steering lever of the engine gave way and the boat abruptly stopped midway, about 7/8 kms away from the boarding point. Thomas with help from Simmy, was able to re-fix the screw which had dislocated the lever. He restarted the engine and soon we were once again cruising at the old speed. But as ill luck would have it, the screw again got detached and the boat came to a sudden halt, this time midst a cesspool of weeds.

Thomas, as a natural reaction to his frustration blurted out “Oh S**t”.

A rope from a discarded fishing net had also got entangled in the propeller and therefore, he had no option but to jump into over 10 feet deep water, to cut the rope. He jumped in without a life jacket and after cutting the rope, swam on the left side to climb into the boat. But to our surprise and his own disbelief, he could not do so. He tried a few more times, even with our help, but all in vain. While my wife and I were at a loss to know what was happening, he told us that he will swim and drag the boat to the bank (bund) which was about 150 metres away.

Though Simmy helped in moving the boat with an oar, it was getting difficult to control the boat which kept going zigzag. After 20/30 minutes of strenuous effort by Thomas, the boat reached the bund and to our shock we realized that the height of the bund was beyond the reach of Thomas. We were also scared that if we pushed the boat too close to the bund, he may get squeezed in between the boat and the bund and hurt himself.

As we looked around, we noticed a small portion near the wall bereft of weeds, about 100 metres downstream. We started rowing the boat towards that point, making sure that there was sufficient space between the boat and the wall of the bund so that Thomas who was also swimming along was not hurt. As we reached that point, Thomas suddenly and loudly cried in pain uttering the words “Oh Jesus”. He shouted that something was sucking his leg. He was quick to realize that it was a suction pump (for pumping water from the lake into the paddy fields on the other side of the bund) and that his leg was getting sucked into the pipe. On the spur of the moment, the ladies shouted that I should push the oar against the wall of the bund and take the boat away from the point. To our relief, Thomas was also able to suddenly free his leg from the pressure of the suction pump.

Though there was a severe pain in his leg for some time, fortunately there was no serious damage. As he gained composure, he mustered the same old strength, grit and determination and made a valiant effort to push the right leg up on the side of the boat. This sight was a great relief for us and the three of us managed to pull him on to the boat, slowly but surely. This would not have been possible without his strong will power and God-sent energy. All of us were totally shaken and sat quietly in the boat for a few minutes to gain our breath. An SOS was sent to the Sailing Club and a rescue boat soon arrived.

Thomas, the jovial and fun loving person that he is, told us that he did not realize that he was not the young Thomas full of energy and strength and had actually aged. When I look back I find that two words can make such a difference in adversity-- “Oh S **t” or ‘Oh Jesus”. The first two suck you into a bottomless cesspool and the latter generates invisible energy in mind, body and spirit to come out of it. So whether it is “Oh God”, ‘Oh Jesus’ ‘Hey ram’ ‘Oh Allah’ or’ Wahe Guru’, or any other mantra, we should not forget that these are life giving recitations!

RCM

That was our little adventure, so vividly described by Romesh. We were able to get away without too much damage and enjoy the rest of the trip. Here are some more snaps of the trip.

Underneath the Mango Tree...

At the Sailing Club

At Mavady with my brother Babychan and his wife Rani

Shobha with my sister Laila

Shobha and Simmy in the boat