Articles

The Five Fingers

‘Mathaichan stood at the gates of Guruvayoor Temple like an alien.’

‘May I go in to have a look!’

‘Why not? Guruvayoor Appan is father to all of us.’

‘But then I’m a Christian- Mathaichan.’

Why the hell did you mention that? Now, who can let you in?

The honest Mathaichan walked back like an honourable man. He thought about his grand daughter, the ten year old little Glory. One day she said, “Granny, Johnson my best boy friend asked me if he could kiss me”.

‘What? He asked you that? Then you shouldn’t let him. If he had done so without asking, you could have let him kiss you.’

So, Mathaichan decided to have a look at the elephant coop. There were a lot of elephants. From rebellious ones to tame ones. Many elephants would have seen Mathaichan. It would be wrong to say they looked at him straight. An elephant cannot see a person that comes straight to it. Aren’t their eyes placed on the sides at a fair distance from each other?

‘Ho, isn’t that Kesavan standing there? Guruvayoor Kesavan, the one that was fortunate enough to carry the holy idol on so many occasions.’

The ever-observant Psychologist Mathaichan got an eyeful of the elephant. What majesty! What elegance and grace! The elephant was trying to peel of the palm leaves from the ground and put them into its mouth.

‘Stop! Mathaichan said looking at his watch. It was five past eleven. Start!’

Whichever Mathai says, time will move on its on way not waiting for any body or anything. You can measure it out with your clocks. Starting from seconds, you can go on to days, months and years. You can describe it as the blessed or the cursed moments. You can rejoice or mourn.

The elephant` transports’ a bunch of palm leaves rolled up in its trunk to the mouth with much difficulty. But haven’t you seen an elephant’s mouth? But the structure of the palm leaves does not allow them to pass through the mouth so easily. It brought down the palm leaves too long on one side and by stroking it against the leg made it into the appropriate size before putting it into the mouth .It was twelve o’ clock. Working time was fifty-five minutes.

The elephant’s trunk is huge and very shapely. What to do? Haven’t you seen its tip? Like a finger with its tip chopped off? What can it do with it?

Beloved countrymen, Mathaichan looked at his hand. You too have a look. How about letting go a triumphant trumpet? “For the five fingers?”

The first one is the thump-’mother – finger’ in Malayalam. No body is known to have called it a ‘father- finger’. Isn’t it mother that shows efficiency in managing homes? It can touch every other finger and communicate. It’s something other fingers can’t do.

‘Thump with the help of the index- finger can pick up even a pin from the floor. See, the skill of a mother!’

Next in line is the index finger. He is the one who gives a sense of direction, pointing towards the future. The properly trained can send an enemy reeling down by poking at the right point or the marma with the index finger. The third one is the middle finger, the biggest and tallest. It stands for a co-operative attitude. It symbolizes the fact that much can be achieved and conquered if you work together with those around you. If you stand alone, you can do nothing. The last but one is the ring finger. He is the symbol of individual development and an attitude to go ahead by taking the helping hand of a partner by exchanging rings. The fifth one is the little finger. Don’t the little things in life make it beautiful? A kind word, a little smile, a small help. How great are the results of these small deeds! Do good for others and yourself. Never do even small things that cause sorrow to others and yourselves. It’s the little finger.

‘Guru, what do you think of these discoveries of mine?’

‘Sounds great.’

Have you ever considered that our hand is so efficient? When you realize you have not one but two such hands, doesn’t your joy double? You must be elated. The blood in your vein should boil. Many of the essential parts in our body are two each. Our body is also constituted like a twin-engined aeroplane that can still go on even with one engine damaged.

‘Eyes, ears, lungs, kidneys and even parts if mentioned, may sound obscene are in pairs! You perverted fellow, why indulge in loose talk in the middle of serious business.” Still ‘Guru gave him a piercing look. Isn’t it sense of humour that keeps us happy and united? Don’t you have some stories? Come out with one! ‘

The humourist Mathai gets ready. A meeting is on at V.J.T Hall. A full house. On the dais is a famous society lady. Next to her is Psychologist Mathaichan. The lady has a bad cold. She blew her nose constantly into her handkerchief. When it became wet, she dropped it on the floor. The clever lady had brought a spare one in case of emergency. As she was searching for it the ‘welcome – speech’ maker was talking incessantly about madam’s expertise in various fields.

Her turn to speak might come soon. She was alarmed. She was searching in the bag, looking on the floor, to the sides. Or would it be inside the blouse, she mused.

Seeing her restlessness, madam’s assistant appears.

‘What madam? What’s the problem?’

What can madam say? Hands still on her bosom, she said:

‘When I left home, I had taken two. But now, only one is to be seen.’

What is the meaning of the laughter that broke out from within Mathaichan, when he heard madam?