A Journey with brother

A journey with brother.

Celine lived in a small village called Valachira, in one of the states in South India. When she was eighteen years of age had a journey by train to the city of Mangalore accompanied by her elder brother. Celine was a first-year degree student in arts. Six months in that Economics class is a short period. Still, those few months were memorable for her over time. There she felt the freedom of having good friendships without considering a boy or a girl. She was also confident about becoming mature and understanding the beauty of life in college with her grown-up classmates. A feeling of enjoyment deep in her heart. A state of Joy, which she might not have had before.

In the classroom, every afternoon during lunchtime, they had a lot of fun conducting musical sessions and much laughter. Everyone used to be in the school most often, joining friends regardless if they sang well. That did not matter to them, but they entered their classroom without roaming outside. They all found themselves happier inside the school and having fun with their classmates. And that was the beauty of that free time. Celine sings melodies well, conceiving the meaning of the words. But she never dared to attempt to attend any competition outside her classroom. Her previous two years in that same college were not such tremendous and pleasant, being the juniors on the campus.

Celine was particularly interested in her economics classes since the professor who took their classes and the head of the economics department was Professor Abraham Kalayil. Moreover, she remembers her school friend Maggy when he conducts the class. Because he is Maggy’s father and also he was from her place. Other than that, Celine liked economics as well. Those classes were interesting because Abraham sir presented the lessons well, and the students did not feel hectic or bored. Moreover, economics was an exciting subject, and she loved writing essays on debatable social issues.

That was from one of the nursing schools in Mangalore. One day the newspaper, there was an advertisement inviting applications from girls who had completed their Pre-degree to join the Nursing course. The ad got stuck in her mind though she was studying at a reputed college, and by then, she started getting her examination mark sheets one by one.

But somewhere in her mindset, there was that profession, “Nursing.” But even when her neighborhood girls and childhood friends went to Delhi after completing their Pre-degree to study nursing, that did not impact her. However, when she saw that advertisement, that stimulated her desire to become a nurse, and she decided to apply for a seat. She completed the application with a cover letter and sent it to the address. Celine continued going to college as usual. One day, the postman brought a cover and a call letter for an interview from that nursing school. The authorized signature in that letter was of Mr.Ramappa, the Principal.

Now the problem is with whom she can travel to Mangalore. Celine had only her brother, 21 years older than her, as a male family member to accompany her then. In 1986, her elder sisters could not take her to Mangalore. Traveling a long distance by train to a new city where they had no known person was a difficult task for them. Her brother worked in a private company and stayed away from home but could come home once or twice a month. Since she had no other person to accompany her, she sent a letter to her brother with the call letter. She had no telephone in her house and also in the neighborhood.

Again another problem that arose was the undersigned person on the call letter was Ramappa. Her brother Cyriac did not want to send her to that institution. He was unwilling to take her to Mangalore. Her brother was an innocent man. He had never heard a name like Ramappa before. He was sure that it was not an institution managed by Christian missionaries. Celine and her sisters have had their education in school and college managed by Christian Priests or Nuns. Even though he decided not to send her, he did not reveal that to her. Instead, he did not send her a reply.

Celine decided to go to her brother. It was not difficult to go to his workplace. She went to that place by bus and met her brother there. She informed him about her wish and convinced him in many ways. Celine was determined that she had to attend that interview. Since Celine was the last child in her family, Cyriac could not say” No” to his young sister. Also, he realized how big her wish was to go to that interview. That thought changed his mind. He agreed that he would take her. Celine returned home.

The same day late at night, Cyriac reached home. Before that, Celine made all the arrangements to travel. But, the following day, they had to start from her place to reach Mangalore on time to attend that interview. So, very early in the morning, Celine and her brother left for the town to get the train. That was her first train journey with her brother. Also, that was the day she wore a saree for the first time. She wore a red saree with black lines, and she looked gorgeous in the saree.