kovalam . കോവളം

It was a rainy day.

Heavy downpour!

He was a crazy man.

So he went to the beach, alone.

Above the rocks there was a thatched hut, leaking all over.

Roasted shells were served with local liquor.

Two dark skinny children were sitting on a corner, looking at him with their big pale eyes.

They were hungry.

It is obvious.

It’s not the season.

They must me starving.

There are roasted shells.

But they are for the customers.

The man could not eat them when he saw those poor souls.

“If I do not touch the shells, definitely their mother would give it to the next customer”, he thought.

.

While stepping down he couldn’t stop looking back.

He saw those children with happy faces and wide open eyes, having the half eaten shells!

.

കോവളത്തെക്കുറിച്ചോര്‍ക്കുമ്പോള്‍ അച്ഛന്‍ മനസ്സില്‍ നിറയും.

ഞാനാദ്യമായി ‘കോവളം’ വരയ്ക്കുമ്പോള്‍ അച്ഛന്‍ ഒപ്പമുണ്ട്.

ഞാനന്നു സ്കൂള്‍ കുട്ടി. മഴയുള്ള ഒരു മദ്ധ്യാഹ്നം. പാറക്കല്ലില്‍ ഇരുന്ന് ഞാന്‍ വരച്ചു.

നിവര്‍ത്തിയ കുടയുമായി അരികില്‍ അച്ഛന്‍ നിന്നു.