A Chat With A Cup Of Coffee

By Kanthalakshmi Chandramouli

The author has diligently written about her experiences as a Senior Citizen in various walks of life and the similar difficulties other senior citizens also faced. She yearns for an environment where peace takes precedence and clamour takes a back seat.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Pustaka Digital Media
• Release date: May 14, 2022
• ISBN: 6580525908493

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A Chat With A Cup Of Coffee

Author:

Kanthalakshmi Chandramouli

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Table of Contents

AUTHOR’S NOTE

FOREWARD

1. WILL ANYONE LISTEN TO A SENIOR CITIZEN?

2. CELL CALL JOURNEY

3. WHERE HAS THE SILENCE GONE?

4. MY VANISHING FRIEND

5. GRANDPA’S DAY OUT

6. A WOMAN IN HOSPITAL

7. VISHLUKUTTY AND POOR ME!

8. PAPER, PAPER, EVERYWHERE

9. MY ‘PHOREN’ STAY

10. NOT TO WORRY

11. VAASTU, FENG SHUI AND THE POOR MALE

12. A JOURNEY THROUGH TIME

13. DON’T LEAVE ME, MY FRIEND

14. ‘MAAMIS’ GALORE

15. WHEN A GIRL BECOMES A WOMAN

16. PREPARE HIM TOO!

17. BE AN IN-LAW, NOT AN OUT-LAW

18. A PILLAR OF THE INSTITUTION OF MARRIAGE

19. MUSIC MUSINGS

20. THE YOUTH AND THE FAMILY VALUES

21. GET IN TUNE WITH RELATIVES

22. THE GREAT INDIAN HOSPITALITY

23. SOMEBODY GET MY OPINION PLEASE!

24. TO TAKE CARE OF THE SENIORS….

25. A FEW WAYS TO VICTORY FOR SENIORS

26. WALK BABY WALK

AUTHOR’S NOTE

My friend Mrs. Vinutha Raman introduced me to ‘Eve’s Touch’ magazine. This was an English Magazine from Chennai under the able guidance of Late Sri. S. Muthaiah. Editor, Mrs. Bina Raju took the magazine to a great height.

I was fortunate enough to get many of my articles published. These articles talk about the times of those years 1980’s end. Little slow, slightly peaceful, lots of humour, were the experiences of the women of those times.

Take a cup of hot coffee in your hand, sit in a swing – if you have one, start sipping and turn the pages of this book.

It will be like munching a few snacks, in between a few sips of Pure Tanjore Coffee!

KANTHALAKSHMI CHANDRAMOULI

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FOREWARD

When my Vadhinai(elder brother’s wife in Telugu) beckoned me to write a foreword for her forthcoming book A Chat with a cup of Coffee I was flabbergasted. Not being very erudite or literary, treading an untravelled path would be a great challenge for me. However not in the least to belittle the immense faith she had in me I have now treaded this unexplored path. Mainly because my Vadhinai to whom I have great regard and respect has all along been a mentor to me till date in my life and continues to be so. I had in the past had occasions to read some of her writings and always admired her writing skills which are based on lucidity laced with a message to the gen-next.

Before a reader ventures to read this book he or she should do a rewind and put his or her clock back and then start reading the book. As these are a compendium of the author’s articles/anecdotes which were published in an English monthly magazine some two decades back and are based on the situation as it existed then, the reader can appreciate the book only if he or she puts himself or herself in that context. He/She can also see that some of the situations that existed then have not changed a wee bit even now!!

The author has diligently written about her experiences as a Senior Citizen in various walks of life and the similar difficulties other senior citizens also faced. She yearns for an environment where peace takes precedence and clamour takes a back seat.

She also has given a personal touch in some of the articles and narrated her experiences with her family in her own inimitable style with subtle humour. In chapter 4 she talks about the vanished tribe of Rickshawwallas substituted by the Autorickshawwallas which dates us back to what Oliver Goldsmith has said in his poem The Deserted Village when modernity had overtaken antiquity. She has also narrated her experiences in Egypt where she lived for about 15 years, her date at the hospital and the values of tradition and the institution called marriage. These are just samples that I elucidate. More such interesting articles are in this book. I do not want to elaborate as I do not want to rob the reader of his/her consummate reading experience.

As the title of the book itself suggests the style adopted by the author compares itself to a heart to heart chat the author has with her readers meandering through her experiences of life at the same time sending out messages for a better life for all of us.

That’s it.!!! Happy reading!!! Enjoy!!!

Chennai-4

Date: 16.4.2022

V.VENKATASUBRAMANIAN

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1. WILL ANYONE LISTEN TO A SENIOR CITIZEN?

After a certain age, you become a Senior Citizen. The title ‘Senior Citizen’ is nice to hear, as ‘Oldies’ makes you shudder. Once you are a Senior Citizen, you suddenly realise that day-to-day living can be managed but enjoying it becomes very difficult. As a Senior Citizen, I have had some complaints and I list them below.

Everyone wants to read a newspaper. Senior Citizens look upon reading a newspaper as an event of joy. A cup of steaming coffee and a newspaper in hand in the early hours of a day – and a Senior Citizen is ready to forget his or her aches and pains for nearly an hour. What about T.V. and its non-stop news channels you might ask? T.V. viewing and its timings are the breeding grounds for fights in a home and could turn into a battleground at the slightest excuse. It is a major source of clashes between the old and not so old, young and not so young. Senior Citizens, by now wiser, retreat from the arena of T.V. channels and go for the calmer climes of reading a newspaper. But have you ever tried to read a newspaper through a senior citizen’s eyes? Except for the name of the paper and the headings on the first page, he/she is hard put to decipher the rest of the news. The paper is yellowed, the letters ant size. Some of my friends use magnifying lenses to read it! The T.V. timings, radio timings, air and bus timings are the most difficult parts to read in a newspaper. We have no other option but to ask the people around to give us the information. Will newspaper owners ever understand this and do something to help us out?

The next complaint is against the phone directory. The first hurdle is trying to lift a telephone directory, which is heavier than a sack of rice. The second hurdle is trying to find a phone number. Even not so Senior Citizens will appreciate what I am talking about. True, the Telephone Department provides CDs containing addresses and telephone numbers, but how many senior citizens can operate a computer?

It is good news that Senior Citizens get a 30% rebate on travel tickets. But do the Railway appreciate that their stations are the most difficult places for Senior Citizens? You have to climb steep steps to get to a platform in some stations. In others, you are out in the open, left to the elements while waiting for a train. Getting on a train is like climbing Mt.Everest. The steps are the weirdest in the world. Once, I narrowly escaped a calamity in my bid to get on to a train without someone lifting me up. My hand held onto the latch in the door and the door almost closed causing me to fall back on the platform. Luckily some people helped me out. So, nowadays I sit in the doorway, facing the platform, and then drag myself in Once inside the carriage, I try to get up. This makes my saree dirty and do the people around have the patience to wait for my acrobatics to be completed. In some stations, you have to jump down from the platform to reach the other side and in others, you have to walk miles. Will the railway authorities do something about this?

In modern times, a Senior Citizen lives to be a Senior Citizen only because he or she is loaded with medicines. Despite all the toxins, pollution, germs, and bacteria freely available on earth, we live longer (than necessary!) due to doctors’ prescriptions and hospitals! I call myself a DMH (Doctors! Medicines! Hospitals!) person. Personally, I have been in and out of hospitals many times for other ailments. I do take care of myself with medicines, moderate food, and exercise but many of my age-mates will agree that taking medicines properly is the most difficult thing for a Senior Citizen. It is nice to have your friendly neighbourhood pharmacist delivering the medicines at home. You are warned to check each tablet before taking it. Apart from deciphering the handwriting of the doctor, you have to read the label on the medicines, their manufacturing date, and the expiry date. Try and find the name of the tablet, from the silver foil-packed tablet! It shines under sunlight and artificial lighting and you stare and stare until your eyes are tired! Not wanting to disturb your family, who are already tired enough, you are forced to remember the tablets by their colour. Every month the tablets vary and you are at wit’s end trying to take your tablets properly. People, who run ‘The Great Tablet Show’, will you please take notice?

The simple task of looking at your watch for the time of day is getting harder and