The inimitable rangarajan

Oval face,sporting a light stubble,disheveled hair,paan juice dribbling down the sides of his mouth,precariously perched spectacles and a generous tummy was Rangarajan,a good friend of thirty years standing.

A paan box clasped in his hand,Rangarajan never reached office on time in his life.No senior,however had the heart to pull up a man who was warm,sharp and had a flair for solving problems.A selfless person, Rangarajan would exhaust his quota of leave helping colleagues for admission of their school,fixing up matches for the eligible ones and tending to the sick in hospitals.
His greatest weakness was not keeping secrets.Inspite of this, friends trusted him with private information,only to become public within a matter of hours.He drew people like a magnet and unfailingly managed to ferret out information from them.When you confront him, he would invoke the names of all Gods known to him and deny having passed on the secret to others.His personality was such that no one had the heart to scold him.
A good dramatist, he donned the role of Shylock and that of a servant in a tamil drama with equal aplomb.His acting skills overshadowed the blemishes of his rotund shape and paan stained teeth.Mothers in the colony would invoke Rangarajan’s name in fearful forms to quieten the children and make them complete their meals.Rangarajan‘s mimiced the sound of a beggar,tiger,lion etc on such occasions depending on the tenacity of the children concerned.
Party time saw Rangarajan in high spirits with his well wishes keeping a close tab on his movements and refills.Inspite of this, on one occasion when the joint MD an Englishman told us a joke,Rangarajan sprinted like an Olympic racer ,hugged the Englishman and planted a kiss on his cheeks.The whole gang was petrified but to the relief of every one the Englishman complimented Rangarajan as a joly good fellow.Later on it was discussed that the Englishman was equally in high spirits.

One week end, I was to take the evening train to Nizamabad.Rangarajan called me home for a Beer and lunch promising to get me the reservation and put me on the train.Being an entertainer, he kept me spell bound and we reached Secunderabad junction just five minutes before the departure of the train.He straight away put me in the compartment and had a hushed conversation with the TT.As the train was about to leave, Rangarajan whispered some name to me and advised that in case the TT asked I should say that so and so the GM of South central railway was my uncle.I became anxious and asked Rangarajan about his relationship with the GM.Without batting an eyelid Rangarajan replied that he had seen this gentleman’s name in the telephone directory.The TT was extra kind and ordered for a tea which I politely refused, burying myself in a P.G.Wodehouse novel.

As I reflect back.I cannot help but feel that people like Rangarajan create memories that put a smile on your lips and add colour,adventure and a dash of spice to our life.

 

Dear Viji,
Thanks for the FB.You are right-there are people who add fragrance to the relationship.
Regards
LAKSHIMINARAYANAN

 

Dear Mindian,
Thanks for your FB.As you rightly said there are people whose memory bring smiles to our lips.
Regards
LAKSHIMINARAYANAN

 

Dear Padmini,
Thanks for your FB.Today people are in such a hurry to reach the top,they have no thoughts or time for others.
Regards
LAKSHIMINARAYANAN

 

Dear Sudha,
Thanks for your FB.Rangarajan types are difficult to come by these days.We satisfy ourselves by travelling the memory lane and recall the enjoyable moments we had.
Regards
LAKSHIMINARAYANAN