Parava, Mattancherry's own

Parava flies very high with Littil Swayamp Paul, its cinematographer and endearing child stars, Amal Shah and Govind Pai. Director Soubin Shahir's maiden movie would have been hard to beat, had there been a story. Right from the credits to the ending, the freshness is all pervasive 
The credits are written on the weather beaten walls and doors of ancient Mattancherry and Fort Kochi, in a child's handwriting. This is a precursor to the child interest of Parava. Irshad and Haseeb are heart stealers. Their pranks and fun filled school life are absorbing. Littil's camera brings out so much, filming the dark alleys, the birds' flights and their behaviour. He brings out the children's expressions so realistically, definitely with Soubin's wonderful direction. Realism lies behind every frame.
The situations and dialogues have outstanding humour. Shane Nigam is so cute and expressive while Srinda, always gives of her best even if it's one scene. Siddique has slowly moved away from his pet niche, humour, to a mellowed realistic character actor.. and how. Dulqar Salman looked like a fish out of water amongst the others, who all jelled into the locale.
The movie Parava should have been named 'A slice of life from Mattancherry', because that's what it gives. You wait for the story which is not around till the end. The doves, and kites all belong to Mattancherry and the characters. Only, the story is missing, except for tiny, interesting incidents which are strung together. Loose ends stare at you in Parava. Yet I enjoyed the cinematography and the acting...Tom Shine Chacko is so good you feel sorry he is not used well by the industry.

When the cataract came calling

Today, the journey that began on April 19 is nearly over.

 Standing on the balcony, on the fourth floor of my son's flat in Hyderabad, my daughter in law, Roshini says, "look at those violet flowers below, Amma. Are'nt they nice?"

I see no flowers, let alone violet. Off we go to LV Prasad Institute, where the doctor declares,"Cataract..surgery to be done in three months in both eyes."

Back to Kochi immediately and to another Eye Institute. Diagnosis confirmed, the date is set for surgery the following week. Five weeks later, its the turn of the other eye. What conspires in between is interesting, irritating and enlightening. I bet no one will tell you this.

Cut to first day at the Eye Institute: A little knowledge IS a dangerous thing, I found out soon. "O cataract surgery...just five minutes and its..over..." and other comments come to you over the phone, in person and watsapp. Doubts that seem silly to other people keep nagging you. After all it’s your eye, even if it’s myopic beyond compare and added to it, cataract ridden. But doctors are busy and leave the PROs to answer your questions. Ms PRO shows you four options of the intra ocular lens that will henceforth be a part of my eyes. I am all ears. She says the first costs the least (Rs.11,000) but takes a few more days to heal. The three other options cost Rs. 23,000, Rs. 26,000 and Rs 34,000 . Which do you want, she queries. Whats the difference, I make bold to ask. "There is no difference. All three give you the same result." she says without an iota of doubt. "But then....why the difference in price?"

Different companies, that's all, she says, as if talking to a moron. The feeling was mutual. We said we will decide later.

'Later' came five days after that. This time, the gentleman PRO also parroted the same lines. I decided not to stomach it. So he went further: "When you buy a branded shirt and an ordinary one they look the same, only the brand name will be there, right?" he explained, eyes wide, looking into mine. I would not buy that.

"No. Not the same. The stitching will be different, the fit and the material too will be different. So now tell me how these three are different". And then Mr PRO hesitatingly turned to the computer and showed us all the differences, albeit many, which we would have never known, and we chose the best. 

I cannot be blamed surely for thinking that the commission for the last could be the least and the PROs were deliberately not batting for them. But I got my answers because I chose to be ‘bad’, according to many onlookers.

D-Day came and my fear almost killed me. Don't know why. One injection near the cheekbone was slightly painful, but that sealed it. Local anesthesia. And then they walk you to the surgery table. You can hardly recognise your doctor, with all those robes and gloves. It can be quite unnerving, seeing other patients, with surgery done,eyes bandaged and not scared at all. I tried to muster up courage, drawing inspiration from them. I was'nt very successful, the doctor told me later. The sweet doctor took charge of everything.  Eyes covered, it was all small noises, musical interruptions and one line conversations. I tried hard to be in savasana mode. I saw different hues, blue, red, black , some rounded forms in black and grey and what seemed like half an hour was maybe half of that, I will never know. "It has come out fine. OK?" said the doctor, as they asked me to get up.

Kind attendants calling you ‘Amma’ lead you away outside. An hour later you can go home because the hospital is really crowded with patients from all over the state.

No sleeping on the side of that eye, no bending, no lifting of weights,  no water in the vicinity of the eye and no cooking.

A tiny green basket covered the eye and yes, there was pain. One painkiller took it away. The night is scary. Will I take the basket off in my sleep and the lens too? Will I turn over to the other banned side and maim the eye? Dawnbreak came without much drama. Off to the hospital for that first review. When the nurse lifted the basket off my eye, mundane colours like that of the wall and her white uniform seemed beautiful, clear and had a freshness all their own. Awed, I cried out ‘Ayyoh”. I don’t know why really. But scared, the nurse thought I could not see. She gave me a mouthful when I said yes. The trees looked greener than ever.

But the weeks ahead tried my patience…two eyes with contrasting visions, eye drops at the drop of a hat (yes, they are that frequent), no reading, no talking much, no phone, a little TV and completely housebound, with dark glasses to hide behind. Certainly not the mistress of the house anymore, with someone else to cook, clean, shop and cut off from my family and friends, first hand. After five weeks, the same routine continues for the right eye, but healing and adjusting is quicker. My new pair of specs sit lightly on my all new eyes, myopia, a distant dream I had for close to 52 years, gone and only very little long sight.

Thank you Dr Sara Jacob, whose commitment, interest in her patients and pure professional passion are inspiring!