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The ballad of Thangachi 2

It was a cool German June morning. SS still had her bearings all wrong. She is still jet lagged. After all, she had just arrived at Leipzig University to present her paper.

Today is a special day. It is the day she turns 50. Yes, the big scary Five-O! Wow, there used to be a time when she thought 50 was the age where people plan for retirement to play stupid little games with their spoilt brat grandchildren. But, hell no! She has so much to achieve. The last things she feels now is old. Sure, a little aches here and there, breathlessness, extra pounds around the mid-riff but old, no way.

Not bad, she told herself. Coming from humble beginnings in a household where melancholy was the tone everyday, she has come far. Her childhood was plagued with chronic asthma which she kept cursing her paternal side of her family as they were the carriers of that gene. Every member of his family had one thing to boast about - asthma. It was like a family heritage. She spent many days crouched breathing to let oxygen permeate through her lungs. And many unattended school days affected her school performance. She remember hitting rock bottom somewhere in the upper primary school when my position in class fell a few places short of last in class.

It is not that her parents neglected her condition. The affordable government clinic accorded short term relief but recurrence was a nagging issue. Frustrated with modern medicine, the family, with their limited finances, still forked out precious money to try Ayurvedic preparation. She consumed litres of dissolved powdered concoctions over years with no avail. Even, Sufi priests had a hand in giving a lease of new life to her. Miraculously by Grace of God of whatever name or origin or the self limiting nature of the disease itself, she was indeed given a new slate, respiratory wise. All those frustrated years of hopelessness and bearing of chiding from mother for not 'trying hard enough' paid off. Her late teenage years was her turning point.

Greed and jealousy are considered enemies of mankind. But combined with willpower and determination, it can be a powerful arsenal, they say. Sure enough, she climbed the ladder of academia and now hope to scale heights that none of her coolie ancestors had scaled before.
Happy 50th birthday, SS.

Even before the euphoria of her birthday sizzled out, she returned home to hear that her sister was about to be driving around the town painting it red with her spanking grey hued new Mazda C5.
If her paternal grandfathers could get as near as being washing car or chauffeuring for a living, these two girls have gone one step further - driving their own car and sending it to car wash! Haha..

Extreme right: Soon to be Dr Sheila Ph D and her entourage in Leipzig University

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