Page 53 - Demo

THE REVIEW
Three Kind Ladies, a Young Girl and the Star of the Sea!
Though my soul may set in darkness, It will rise in perfect light,
I have loved the stars too fondly To be fearful of the night
– Sarah Williams
These lines describe young Anastasia’s ambition of becoming an astrophysicist someday; she is the daughter of Popeye an old sea dog and his portly better half Sheba Dias of Nagpur.
Anastasia is a clever girl who scored 94% in Std 10 and went on to score 91% in Std 12, in the Physics, Chemistry and Maths group.
In order to become an astrophysicist one has to major in either
Physics or Maths; so Anastasia decided on a Bachelor’s
degree in Maths.
Popeye, being a fiercely protective father, poured over
the list of colleges in India. Suddenly one college
caught his seafaring eye, Stella Maris (The Star of
the Sea). The old chap was delighted. It was an
all-girls college, and it offered a world class Catholic
education. What more could any parent want for
their daughter?
From that point on it had to be Stella Maris; that and
nothing else!
During his seafaring days it was the star of the sea that
helped the sailor boy to steer his ship to its correct port
of destination. (Unlike Columbus who took the wrong turn
and ended up in America while heading for India!)
Both father and daughter were overjoyed at the prospect of the
young lass heading to an institution of their dreams; however there was a nasty surprise lurking in the shadows.
Due to certain technical reasons and because she was from another state the girl couldn’t be admitted. Period!
Incensed, furious and enraged, Popeye turned to the modern court of instant justice, facebook, and poured his heart out on the Madras Anglos page. Reactions and comments poured in swiftly, some sympathetic, some with good advice while some comments were downright mean!
Then came the thunderbolt from the northern hemisphere, from the distant U.K. to be precise; something totally unexpected!
Mrs Jerecia Moreira commented with a plain bit of advice: “Call my mother and explain to her the problem”, was what she said”. The crestfallen sailor, marooned on his island of misery, had nothing to lose. So he called up
Aunty Coral Donovan of Pursawalkam, Chennai. Now, neither Jerecia nor Aunty Coral knew Popeye or his family. They were complete strangers to say the least. Aunty Donovan gathered the necessary information from Anastasia and next morning headed in an auto rickshaw to Stella Maris. There she met the authorities, explained the young girl’s predicament and took advice from an Anglo- Indian professor of history, Mrs Dolly Murray.
From then on, Aunty Coral and Mrs Murray got on the case and kept calling for the necessary documents, application number and
other relevant information, trying their best to help the girl. No big talk, no false promises, just solid groundwork.
One evening at 7.30 pm just as old Popeye was about to pour one of his many sundowners, his phone rang! “Shiver me timbers!” thundered the old
sailor. “Who could be calling at this hour?” he said, and in a temper, lifted the receiver.
The voice at the other end was that of a lady calling from Stella Maris saying, ‘Get to Madras post haste - your daughter has been allotted a seat for B.Sc (Maths).
Being a veteran prankster himself, he put his guard up. At first he dismissed it as a prank and then had a
few large gulps.........
That did it! His brain cells lit up like Edison’s bulb, good sense prevailed, and the next morning he and his daughter set off to the land of Robert Clive,
Engilbert Humperdinck and other greats, good old Madras.
However, like St Thomas of Mylapore, he was not completely convinced: “Till I hear it from the horse’s
mouth and till I see it in writing I will not believe!” said the doubting sailor.
The next morning, he strode into the
grand Stella Maris campus and met the PA
to the principal. To his utter astonishment
he discovered that indeed the young
lady had been allotted a seat. It was no
prank! The seemingly impossible had
been achieved. The old mariner was
as exuberant as a shipwrecked sailor
about to be rescued from a sinking
ship.
Since then Anastasia has started
studying in the institution of her choice,
one that will take her far, her wagon
hitched to a star!
But that’s not the bottom-line; from now on,
no matter what she accomplishes or how high or
how far she goes, her accomplishments won’t be entirely her own. Much of it will be attributed to these three kind ladies who until that point in time were complete strangers to Popeye and his family.
These ladies did what they did because that’s just the kind of people they are - large hearted, sympathetic and compassionate, expecting nothing in return.
While at Madras, Popeye had the good fortune of meeting Aunty Coral and Mrs Murray for the first time. Jerecia is in the U.K., happy and content knowing that her act of kindness enabled a young girl to get her heart’s desire.
A few days later Popeye returned home, mellowed and humbled by this enormous act of kindness, wondering: How does one measure up to such people? How can they thanked?... and above all wishing there are more like them.
Finally, he hopes that the words of John Masefield will guide Anastasia in the years ahead:
“Give me a tall ship, and a star to steer her by”.
Contributed by Popeye (composed after his sundowner)
JANUARY’19-JUNE’19 53