Memories flew back to me after our cricket rewind at the school grounds. It was the time of test cricket, when the lunch break filled with Vengsarkar, Gavaskar, Srikanth, Kirmani and all, often triggered by Elvin Miranda, Biju AL, Edward and his cousin, our fluffy Gailson. I was lucky to be part of two rival teams, the XA and XB, I quit the ' B ' team headed by Robert Mathew and joined the ' A ' team led by Arun in the IX standard. But I kept my old friends and met them often, noon breaks offered great celebration as I shuttled between the two divisions, still cricket served a cause.
I watched with joyful eyes, Arun playing cricket, because during school days he used to retire to the side of the ground due to wheezing problems, where the bushy cocoa plants and coconut trees offered enough shade to sit. The ' monitor ' badge did not allow Arun to sit in the class, so he came along, as a disciplined leader. Thankappan Sir always had an aversion for the lazy bugs sitting on the shade, so he cross-checked a number of times, whether their reasons are genuine. In retaliation the ' lazy bugs ' circulated stories about him, that highlighted his ignorance of the cricket game. One interesting story which Arun told me was his device of calculating time. Thankappan sir used to rotate his head whenever he was in the attention position, like a seconds hand on a clock. Thomas sir who was an accomplished mathematics scholar, was the first one to notice it, and he asked him to count on it. Every rotation of his head counted a minute, and thus he could easily calculate the time without a watch. Thankappan sir was happy and he perfected the technique to tune his biological clock to accuracy.
In the new division I was inducted to the captain's elite group only after the first term examination, till then I was regarded non challenging and less harmful. Arun already had the intelligence report about my ranks in VIII B through Robert Mathew; both the leaders had a hotline. But to everyone's shock I surpassed Gopu and shattered Ramalingom for the second rank in the Onam exams and the greatest surprise was the marks I got for Maths. It took me close to Arun and he offered me a hand with a smile, business starts with diplomacy. Arun used to keep a confidential list which included marks of possible close contenders when the answer papers are given back after the terminal examinations. After the second term, his list included four persons other than himself - Manu, Ramalingom, Santhosh S, Gopu...but everything gone topsy turvy as Ramalingom and others took their revenge, pushing me to the fifth place in the Christmas exams. We graduated to X class. No division change, and I was happy because I have been so much acclimatized with the A team. Days passed with the usual infights, jokes, talks on girls, the new corduroy jeans that Sim's father brought from Gulf, Elvin Miranda's shirts and hairstyle, Gailson's new cooking range and washing machine at home, Biju AL's fight with teachers, Thambi sir's exploding jokes and pinches that left postmarks on our tender stomachs, the curious wait for the third chapter in biology ( which was taken only at the end ) and Scaria sir's outrages for our small mischiefs.
One day Arun asked me to accompany him to his sister Abha's class, to get her progress card. I think she was in the fourth or fifth standard then; unlike Arun, she had only average marks for most of the subjects, but a big score for Maths. I laughed at the contradiction, and said that she shared her brother's brain only in Maths.
But Arun was jovial, he put it simply " We are a family of mathematicians "
" Mathematicians ! " I exclaimed.
" Yes, I will show you " Arun said smiling
Back at the class he showed me his father's signature on a test paper answer sheet.
" Can you decipher it " Arun asked.
I was looking for the name behind the signature, I failed after many attempts and finally read what I saw " K raised to 4 "
" Exactly, K raised to 4, " Arun said with a smile.
" True its mathematics, but what does it mean " I did not conceal my bewilderment.
" K K Kuttappa Kurup " Arun laughed
I was still baffling at the riddles of the mathematics family.
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