Thomas M Sebastians "THOUGHTS"

A Sad Demise

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Mumbai , gifted me a hotel, Hotel Victory. Why this hotel is important? Because it catered to our taste> the Kerala dishes. Hotel was run by a family from Pathanamthitta, Kerala. But the were residents of Mumbai for past 20-25years.

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The discovery.

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It all started with a reference of our friend. Then I and my roomie started hunt. Since we were new to that place , we got baffled so many times. Atlast we discovered it. We found the hotel owner communicating in Hindi. So we thought , it might be run by a North Indian. . There we opted for the "Chicken Biriyaani" to feel the taste. After finishing it off, we left without any chit chat.

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Second visit

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Then again we visited the hotel with more friends. This time we came into contact to the Hindi speaking Malayalee, Mr Babu Thomas. He became friendly, as we went deeper into the history of hotel and him. This time the conversation was totally in Malayalam. Special Fish curry and Chicken prepared in Kerala style were readied. It was prepared by Mr Babu itself. The perfect sync of spices and masala were done.

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Onam

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We had our Onam celebrations here at Mumbai. So Onam,which is the Festival of Kerala was having a special meal called "Onam Sadhya"** [Onam dish] followed by Payasams. Since we were lacking Experience and were not in a mode to put that much effort, we went to Hotel Victory. We went in a bunch, with almost all wearing traditional dress "Mundu". We had our Onam Sadhya there.

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Daily

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Gradually we become hardcore lovers of Hotel Victorys dishes.So after coming from office, we three get down there at Hotel . This was followed through out the week and month. After bringing in my bike from Bangalore, the frequency of visit increased in weekends. With the Sunday being a special day at Victory, filled with delicious Kerala disjes and snacks.We were also given due consideration and had a good rappo with Mr Babu.We had chit chats till late night. Also one of the staff was from Kerala. We saw Mr Babu working as a Manager, a worker , table cleaner, cook. He had a great desire to work and was ready to help others in time.

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The demise.

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Mr Babu shared so many incidents of his life. Both bad and good. He left his job and kick started his first venture. Since the hotel has to be run , he worked relentlessly . He used to remain in the kitchen almost 24/7. He cared every worker and they were like a family. Later by around 19th December 2007 he fell ill and was admitted in a hospital. Since Christmas upcoming, they invited us to celebrate it with them. Even the child of his, mentioned of bursting crackers on Xmas and New Year. Mr Babu was given ventilator support. I visited him 2 times. Initially, when i made a visit, he was sleeping.

On december 25th, Christmas day, the face of hospitalised Babu came to my mind throughout, between the Xmas service. And I and my friends prayed for him. Then again I visited him on december 26th, he was happy and started smiling at me . He also talked a bit. I found his health as improved. Also the doctors and his wife expressed the same. We all thought he will be coming back to work soon.

On december 27th, I was on my way to room, after office hours. My friend/rommie called up and said "There is a bad news , Mr Babu passed away " .It was really shocking since we least expected this. On reaching home, I along with my friends went to his home. The situation over there were as such , we were unable to face his wife and his child, whom we used to interact daily. Even if the contact with Mr Babu was short, he find a place inside our heart. One of my room mate was on adoration prayer , so as to recover fast.Till now he is not informed, since he is out of coverage area. We contacted the center, but their response was lukewarm. But amid all our efforts, Mr Babu joined the heaven.

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**Onam Sadhya will be served in Banana Leaf with Kerala rice and a wide variety of curries, salads, pappads, snacks .After finishing the dish you will be served a variety of "Paayasam" [ sweet]. So this dish preparation is usually carried out by experienced hands.More over a great effort and time should be spend for the N number of curries , so as to make it Grand.