This post is a token for my dear friend here on iLand, Budhoose Kanjoose. I am glad that he was inspired to write about a lunatic he had seen in Kochi after reading my recent story “The Lunatic”. Thanks BK, in fact my story itself was inspired from a true life incident one of my friends narrated, in a lighter vein though, a far cry from the grim one that I had put up, I admit.

There was a lunatic who always used to ask for Rs.2 from the people coming out from the church after the Sunday masses. Once this guy approached my friend and asked as usual for Rs.2. He in turn showed him to a rich guy and said "Go and ask him, he is very rich & new in the town". My friend later got busy in chatting with his friends. While on his way down the steps, he again met that lunatic & he seemed to be in a confused state & murmuring something. When my friend enquired…”Well, I hope he must have provided you generously, are you happy now?”

The lunatic looked up at him & my friend could see that his eyes were red with anger. With clenched teeth he blurted out….

”Patti kazu…mon (a la son#$%#$%^), look what he has given me!!” flashing a Rs.100 note & tearing it to pieces!!

“Bloody beggar….don’t even have Rs.2 with him, look at him….silk kurta, kasavu mundu…..thoooomph!!”

My friend fished out Rs.2 to that lunatic and went laughing out his brains.

Like BK, I also never bothered to ask my friend what happened to that lunatic, I wondered whether my friend also bothered…….