This man, Kannan Kunhi Raman from Cannanore district of Kerala, despite having a physical infirmity as both his legs are rendered useless by polio, has a nerve of steel I must say. When I arrived at the conference venue of the Kerala Rationalists Association at Kollam, the man was already there and greeted me reminding that we had earlier met at Trichy in January of this year. Yes, I recognised him. He knows only Malayalam, the local dialect and I could understand only two words he spoke; Bhashana (speech) and Trichy (the venue city). He was referring to my speech at Trichy. Language or no language, but his face exudes a radiance of determinism and confidence. My friend Mr Raghunath, a Keralite now settled in Latur, was kind enough to translate for me his words and also tell me more about him. Raman's family has some land with Rubber plantation on it. He has gone as far as to Delhi in connection with a protest march held by some rationalist organisation.
As if his handicap wasn't a malady enough he suffered a serious injury to his hip when he fell down while boarding a bus. He had to be hospitalised for over a month. But all this infirmity and the accident couldn't dampen Kannan's spirit. A rationalist and an atheist with a commitment, Kannan has plans to go to any place in India if he came to know about a rationalist gathering.
Honestly, I feel envious of this man's indomitable spirit and determination.
Hats off to you Kannan.
In this picture (L – R) Mr K Raghunath, Yours truly and Kannan K R
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