Kaarmegham
Vellakovil - a nondescript village somewhere near Erode or Salem is where my father took his young family in the summer of 1983. We lived there for six months and this is where I discovered my father, Balasubramanian, the celebrity. We had to leave the town middle of the year thanks to someone attempting to kidnap me and failing. However, my father was already a celebrity in my eyes even before this very celebrity-like event. My dad was the only assistant manager of the only bank in the village. This meant that every evening the bank employees fought each other for the opportunity to bowl to me. I never got out and was always the batsman. I had an entourage dropping me off and picking up from school. The best part was the movie going experience. Vellakovil not only had the one bank, it also had just the one cinema - Kaarmegham. You can set the clock to 6 PM based on the Kaarmegham loudspeakers blaring "Thiruchendurin Kadaloraththil" letting the village know that showtime was just about to start. With no television in sight (not until my Dad erected the tallest antenna to get Rupavahini transmission), Kaarmegham had a monopoly on entertainment. No matter what movie was on, a decent crowd would gather for the evening show. This is where my dad's celebrity status came to the fore. On the days that my father would let the theater manager know that he would be coming to watch the movie, the theater would keep running the 'newsreels' over and over till my family got settled in. I remember one such instance where my mom took some additional time to get ready and when we stepped out of our house, a huge crowd had gathered and people cheered on either side of the street as we walked to the theater and the movie was finally underway. Son of a celebrity!
