Every year on 21st September, Alzheimer Association across the globe unite to recognize World Alzheimer's day. Just imagine the situation when one day some one so close to you whether he or she be your dad, mom or brother or son or daughter all on a sudden fails to recognize you and begins to treat you as a stranger. I have to confess that it will be something unbearable for a person like me hailing from the Kerala State of India. Those born in this part of the world are found to be emotional and ultra-sensitive to the extent that there are always reports in the press of persons dying while attending the funeral ceremony of their next of kin or husband dying while burying his wife or people dying of heart failure on hearing some sad news or students of even primary classes committing suicide when they fail in exams. It is also reported that people dying of cardiac arrest and heart attack are mostly from Kerala when compared to the other States of India.
That is why the Malayalm film 'Thanmathara'( molecule)by the veteran director Blessy based on P. Padmarajan's short story Orma(memory) was a big success though the trend these days is to watch something that entertains or amuses the mind as the people are weary of watching victims of of explosions and cold blooded killings in the media. The film Thanmathra is a vivid and efficacious portrayal of the effects of this disease on the life of an individual and his family. It is the story of Rameshan Nair, an honest Kerala State Secretariat employee,his loving wife and two kids who were leading a happy and peaceful life. To their utter dismay, Rameshan Nair starts to develop problems with his memory and when he is taken to the hospital he is diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease. The family is devastated by this shocking news but tries to adjust themselves to the situation with a lot of determination and courage tinted with extreme sorrow even when Rameshan Nair eventually leaves this world for good.
The film had also sparked controversies as usual and created unwarranted suspicion in the minds of a number of viewers who presumed that they were afflicted with this disease as reported by neurologists and psychiatrists when this film was released
The other day when one of the well known writers in Kerala while participating in a discussion on this disease in a TV Channel broke into tears when he was explaining his ordeal when his father was afflicted with Alzheimer's disease. All the participants agreed that nothing concrete is done to alleviate the sufferings of kith and kin of persons suffering from this disease as though the world is yet to recognise the gravity of the situation created by Alzheimer's disease.
By the father
