Lijo Thelliyil Mathew AKA Vakkachan

Lijo T Mathew was born in Kerala and spent most of his time there in ‘Gods own country’ and then later moved to Bangalore and was in Melbourne for a short period of time.
I had heard about Lijo before I had a chance to meet him in person. A red tie and a moustache was his feature that I still remember. An ardent movie buff and a mad Mohan Lal fan was he and never missed any of his greatest hero’s movies. He had a vast knowledge about movies but losing a bet of 50$ to Ajit was a set back and then never stopped losing money in any bets.
He is a very competitive drinker but only next to Ajit. The very first day at Melbourne started with a bottle of ‘Jim Beam’ and I remember carrying a bucket of water when asked for a bottle of water.
I am usually woken up by the sounds of plates cluttering, water boiling on the stove and the wonderful aroma of the curry that he makes early in the morning. Prashanth or I never complained about this early morning mess because it was the only source of food for the afternoons.
The moustache and the smile that reveals a broken tooth was famous among the girls in and around his workplace and I know a few of them who are crazy about this guy. Sundays are dedicated for a Malayalam mass which I feel is the longest one and a half hour in my life. He never missed any Sunday masses and was often accompanied by Tina and me. One Sunday at Ginifer had in store the shocker of our lives which is still a complicated thing to put in words and I still can’t resist laughing when I remember that incident which took place after the Sunday mass.
A calm and relaxed person was he at work and was always surrounded by gals and his other ‘Billing’ module team members. I often took the liberty to call him to my desk for getting my doubts clarified even while he was busy with his work.
Searching for the restaurants that serve rice and curry was his usual thing when we go out for a meal. Evenings were a fun and a game time with Lijo and me playing football and Ajit and Prashanth joining us occasionally.
The last day was again spent by gulping a bottle of Bundaberg and setting off to India via Brisbane. A long stop over of 15 hours would have made vakkachan crave for some sleep by the time he reached home and Ajit had gone back to his old style of enjoying a drink with himself.