Jagathy will return; so will the laughter. As our vehicle made its way to the Vellore Christian Medical College my mind was in a state of hurt, impaled by a thousand questions. On my side was my friend Ravi Vallathol. Our journey was to meet a common friend -Sreekumar. A student of the 1971 Botany batch in Thiruvananthapuram Mar Evanios College whom we affectionately called Sree. Sreekumar, beloved Jagathy for all - would he or would he not recognise us? What's the truth in the stories about him that appear in the media? One day you will read a news item which says there is a great improvement in his condition. Next day another one will proclaim there is no change in his condition. Why keep worrying. It's better to to go and meet your dear friend. I talked to Ravi. He came running as if he was waiting for my call. We called up Jagathy's wife Shobha and son Rajkumar and said we were coming down. In Tamil Nadu you miss the background score of rain. It's almost like summer with the dragonflies of sun hovering over your head. The vehicle stopped on a road where the towering CMC was casting a shadow. We learned that Philipose Mar Chrysostom Mar Thoma Metropolitan had called on Jagathy minutes before our arrival. As we entered the room No 207 in A Block we saw Jagathy sitting on a wheel chair with his back turned towards us. By his side was his nephew Anwar. There were stubbles on his face. A surprise. For me he was a friend who always took care to appear clean shaven. His neatly combed hair sported a slight wetness as if after a bath. Sitting on the wheel chair Sreekumar was arranging a set of playing cards. An excercise he is being made to do as part of neuro rehabilitation. I pushed Ravi to the front and stepped back. I wanted to see: Would Sree recognise him? Would his face in which navarasas effortlessly bloom display that emotion when you see a dear old friend? What I fervently hoped for was realised. He recognised Ravi. Slightly raising his eyes Sree smiled at him. Ravi could not believe it. He hugged him, almost breaking down. I gestured him not to cry. Ravi was like this. Always struggling to control emotions. It was my turn. I took a few steps forward. He greeted me with a smile full of wonder custom-made for me. I heard him asking even without asking: "Titus, you came travelling this far to see me".  His physiotherapist says Jagathy has progressed a lot in the last few weeks. But he is yet to get his speech back. As a medical doctor I found it baffling how a person who talked after the accident lost the ability later. He has trouble moving his right arm and right leg. But the left leg and left arm are absolutely fine. He showed me he could do anything with his left hand.  I looked at that face capable of spreading a thousand waves of laughter with a mere twitch of the eyebrow. Bhavas if any were sleeping sound like a waveless sea. Sree eats with his left hand these days. Idlis in the morning, fish curry and rice for lunch. He is happy if there's fried fish. The dinner is light: a bowl of rice gruel. Sree has now got used manoeuvring the left hand.I remembered an anecdote on Mahatma Gandhi who learned speed writing letters with his left hand after he developed a fatigue writing with his right hand. If things move in this pace Sree is sure to turn better. He will soon regain his power of speech. While his right leg has shown some improvement Jagathy's right arm might take a little more time. But we may have to wait some more time to get our old Jagathy back. But then again we have to answer the question on every one's lip: Can Jagathy get back to screen as the old Jagathy? The answer is a resounding Yes, if Sree continues to make progress as he does now. As the car made its way out of CMC gate Ravi shared the words Shivaji Ganeshan had to say about Jagathy. "Super artist..pride of India...pride of Kerala"..