#MyParents mine is a story filled with Agatha Christie, Mills & Boon, Enid Blyton and above all Perry Mason; my father was a தவம் இருந்து பெற்ற பிள்ளை - நாகனின் அரசனுக்கு தவம் இருந்து பெற்ற ஆண் பிள்ளை . my paternal grandfather was merely an highschool pass with typewrting
2. and shortland, joined THE MAIL[now defunct] as an assistant on a salary of Rs.3/- per month. i believe it was increased to Rs.5/- after a few years - and was promoted as stenographer and his command over English matched the Goras, the then Editor made him reporter for courts;
3. he was a good learner , i think from what i have heard - and quickly understood the ropes of court reporting; the then Chief JusticeSir Frederick William Gentle of the High court at Madras - offered him the position as his PA and this was declined - reason given - cant ditch
4. my employer; he had 4 children, my father being the eldest and as per my late father - he was told that he will be given education - till he said enough and he has to fend for himself. after his intermediate, did his graduation in MCC and post graduation in Presidency college,
5. with Honours Degree, he chose the profession of teaching and his first posting as 'Demonstrator' was in Government Arts College in Kumbakonam. I have never seen him in any coloured clothes at all- white trousers and white full sleeved shirt was his hall mark. i learnt later
6. he created history in that college by building a rowing team - the college still exists on the banks of Cauvery, laid out a tennis court and encouraged girl students participation in sports arena, as well; his running commentary of the relay race is a legend even now in
circles, which i have witnessed as a young lad in Coimbatore - where he came in as Professor and HOD of Zoology; the man was always reading something - i have never seen him without a book or paper in his hands; the man was 6'2" tall and shoulders broad enough and was also the
8. Officer in charge of National Cadet Corps. Till his death I have not known what his salary was and i have always nudged my mother to tell me how she managed the affairs - she only smiled and that meant - "not your business". he gave me the best - my education and he refused to
9. indulge me; as student i will not say i was the brightest and i always ensured that he will have no room to bow his head in shame because of me. when he was transferred from coimbatore to kumbakonam again, he put me in a hostel [it was much later in life i understood the
- reason - he did not want the education of his son to suffer], i did fairly ok, playing cricket and hockey both for the district level and later state-juniors - [he must have been proud-but never showed it- for after all he played for indian team in hockey]; my sister was born
11. at the time i was leaving school and she was and is my first pet[never tell her that]; - he was transferred to NCERT in its formative years and was posted in Madras University; i had entered college and had become a radical but still interested in games and sports; my sister
12.was growing up and i remember, in order not to disturb my mother used to change her diapers, make her milk for the night feed etc. [i still regret not doing those for my daughter- more of that later]; i seem to have done fairly well in PUC & later in graduation and post
13.graduation as well. i will never forget a few things from him - do not take a stand , unless you will stick to it to the end, my pocket money in school was Rs5/- a month and this later during my post graduate days to Rs.100/- and he was smart - the money was always sent to the
14. warden, and if i had taken money from the warden, the next month the slip would read 100-28[taken from the warden =72/- oh!boy i had the choicest words for him but never dared to share it], the third was most important he simply said - you //lie/ the problem is multifold -
15. you need to remember it always and when found out credibility is gone and that cant be rebuilt; my mother , my maternal grandmother and maternal grandfather these were great influencers in everything it may be accepted by all even today and what is not acceptable is my own
making; most important lessons i learnt from them are never taught even today in the best of B Schools. i remember all of them insisting that i learn Hindi, at a time hate hindi was the road to success in tamil nadu; looking back in life, i had plenty of opportunity to show and
17. tell my mother how much i loved her[for i stayed with her for those long 11 years after my dad passed away and i regret even today that i never had an opportunity to tell him how much i respected him and loved him too. i am feeling good that when i had the opportunity to go
18. abroad , i left my daughter[against the wishes of my wife] with my parents and that paid off well, and that is one thing i am content about. even now i am not sure if i ever made my parents proud of me and my growth,but if i have to be born again, my choic of parents would be
these two only, with the same sister and wife - that may help me to do things which i could not in this birth. there is so much more- my - marriage was a n epoch making - i had met the 2nd greatest human in my in laws and so on. may be in another tweet- i need to thank
20. @meownalisa22 for kick starting this, the tweet by @chittukuruvi4 , more inspirations from @HelloNNewman . @wataboutery and a few others who have been inspiring in this virtual world. this has no end, but this is only a :
