hailing from a nucleus rather large joint family[this got broken over a period of time - some of it i still miss, mostly not forgotten all from the mother's side and on fathers side it was a small family and typically strong one from grass root level; i began drawing the family
2. tree , a couple of years ago, and i stuck at 5th generation above me - i wonder if i will ever be able to go beyond that as most sources who can share information no longer exist; as i understand, from what i have learnt, and what i have experienced - the family on amma's side
3. most of them squandered off everything - what their forefathers left for them and the education given seems to have had no values. this is my maternal pattis side story in a nutshell; my paati a woman of grit and courage, and thatha a man of principles - what is now titled CFO
4. he was the first ACCOUNTS OFFICER of MES now TANGEDO, under Mr Appadurai; when Appadurai was made the head of MES he carried thatha with him and when he was given extension he sought for thatha also. late MK questioned the Congress government for extending the services of a
BRAHMIN - my thatha - the records in the archives of the assembly proceedings still has them Appadurai informed the assembly that till that date MES was profitable because of judicial financial management and that was because he was simple and straight; the then MES had
6. subsidiaries like Vellore ES, Kumbakonam ES; these were held by one Viswanathan and he was clearly told that my great grandparents home was to be connected as per rules - and no favours; my mother was born with 4 brothers[she was the eldest] one of them died young, of the
other 3 one is living - none of them were helped by thatha = they found their own careers, schooling was by contribution, and like any other middle class family hand me downs was common i was told; i was too young to understand all these and when i understood my admiration for
8. these folks grew immensely; i have always found them caring and helpful; now let us get into my story alone - i was born in kumbakonam at my maternal grandfather's home , delivery attended by one chokki. much later in life i had huge problems in getting a birth certificate as
9. my birth was not registered - now imagine the plight of my uncles/aunts/cousins/ - however at that point of time appa was an assistant lecturer in GAC/KMU; amma who was an intermediate was a housewife, though appa gave her an option to study further; i am informed that when
10. he travelled with amma - he ensured it was first class and those days how they managed that in his income is a mystery to me even now - he did this because he did not want me infected and to ensure amma had her privacy in feeding me etc., i have faint recollections of
schooling till 5th standard - name of balagurukkul and by that time he was shunting back as teacher from the position of PRO to the government - i have spoken about this earlier; he got transferred to coimbatore and i was admitted into a damn good school - it had a lot of trees
12. playgrounds for hockey/football and cricket. i was a little lost because it was filled with Dings and the affluent all talking durabari english; i managed to survive and grow in that school - what i liked most about the school was - it was co-education and had amazing girls
around; two years on he got transferred to KMU again and this time -he took a wise decision - he put me in a hostel[i cursed him like hell - it was much later in life i understood why he did that - his job was transferrable and that means disruption in my education, but life
14.moved on - i remember deepavali or festivals my new dress was always 2 sets of uniform - khaki shorts and khaki slacks, 2 pairs of white socks and a pair of black shoes. i had none above me for hand me downs and none below me to hand down - my sister came much later in life
15. i will never claim that i was a brilliant student - i was more OUT STANDING[pun intended]. i was in the AIHS stream and when the results came i was astonished myself - i had scored distinction in indian history, english and the subject i hated most -[guess what would that be]
16. by that time appa had been appointed as Regional Director of NCERT[on deputation] and had a huge office in the MADRAS UNIVERSITY main building; he gave me two excellent habits - one is reading - he was a voracious reader and the other was my freedom and independence - it was
17. my mother who taught me what it meant - if had i to abuse/misuse either of it - the price was paid by me - i would have lost respect. the one regret i still have is i never told him how much i loved and respected him till his death and then it was too late - however i am sure
18. he would have understood it [if hopes were dupes then fears may be liars]; i joined MCC for PUC - we did not have the +2/+3 system - we had 11 years of schooling/PUC and then graduation and more. he made a suggestion that i should learn a foreign language and before joining
19. joining college put me in L'Allaince Francaise and that helped me in PUC. again it was a co-ed college,not for PUC - still it was a learning ground. i had played cricket and hockey for school and the district and when went it ot college my interest in hockey waned and went
into bird watching and[pun intended] and cricket; academics wa ok and the big question before me was an emotional one - my mother wanted me to be a doctor, my dad imagined me as a great zoologist - the family by then had sufficient advocates/accounts specialists/teachers; those
21. admission was not difficult - thanks be to God i was not hounded by the quota system; i was keen on research - in phonetics of English[this passion still exists in me] and when i wanted to duck the pressure from amma and appa i enrolled myself for a graduate course in english
22. literature also at MCC- this was a turning point in my life - politics entered into my mind and i disliked and hated DMK and Congress was no alternative - now that was hook/line and catch for SFI - the student wing of CPM. i got out of the movement by the time i finished my
23. my law , later , but i will deny the fact that the nuances of being street knowledgeable in politics i learnt the nuances with them only, beginning from street corner meetings to demos to organise strikes, you name it i learnt it. it was during this period rations were strict
24. hoarding was a big time hobby/business for DMK goons - SFI located one such huge godown in west tambaram and we planned well and executed it - broke it open and distributed it to public free of cost and this was my first skirmish with cops - beaten blue after i broke the jaw
of a lathe welding inspector, i still have the stitch marks above my left eyebrow and i became a marked man by authorities of college and also outside. the matter was taken up to my dad - who simply said - he is a son at home, a student in college and a citizen in the streets -
respective laws apply - EOS; luckily they did not get too much out of hand and i also learnt never to break the law and to bend it as much as possible learning came much later. after my final year i was in ooty - by then my father was HOD and the results came - those days results
were published in newspapers; i was sleeping and my father before leaving for college [by the time my sister was in first class] informed my mother that when i wake up - i should begin preparing myself for september exams as my number was not found in the papers - when i got up
i saw my mother in tears and while i was wondering why, few friends, some from MCC too - badugas[by nature they are most friendliest homo sapiens] were coming up the hill with drums beating dancing and a garland and my mother said - " for the first time in life i see your friends
celebrating you having failed !!!" now that was a shocker i never expected that - friends at door /amma saying this and i reached for the papers - janata class did not have my number and hoping there could be correction error i looked at 2nd class - number not there too - i was
stumped till Suresh Bellie[later he became judge at MHC], informed me that i was one among the two who had obtained 1st class - i saw the papers again and yes it was my number - i told amma - "your husband is blind" had a bath ane left to his college to confront him - i think
some in college must have informed him - he was cool as cucumber when he received me and when i informed of my result - he merely nodded and said - "let us see if there are any erratas tomorrow - so much confidence on his sons capabilities; to cut the story short all was well
post graduation and law went without much incidences except in my final year - i walked in to home and saw appa sitting and chatting with a couple of people, amma at the rezhi door perplexed - i thought it was not my issue when appa said the gentlemen had come to see me as i had
spoilt his daughter - i am no saint and both amma and appa knew it - the girls with whom i was friendly with were taken home and introduced properly - i was shocked and this was serious - the man was abusive and threatening - typical landlord mentality - i listened to him and
one friend had stayed back - because there were around 4 or 5 goondas[later i learnt they were his villagers], knocked his address from him and informed appa - i will be back in max 45 minutes - keep these people there - we friends in two motorcycles drove to the man's house
to be confronted by a lady[who later became my mother in law] and a young punk in shorts [my bil-later], and i demanded who so and so was ... one மரப்பாச்சி பொம்மை பாவாடை தாவணியில் நான்தான் அது - i said have you ever gone out with me - she said no - etc. she added rather tongue
in cheek you took almost all my classmates out but never even saw me - adding more salt from what her friends told her she had made up my mind that she will marry me only - for what it is worth - i asked her if she had her SSLC book - she nodded yes and i asked her to get it,
that i hand i informed the lady who had confronted me that i was taking her daughter to my home and we just drove off - it was later i learnt that she was from a well known family with connections - i reached home took the girl and introduced her to my parents narrated what she
had said and added they can verify - if the girl is that strong willed - yes i will marry her - here is her SSLC book - and i went in for a bath and went out with friends again. i landed up marrying the most intelligent and a wonderful person who gave me a lovely daughter too .
there was nothing she had not done for me and i wonder even now if i had reciprocated that in full. the thread is getting too long and i will possibly continue with other parts of my life - my career, my home, people whom i have met and still retain relationship with, above all
mentors, my calf love and interesting anecdotes of my life in what may be called #PART_2
