Pettavaithalai days.....(2nd instalment)
I can imagine the difficulty that a "serial" (Thodarkathai) writer will have...after writing "Thodarum" at the end of the last posting, I am expected to continue and post the next post within a week...What about the guy who was writing "Sindubad" in Dhinathanthi...of course for him one sentence was sufficient for one day....of course I cannot compare myself with those fertile minds and versatile writers...with this handicap, I thought I should continue, in spite of being termed as a bore....(mun vaitha kalai pin vaikathe thamizha !!!).
It appears that many things happened during the Pettavaithalai days......
Apart from Trichy, Appa used to take us to Mahadhanapuram, a small village on the way to Karur from Pettavaithalai. Mahadhanapuram is a beautiful village with an agraharam (where Brahmins used to live) on the banks of Cauvery and has the Samadhi’s of quite a few Sanyasis. One of the Samadhis is that of Sri Ramananda Saraswathi, my great grandfather (Sri Ramachandra Iyer, in his purvashrama). Ramananda Saraswathi attained moksha at Kollimalai, on the other side of the river Cauvery. His Samadhi was built at Mahadhanapuram, alongside his guru, the Nelamavu Madam Swamigal. We used to visit Mahadhanapuram for the Aradhanai festivals…an elaborate festival with daily Pujas and Pravachanams and music throughout the day for two weeks or so. Even though I did not know anything about music, philosophy, religion etc., at that age, it was exciting to be there among the bhaktas yearning for the blessings of the elders and to eat at the community lunch/dinner.
Another place where where we had been more than once was the Ramakrishna Thabovanam at Tiruparaithurai, a village on the way to Trichy from Pettavaithalai. The Thabovanam was run by Swami Chitbhavananda, who, if I remember right, was, in his purvasrama, an uncle of Sri C. Subramaniam. The Thabovanam took care of hundreds of orphaned children, giving them food, sheter and education. Whenever I went to this place, I used to feel blessed...at least my parents were with me....
Pettavaithalai Sivan Temple was famous...but I had been there only twice if I remember right; once we had been there to listen to the musical performance by Amma's cousins (daughters of Papa Chithappa)...I still can not figure out why we did not visit the temple often.
We also visited Kamanayakan Palayam a few times, when Sri Chandrasekharendra Saraswathi, then the head of the Kumbakonam mutt visited the place. Somehow, I did not have much reverence for him or the mutt or for his successors...there was no specific reason except that I happened to hear some heated debates on the Kumbakonam mutt at our Pettavaithalai house when thatha stayed with us for a few days. My irreverence got strengthened later when I read "Kumbakonam Mutt - Oru Vimarsanam" and when I had a chance presence (as a young boy accompanying my thatha) at a meeting of elders at the house of Modern Stores Sattanatha Iyer at Triplicane, Madras, many years later.
I remember once Jayaraman (our servant and a DK member) took me to a public meeting addressed by Periyar Ramaswamy Naicker.....he was dead against Brahmins....I don't know as to what made Jayaraman to take me there...I remember Periayar's first sentence: "Enda, ella mutta pasangalum inga vandhu okkandu irukkinga...vela onnum illaya ?"..I was shocked...how people could be humiliated and still be made to follow ...this is an art that DK had perfected and DMK had used later...they committed (are still committing) all atrocities on Brahmins, but Brahmins were the ones who first helped them to form the government...shameless people (I am not debating the right or wrong of things here...in my opinion it is a matter of giving respect to other human beings..especially, later I came to know, that Periyar used to call even a child with respect).
Four trips out of Pettavaithalai (appa, amma, cheena and I) are still green in my memory.
The first trip was to Sringeri. First we went to Bangalore by train and then took a car to Sringeri via Chikmagalur and Shimoga…Sringeri is a serene and sacred place on the banks of the river Tunga, where Adi Sankara established a mutt. Sringeri is full of temples, the foremost being the Sarada Temple; then there are marvels like the Vidyaranya temple, Rishyashringar temple etc. We visited Sringeri during the Navarathri festivals; the acharya (at that time Sri Abhinava Vidyathirtha Mahaswamigal) used to conduct Chandramouleeswara puja in the morning and in the evening he used to appear in a dress which was a combination of royal and feminine dresses. He used to wear a Kreedam and sit on a throne. There used to be exponents of Vedas and music exhibiting their skills in front of him every evening. This was a memorable occasion. My maternal thatha Sri Krishnaswamy Iyer and patti Sundarambal were there at Sringeri at that time. Thatha was closely attached to the Sringeri mutt and it made out stay at Sringeri that much easier, with good dharshans and meeting with the Swamigal. I enjoyed throwing Pori (puffed rice) into the Tunga river to watch “big” (at least one foot long and fish rushing to catch the pori; I was told that Swamigal did that every day and he admired and loved the fish in Tunga at Sringeri. Swamigal was living on the other side of Tunga, in Narasimha Vana and it was fantastic to see him cross the river in a Parisal. The water level in Tunga was really high and the current was dangerous…still Swamigal had a daily routine of crossing Tunga many times. We had an opportunity to cross the Tunga once to visit the Samadhi of Sri Chandrasekhara Bharathi Swamigal. The place was calm, quiet and divine. We sat for about an hour in front of the Samadhi of Sri Chandrasekhara Bharathi Swamigal; it was a good experience for me, who had never kept quiet for such a long period anytime in the past.
On the way back we visited Mysore, Chamundi Hills (famous not only for the Mahishasura Mardhini temple, but also for the Mahishsuran statue and for one of the largest bull, Nandi, statues made of single stone), the museum (having a good collection of paintings, including those of Raja Ravi Varma) and the Brindavan Gardens (at the Krisha Raja Sagar Dam on the river Cauvery, and known for its garden, water fountains and the light show). In the evening we witnessed the then Maharaja Jaya Chamaraja Wodiyar, in his royal attire, celebrating the Dassera by being taken on a procession on a well decorated elephant, followed by many decorated elephants; at the end the procession he presided over an assembly of sevaks of the erstwhile Mysore State, outside the Lalitha Mahal Palace, giving them gifts and honours. It was indeed reminescent of the days of the Maharaja's of the past. For me, the trip was full of fun.
The second trip was to Kodaikanal. We (appa, amma, Cheena and I) went up to Kodai Road by train and then by car to Kodaikanal. The car journey was exciting with so many hair pin bends. I do not remember many things that happened there…but I do remember that we went up to the pillar rock and took a boat ride in the lake. We had been to the Observatory. For the first time I saw the fruit PLUM, a fruit inviting to be eaten but I did not like the taste.
The third trip was to Coimbatore. All of us went to Coimbatore to attend Kannan’s poonal. For the first time I met Jaya, Kannan, Jayaram, Raju, Balaji and others. We children had fantastic time playing around. Kannan, Jaya, Cheena, Renu, Kalyani et al formed a senior group not allowing us to enter their domain. We kids enjoyed our freedom without interference from “big” brothers. My memory is failing me…but I can say that Kannan’s poonal was the first family function when I could meet almost all my cousins for the first time; probably that was the first time I met (with a clear memory) Ramakrishna Chithappa and Radhakrishna Chithappa. Ramakrishna Chithappa was a successful Ayurveda doctor in Coimbatore; his home at Raja Street was really big. I learnt that he was considered to be not so good at studies and was sent to Coimbatore by my thatha Sankara Sastry, to stay with Dr. Kasinatha Iyer (my athimber, whom I revere and who had showered his love and affection on me; he is one of the three people I am fortunate to be associated with - the other two being my father and thatha Krishnaswamy Iyer) and get a job; thatha had given him the "Dhanvanthari" upadesam (my thatha Sankara Sastry, I learnt later, was not only a great Sanskrit Scholar but also an effective Ayurvedha doctor) before sending him to Coimbatore. In Coimbatore, chithappa Ramakrishnan started as a Compounder, later registered himself as a Medical Practitioner (RMP) and became a successful Ayurveda doctor. His story was really inspiring...from a position of hopelessness to that of a great success. His brother, chithappa Radhakrishnan studied Sanskrit at Annamalai University and settled at Coimbatore as a Sanskrit Pundit at the Municipal High School. He distinguished himself in sports, especially badminton and social service. Even today he is full of energy..at his age of about 90 he moves around swiftly form one place to another, and lives alone in Coimbatore. They were considered in Coimbatore as ideal brothers, one supporting the other and be together always. (the story changed later, however).
The fourth trip was to Madras to attend Mani’s marriage. There was heavy floods in Cauvery on the day we started in a Willis van for Madrasi. By the time we reached Mutharasampettai, we could see breaches of the bund and water was flowing on to the highway. Our driver in his unusual act of bravery started driving the van further on the road and to our bad luck, the van stopped in the middle of water. The water level was rising slowly and it had almost entered the vehicle…we were all afraid (at least I was…having faced the drowning experience once already). None of us knew swimming and the water current was strong…any time the water level could go beyond our head. Luckily for us a few villagers around the area came to our rescue, not minding the risk they were taking, and pushed the vehicle out of the running water. We had to wait for some time before we could again start the vehicle and proceeded to Madras. Those few minutes when we were not sure whether we would be drowned in Cauvery floods were really difficult to express…I can only say that GOD was with us and HE came in the form of the villagers. In those days 16, Buchi Babu Naidu Street, Triplicane, Madras, was like Mecca for anyone in our family visiting Madras. That was Papa Athan's house, where Dr. Kasinatha Iyer (Athimber) also lived. Dr. Kasinatha Iyer was revered by one and all in the family..his life story was amazing...he was born in Varanasi and within a few days of his birth he lost both his parents and I learnt my patti (Vepachi patti, appa's amma) took care of him (a cousin of hers) in the early days...and got him married to her daughter (my peria athai) ..he studied well..did his BA in Chemistry at the Presidency College, Madras and later did his Ph.D. in Oxford...in Organic Chemistry..after returning to India, he joined the Coimbatore Agriculture College as a lecturer in Chemistry...later moved to Banares Hindu Univesity as a Reader in Chemistry. By the time I first came to know him he was already retired from service; he was full of energy though. He never tolerated mediocrity and one of his "characteristics" was "kopam". He used to get angry at anything less perfect than his expectations. Mani got married to Sarada, daughter of Dr. Kasinatha Iyer..and we all stayed at 16, Buchi Babu Maistry Street throughout our stay... I remember an incident when I ran away from Buchi Babu Naidu Street to Venkatarangam Pillai Street (where Srinivasa Chithappa lived) via the Triplicane High Road and Pycrofts Road in search of Cheena and others who left me back (you see, I was a kid and they were all grown ups!!!) when they went out..I did not have the address..there were no phones/cell phones to contact..I could have been lost in the Madras crowd...I still cannot understand how I got to the right house...if I have to do it now, I will not....age brings along with that the fear of the unknown !!! One of the finest couple I met during this trip was Gomathi Manni and Narayana Ammanji...an excellent host of Palamadai lineage.
Coming to relatives, Pettavaithalai days were the ones when I came across many relatives… thatha Sri Krishnaswamy Iyer (majestic and commanding respect) and patti Sundarambal (one of the most beautiful and graceful ladies I had ever seen) came and stayed with us for a few days. Many relatives and friends used to visit us during that time to meet Thatha. I did not know at that time the greatness of thata. I was only interested, sitting on his lap, in fiddling with the spherical mass (I used to call Seedai) on his ring finger....Later in life, after reading (not studying..which I have to do still) quite a few of his books, I realized I was fortunate to be born his grandson...I have read his "Kumbakona Mutt - A Vimarsanam" many times and admired his analytical and logical expressions and conclusions. His "Saint of Sringeri", "Dialogues with the Guru", "Sparks from the Divine Anvil" etc., were/are for uninitiated people like me. I struggled many times to understand his English translation of "Vidyaranya's Panchadasi". A highly principled person, he "retired" from his "lawyer" profession when he was still at his peak at the age of sixty...despite the fact that mama was yet to complete his education...I believed (still believe) that he had a liking and a special place for me and I had his blessings....this thought was reinforced when I last met him at Mannadimangalam, as Janananda Bharathi Swamigal, in the sick bed with tubes inserted in his body to feed and to remove things from his body...even under those conditions (some time around mid 1970s) he explained to me many things, including answering my many silly questions on Sanyasa. He also expressed his love and affection for me by specially sending his correspondences with various VIPs and "the Hindu" to be given to me specifically when he took Sanyasa.
Amma liked to invite girls in the family to spend some time with her..quite a few, Lalitha Athangar, Saradha Athangar, Rukku Akka, Chelli, Meena et al visited us during our Pettavaithalai days to spend their holidays with Amma.
Chandra Anna used to visit Pettavaithalai once in a while. For the first time I remember to have come into contact with Mani anna; he was studying at the Islamiah College, Vaniambadi and came for a holiday to Pettavaithalai. For many years I thought I had only one brother, Cheena. Slowly it dawned on me that there were two more elder brothers too who were away from Pettavaithalai. Slowly I started recognizing the larger family beyond Pettavaithalai (i.e., beyond Amma, Appa, Cheena, Patti and Ammalu Athai). Later in life I realized the need to be near the dear ones...once you are away (I am away from Chennai for over 34 years), away from your dear ones's radar, you are considered an outsider, even though you are close by blood.
Looking back, the period between 1957 and 1962 appears to be an exciting period in my life...a small kid trying to learn things, making connections with people, picking up impressions that influenced life, not polluted by politics of masses and numbers, enjoying each and every minute the natural surroundings....given a chance I would like to live that life again...again...and again.
Monday, 10 September 2007
Saturday, 8 September 2007
My Teachers - Part IV
All in one - 1967 to 2001
Remembering my teachers again today...I thought I should complete this series now.
1967 - 1968: Vivekananda College, Mylapore, Madras
Teachers to remember: Prof. Venkatasubramanian, Mr. Chandrasekhar (now Prof. at IISc)
1968 - 1971: Presidency College, Madras
Teachers to remember: Prof. B.R. Pai, Dr. N. Muthukumaraswamy, Mr. Ramachandran, Sri Thangavelanar
1971-1973: Department of Analytical and Inorganic Chemistry, University of Madras, AC College of Technology Campus, Guindy, Madras
Teachers to remember: Prof. P.B. Janardhan, Prof. V.V. Ramanujam, Dr. Subbaiyan, Ms. Rajeswari (Prof. now), Dr. Agnes Paul, Mr. Sivasankaran
1973 - 1977: Department of Inorganic and Physical Chemistry, Department of Physics, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore
Teachers to remember: Prof. S. Soundararajan and Prof. J. Ramakrishna
1979-1980: Department of Chemistry, Wayne State University, Detroit, USA
Teachers to remember: Prof. John F. Endicott
1997 - 2000: Indsearch, Pune
Teachers to remember: Prof. Ashok Joshi
When time permits I would like to revisit this page and pay my tribute to each one of the teachers mentioned above...for the present I would like to record my deep sense of gratitude to each one of them ......
Remembering my teachers again today...I thought I should complete this series now.
1967 - 1968: Vivekananda College, Mylapore, Madras
Teachers to remember: Prof. Venkatasubramanian, Mr. Chandrasekhar (now Prof. at IISc)
1968 - 1971: Presidency College, Madras
Teachers to remember: Prof. B.R. Pai, Dr. N. Muthukumaraswamy, Mr. Ramachandran, Sri Thangavelanar
1971-1973: Department of Analytical and Inorganic Chemistry, University of Madras, AC College of Technology Campus, Guindy, Madras
Teachers to remember: Prof. P.B. Janardhan, Prof. V.V. Ramanujam, Dr. Subbaiyan, Ms. Rajeswari (Prof. now), Dr. Agnes Paul, Mr. Sivasankaran
1973 - 1977: Department of Inorganic and Physical Chemistry, Department of Physics, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore
Teachers to remember: Prof. S. Soundararajan and Prof. J. Ramakrishna
1979-1980: Department of Chemistry, Wayne State University, Detroit, USA
Teachers to remember: Prof. John F. Endicott
1997 - 2000: Indsearch, Pune
Teachers to remember: Prof. Ashok Joshi
When time permits I would like to revisit this page and pay my tribute to each one of the teachers mentioned above...for the present I would like to record my deep sense of gratitude to each one of them ......
Thursday, 6 September 2007
Down the memory lane......
Revisting Pettavaithalai days......
This morning I was speaking to Balaswaminathan over phone..requesting him to suggest some programme for Maya's wedding reception at Chennai....after the discussion he told me that Kalahasthi Subramaniam, the Nadaswara Vidwan for Maya's marriage, had approached him with my recommendation and got a chance now to give a performance in Jaya TV on the Ganesh Chaturthi day.....Aha...here is a repeat of what happened in Pettavaithalai about fifty years ago....someone got a chance because of me....it took me back to my Pettavaithalai days....I thought I would recollect some nice moments .......
Initially when we went to Pettavaithalai we were put up in a palatial bangalow on rent...later we moved to the officer's quarters ...hardly about 500 yards from the Cauvery river...there was a high river bund between some agricultural land and Cauvery and the colony was just adjoining the agricultural land. Between the bund and Cauvery, there was a burial ground. The colony was located in an orchard with mango, coconut, guava and other trees....Our house was one of the first to be constructed...it had a hall and two bedrooms (a third bed room was added later), a dining room, kitchen and veranda; initially there was only one bath room (and toilet), later one more toilet was added. In the corner of the hall was the "PYE" radio which Appa bought much before I was born. We had many cane chairs (15 ???) and a wooden sofa in the hall. There was no furniture in the dining hall, except that at one corner of the dining hall was the abode of our Gods ...."Puja Alamari" (Narayana Dikshidhar from Mahadhanapuram used to come often to give bath to all the saligramams in our Puja; I always wanted to ask him: "How is that you are so lean even after eating so much day after day ?"). One bedroom (and living room) where Patti, Ammalu Athai and Meenakshi mami used to occupy had a wooden cot (exclusively meant for Patti) and a refrigerator. Appa, Amma, Cheena and I slept in the other bedroom....Appa, Cheena and I slept on a king size spring cot with silk cotton matress...and Amma slept down by the side of the cots. There was a steel almirah at one corner of the bedroom, where Appa kept is favourite brief-case with all important papers, and at the other corner was the dressing table...with a stool in front. By the time I got up, Appa used to be well dressed - neatly ironed Khaki half-trouser, nicely tucked in half sleeve shirt, stockings upto the knee and well polished brown shoes....Appa used to be always tip-top and with his dress would always command respect...Amma would be bringing morning tiffin to Appa at the dressing table...and a cup of coffee to finish the tiffin. Appa was majestic and Amma was graceful in her 9 yard saree....they were a perfect couple. At this time of the day, I would be wriggling on the bed praying God that it should be a holiday that day....by around 07 o'clock a Jeep would come to pick him up for the factory.....I would see him again only in the evening...even though Appa used to come home for Lunch, I would be away at School at that time.
I remember Mr. Ramanatha Iyer, a tall middle aged man in full pants and half shirt, with a hat always on his head, who used to visit the colony often...he was the contractor who built the colony (and many more EID Parry buildings in Pettavaithalai)....there were three more houses like ours...occupied by families of Joseph Das (in front of us, Cane Superintendent), Raman (Chief Engineer, our immediate neighbour) and Hussain (a bachelor at that time, Labour Officer, next to Raman's). Beyond Hussain's house was the "Club", with facilities for Tennis, badminton and indoor games. As the days passed many more houses came up - they were a little smaller than ours...Hariharan, Chacko, Vasudeva Rao, Adinarayanan et al..with their families occupied them....in a short period the colony was already bubbling with a lot of social activity....finally the biggest house was constructed for Killick (General Manager)....Killick with his Aiyangar wife lived there for a year or so....later it was occupied by Ranganathan...the guy who was Appa's boss at Nellikuppam. (Luckily Appa escaped him again...and became the Factory Superintendent / Acting General Manager of the Pugalur Factory....let me tell this story later).
We had a nice garden around our house...Amma had interest in gardening....she had roses, jasmines (mullai and malli), marigolds (both samandhi and tulukka samandhi), pavazhamalli, marikozhundu, lillys + vellari (cucumber), Poosani (pumpkin, both white and red), Vendakkai (ladies finger, Okra), beans, podalangai (snake gourd), Kothavarangai (cluster beans), Chillies, Kaththarikkai (baingan), Karuvepilai (curry leaves), Kothamalli (coriandar), Thakkali (tomato), Vazhai (different types of banana - Puvan, rasthali, mondhan) etc., in our garden....Pazhani used to take care of watering these plants and tending them. There were two big Mango trees on the sides of the house...branches of these provided ME the route to our terrace....There was also a big guava tree at the rear of the house...full of red ants...I never ventured near this tree for fear of being stung by these ants. The colony was full of snakes (Nagam, Sarai, Komberimukkan etc) ....I had stumbled on a few...they were moving all over, trees, bushes, on the road...but never harmed anyone. Scorpions were in plenty in all the coconut trees....Parrots, minahs, crows etc., added beauty to this ecological system......I was fortunate to experience this....when I was young.....
Our drinking water used to be brought by Meenakshi mami in a Kudam from Cauvery, every morning after taking bath in the running waters of Cauvery. We never used to filter or boil the water...Amma used to tell us...running water from the river is of drinking quality....she had a point...but on my visits to Cauvery for a bath, I had seen people easing themselves, washing their ..........taking bath..and cleaning buffalos...was that water "potable"??? Probably we had good immunity....what happened on those days when Cauvery shrunk to hardly a feet width of water???? For me, Cauvery with more sand than water was an opportunity to cross the river to go to VELAYUTHAM PALAYAM....to see the temple of Muruga....I had gone to Velayutham Palayam a few times alone !!! When Cauvery had enough water, it was time to take bath in the water....trying to learn swimming....which I never learnt. On one such occasions, Cheena, Vellaichamy (our servant) and I went to Cauvery for a bath...the water level was hardly two feet...in some places mud islands could still be seen. We were jumping into water from one such mud islands....it was my turn....I jumped with a lot of enthusiasm.....suddenly I found myself sucked into the "podhi manal" (whirlpool)....I was shouting from below the water, raising my hand above the head....I was sure to die...a good "Jalasamadhi"..... suddenly I realized that someone caught hold of my hand which was above the water level...apparently it was Cheena....and he was also sucked....both of us would not be living today but for Vellachami....in a fraction of a second (that was what I thought) he caught hold of both us and dragged us on to the mud island....by that time I had swallowed a lot of water...probably enough for the whole life....Cheena was dazed....Vellachami not only saved us...but also his job.
One good thing about all our servants was that they somehow could enter the factory rolls after a stint at our house...it happened with Jayaraman, Vellachami, Pazhani.....Appa had a fantastic reputation in the factory.....he was respected by his superiors as well as sub-ordinates.....when Kamaraj visited the Pettavaithalai factory, it was Appa who took him around to show the factory (as Killick did not know Tamil)....When the CITU was strong, with Umapathi as the President of the local chapter, the striking employees of the factory did not touch Appa, while they gheroed Ranganathan....probably Appa was the only one to be allowed to leave the factory premises. Appa never showed any discrimination among people....for example Jayaraman was a hardcore DK member, a follower of Periyar....I don't know even today, how he worked in a "Pappan's" house...that too without any heart-burns. Appa did not hesitate to help him to get a job in the factory....I cannot but admire my Appa for his qualities.
While I was trying to explore the heights on the branches of Mango trees, trying to emulate our forefathers, Cheena was honing his skills on the Tennis court...he had a set of friends with whom he would play Tennis (In the evenings Appa also used to play tennis....with his colleagues). We had also formed our Cricket team....of course I was no body....but Cheena was an important member...we used to practice in our colony....Nagarajan, Chellappa and others used to come from other staff quarters to join us...Panchanathan, Stephen from our colony would add to our crowd...we used to go to a ground in Kamanayakan Palayam, the next village..we did play with Cricket ball...not tennis ball...since I was not a permanent member of this team, I had my own team playing hide and seek or something like that...this consisted of all young kids in the colony - Ragothaman, Madan, Rama, Latha et al. In this team I was the only one to study in the Pettavaithalai Higher Elementary School...a unique distinction !!!
I used to start for the school by about 8.30; my first stop always would be the tamarind tree on the way...I would try to bring down as many tamarinds as possible with one or two stones....after collecting enough tamarinds for the day, I would proceed to the school...I used to have friends and well wishers always waiting for me...(or for the tamarind)...tamarind had brought many new friends to me. More friends means more stones to throw and more tamarinds to collect...before the owner of the tree could shout and chase me out.
I was always fuzzy about taking food...Ammalu athai adopted a not so unique method of making me eat..every night she and I used to sit out on the steps behind the kitchen...she used to tell me stories ...and asked questions like:"do you know what happened next ?"....Obviously I would not have an answer...she would give an answer only if I ate some quantity of food...I was curious to know things and did not mind eating the food even though I did not like it. One constant feature of my dinner used to be Parry's mittais.
Appa used to buy 10 Pounds of Parry's sweets and send them to Pettavaithalai Higher Elementary School on every August 15...probably he knew what would happen in 1980....he perhaps started celebrating the day well in advance !!! He never thought of saving anything for him...he spent everything on others...till his last days.
We used to go to Trichy to see movies..I remember seeeing (in fact sitting through for a few minutes !!!) Pavamannippu, Pasamalar, Adutha vittu pen, Vanjikotai Valibhan, Sabhash Meena, Bagapirivinai, Nenjam Marappadillai, Kalyana Parisu, Parthipan Kanavu and many more...of course in those days, my interest was not the movie, but the perks that would come with the movie...Crush..especially Kali Mark Cola...I would wait for a few minutes and with some awkward movement of the body would tell Amma (not Appa) that I was thirsty...she would immediately order for Kali Cola and would give me....my goal achieved I would go to sleeep...to be up in my bed the next morning.
(Thodarum......)
This morning I was speaking to Balaswaminathan over phone..requesting him to suggest some programme for Maya's wedding reception at Chennai....after the discussion he told me that Kalahasthi Subramaniam, the Nadaswara Vidwan for Maya's marriage, had approached him with my recommendation and got a chance now to give a performance in Jaya TV on the Ganesh Chaturthi day.....Aha...here is a repeat of what happened in Pettavaithalai about fifty years ago....someone got a chance because of me....it took me back to my Pettavaithalai days....I thought I would recollect some nice moments .......
Initially when we went to Pettavaithalai we were put up in a palatial bangalow on rent...later we moved to the officer's quarters ...hardly about 500 yards from the Cauvery river...there was a high river bund between some agricultural land and Cauvery and the colony was just adjoining the agricultural land. Between the bund and Cauvery, there was a burial ground. The colony was located in an orchard with mango, coconut, guava and other trees....Our house was one of the first to be constructed...it had a hall and two bedrooms (a third bed room was added later), a dining room, kitchen and veranda; initially there was only one bath room (and toilet), later one more toilet was added. In the corner of the hall was the "PYE" radio which Appa bought much before I was born. We had many cane chairs (15 ???) and a wooden sofa in the hall. There was no furniture in the dining hall, except that at one corner of the dining hall was the abode of our Gods ...."Puja Alamari" (Narayana Dikshidhar from Mahadhanapuram used to come often to give bath to all the saligramams in our Puja; I always wanted to ask him: "How is that you are so lean even after eating so much day after day ?"). One bedroom (and living room) where Patti, Ammalu Athai and Meenakshi mami used to occupy had a wooden cot (exclusively meant for Patti) and a refrigerator. Appa, Amma, Cheena and I slept in the other bedroom....Appa, Cheena and I slept on a king size spring cot with silk cotton matress...and Amma slept down by the side of the cots. There was a steel almirah at one corner of the bedroom, where Appa kept is favourite brief-case with all important papers, and at the other corner was the dressing table...with a stool in front. By the time I got up, Appa used to be well dressed - neatly ironed Khaki half-trouser, nicely tucked in half sleeve shirt, stockings upto the knee and well polished brown shoes....Appa used to be always tip-top and with his dress would always command respect...Amma would be bringing morning tiffin to Appa at the dressing table...and a cup of coffee to finish the tiffin. Appa was majestic and Amma was graceful in her 9 yard saree....they were a perfect couple. At this time of the day, I would be wriggling on the bed praying God that it should be a holiday that day....by around 07 o'clock a Jeep would come to pick him up for the factory.....I would see him again only in the evening...even though Appa used to come home for Lunch, I would be away at School at that time.
I remember Mr. Ramanatha Iyer, a tall middle aged man in full pants and half shirt, with a hat always on his head, who used to visit the colony often...he was the contractor who built the colony (and many more EID Parry buildings in Pettavaithalai)....there were three more houses like ours...occupied by families of Joseph Das (in front of us, Cane Superintendent), Raman (Chief Engineer, our immediate neighbour) and Hussain (a bachelor at that time, Labour Officer, next to Raman's). Beyond Hussain's house was the "Club", with facilities for Tennis, badminton and indoor games. As the days passed many more houses came up - they were a little smaller than ours...Hariharan, Chacko, Vasudeva Rao, Adinarayanan et al..with their families occupied them....in a short period the colony was already bubbling with a lot of social activity....finally the biggest house was constructed for Killick (General Manager)....Killick with his Aiyangar wife lived there for a year or so....later it was occupied by Ranganathan...the guy who was Appa's boss at Nellikuppam. (Luckily Appa escaped him again...and became the Factory Superintendent / Acting General Manager of the Pugalur Factory....let me tell this story later).
We had a nice garden around our house...Amma had interest in gardening....she had roses, jasmines (mullai and malli), marigolds (both samandhi and tulukka samandhi), pavazhamalli, marikozhundu, lillys + vellari (cucumber), Poosani (pumpkin, both white and red), Vendakkai (ladies finger, Okra), beans, podalangai (snake gourd), Kothavarangai (cluster beans), Chillies, Kaththarikkai (baingan), Karuvepilai (curry leaves), Kothamalli (coriandar), Thakkali (tomato), Vazhai (different types of banana - Puvan, rasthali, mondhan) etc., in our garden....Pazhani used to take care of watering these plants and tending them. There were two big Mango trees on the sides of the house...branches of these provided ME the route to our terrace....There was also a big guava tree at the rear of the house...full of red ants...I never ventured near this tree for fear of being stung by these ants. The colony was full of snakes (Nagam, Sarai, Komberimukkan etc) ....I had stumbled on a few...they were moving all over, trees, bushes, on the road...but never harmed anyone. Scorpions were in plenty in all the coconut trees....Parrots, minahs, crows etc., added beauty to this ecological system......I was fortunate to experience this....when I was young.....
Our drinking water used to be brought by Meenakshi mami in a Kudam from Cauvery, every morning after taking bath in the running waters of Cauvery. We never used to filter or boil the water...Amma used to tell us...running water from the river is of drinking quality....she had a point...but on my visits to Cauvery for a bath, I had seen people easing themselves, washing their ..........taking bath..and cleaning buffalos...was that water "potable"??? Probably we had good immunity....what happened on those days when Cauvery shrunk to hardly a feet width of water???? For me, Cauvery with more sand than water was an opportunity to cross the river to go to VELAYUTHAM PALAYAM....to see the temple of Muruga....I had gone to Velayutham Palayam a few times alone !!! When Cauvery had enough water, it was time to take bath in the water....trying to learn swimming....which I never learnt. On one such occasions, Cheena, Vellaichamy (our servant) and I went to Cauvery for a bath...the water level was hardly two feet...in some places mud islands could still be seen. We were jumping into water from one such mud islands....it was my turn....I jumped with a lot of enthusiasm.....suddenly I found myself sucked into the "podhi manal" (whirlpool)....I was shouting from below the water, raising my hand above the head....I was sure to die...a good "Jalasamadhi"..... suddenly I realized that someone caught hold of my hand which was above the water level...apparently it was Cheena....and he was also sucked....both of us would not be living today but for Vellachami....in a fraction of a second (that was what I thought) he caught hold of both us and dragged us on to the mud island....by that time I had swallowed a lot of water...probably enough for the whole life....Cheena was dazed....Vellachami not only saved us...but also his job.
One good thing about all our servants was that they somehow could enter the factory rolls after a stint at our house...it happened with Jayaraman, Vellachami, Pazhani.....Appa had a fantastic reputation in the factory.....he was respected by his superiors as well as sub-ordinates.....when Kamaraj visited the Pettavaithalai factory, it was Appa who took him around to show the factory (as Killick did not know Tamil)....When the CITU was strong, with Umapathi as the President of the local chapter, the striking employees of the factory did not touch Appa, while they gheroed Ranganathan....probably Appa was the only one to be allowed to leave the factory premises. Appa never showed any discrimination among people....for example Jayaraman was a hardcore DK member, a follower of Periyar....I don't know even today, how he worked in a "Pappan's" house...that too without any heart-burns. Appa did not hesitate to help him to get a job in the factory....I cannot but admire my Appa for his qualities.
While I was trying to explore the heights on the branches of Mango trees, trying to emulate our forefathers, Cheena was honing his skills on the Tennis court...he had a set of friends with whom he would play Tennis (In the evenings Appa also used to play tennis....with his colleagues). We had also formed our Cricket team....of course I was no body....but Cheena was an important member...we used to practice in our colony....Nagarajan, Chellappa and others used to come from other staff quarters to join us...Panchanathan, Stephen from our colony would add to our crowd...we used to go to a ground in Kamanayakan Palayam, the next village..we did play with Cricket ball...not tennis ball...since I was not a permanent member of this team, I had my own team playing hide and seek or something like that...this consisted of all young kids in the colony - Ragothaman, Madan, Rama, Latha et al. In this team I was the only one to study in the Pettavaithalai Higher Elementary School...a unique distinction !!!
I used to start for the school by about 8.30; my first stop always would be the tamarind tree on the way...I would try to bring down as many tamarinds as possible with one or two stones....after collecting enough tamarinds for the day, I would proceed to the school...I used to have friends and well wishers always waiting for me...(or for the tamarind)...tamarind had brought many new friends to me. More friends means more stones to throw and more tamarinds to collect...before the owner of the tree could shout and chase me out.
I was always fuzzy about taking food...Ammalu athai adopted a not so unique method of making me eat..every night she and I used to sit out on the steps behind the kitchen...she used to tell me stories ...and asked questions like:"do you know what happened next ?"....Obviously I would not have an answer...she would give an answer only if I ate some quantity of food...I was curious to know things and did not mind eating the food even though I did not like it. One constant feature of my dinner used to be Parry's mittais.
Appa used to buy 10 Pounds of Parry's sweets and send them to Pettavaithalai Higher Elementary School on every August 15...probably he knew what would happen in 1980....he perhaps started celebrating the day well in advance !!! He never thought of saving anything for him...he spent everything on others...till his last days.
We used to go to Trichy to see movies..I remember seeeing (in fact sitting through for a few minutes !!!) Pavamannippu, Pasamalar, Adutha vittu pen, Vanjikotai Valibhan, Sabhash Meena, Bagapirivinai, Nenjam Marappadillai, Kalyana Parisu, Parthipan Kanavu and many more...of course in those days, my interest was not the movie, but the perks that would come with the movie...Crush..especially Kali Mark Cola...I would wait for a few minutes and with some awkward movement of the body would tell Amma (not Appa) that I was thirsty...she would immediately order for Kali Cola and would give me....my goal achieved I would go to sleeep...to be up in my bed the next morning.
(Thodarum......)
Wednesday, 5 September 2007
Teachers' Day
These flowers are for you my dear teachers ....on this Teachers' day
My thanks to my past, present and future teachers....at (a) the Danish Mission
Elementary School, Nellikuppam, (b) the Higher Elementary School, Pettavaithalai, (c) the High School for Boys, Srirangam, (d) the Hindu High School, Triplicane, Madras, (e) Vivekananda College, Mylapore, Madras, (f) the Department of Chemistry, Presidency College, Madras, (g) the Department of Analytical and Inorganic Chemistry, University of Madras (A.C. College of Technology), Madras, (h) the Department of Inorganic & Physical Chemistry and the Department of Physics, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, (i) the Department of Chemistry, Wayne State University, Detroit, USA, (j) Indian Institute of Cost Management & Research (Indsearch), Pune + all those young and old who have been giving me advices, without asking for (unsolicited) and without hesitation - at times with extra enthusiasm, for improving myself throughout life.
My thanks to my past, present and future teachers....at (a) the Danish Mission
Elementary School, Nellikuppam, (b) the Higher Elementary School, Pettavaithalai, (c) the High School for Boys, Srirangam, (d) the Hindu High School, Triplicane, Madras, (e) Vivekananda College, Mylapore, Madras, (f) the Department of Chemistry, Presidency College, Madras, (g) the Department of Analytical and Inorganic Chemistry, University of Madras (A.C. College of Technology), Madras, (h) the Department of Inorganic & Physical Chemistry and the Department of Physics, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, (i) the Department of Chemistry, Wayne State University, Detroit, USA, (j) Indian Institute of Cost Management & Research (Indsearch), Pune + all those young and old who have been giving me advices, without asking for (unsolicited) and without hesitation - at times with extra enthusiasm, for improving myself throughout life.
Tuesday, 4 September 2007
My Teachers: Part III
Days at the Hindu High School.....(see: http://www.hinduhighschool.com/)
Appa was to retire by 1965; Cheena had completed his VI Form at the High School for Boys and it was time for him to move to a College. Appa decided to move to Madras (as Mani and Chandra were already living there) after retirement; so he looked for shifting us to Madras for further studies. Cheena got admission at Vivekananda College for his PUC (pre-university Course) and I struggled...I could not get admission for quite sometime in Madras for the IX Standard...I should thank Papa Athan here...he knew someone in the Secretariat and through him he could get me a seat at the Hindu High School, Triplicane, a School with a lot of tradition. It was decided by Appa that I would stay in the Hind High School hostel till Appa moved to Madras.
Hindu High School was like a pigeon hole compared to the High School for Boys, Srirangam. The red colour and the arches reminded me of a Jail (similar to ones shown in some movies). There was no real playground, except for a small strip of land inside the school building complex which was always crowded and noisy. There was no choice...I had to continue. There was also a sort of a cultural shock...for a person coming from a village, small town to a big city...I felt that the other guys were looking down upon me...as if looking at a species from the stone age. Some of the students joining the school from other schools in Madras had a sort of "air" around them.
The hostel, an old rented house, was some distance away from the school; both the hostel and the school were located on BIG STREET; to go to the hostel one had to cross the PYCROFTS ROAD...it was a nightmare initially..but slowly I got used to the traffic of Madras. This hostel was a contrast to the Lakshmi Hostel, Srirangam. Here all of us were to sleep in a big hall and no one had privacy. Food, of course, was excellent. For the first time I ate "Seppankizhangu" curry here; it was delicious (at home, Seppangizhangu was used only for Avial). The avasara "urulai" curry (i.e. for those who come late after the main curry got exhausted) was fantastic.
Coming to my teachers, I remember only a few....not their names...but their faces. We had quite a few "vaals" in our class; there was this guy who used to eat shaving blades every day...without a drop of blood in his mouth...he used to eat glass too...this was strange to me...this guy became a friend of mine..while others shunned him because of his image, I did not feel the necessity to keep him away. I remember one incident, when he wanted to teach the maths teacher a lesson...this maths teacher used to give us sums to work and used to go to sleep, sitting on the chair and leaning on the black board. On that day, the teacher went to sleep, as usual, after giving us some sums...my friend went behind him and drew a big circle on the board with the chalk (big enough to encircle the tuft of the teacher)..the teacher as usual started leaning on the board. When he woke up and moved around the class, there was smile on each ones face....there was a big white circle around his tuft, transferred from the black board (image transfer technology at work!!!). On some other occasion, the same friend wanted to teach the "sleeping teacher" a lesson...he smoothly went out of the class, took the teacher's "Cheruppus" and threw them on two different directions....at the end of the class we all had smiles again to see the teacher moving here and there in search of his "cheruppus".
One of the first friends I had at the Hindu High School was Kannappan...his father, TK Bhagavathi, was a great actor and they were running the famous drama troupe, TKS Brothers. Kannappan also joined the Hindu High School in 1964 and we were together for a month or so till our sections were announced. At that time Kannappan was acting in dramas like "Appavin Asai". Kamala Hasan was also acting in this drama ( I suppose)..through Kannappan I happened to "see" Kamala Hasan once or twice in the school - Kamal was in the sixth or seventh standard at the time. I am sure Kannappan is doing well...even at that age Kannapan had shown that he could be a good leader..well poised and good mannered.
Hindi was a compulsory subject for us...one had to attend the examination...but need not pass. I had "Seruppadi" Mahadevan as my teacher for Hindi. A good Hindi teacher...he had some affection for me because he was "sharing" my "native place" was Kallidaikurichi....but I did not have any inclination for studying Hindi...probably I did not deserve his attention. There was a student in my class..who had already passed "Praveen" which was (that is what he told us) equivalent to MA in Hindi...this fellow used to put almost all the Hindi teachers on the mat....
"Pillayar" was my tamil teacher in XI standard....he too had a liking for me. Both of used to travel from T.Nagar to Triplicane and back by Bus No. 11 every day (after we moved to West Mambalam in 1965) ; I always used to give my seat to him if he did not get one...a pot bellied, tufted, short, black, heavy old man...and he used to appreciate that...(this was before he became my Tamil teacher). In the XI standard he was "thrilled" with my knowledge of tamil, so much so that he had asked me to correct all the Tamil answer papers for the half yearly and pre-final papers...for the entire school !!! I used to go to his house at West Mambalam and spend time correcting the papers...I enjoyed the recognition given ....without realizing that I was wasting my time....I also had to write my Board exams that year!!!!
In X and XI, Balaswaminthan, Eugene and I used to sit in the same bench..Bala's father, Vepathur Kittu, had just penned the dialogues for "Motor Sundaram Pillai", a Gemini Studio Production. Every day we used to get tit-bits about what Ravichanran did or Jai Shankar did etc. from Bala. He had taken me to his home at Royapetah many times and we became good friends. Even today we have contacts...even though we do not meet often.
Our Maths teacher, Shri Sundaram Iyer (I think I am right...) was fantastic...I was also taught by "Nadkarni" (I don't know his name...he looked like Cricketer Nadkarni and so all in the school knew him as Nadkarni)...this teacher was supposed to be a mathematical genius. I heard a story that when Sakunthala Devi visited the Hindu High School, she took more time to answer Nadkarni than any other teacher...so everyone said that he was a genius...giving tough time to Sakunathala Devi!!! (such stories abound in each school...I don't know how far these are true). Of course no one can forget Shri T.S. Rajagopalan, whose book on composite mathematics for X and XI standards was a bible..he was the Head Master during those days. I should be proud to state that Rt. Honrourable Srinivasa Sastry was also a Head Master of this School. Nobel Laureate S. Chandrasekhar was a student of the Hindu High School between 1922 and 1925.
Hindu High School, had a decent laboratory for science experiments and was stocked with quite a lot of biological species, preserved in formalin. I remember our teacher pouring concentrated acid on woodfloor and make it catch fire...or making a toy ship to move with the steam produced by a candle etc...they were enthusiastic showing us experiments...I think the name of my Science teacher was Narasimhan...Seshan was another science teacher...
Mani and Manni were living at 3, Ramaswamy Maistry Street, Triplicane, in a small portion of the house with two small rooms, hall and a kitchen. This was OK for them when they were living as young couple. By the end of the academic year 1964-65 (around Jan/Feb 1965), I contracted "TB Glands" in my hip joint leading to unbearable pain. Dr. R.I. Srinivasan, Orthopaedic Surgeon, advised me complete bed rest and regular injection of Streptomycin and Pencillin for three months. My right leg was plastered and tied to the bed. My Appa, the great human being I have seen, took all the pains to see me clean every day, including cleaning the toilet pan, cleaning the "shit" from me etc. I have not seen such a soul devoted to service so far....I take this opportunity to thank my appa for what all he did for me...he never felt awkward cleaning me every day or for forcing the enema pill through my anus / colon to remove the faeces. While I was in bed many things happened around....Hindi agitation was started by the DMK in Jan/Feb 1965, with more and more students joining the agitation it had assumed unimaginable dimensions; many students got killed, schools and colleges were closed...Dhinathanthi and Malai Murasu had their field days....people used to wait for them for the "hot" news...I did not lose any lesson thanks to the agitation. There were no examinations at the end of the academic year...I was saved and promoted to the X Standard.
While I was still in bed, 3, Ramaswamy Maistry Street house had become over crowded; a house meant for two was occupied by six, including my grandmother (Vepachi Patti). and essential luggage ...and one room was exclusively given to me...the house was, indeed, in a mess. This had created, in my opinion, a lot of stress in Amma. She was used to big bangalows ten times bigger than the portion we lived in 1965...the bathroom was outside our portion...for her it was, perhaps, difficult to pull on .....then came the news that the marriages of Rukku and Lakshmi were fixed and would be taking place at Didigul on the same date. While Srinivasa Chithappa and Chithi were to give Kanyadhanam of Rukku, Amma and Appa were to give the Kanyadhanam of Lakshmi. Appa requested Ramakrishna Chithappa for taking care of Patti for a short while....there was no response....the day for starting for Didigul arrived...but Ramakrishna Chithappa or Radhakrishna Chithappa did not arrive....Amma blurted out something at Patti which she should not have....probably the stress was telling on her...I loved my Patti...she loved me as much too...I could not stand the tears coming out of Patti's eyes....I was also crying within me....For me Patti was an epitome of patience...Appa probably had imbibed some of her qualities...the months following this incident were the worst in life I had seen...even though personally I did not get affected. I also saw how Appa handled the situation, almost like removing a cloth entangled in a thorny plant carefully without any damage...he was at his best at the worst of the situations.
By 1965 end we moved to 21, Kuppiah Chetty Street, West Mambalam...a big house stretching between Kuppiah Chetty Street and Lake View Road, with a little open land at the rear. This was an old house belonging to Duraiswamy Iyer, Appa's Chithappa (not direct).....The surrounding was dirty...the first thing one used to see was a child easing itself on the open ...there was this open drain on the side of the street which was used by one and all in the street as an open lavotary...and the stench....the less said the better. Initially it was a shock...but later I got used to it. I can write a book on neighbours and friends and good/bad/ugly experiences ...at 21 Kuppliah Chetty Street.
Appa used to give me about Rs.25 every month for my bus fare and Lunch.......I had visited almost all the restaurants around the Hindu High School - Sarathy Canteen, Murali's Cafe, Ratna Cafe etc. With quarter of an ana I could get Idli-vada and Coffee (somehow taking coffee became a prestige issue....just taking Idli Vada and leaving the restaurant looked indecent...I don't know why?). Sarathy Canteen was the preferred eatery...because it was CHEAP and I could save some money by the end of the month....that savings allowed me to visit Nathan's (T. Nagar) whenever I felt hungry while returning home. I NEVER exceeded the budget.
In 1966, Vepachi patti died...Krishnaswamy Thatha and Sundarambal patti came home to stay with us for a few months, Sringeri Swamigal Abhinava Vidyathirthar visited our home, Appa conducted a Pada Pujai for him, and by the first quarter of 1967, the time had come for me to leave the Hindu High School....for Higher Studies again.
Appa was to retire by 1965; Cheena had completed his VI Form at the High School for Boys and it was time for him to move to a College. Appa decided to move to Madras (as Mani and Chandra were already living there) after retirement; so he looked for shifting us to Madras for further studies. Cheena got admission at Vivekananda College for his PUC (pre-university Course) and I struggled...I could not get admission for quite sometime in Madras for the IX Standard...I should thank Papa Athan here...he knew someone in the Secretariat and through him he could get me a seat at the Hindu High School, Triplicane, a School with a lot of tradition. It was decided by Appa that I would stay in the Hind High School hostel till Appa moved to Madras.
Hindu High School was like a pigeon hole compared to the High School for Boys, Srirangam. The red colour and the arches reminded me of a Jail (similar to ones shown in some movies). There was no real playground, except for a small strip of land inside the school building complex which was always crowded and noisy. There was no choice...I had to continue. There was also a sort of a cultural shock...for a person coming from a village, small town to a big city...I felt that the other guys were looking down upon me...as if looking at a species from the stone age. Some of the students joining the school from other schools in Madras had a sort of "air" around them.
The hostel, an old rented house, was some distance away from the school; both the hostel and the school were located on BIG STREET; to go to the hostel one had to cross the PYCROFTS ROAD...it was a nightmare initially..but slowly I got used to the traffic of Madras. This hostel was a contrast to the Lakshmi Hostel, Srirangam. Here all of us were to sleep in a big hall and no one had privacy. Food, of course, was excellent. For the first time I ate "Seppankizhangu" curry here; it was delicious (at home, Seppangizhangu was used only for Avial). The avasara "urulai" curry (i.e. for those who come late after the main curry got exhausted) was fantastic.
Coming to my teachers, I remember only a few....not their names...but their faces. We had quite a few "vaals" in our class; there was this guy who used to eat shaving blades every day...without a drop of blood in his mouth...he used to eat glass too...this was strange to me...this guy became a friend of mine..while others shunned him because of his image, I did not feel the necessity to keep him away. I remember one incident, when he wanted to teach the maths teacher a lesson...this maths teacher used to give us sums to work and used to go to sleep, sitting on the chair and leaning on the black board. On that day, the teacher went to sleep, as usual, after giving us some sums...my friend went behind him and drew a big circle on the board with the chalk (big enough to encircle the tuft of the teacher)..the teacher as usual started leaning on the board. When he woke up and moved around the class, there was smile on each ones face....there was a big white circle around his tuft, transferred from the black board (image transfer technology at work!!!). On some other occasion, the same friend wanted to teach the "sleeping teacher" a lesson...he smoothly went out of the class, took the teacher's "Cheruppus" and threw them on two different directions....at the end of the class we all had smiles again to see the teacher moving here and there in search of his "cheruppus".
One of the first friends I had at the Hindu High School was Kannappan...his father, TK Bhagavathi, was a great actor and they were running the famous drama troupe, TKS Brothers. Kannappan also joined the Hindu High School in 1964 and we were together for a month or so till our sections were announced. At that time Kannappan was acting in dramas like "Appavin Asai". Kamala Hasan was also acting in this drama ( I suppose)..through Kannappan I happened to "see" Kamala Hasan once or twice in the school - Kamal was in the sixth or seventh standard at the time. I am sure Kannappan is doing well...even at that age Kannapan had shown that he could be a good leader..well poised and good mannered.
Hindi was a compulsory subject for us...one had to attend the examination...but need not pass. I had "Seruppadi" Mahadevan as my teacher for Hindi. A good Hindi teacher...he had some affection for me because he was "sharing" my "native place" was Kallidaikurichi....but I did not have any inclination for studying Hindi...probably I did not deserve his attention. There was a student in my class..who had already passed "Praveen" which was (that is what he told us) equivalent to MA in Hindi...this fellow used to put almost all the Hindi teachers on the mat....
"Pillayar" was my tamil teacher in XI standard....he too had a liking for me. Both of used to travel from T.Nagar to Triplicane and back by Bus No. 11 every day (after we moved to West Mambalam in 1965) ; I always used to give my seat to him if he did not get one...a pot bellied, tufted, short, black, heavy old man...and he used to appreciate that...(this was before he became my Tamil teacher). In the XI standard he was "thrilled" with my knowledge of tamil, so much so that he had asked me to correct all the Tamil answer papers for the half yearly and pre-final papers...for the entire school !!! I used to go to his house at West Mambalam and spend time correcting the papers...I enjoyed the recognition given ....without realizing that I was wasting my time....I also had to write my Board exams that year!!!!
In X and XI, Balaswaminthan, Eugene and I used to sit in the same bench..Bala's father, Vepathur Kittu, had just penned the dialogues for "Motor Sundaram Pillai", a Gemini Studio Production. Every day we used to get tit-bits about what Ravichanran did or Jai Shankar did etc. from Bala. He had taken me to his home at Royapetah many times and we became good friends. Even today we have contacts...even though we do not meet often.
Our Maths teacher, Shri Sundaram Iyer (I think I am right...) was fantastic...I was also taught by "Nadkarni" (I don't know his name...he looked like Cricketer Nadkarni and so all in the school knew him as Nadkarni)...this teacher was supposed to be a mathematical genius. I heard a story that when Sakunthala Devi visited the Hindu High School, she took more time to answer Nadkarni than any other teacher...so everyone said that he was a genius...giving tough time to Sakunathala Devi!!! (such stories abound in each school...I don't know how far these are true). Of course no one can forget Shri T.S. Rajagopalan, whose book on composite mathematics for X and XI standards was a bible..he was the Head Master during those days. I should be proud to state that Rt. Honrourable Srinivasa Sastry was also a Head Master of this School. Nobel Laureate S. Chandrasekhar was a student of the Hindu High School between 1922 and 1925.
Hindu High School, had a decent laboratory for science experiments and was stocked with quite a lot of biological species, preserved in formalin. I remember our teacher pouring concentrated acid on woodfloor and make it catch fire...or making a toy ship to move with the steam produced by a candle etc...they were enthusiastic showing us experiments...I think the name of my Science teacher was Narasimhan...Seshan was another science teacher...
Mani and Manni were living at 3, Ramaswamy Maistry Street, Triplicane, in a small portion of the house with two small rooms, hall and a kitchen. This was OK for them when they were living as young couple. By the end of the academic year 1964-65 (around Jan/Feb 1965), I contracted "TB Glands" in my hip joint leading to unbearable pain. Dr. R.I. Srinivasan, Orthopaedic Surgeon, advised me complete bed rest and regular injection of Streptomycin and Pencillin for three months. My right leg was plastered and tied to the bed. My Appa, the great human being I have seen, took all the pains to see me clean every day, including cleaning the toilet pan, cleaning the "shit" from me etc. I have not seen such a soul devoted to service so far....I take this opportunity to thank my appa for what all he did for me...he never felt awkward cleaning me every day or for forcing the enema pill through my anus / colon to remove the faeces. While I was in bed many things happened around....Hindi agitation was started by the DMK in Jan/Feb 1965, with more and more students joining the agitation it had assumed unimaginable dimensions; many students got killed, schools and colleges were closed...Dhinathanthi and Malai Murasu had their field days....people used to wait for them for the "hot" news...I did not lose any lesson thanks to the agitation. There were no examinations at the end of the academic year...I was saved and promoted to the X Standard.
While I was still in bed, 3, Ramaswamy Maistry Street house had become over crowded; a house meant for two was occupied by six, including my grandmother (Vepachi Patti). and essential luggage ...and one room was exclusively given to me...the house was, indeed, in a mess. This had created, in my opinion, a lot of stress in Amma. She was used to big bangalows ten times bigger than the portion we lived in 1965...the bathroom was outside our portion...for her it was, perhaps, difficult to pull on .....then came the news that the marriages of Rukku and Lakshmi were fixed and would be taking place at Didigul on the same date. While Srinivasa Chithappa and Chithi were to give Kanyadhanam of Rukku, Amma and Appa were to give the Kanyadhanam of Lakshmi. Appa requested Ramakrishna Chithappa for taking care of Patti for a short while....there was no response....the day for starting for Didigul arrived...but Ramakrishna Chithappa or Radhakrishna Chithappa did not arrive....Amma blurted out something at Patti which she should not have....probably the stress was telling on her...I loved my Patti...she loved me as much too...I could not stand the tears coming out of Patti's eyes....I was also crying within me....For me Patti was an epitome of patience...Appa probably had imbibed some of her qualities...the months following this incident were the worst in life I had seen...even though personally I did not get affected. I also saw how Appa handled the situation, almost like removing a cloth entangled in a thorny plant carefully without any damage...he was at his best at the worst of the situations.
By 1965 end we moved to 21, Kuppiah Chetty Street, West Mambalam...a big house stretching between Kuppiah Chetty Street and Lake View Road, with a little open land at the rear. This was an old house belonging to Duraiswamy Iyer, Appa's Chithappa (not direct).....The surrounding was dirty...the first thing one used to see was a child easing itself on the open ...there was this open drain on the side of the street which was used by one and all in the street as an open lavotary...and the stench....the less said the better. Initially it was a shock...but later I got used to it. I can write a book on neighbours and friends and good/bad/ugly experiences ...at 21 Kuppliah Chetty Street.
Appa used to give me about Rs.25 every month for my bus fare and Lunch.......I had visited almost all the restaurants around the Hindu High School - Sarathy Canteen, Murali's Cafe, Ratna Cafe etc. With quarter of an ana I could get Idli-vada and Coffee (somehow taking coffee became a prestige issue....just taking Idli Vada and leaving the restaurant looked indecent...I don't know why?). Sarathy Canteen was the preferred eatery...because it was CHEAP and I could save some money by the end of the month....that savings allowed me to visit Nathan's (T. Nagar) whenever I felt hungry while returning home. I NEVER exceeded the budget.
In 1966, Vepachi patti died...Krishnaswamy Thatha and Sundarambal patti came home to stay with us for a few months, Sringeri Swamigal Abhinava Vidyathirthar visited our home, Appa conducted a Pada Pujai for him, and by the first quarter of 1967, the time had come for me to leave the Hindu High School....for Higher Studies again.
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