My Inspiration ...

Context : Written by Umme Nazma, Christ University, Certificate Course History of Scientific Discoveries -2013

   Everybody has an influential person in their lives. For me, it is my grandmother!. She is a loving, caring, brave, sociable and anxious in the family. She is more than a grandmother to all children in the family. I call her ‘Dadu’ while everyone calls her ‘Dadi’. She lives with my uncle in native place. I miss her, because she taught more experiences to me and these have changed many things in my mind. I am not sure if I will be successful in delivering this biography effectively.

My grandmother, Sara, was born and brought up in a small village called Hungund in 1962. Her actual date of birth remains unknown. She is the daughter of Husain Saab, a farmer and Noorani, a traditional housewife. She is the third child among five siblings. Her family was a middle class one of those days. She is the third child among five siblings. She did her schooling till class V. She says, she was the most intelligent little girl at home.

At the age of 15, she was married to Ibrahim, a driver. The most interesting part is that she was married to a person who stays right in the next street. This always haunted me, ‘Was it a love marriage?’ No, it was not. She had a tough life after marriage. She lost her man after having four children. This is one of the reasons for her strong and brave attitude. She gave the maximum education she could to her children. The attitude I like the most, she never bothers what people say.

My grandmother has taught more experiences to me. She is a good grandmother because she knows how to take care of people. For example, there was a sick uncle in the neighborhood. He was completely down on his energy after suffering from fever for almost a week. There was nobody at his home to take care of. She sent healthy food to him through me. Finally, after two days I felt he was the healthiest person in the lane. This comforted the healthy uncle. From this I learned how to help weak and ill people.

Another incident which makes me love her so much. I had been to my native without my parents. Unfortunately, I fell ill. The reason- Food Poisoning. She looked after me so well, that I was alright within a day. She comforted me. She never made me realize, my mum is not around me. I return back home and say my mother,” Ma, I am sure I would take 1 week to get well under your care’.

My grandmother has many roles in my life. She is like a best friend, who shares most interesting stories with me. She is a rigorous teacher. She has passed much knowledge from her experiences to me. She is my cooking teacher too. I have learnt recipes of the yummy food she cooked. Sometimes, she is a strict grandma.

She is still a hard-working person. She doesn’t like being idle. When her siblings had a chit-chat, she would help her mother. Even now, she keeps cleaning stuff. When we kids sit idle, she says ‘If we were like you people, we would never come up in lives.’ Interestingly, we do good things, she says, ‘You will come up in life.’

She is a spiritual lady. Though, she is not into praying for hours and hours, she has a positive attitude, strength within her. I have heard many people tried bringing her down in life. For instance, when she was into educating her children they would say,”How will a widow get her children educated?”. And yes, she proved them wrong!

She has taught us many wonderful things in life. I would like to put in a few here.

    Be a long-life learner.

    Do not be negative and critical in life.

    Do not be self obsessed. Think of your family, relatives and community.

    Respect elders, forgive younger.

    Nothing is impossible. You must just be brave enough for your commitment. And many more.

She is a great woman. She plays an important role in my life. Furthermore, I believe that I do not forget her teachings forever, and I feel very happy to live with my grandmother.

My Dadu : K K Banerjee

Context : Written Riya Banerjee, Christ University, Certificate Course History of Scientific Discoveries -2013

 I am going to tell you all I got to know about the life of my paternal grandfather, Mr. Kamal Kant Banerjee. I will be referring to him as Dadu throughout. Although we wish him on the 25th of December every year, he stated his official birthday as 2nd January, 1925. The reason for this remains a mystery. He had three older sisters and two older brothers. That makes him the sixth child. He has one younger brother and one younger sister. On the delivery of the ninth child, his mother passed away along with the newborn. They were a wealthy family with a huge house and a zoo-like garden consisting of birds and dogs from various places. Dadu’s father owned a stevedore and shipping agency. After this tragic incident, the family left Bankura and shifted to Bagbazar in Kolkata. Soon afterwards, Dadu’s father disappeared without any warning.

With little support, Dadu and his siblings had to face a lot of hardships. Despite these circumstances, Dadu did very well in his school. He got good results and won many prizes. When he was in class 4 or 5, his father suddenly returned and took Dadu and his younger siblings to a new place (his older ones were all married by then). When they reached, they saw the blue sea, which was the Bay of Bengal. They had come to the enlightened village of Vishakhapatnam. But Dadu felt that it was in their best interest to go study in Kolkata. So the three siblings went back to live in Bagbazar and complete their education in the Shyambazar Anglo Vernacular School.

In 1942, Dadu passed his class 10 (called matriculation at that time). At this time, the independence movement and the Second World War was going on. So Dadu ran away to Bankura to study in the Bankura Christian College. He did his intermediate (11 and 12) in Science there. Once again, without anyone’s help, he passed with distinction (80%+). This was a big deal as even people with a 60% would rejoice at that time. Then he returned to Kolkata and completed his BSc. in 1946. During this time, West Bengal was going through a lot of problems with the British rule and the partition of Bengal. So from 1946 to 1947, Dadu worked for the Union Council of Relief and Rehabilitation in Delhi. There he was working alongside eminent personalities such as Jawaharlal Nehru.

On 15th August, 1947, India got its independence. Then Dadu got enrolled in Jadavpur Engineering College to study production engineering. His was the first batch. This was the first time this course was being offered in any college in India. In 1951 he passed this course with honours. After that, he had a one year training session in a steel plant from 1951 to 1952. 1952 was also the year he got married to Manjula Banerjee (my Thakuma). She was the daughter of an IAS officer who was the Director of Relief and Rehabilitation. Their marriage was on 29th February and hence their anniversary is celebrated very well as it only comes once in four years.

After that, Dadu went to England in the same year in October for an eighteen month training program at Glasgow where he did his specialization in marine engineering. There the chairman of one of the world’s biggest companies at that time, noticed how bright and promising Dadu was and suggested that he continue his studies in Sheffield University offering him a fee concession. There he studied Master of Engineering which was very rare at that time. Only about five people in the whole of India would have had that degree. He specialized in Servo Mechanism.

At the end of 1955, after finishing his M.E., Dadu returned to Kolkata. He took up a job with Shalimar Industries which dealt with textile equipment, but did not enjoy it. So in August, 1956, he joined Hindustan Shipyard in Vishakhapatnam despite his boss’ fervent requests not to leave. Dadu started out as one of the lowest grade of officers – a junior/assistant engineer. Within 2 years, he made 12 jumps and ended up being the chief manager. Life became hectic then as he had to spend around twenty days a month out of town buying shipping equipment and smaller shipping businesses. He made the Central Design Office for his company. For this he had travelled all over the world gathering information before preparing a final report which the government approved.

Dadu helped out the Admiral of the Indian Navy with their requirements. He did not like the fact that he was working for a company which had to submit its reports to foreigners. He proposed the establishment of an Indian ship registered company and wrote a memorandum of what should to be done. Thus came into existence the Indian Register of Shipping. The government appointed Dadu (being a marine engineer) as one of the three directors of recruitment and training of men for the Dredging Corporation of India. He is the founder member of the Institute of Marine Engineering (India). Andhra University appointed him in the Board of Studies for mechanical and marine engineering from 1970 to 1984.

In 1983, Dadu retired voluntarily. He is one of the most senior members of the organization called Free Masons of India. He has two sons. The elder one is Niloy Banerjee, an electrical engineer and the younger one is my father, Alok Banerjee, a Chartered Accountant. Currently they are both married and very successful with a pair of kids each. The former is a contractor, while the latter is the CEO of a huge company. Nowadays, my grandparents spend most of their time watching TV or talking to each other and those around them. Thus, in my opinion, Dadu’s life has been extremely effective. He has achieved a lot in his life through his hard work and sincerity. He has been successful in all his endeavors and has earned a comfortable living. He is a well respected person in society who has been invited as a chief guest to many events. He is currently living with his wife and elder son’s family. He has a good relation with each one of us. He gets along very well with his wife and is lucky to have found someone so well suited to him. I can tell that he is proud of his children and grandchildren and is satisfied with his life.

A Random Talk

Context : Written Siddharth Bansal, Christ University, Certificate Course History of Scientific Discoveries -2013

In an effort to learn about the process of aging and what it means to someone who is considered an older adult, I interviewed a man who is approaching his sixty-seventh birthday in August. Santhosh is the youngest of two sisters and one brother, who all grew up in a small town in Jalandhar,Punjab.  Both of Santhosh’s parents died before his thirtieth birthday, his mother dying of a young age after suffering from tuberculosis, which caused her to live her last years of life quarantined to a sanatorium.  When I asked Santhosh about his thoughts on aging, he answered by stating that aging is “a natural progression laid out by God.  I am not scared to die and instead, I look at each day as a gift.  I don’t see aging as a positive or a negative, but just a normal, natural process.”  Santhosh concluded by adding that, of course, dreaded aches and pains do in fact come with age, but so does increased wisdom and the opportunity to continue to learn about oneself and grow from those reflections.  As the conversation between Santhosh and me continued on however, I noticed that he did in fact have concerns about aging, which became more apparent in his references to financial issues as well as the poor job he indicated he has done at living a healthy lifestyle.

When asked if Santhosh’s thoughts have changed about aging in the past twenty years, he mentioned that “financially, I blew it.  Twenty years ago I was in a great financial position, and now I have nothing.  I can barely make the rent for my apartment, have no retirement and I’m scared for that reason.”  Santhosh was married and divorced two times, and commented that the second divorce, coupled with his own “detrimental behaviors and bad decisions” led to the state he is in today.  Without prompting, Santhosh went right into a conversation about how unhappy he is with his lack of effort to take proper care of himself.  Santhosh explained that currently he works twelve hour days, smokes heavily, drinks alcohol in excess and follows a “wrong diet” filled with fast, easy foods that are usually high in fat and low in nutritional value.  In addition, he has had a heart attack and suffers from diverticulosis, irritable bowel syndrome, is overweight, and has high blood pressure and high stress in his life.  In addition, Santhosh mentioned that he has had changes in his oral health and over the past few years has had three teeth removed.  Finally, Santhosh had a recent scare when he contracted a nosocomial infection, MRSA, after an operation on an infected wound site located on his foot, which kept him out of work for weeks.

At this point, based on Santhosh’s candid and honest answers to my questions, I asked him what he thought nurses and other health care professionals can do to assist people like him (those who know what promotes wellness yet continue to make decisions that are detrimental their health) at reaching their goals of a healthy lifestyle.  Santhosh responded by stating “well, you can’t blame the doctors.  There is plenty of information out there and in our society people sue left and right and blame others constantly, but it is ultimately up to the individual to take responsibility for his [or her] own wellness.” In addition, Santhosh stated that there is every opportunity to be healthy but that “one huge important thing is that (health care providers) need to care.  People should not be made to feel that they are being rushed from nurse to doctor on an assembly line without having the chance to ask questions or engage in conversation.”  Santhosh provided details of the doctor that he sees on a regular basis who, “does not overload his schedule with patients, and actually has patience” and concluded that a little more quality time spent with patients could go a long way in terms of patient outcomes.  He also emphasized the importance of promoting independence and autonomy in older adults because he feels that as “soon as someone ends up in a nursing-home and is told when and where to do things, loneliness and loss of self-concept contribute to a rapid decline in health.”

While interviewing Sathosh, it seemed that to identify at least two strategies that he has used to promote healthy aging and wellness was going to prove difficult, as most of our conversation was focused on his feelings of failure at promoting his own wellness.  At one point, I even asked Sathosh this very question: what strategies have you used to promote healthy aging?  His response was that he is a “terrible example” and is very disappointed in what he has done with his health—that he has done the “opposite of healthy in every way possible.”  At this point, I acknowledged Sathosh’s disappointment with himself and then turned his attention to the fact that he had mentioned tennis and bike riding earlier in the interview.  When I asked if he would consider exercise a strategy that could promote healthy aging, Sathosh agreed that it does help to promote healthy aging and described to me that despite being a smoker, and at times overweight, he had engaged in moderate to vigorous exercise on a regular basis for most of his life.  The few times in Sathosh’s life that he gave up drinking alcohol, he was actively participating in a rehab program and mentioned that “I lost weight, and I felt great.  I would play basketball every day and no one could believe that an old geezer like me could beat them, but I did!”  I believe that if Sathosh had guidance and encouragement to get involved in a social network, or organization, centered around physical and mental activity, he would find it much easier to make some healthy changes to his lifestyle.  Although Sathosh admitted that he currently does not exercise, he said if anything about his current lifestyle changes, it will be that he will integrate more activity into his daily routine.

Another strength that I believe has helped Sathosh significantly with his aging process (despite that fact that he did not recognize this as a strategy he has used to promote wellness) is his continued faith in his religion.  With everything that Sathosh has gone through in his life he has always had the utmost faith in God.  During the interview, Sathosh stated on several occasions that his unhappiness with the way he has treated his body stems from beliefs that God gives each of us a body that we should cherish and treat with greatest respect.  Sathosh also commented that “without faith I am not sure I would still be alive today” while discussing some of the more difficult times he has been through with alcoholism, drugs and depression.  As previously mentioned, Sathosh is concerned about the potential for loneliness if he should require assistance with living, and I believe that his faith in God and aging as a natural process will help him to continue to be an active member of a religious community and to deal constructively with any worries about aging. 

In summary, this interview with an older adult confirmed my belief that people may have unresolved emotions about the process of aging and what retirement age will be like for them.  Many of the concerns that stemmed from Sathosh’s comments were focused around nutritional health, a fear of loss of autonomy, loneliness and potential financial hardship. 

Tikra Toli

Context : Written by Rakhi Chakraborty, Christ University, Certificate Course : History of Scientific Discoveries - 2013

In today’s youth obsessed society, once a man has hit a certain age, he is relegated to echelons of respect and disinterest that has little to do with sincerity and more to do with superficial banality. Irrespective of how dashing my grandfather was in his heydays, how he captured female hearts on a bowstring and the momentous life that he lead, today his chief claim to fame is as father and grandfather. He is loved and respected, yet rarely understood. Looking at this travesty, I made a conscious effort to unravel some inexplicable threads that surround him. This I did for two reasons. One I realized that no matter how rich a life you lead, if that life does not mark the social criteria the world has determined for you, then you will be judged on a narrow parameter of failure always. Second, I will be old and in these shoes someday. I do not want to be treated how the world treats those it deems, kindly perhaps, irrelevant.

Ranjan Roy was born to a German mother and a highly educated Indian father at a time when colonial dictates were in its peak in India- 1932. He had a classically rigorous European education at Doon school (India’s Eton) followed by St Xavier’s college. The family’s primary source of income at the time were two collieries which the government began to nationalize post-independence. Foreseeing this move, his elder brother deftly sold overnight and moved to the States with his American wife to live with the classic American dream with the stolen Indian money. 

This betrayal was too much for the ailing Roy patriarch who succumbed to his depression. His adoring wife Hermine soon followed. Ranjan had little choice but to give up his studies mid-way and return home to manage bankrupt family estates. Though he did a stellar job of turning things around, he deeply regretted not earning a degree. Engineering was not merely a vocation for him. It was a passion. He would spend hours taking old defunct derelict appliances apart and rebuilding them piece by piece till they worked better than when they had been new. He gobbled up books on aerodynamics and polytechnics like they were thrilling murder mysteries. He laboured over sewing machines and tractors with equal fervour till they chugged efficiently back to life. Yet because of this cruel twist of fate, he was denied every opportunity to advance his career and join the elite circle of men who built machines on which the country ran. Though this would cut deep, he hid it. He focused his talent and ability on the little farm his beloved father had left him. This piece of land became a place to express his brilliance as well as take solace when the rest of the world became too daunting.

Once Ranjan was 6 feet 4 inches and a strong hulk of a man. Today he is 6 feet and four inches, equally majestic, but strength and determination have ebbed from his body to be replaced with deep bitter cynicism. Once he could have protected his beloved farm from any threat, local or national, with a perfectly accentuated deep growled threat. Today his own children, sick of threats by local mafia, thieves, corrupt caretakers and bureaucratic red tape, shrilly convince him to sell that “old piece of junk”. They see in him a wonderful father, dedicated husband and an adoring grandfather. But they tale in hushed tones of him dropping out from college and being unable to do anything concrete in life. They tell their children that we don’t want to end up like him, ergo we should make the most of what we have.

He hears these hushed whispers and knows very well the place the world has assigned him to. He is happy to take himself off the centre stage but stubbornly refuses to part with the one thing that made him feel complete and accomplished in his life. In this farm he sees his life and his legacy. Though his children don’t see his value the way it should be seen, he sits by his grandchildren and tells them grand stories of the British Raj, his exotic mother and brilliant father, his own turbulent life and the anchor of it all- the little farm he calls “Tikra Toli”. He hopes that his grandchildren would see worth in something others deem useless and preserve and build on the heritage that he dedicated his life to.

 

R G Kulkarni : My Grandfather

Context : Written Kruthika Kulkarni, Christ University, Certificate Course History of Scientific Discoveries -2013

When people talk to me, they say that I have got my grandfather’s brain. I was 5 years old when he passed away but there are many things around me that help me connect to him every day. So for the next few minutes you are going to see how he is there for me, right next to me, walking beside me through this life.
If I were to prioritize things, my studies hold the highest place in my life. This is where my grandfather, Late. R.G.Kulkarni comes into role. Born in a poor family in Hallur, he always found scriptures interesting. Forget about higher education, his family could not afford an end’s meal. He was lucky to obtain a scholarship from Dharwad University with eminent professors like Gokhale to teach. He took up M.A (Kannada) right after undergraduate course. But the scholarship only paid his fees. It did not fill his stomach. I remember the pain in my grandmother’s eyes when she said “He only ate one meal to pay for his books.” With all these difficulties he obtained a degree and not just that, but topped the University leaving behind people who were to become great poets in the near future.

With a degree in hand and passion for teaching he went in search of a job. He worked as a Kannada Professor at Sathya Sai College, White Field and in no time became the principal. All along the way, money and power never meant anything to him. If something was important, it was ‘Knowledge’. When my mother married his son, they shifted to Bangalore and he worked at Vijaya College where he retired in the later years.
 

My grandfather was a super hero to me. It’s because he could carry books with minimum of 1000 pages everywhere he went! I remember telling him once, “Thatha, someday I will read every book you have read and in face break your record “. Today when I enter his library I realize that I will never be able to as voracious a reader as he was. Well, it’s no more a library since most of the books are gone with him.
 

He was not just a great teacher, but a writer too. He was one of the loyal students of Jnana Peetha Prashasti winner D.R Bendre. His pen name was ‘Sakshi’ which represented how much he owed to his soul and to the truth.  My parent’s wedding card had a poem written by him. I wanted to know its meaning. So I took it to my Kannada teacher in school. She read it and said “The Kannada is too impeccable and of such standards that I need some time to understand it myself!” To state a newspaper about a similar incident during his University days, “Such were his sweet atrocities on the minds of the people who claimed to know everything”. Now what creates a sense of pain is the fact that he passed away a month before the publication of his first book on a large scale.
 

People always taunted about his ways. He was one of those who let their wives decide for the family while he used to lose himself to the world of books. Now no human is perfect and he wasn’t either. His family needed more time than what they got. But over the years he had built a separate world for himself.
I loved spending time with him. I am not one of those with fair complexion while he is as white as milk. As a child I used to always ask him “Thatha who is fairer?” . his reply might be a shock to you. He used to say “Me”. My grandmother used to say “She is only a child. Can’t you just lie to her?” to which he would say “Always stick to the truth.” Now this might seem a little rude to you but it is what constitutes most parts of my morals. I am not saying that I am a descendent of Sathya Harish Chandra but honesty plays very important role.
He always said that we should never lie to our self. Because deceiving others might be a mistake but deceiving your soul is a sin.
 

All of this might have made you think that he must have been a saintly human tending to perfection. But there was a fun side to him too. My dad told a story about him. He once drove to Mantralaya which is like 385KM from Bangalore on a bike. Now that must have been a hell of an experience. Being an NCC cadet came handy. He was full of adventure and no one ever doubted that.
Though he indulged in books all the time, he had time to spend with us-his grand children. We are 5 cousins but he was closest to my sister and I because we got to spend more time with him (He lived with us).
 

The room which had his books was like a dungeon. Books piled up everywhere; there was hardly any space for anything else, not even a human. When he passed away many institutes came over to our place to buy those books that had great value but out of publication. Today I realized that letting those books be sold is like selling a fortune at a half price sale. No, I am not talking about the money. It’s what those books held in them that matters. The knowledge of eminent writers and the precious notes of my grandfather were like an icing on the cake.
 

What makes me write about him? It’s the dream of excelling that gets me close to him. He had a dream of being bestowed with knowledge and he knew that hard work is the only way and that’s what makes me want to place him on the pedestal. It’s his stand on virtues that gives me the strength to live. It’s his unmoved determination that moves me. That reminds me that I have dreams too. People say that he left his intelligence as a fortune to my sister and I but they exaggerate. Though it hurts me to accept this face it also gives me the courage to actually be worth the glory bestowed on me even before I have proved myself.
These might seem really mesmerizing things which are found only in written work. But for 19 years this is the role he has played and I had left it unspoken until this assignment came across which brought in a realization along with it- my grandfather is my ideal of man.

'Pops' My Grandfather

Context : Written by Rochelle D'Souza, Christ University, Certificate Course : History of Scientific Discoveries - 2013

Music expresses that which cannot be said. It is to the soul what water is to the body.
- Oliver Wendell Holmes

A short ferry ride across Fort Kochi (in the lovely district of Ernakulam, Kerala) and Vypeen greets you with her usual best – the cries of the gulls mixed with the scent of the morning sea laced with salt. The magic begins as soon as you take the cobbled narrow street; your ears resonate to a high-pitched, soulful and extremely unique tune floating through the air. Follow the song and you will reach an old beautiful house, to the source of the magic, Wenceslaus Roy D’Souza, a 93 year old, or rather, young man, known to all as Uncle Winnie and to me as ‘Pops’, my grandfather.

Music for me and my family is something that flows through our veins and trickles down into our very souls. A normal Sunday afternoon with my family comprises of some good food, a lot of laughs and that much needed jam session with my aunts and cousins on guitars and vocals, the younger members of the band, including me, standing up on a table pretending to be back-up singers with our little shakers and tambourines, and in the middle of it all Pops and Dad, all singing our hearts away. We were raised and nurtured on music by my very own Grandfather to whom I owe all my musical talents and whose absolute love and dedication for the art is nothing short of inspirational.

Pops love affair with music began while he was attending a wedding back in the 1930’s. during the reception her heard a record of Jimmy Rodgers playing in the background. “I still remember the song, it was called ‘Mother the Queen of my Heart’” reminisces Pops, a then closeted musician, was newly introduced and instantly fascinated by the fine Alpine art of yodeling. Yodeling is a form that involves singing an extended note which rapidly changes in pitch, a form of Alpine folk music used as a method of communication between herders and their flock.

Although learning to yodel on your own isn’t exactly a cake walk his ‘never say die’ attitude to everything life throws up helped him overcome the hurdles. His biggest critique was his own father who deemed his yodeling attempts as ‘a dog howling’ recalls Pops smiling.

With constant practice sitting alone at the beach to avoid interruptions and with the training in singing he has with the Cecilian choir in his school days he perfected his yodeling. Pops life took an unromantic turn far away from his beloved guitar and yodeling when he left home to join the British Indian Army as a part of the Royal Army Medical Corps. The free spirited man that he is, Pops had more than his fair share of adventures during his service including a singing stint as a jailbird. Today he recalls this experience with a smile.

It was his sister’s wedding and he wanted to return home for a few days. He was stationed at erstwhile Bombay and his application for leave was rejected by his stern British sergeant who said “Dammit! You’re in active service!”. “But he gave me some money to send home to my sister as a gift. At that moment I thought ‘This is my chance’ I took the money bought civilian clothes and left Bombay hopping on to the first possible train from Mazagaon station. But the moment I got off at Cochin Harbour Terminus I was arrested and court marshaled by the court police. It wasn’t too hard for them because they already knew where I was going.” He laughs.

“I tried to escape because I missed my mum and I missed my music” he says.
In 1946 he left the army and returned home to the family and his beloved guitar and from then on it has been a beautiful journey for Pops. Today he lives a season symphony with his wife Verena (my grandmum) four children and a dozen grandchildren all of who sing and play at least one music one musical instrument.

Although age has caught up with the ‘youngster’ slowing him down quite a bit he remains a free spirit, he still yodels and sings whenever possible especially at family get-togethers where he in his own words “belts away a few numbers!”

And what does he feel about today’s music and the current crop of artists? He still prefers the music of the good old days but admits that some of the new numbers get his foot tapping. His advice to us young lovers of music is to keep following our heart in our melodic journey. “I’d like to tell the youth of today to carry on singing and making good music because after all music is a language that has no borders, no limits and the possibilities are endless.” He says

Puri Aloo

Context : Written By Shalini Nagarajan, Christ University, Certificate Course History of Scientific Discoveries -2013

Puri Aloo. That’s what enticed my grandfather into joining the Indian Army. At Chennai in 1949, pursuing a degree in Economics Honours, he dropped any ambitions towards bureaucracy and the civil service towards the equally prestigious Armed Forces only because the recruitment centre held a placard outside offering “Free Puri Aloo” to the entrants.

Born in May 1928, Apapa as I call him grew up at Arani, a small town in Tamil Nadu. He has often told us of the days his school fees would hardly cover Rs.5 a year. Today you won’t get a decent candy bar for the same amount. To him I attribute my learning of math tables, basic fundamentals of English paragraph writing, my penchant for knowing more about the world and being a simple human being. Apapa is warm, loving, firm and straightforward. He has a way of accepting whatever issue may come his way with no more than a shrug. His deep faith still carries him through what life has to offer.

Time with my grandfather over the years of my childhood has only made my respect and love for him grow with each passing memory. A man of few words, he is able to garner much affection from even a person he may have met for a few minutes. Ever since I have known my paternal grandparents, they have lived in Pondicherry. The people of that little French-style community all seem to be acquainted very closely indeed with them. Their beautiful home will undoubtedly have a visitor almost every day of the week, considering their close-knit lifestyles and utmost care for each other. Pondicherry is the epitome of peace, love and patience to my mind only because of the image my grandparents have created through their revered presence in the town. As I have noticed, the younger folk even consider their blessings as auspicious and holy, gracing their lives with good luck and good spirit.

Apapa has been an avid bridge-player ever since he took to retirement. This is the one game he can play day or night, rain or shine, as long as he has his quorum! Members of the family try their best to take time out from their daily schedules just to play a hand of bridge with him, to satisfy his need of exercising brain power. The game keeps him alert and away from the tendency to be languid. I must also mention how he got me interested in common card games like Rummy and Memory although he kept me away from bridge, thinking I’d get distracted from academics and want to play the game all day, just like him.

Latest additions to the family have given utmost joy to Apapa, who is now a great grandfather. To see him take in the innocence of childhood with a smile on his face and revel in the pride of being the head of such a large, devoted and happy family is overwhelming. He has given each of us so many fond memories that are difficult to put down on paper, but are bright and clear in terms of emotional sentiments. My grandfather, who is now 85years old, has led a life so far of triumph, devotion, pride, strife, honour and deeply-ingrained integrity. Through his years, his successive generations have gathered many lessons of value and are proud of having been led by his guidance.

Father of three, grandfather of five, great grandfather of two, friend of countless individuals, guide to several more, this remarkable man has touched all our lives and made us better for the future we are yet to encounter. I pray for his continued good health so he may live hale and hearty, for he is the bind and the strength that made us know no boundaries.