Cast our nets for Stars (and not just fishes)

Article written by Cyril Thomson, HOSD 2015, Christ University

My grandma, Annie Varghese was born on the August of 1925 to Varghese Jacob and Thresiamma Jacob in Changanacherry, Kottayam district. She was the third of seven children, including six girls and a single boy. Since records were more or less sketchy in those days, grandma’s birthday is not accurately known.

Born to a fruit seller, grandma recalls much of her early childhood in the local market, helping her father with the customers and competing with her sisters to see as to who sold more and who could fool the customers convincingly. ‘I always lost,’ grandma recalls laughing loudly. However, from a young age, Varghese Jacob and Thresiamma encouraged their kids to study well at the local school. The fruits business would eventually be ruined and thus, led the family into financial troubles early on.

This did not deter grandma in her studies, though. She would go on to secure a first class with distinction in her tenth class.

For grandma, her mother was her biggest inspiration. The latter was uneducated, yet had a deep yearning for knowledge. She passed this to her children as well. Grandma recalls how her mother would tell some of the new things she could gather from about the independence movement or if they were lucky, a bit of world history. This would later motivate grandma to take up a career as a teacher. She says that she found great joy in the fact she could bring knowledge to the many around her, who were unable to study for lack of funds than a lack of interest.

Grandma never had a settled childhood on account of the family’s financial troubles. They always moved from place to place in search of a better living. Thus, the church became an integral part of the Jacob Mamoothil family. All children, including grandma, were part of the choir. Their games and studies took place at the church courtyard.

Grandma would continue her studies at the local St. Claire’s College for girls. Again, she would pass out with distinction. At this time, she also got took part in various elocution competitions which she never won. She also took part in athletic meets which also she would never win.

The joke aside, grandma believed in the importance of participation. She says that the greatest people in the world are not the ones who are the most intelligent or talented; they are the ones who never hesitate when they get an opportunity.

After passing out from pre degree, she would continue her studies obtaining a major economics. Her interest lay in history yet there was no history professor at the local college and moving away was expensive.During her studies, tragedy struck as her mother died. While this caused great despair, she became even more determined to achieve her dream of being a teacher. Yet after completing her studies, she was immediately married off.

Marrying grandpa, grandma says was the nicest thing that ever happened to her. He encouraged her to obtain a B.Ed and helped her find a job at the Sree Vijayasree High School for Girls. She would remain here till her retirement.

Grandma began as a Social Studies teacher at the school. She was only 23 at that time and was the youngest among the staff. When she joined initially, number of girls continuing for higher education was only one or two per year. She was very determined to remove this anomaly. She would have to wait for fourteen more years before she could change this situation. At the age of 37, she became the headmistress of SVHSG. Her immediate action was to obtain funds to construct a library for the girls. With the help of the church, she was able to achieve this.

She encouraged many to build upon their knowledge. Many would eventually end up as nuns or teachers themselves. So whether the library widened their scope is debatable. When I rose up this point, grandma said the idea of a library was not to show them a new path; it was to make the existing paths more diversified and to make all excel in their chosen field. Even today, there are many women who visit our home often to pay respect to my grandma which we all grandchildren find extremely amusing, since she is painfully shy.

We all have certainly learnt a lot from her. The importance of knowledge and the need for curiosity was built in us from a young age. Our grandma always made it a point to force us to participate in various activities and was our most vociferous cheerleader.

When I asked what she thought of her life so far, she says she simply has no regrets. She believes that she was extremely lucky to have an amazing family. Whether her life was a success, grandma feels that is something that would be decided fifty years after her death.

She says that if people would remember her even after that long, then she certainly had laid down a legacy that was unbreakable. She constantly reminds all her grandchildren to achieve their dreams. She says that we must always cast our nets for stars and not just fishes Grandma, right now, is enjoying her retirement alone with her hens and cows in our small home. Grandpa left three years back while her three children are away from home. She, however, finds great pride in her children’s achievements.

If those foreigners, she says, can allow my children to continue working in their country, then it simply means I raised them well, which is greater than any compliment I can ever get.

We ended our conversation with a hearty laugh as always.