Thursday, September 25, 2008

A lot of remembering!

Last Sunday was the 21st--it's a date that seems to come around with alarming frequency...can you believe it, twelve times a year, and five times already in the past five months! Not that the 21st is special. In fact, it is as un-special as a date can get. But those of us who read this blog recall with painful precision what exactly that date means. I know that with time things such as dates and times get fuzzy and events acquire a bottled significance that has nothing to do with markings on a calendar. "Bottled" like perfume, because you can take them out at will and feel everything that was felt at the beginning; and then put away, safely, so that they lurk somewhere in the corner of your mind, safely, while you go on with the business of your day. They can either be like a faint whiff that enters the edge of your consciousness, touching your every activity with a certain unmistakable fragrance, or like an overpowering scent that leaves you reeling.

Last Sunday brought a bit of both. Amma and I went to a memorial meeting held for a dear friend, Janaki Iyer, who passed away two years ago, on September 15. It was a small gathering; about twenty friends who had spent time with her in various ways, almost all associated either directly or indirectly with the small school she ran for girls who would otherwise never have a chance at education, Ananda Bharati. Appa knew Janaki and her husband (Ja and Steve, as their friends know them) and Ja's sister, Kamla, who taught economics at the University and remembered Appa as a colleague of many years. Kamli, as we call her, had not met Amma or me since Appa's passing, though she had spoke to us on the phone. She recalled how, one time when she was just arriving at Science College on the Osmania Campus, as her auto pulled up Appa came to her and said, "There's a bandh and there won't be any classes today--why don't you just take this same auto back; otherwise it's going to be hard to get one." She was really surprised that a senior colleague would take the trouble to come out and tell her that--the general attitude in the department was, "Well. we are all sitting her and can't get out even though there is no work, let her come and suffer as well!" When I told her that he was not an ordinary father, her response was "But he was not an ordinary human being!"

We spent the rest of that meeting reminiscing about Janaki, but for me it seemed a great way to spend a 21st, in the company of good people, who believed in good work, sharing a warmth that such commitment brings.

Sunday, September 7, 2008

"Annan oru kovil"

Vijaya Raman, appa's youngest sister, was particularly close to him. She says there are many memories she would like to share but words often fail her. This sums up her feelings...

"In fact my dearest brother can be described as a 'Mahatma' who possessed all extraordinary noble qualities like perseverance, patience, sense of sacrifice, ever smiling and rendering physical, mental and financial help to everyone in need, all who were in the midst of difficulties. He never hesitated to rush in and help immediately.

I still remember the day when our loving father left this world, in 1954. My younger brother was just a year and a half old. The whole responsibility of looking after the family fell on my older brothers, who were only in their early twenties. Pattabhi anna's patience and self sacrifice helped him face all the challenges. Whenever praise was showered on him by me, he used to pass on the credit to his 'ardhangini', my loving manni. Yes, it was only due to their mutual understanding and support that all problems were resolved. He is a role model for me in my own life.

In the real sense, anna occupies an exalted position in the temple of my heart. May his soul rest in peace."

Tuesday, September 2, 2008

Thoughts of Pattabhi

Mallikarjuna Rao on the occassion of his 80th birthday has this to say about appa


I have just completed 80 years and at this juncture my thoughts go only to Pattabhi. He was meticulously noting dates of birth of all his close relations in his diary and greeting them on the occasion. On this occasion of mine he would have definitely joined us in the house at Bangalore and given us the pleasure of his company. Though there was no celebration in the house for obvious reasons, personally I miss his company. I always considered him as a role model who had all the noble and extraordinary qualities in him. Whether I would stand up to his stature in spite of my advanced age is a difficult question for me to answer. Though I have lost my parents at an early age and other near and dear ones in the family my grief was only short lived where as the agony that I am passing through within myself after Pattabhi’s death is indescribable though outwardly I may not appear tobe so. When such is the case with me, I can well feel the amount of grief and sorrow in sundari’s face whenever she thinks of him .Her grief increases all the more whenever she talks to Pattabhi’s wife Lakshmi at Secunderabad and at that time I realize the great bond Pattabhi has created in his sister. This is rarely found in modern families when people live for themselves.
With heavy heart I could only say that Pattabhi wanted to leave this world when all wanted him to be amidst them. While this may be so, he as a Teacher has not left behind a legacy who could equal him or atleast stand upto him for none can equal or stand upto him.


Dated K Mallikarjuna Rao

2/9/08 Bangalore 54