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Autobiography of Shri R.V.Ramakrishnan released on the occasion of his 75th birthday, on Jan 26, 2011

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Page 1: Down Memory Lane

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- Seventy five Years of Journey

R V Ramakrishnan December 2010

Page 2: Down Memory Lane

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DOWN MEMORY LANE

Contents Preface ................................................................................................................. 2

Section 1: ............................................................................................................. 4

Ramanathapuram - My Village Home ................................................................. 4

Table 1: Family Tree of R R Subramania Iyer and first wife .......................................................... 9

Table 2: Family Tree of R R Subramania Iyer and second wife ................................................... 11

Legend for all tables ...................................................................................................................... 12

Section 2: Appa ................................................................................................. 13

Table 3: Family Tree of R S Venkateswaran ................................................................................. 20

Section 3: Amma ................................................................................................ 22

Section 4: Uncles ............................................................................................... 29

Section 5: Brothers and Sisters ........................................................................... 35

Section 6: School and College days ..................................................................... 50

Section 7: Walchands......................................................................................... 58

Section 8: Pankajam .......................................................................................... 66

Table: 4 Ganesa Iyer Family ......................................................................................................... 76

Section 9: Binnys ............................................................................................... 77

Section 10: Venkatesh ........................................................................................ 86

Table 5: T S Ramaswamy Family ................................................................................................ 112

Section 11: Ganesh ........................................................................................... 113

Table 6: C.V. Ramanathan Family.............................................................................................. 139

Section 12: Audco ............................................................................................ 140

Section 13: Professional ................................................................................... 149

Table 7: R V Ramakrishnan- Summary of Career........................................................................ 159

Section 14: Post Retirement ............................................................................. 160

Section 15: Master ........................................................................................... 165

Epilogue ........................................................................................................... 172

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Preface

One day I was sitting in the verandah of my father in-law, Sri. Ganesa

Iyer‟s house, and was chatting about his life‟s events. As my gaze meandered, it

landed on his diary in which he had painstakingly recorded the daily events of the

past four decades. I suggested that he should write his autobiography based on

his chronicle. Later, on joining the Sri Ramchandra Mission, I had the

opportunity of reading the precious autobiography of my Master, titled “Down

Memory Lane.” In this book, Master‟s life, ranging from his childhood and school

days to his work at the Mission is vividly recorded. This motivated me to write

my own autobiography.

I could recall the life I enjoyed with my parents, brothers and sisters and

specifically the fun of being in a joint family which in today‟s world is a rarity if

not a nonexistent fiction. Children of the next generation are missing the

company of other children in the family; their parents are separated from the

extended family and they rarely meet each other. Sometimes, the relationships are

forgotten. I felt this autobiography could reflect on the values of our joint family

system apart from also recording the various events and members of the family.

After my marriage, in 1962, I started writing my diary and ever

since I have been recording major events of the extended family. After my

retirement, when my wife and I visited Dubai, Bangkok, Singapore and

Manchester, I used to maintain separate diaries to record these travels. Prompted

by my cousin, Venkatraman‟s idea I had started collecting various details of

different members of our family. Thus my personal diary and this collated data

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along with my personal collection of photos forms the basis of this narrative.

I have divided this autobiography into fifteen chapters, covering my

village, parents, uncles, siblings, wife, sons, official career, professional career, my

post-retirement and my Master. Each chapter is supported with family trees,

photographs and a compilation of dates and events for easy reference.

With much effort and time, I have made an attempt to record the family

events till December 2010 and hope to release my autobiography on 26th January

2011, on the occasion of my 75th birthday. I wish to acknowledge Gopal,

Pankajam and Deepa for compiling the photos and editing. I hope this

autobiography will be a good reference for all members of our family, especially

for the younger generation. I optimistically look forward that one of the family

members will continue to record further events and prepare the second edition of

this autobiography. With love and best wishes to all my family members.

31 December 2010

R .V. Ramakrishnan

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Section 1:

Ramanathapuram - My Village Home

Our family is associated with our ancestral village – Ramanathapuram,

which has about thirty houses, in two rows facing each other, on either side of a

broad road. The village is about six kilometers from Palghat Railway Station and

about 10 km from Palghat Junction (also known as Olavakkot Station) – it is on

the Chennai-Cochin Rail route and between Coimbatore and Trichur Railway

Stations. The village represents the traditional „agraharam‟ with its Brahmin

families. There are two temples of Ganesha and Krishna on entrance and temple

of Siva along with Devi and a bathing tank, at the end of the village. Our house

was located at the centre of the village and close to the village well. There were

two cows in our backyard which also had some coconut trees, banana trees, a

kitchen garden and a deep well with fresh water, adjacent to the kitchen along

with some wooden logs stored for the kitchen fire. Our house like others was

typical of Kerala architecture. My grandfather, R.R .Subramania Iyer (Patta)

who was born in 1880 must have spent most of his seventy seven years of his life

in this house before his demise in 1957.

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Patta, who retired as Registrar of District Court, lived a very pious life. His

routine included „nithya1 Siva pooja with abhishekams‟ and reading the

Ramayanam, the Hindu epic, every

afternoon. Patta had paddy fields

from which we got semi-polished par

boiled rice (which was red in colour)

for our daily meals. Our family deity

is “Manapully Amman‟. This temple

is located at East Yekkara (near the

Fort) at Palghat town. Those days,

the only transport to the town was

either by walk (20 to 25 minutes) or

bullock-cart (owned by the village

barber!)

Figure 1 - Patta in his daily Puja

Patta and his first wife Parvathi had four sons and two daughters. My

father, Venkateswaran, was the third son. The other children were: Ramaswamy

– first son, Narayanan – second son, Sadasivan – fourth son, Alamelu (Akka) –

first daughter, Arundathi (Kunjakka) – second daughter. While Patta, himself

had completed Matric in education; he had provided college education for his first

1 daily

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son, Ramaswamy, who completed B.A.(Economics) at Maharaja‟s College,

Palghat and provided Matric level education for his other three sons. I

understand that my father‟s mother expired at a young age of about 36 years,

leaving behind the children in the care of his grandmother, who advised my Patta

to remarry for the sake of the children.

Patta, by his second wife Narayani, had three sons – Raman,

Venkatraman, Ramakrishnan and six daughters – Lakshmi, Rukmani, Rajam,

Radha, Janaki and Sita. Patta, as such, had a very big family to take care of. He

used to depend on his sons (from his first wife) to support him during the early

days. During his life time, he could educate his first two sons, Raman and

Venkatraman upto Matric and married off four of his daughters..

I remember to have enjoyed the village life while visiting Patta‟s house. As

my father was working in Railways, he was eligible to railway passes and our

visit to village was frequent, during our school holidays. Patta used to visit

Bombay and take my elder brother (lovingly called as Manikutty) to the village,

as he was eligible for railway pass as an „escort‟ to my brother. My visit to the

village became more frequent, during my stay at Coimbatore, when I was in

employment (1957-58). Patta expired in August 1957, at an age of seventy seven.

Many members of the family visited the village, to attend the last rites. After his

expiry, his second wife – Narayani Ammal (popularly called as Ammami), stayed

at the house along with her son, Ramakrishnan, and daughters, Janaki and Sita

and felt very lonely and requested me to visit them every week, from Coimbatore.

I was then working six days a week in a factory called, “Indian Hume Pipe Co.

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Ltd.” On Saturdays, after completing my work at five in the evening, I used to

take a bus to Palghat (those days it used to take just one hour, with a halt for

tea/snacks) On reaching Palghat Bus Terminus, I used to take an autorickshaw

to reach the village by around 8-00 PM. I vividly remember seeing my

grandmother who used to anxiously await my arrival, seated by the entrance.

After the weeklong hotel food in Coimbatore, I thoroughly enjoyed this homely,

tasty Saturday feast which was special not just because it was cooked in copper

vessels over a slow fire kindled by firewood but more because it was specially

flavored with love and care. On Sunday mornings, Ramakrishnan (her son) and I

used to go to the bathing tank. I still remember that along with our change of

clothes and a towel we carried two small packets, one containing roasted husk

with little salt2 and the other containing „vibhuthi‟. We used to brush our teeth,

take bath, wash at the bathing tank and then visit the Siva temple. On returning

home, Ramakrishnan used to do an elaborate „Siva‟ pooja, in continuation to his

father‟s wish. After the pooja, we all gorged on our sumptuous lunch, served

with love, by Ammami, my grandmother. I then used to promptly wait for the

evening‟s special tiffin items which she very painstakingly prepared for me with

care. After enjoying the pure, healthy village air for a day, by Sunday evening,

the household poignantly bid me farewell. I would leave for Coimbatore with all,

including myself, eagerly waiting for the next Saturday evening! This weekly

2 Called as ‘mukkari’ and used to brush the teeth

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rendezvous continued till I left Coimbatore in 1957 when I was transferred to

Arakonam branch (near Madras).

Later, along with my wife Pankajam and first son Kannan, I came down

to Ernakulam (near Cochin) in March 1964 and joined the firm, Giovanola-Binny

Ltd., as Planning Engineer. During our stay at Ernakulam, till 1970, annually,

we used to engage a car and visit Ramanathapuram, Nellichery and Manapully

Kavu. Sometimes, we also visited Guruvayoor and Sri Ramar temple at Triprayar

(near Trichur).

After our transfer to Madras in the year 1970, our visit to Palghat

was reduced. Our village house in Ramanathapuram was sold in the year 1972,

when most of the family members left to Bombay and other places. During our

subsequent visits to Palghat, we used to stay in a hotel and visit Manapully

Kavu and other temples in south. I continue to cherish my sweet memories of the

visits to the village. However, these temple and village visits, stopped, after our

joining the Sahaj Marg (which will be covered in later chapters) I now

understand that the village has prospered with a Brahmin Association, which

runs a Patasala (to teach Vedas to young Brahmin boys) as reported by my son

Ganesh, who visited the village in 2007 and 2009. We cannot forget the village.

After all, my first initial, „R‟ just like my father‟s and grandfather‟s is named

after our village. Ramanathapuram. (See Appendix 1 and 2 for RRS family tree

details.)

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Table 1: Family Tree of R R Subramania Iyer and first wife

Names

RLT DOB Star DOD

R R Subramania Iyer 21-12-1880 Thiruvathira 11-8-1957

Parvathi W

R S Ramaswamy S 8-4-1901 Anusham x-x-1959

Subbalakshmi DIL x-4-1907 Uthram 19-1-2000

R R Subramanian GS 21-10-1925 Anusham 20-9-1991

Sundari GDL 19-10-1932 Makeeram

Parvathy GD 12-9-1927 Poorattathi

Muthukrishnan GSL 24-12-1993

Janaky GD 26-7-1930 Ayilyam

Krishnan GSL

Savithri GD 13-2-1938 Pooyam

Sharma K P GSL

R S Narayanan S 23-4-1906 Aswati 2-5-1946

Subbambal DIL 22-3-1915 Avittam x-x-x

Seethalakshmi DIL ?-9-1924 Uthram 4-6-1990

R N Subramanian (Rajamani)

GS 26-1-1932 Pooram 24-3-2008

Raji/Subbalakshmi GDL 8-5-1939 Pooradam

R N Krishnamani GS 3-4-1935 Uthrattathi

Lakshmi Krishnamani GDL

Parvathy R N GD 10-2-1944 Makam

Subramanian R GSL

R S Venkateswaran S 16-12-1908 Uthram 21-11-1955

Almelu N R DIL 3-5-1912 Anusham 15-8-2003

R V Subramanian (Mani) GS 25-8-1930 Uthradam 1-7-1984

Seethalakshmi GDL 5-5-1936 Swathi

Parvathi (Seetha) GD 4-8-1932 Makam x-x-1957

S V Mani GSL 8-4-1927 Thiruvatharai 26-1-1991

R V Ramakrishnan GS 26-1-1936 Chitra

Pankajam GDL 17-9-1940 Uthrattathi

R V Ramamurthy GS 17-11-1940 Makeeram 4-9-1970

Lakshmy R V GD 22-9-1945 Uthrattathi

Subramanian N V GSL 28-5-1939 Hastham

Padma R V GD 6-4-1947 Chitra

Krishnamurthy E V GSL 26-2-1941 Poorattadi

Gopal V Iyer GS 8-12-1950 Anisham

Mahalakshmi GDL 26-11-1955 Revathi

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Table 1: Family Tree of R R Subramania Iyer and first wife (continued)

Names

RLT

DOB

Star

DOD

R S Sadasivan S 18-8-1913 Chatayam 4-1-1984

U S Rugmini DIL 21-5-1923 Pooyam

R S Subramanian/Veeran GS 10-12-1940 Aswati

Visalam Veeran GDL 28-6-1946 Pooyam

R S Ramachandran GS 31-7-1942 Poorattathi

Meena Ramachandran GDL 20-6-1949 Revathi

Parvathi/Rajam GD 24-10-1944 Uthradam

S.S.Mani GSL 9-6-1942 Uthradam

Lakshmi GD 17-9-1946 Rohini

Thyagarajan T V GSL 4-6-1937 Revathi

Venkat R S Iyer GS 30-10-1948 Hastham

Mala Venkat GDL 6-6-1952 Visakam

R S Alamelu / Akka D 26-7-1915 Keta 1-5-2006

Dr S S Nath SIL 27-1-1906 Keta 8-9-1996

Raji/Subbalakshmi GD 8-5-1939 Poordam

R N Subramanian (Rajamani) GSL 26-1-1932 Pooram

Parvathi/Baby GD 27-1-1941 Thiruvonam

P Ganesh GSL 1-7-1931 Poorattathi

S.S.Mani GS 9-6-1942 Uthradam

Parvathi/Rajam GDL 24-10-1944 Uthradam

Janaki/Jana GD 12-1-1945 Moolam

Vishwanathan R G GSL 14-12-1934 Visakham

Saraswathi-Sarasa GD 11-8-1946 Uthradam

K S Gopalakrishnan GSL 17-5-1937 Moolam

Champa GD 9-4-1948 Revathi

Parameswaran K S GSL 7-7-1937 Chatayam

Venkat S GS 1-8-1949 Chitra

Prema Venkat GDL 5-1-1953

Swaminathan /Kitcha GS 23-1-1951 Pooyam

Padma Swaminathan GDL 6-9-1956 Uthram

Sadasivan S GS 3-12-1954 Chatayam

Uma Sadasivan GDL 5-10-1958 Thiruvathira

R S Arundathi / Kunjakka D 11-12-1918 Poorattathi x-x-1976

Raghunathan P K SIL 16-6-1916 Anusham 18-8-1986

Balan P K R GS 30-10-1940 Swathi

Radha/Kalyani GDL 24-6-1943 Poorattathi

Uma P K R GD 20-8-1945 Utram

P R Gopalakrishnan GSL 4-1-1949 Makeeram

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Table 2: Family Tree of R R Subramania Iyer and second wife

Name RLT DOB STAR DOD

R R Subramania Iyer 21-12-1880 Thiruvathira 08/11/1957

P V Narayani W 00-04-1907 Aswathi 27/4/1981

Raman R S S 27-11-1922 Chatayam

Sundari DIL 27-04-1929 Pooram

Nalini GD 29-08-1948 Makeeram

Bhamini GD 08/01/1954 Pooram

Savitha / Ranju GD 26-07-1958 Anusham

Lakshmi GD 28-04-1961 ? 12/05/1984

Subramanian / Raja GS 18/10/1962 Thiruvathira

Venkatesh GS 01/01/1966 Aswathi

Lakshmi R S D 15-06-1925 Utharttathi

Subramanian / Chami SIL 00-12-1913 Pooratathi 25.07.2008

Parvathi GD 00-00-1944 Avittam

Sivaraman / Ambi GS 04/07/1946 Makeeram 27.07.1997

Radha GD 00-00-1949 Rohini

Pankajam / Pappa GD 00-06-1954 Bharani

Balasubramanian GS 00-06-1956 Swathi

Varadarajan GS 12/01/1957 Uthram

Soundarajan GS 04/04/1961 Bharani

Uma GD 06/04/1963 Viskam

Rugmani R S D 27-01-1928 Utharattathi 10.05.2010

Ananthanarayanan T K SIL 00-12-1921 Thiruvonam 10/06/1989

Mani GS 14-11-1946 Pooyam

Balasubramanian / Raju GS 22-03-1952 Thiruvonam

Dr Raji GD 22-08-1955 Chitrai

Shanta GD 00-00-1959 Poorattathi

Ramakrishnan GS 18-03-1961 Revathi

Rajam R S D 05/05/1932 Aswathi 17.06.2005

Ramaswamy N H SIL 00-10-1918 Anusham 10.02.2006

Baby GD 30-04-1947 Pooram 31.10.2004

Narayani GD 07/11/1948 Uthram

Hari GS 06/04/1952 Rohani

Venkatesh GS 31/1/1957 Uthram

Krishnan GS 21/12/1957

Venkataraman R S S 20-10-1935 Pooyam 05/07/2007

Sita / Raji DIL 20-01-1945 Aswathi

Balasubramanian / Kannan

GS 05/10/1964 Aswathi

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Table 2: Family Tree of R R Subramania Iyer and second wife (continued)

Name RLT DOB STAR DOD

Devi GD 16-11-1971 Swathi

Radha R S D 26-03-1937 Thiruvonam

Raghupathy SIL 01/04/1928 Aswathi 30.09.2007

Dhanalakshmi / Raji GD 21-02-1957 Visakam

Gopalakrishnan GS 01/07/1959 Kettai

Balasubramanian / Sundar GS 24-01-1961 Bharani

Rugmani / Geeta GD 19-05-1965 Pooradam

Janaky R S D 01/04/1944 Aswathi

Eswaran J S SIL 13-10-1935 Aswathi 20/2/2004

Geetha GD 28-05-1962 Uthirattathi

Lata GD 20-10-1965 Makam

Sudha GD 11/05/1967 Moolam

Lakshmi GD 28-01-1972 Thiruvathira

Sita R S D 29-07-1945 Uthirattathi

Venkatachalam A R SIL 15-02-1941 Hastham

Satya GD 14-03-1971 Chitrai

Ramakrishnan R S S 23-09-1948 Karthikai

Meena DIL 14-05-1953 Makeeram

Anand GS 14-03-1977 Pooradam

Chitra GD 30-12-1980 Chitrai

Legend for all tables

RLT (RELATIONSHIP WITH HEAD OF FAMILY)

SON S

DAUGHTER-IN-LAW DIL

DAUGHTER D

SON-IN-LAW SIL

GRAND SON GS

GRAND DAUGHTER-IN-LAW GDL

GRAND DAUGHTER GD

GRAND SON-IN-LAW GSL

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Section 2: Appa

My father, R S Venkateswaran, was born on 16th December 1908. Since

my grandfather was in service in Kerala State, I presume he was born there. He

was educated upto Matriculation and moved out of the village for employment.

As my memory goes, he was initially employed with Central Government at

Delhi. My elder brother Mani used to go to school in Delhi in a „tonga‟ (horse-

cart). Since Delhi was very hot in summer, the Britishers, who then ruled India,

shifted the entire government administration to Simla (a hill resort near Delhi). I

vaguely remember our stay in Simla, where the Government provided

accommodation. After that period, Appa moved to Bombay (now known as

Mumbai) and joined Railways. The entire family of four brothers and two sisters

of my father along with their families stayed together in a big ground floor flat,

of the building “Railway View”, very close to Dadar station. The memories of a

joint family with a common kitchen are truly nostalgic.

Later on, the family got split and each member moved to a separate flat.

We had moved in to a flat, 8-A, Vissanji Park, Naigaum Cross Road, Dadar

(Central Railway). The building was walkable distance from the railway station.

During the early days, we were admitted to South Indian Education Society‟s

School at Matunga. Since my father was working in Railways, we got free pass

to travel by train. We used to take the local train from Dadar station to

Matunga station and from there walk up the distance to school (15 minutes).

Initially, we were staying in the ground floor and flat 8-A was occupied by

my father‟s elder brother and his family. When they moved out of Bombay, we

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shifted to the 3rd floor (8-A flat). The flat was very convenient. We had a

verandah at the main door, leading to a big hall, a kitchen, a bed room, a

bathroom and a toilet. The kitchen was provided with cooking gas facility which

was brought through a piped connection from a central location. The size of the

kitchen was big enough that all members could sit down for our meals. We did

not have a telephone connection at home and had a radio, which was considered a

luxury. I had many local friends in the building, which had a big compound for us

to play. The local language was Marathi. Apart from other festivals, the main

celebration was Ganesh Chaturthi. In our building, this was momentously

celebrated for 11 days. The residents pooled in money and a huge Ganesh idol was

installed in a big tent with fanfare and music. Apart from pooja which was

conducted every morning and evening there were also music and drama

programmes in the evening which I used to enjoy with my friends. The 11th day

was an important event, when the idol was taken in procession to Shivaji Park

Beach for immersion into the sea.

In 1932, my father established an educational institution called, „The

Laksmi Tutorial Institute‟. This was within walkable distance from our house

and in the Western Railway side of Dadar. Initially, they held morning and

evening classes for typewriting and shorthand and helped the students to appear

in examinations held by Maharashtra Government. Later, classes were also held

for Diploma in Commerce for exams held by Indian Chamber of Commerce (IMC).

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Figure 2: Laxmi College 1945 Sitting: 2 Appa, 4 RSN Periappa, RSS Chitappa Standing: 3 NS Venkatakrishnan, 4 PK Raghunathan, 6 RSR Mani, 7 RS Raman

Figure 3: Laxmi College 1950 Sitting: 2 Appa, 3 RSR Periappa, Standing first Row: 4 NS Venkatakrishnan, 7 RSS Chitappa, 3rd Row 6 Brother RVS Mani

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Figure 4: Lakshmi College 1954 – Sitting 1 RSR Mani, 3 RSS Chitappa, 4RSR Periappa, 6 Appa, 8 Brother RVS Mani, 9 SV Mani

My father used to attend the Institute both in the mornings and evenings, in

addition to attending his office in the Railways. The activities of the Institute

enlarged. They added more classes to coach candidates appearing for professional

exams of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India and the Institute of

Cost & Works Accountants. In the year 1962, the Institute was renamed as

Lakshmi College of Commerce. My father was joined by his two brothers,

Ramaswamy (elder) and Sadasivan (younger), thus forming a partnership to run

the business. My father had to resign from Railways to give full time attention to

the Institute as the Principal. My father had to qualify himself; he completed the

exams leading to Registered Accountant (RA) and Cost Accountant. When the

Indian Institutes of Chartered Accountants and Cost Accountants, were formed,

my father automatically got membership. He also started an auditing firm by the

name R S V Iyer & Co, Chartered Accountants. My father worked from 7-30 am

to 8-30 pm, alternating between the College and the Auditing firm. At one time,

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he even opened a city office in the Fort area to be close to his clients. Both my

uncles, RSR and RSS, were partners along with my father at Laxmi College of

Commerce and they took classes in the evenings. RSR used to teach Economics

while RSS taught Costing. Having passed Costing exam of ICWA, RSS joined

Bradbury Mills (Ruia Group) as Cost Accountant at Bombay and later took over

the position of General Manager till his retirement. He was an active Member of

the Institute of Cost & Works Accountants (ICWA) and was elected as

President for a two year period. During that period he visited France to attend

an International Conference. As an active Member, he used to visit Calcutta very

often to attend meetings of ICWA and used to be a guest of our family friend

Venkatakrishna Iyer. When my father expired, RSS inducted my brother Mani to

Laxmi College of Commerce making him a Joint Principal.

My father was very religious and followed all the Hindu functions. Daily,

he got up early in the morning and after his oil bath and morning

Sandhyavandanam, left for the Institute. He came home in the afternoon for

lunch. Resting in his reclining “easy chair”, he read some chapters of Ramayanam.

After coffee and tiffin, he went again to the Institute for the evening classes. On

Sunday mornings, it was my duty to bring flowers for his pooja. At times, when

we went to Tamil films in the afternoon, he never joined us, as he was not

interested in films! In the evenings, he used to visit his brother‟s house (uncle

RSS), at Harjivandas Estate, which was close to our place. Both of them use to

walk the distance to Matunga (where most of the South Indians stay) and spend

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time at the house of his cousin brother, V K Murthy (of Asthika Samaj). On

return they got some vegetables for home.

Figure 5 1953 Appa and family –

Floor: Lakshmi and Padma, Sitting: Amma,

Appa, Ramamurthy, Gopal, Seetha with Gowri, S.V.Mani,

Standing: RVS Mani and Myself

My father was a well known Professor in Management. He was also a

visiting Faculty at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) at Kharagpur. I

remember his travelling in AC I class compartment. It was a matter of pride for

our entire family. He had applied for Fulbright Scholarship of US for an

exchange program. Initially, his application was rejected on the grounds that he

was not a Graduate. However, on clarification that his membership of the Indian

Institute of Chartered Accountants was equivalent to a Graduate degree; he was

invited to one of the US University. Hence, he applied for his passport and visa.

However, unfortunately, on 20th November 1955, when he was returning from

the Institute in the afternoon, he became unconscious and fell down on the road.

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He was admitted to Sion Hospital and after one day, he expired due to “Coronary

Thrombosis” (heart attack) on 21st November 1955. He expired at the young age

of 47years. He left behind my mother (43 yrs), my elder brother (25 years), my

elder sister Seetha (23 years), myself (19 years), my two younger brothers,

Ramamurthy (15 years), Gopal (5 years), my to two younger sisters, Lakshmi (10

years) and Padma (8 years).. My elder brother Mani and my mother had to

suddenly shoulder the huge responsibility. At that time, Mani was working at

Calcutta and I was studying for Engineering at Sangli. My other brothers and

sisters were studying. My two paternal uncles, Ramaswamy and Sadasivan, took

charge of the situation. The last rites were conducted by my younger brother,

Ramamurthy. A message was sent to our family friend Mr Venkatakrishnan at

Calcutta, to send my brother to Bombay, without informing him about the death.

My brother took a flight and rushed to Bombay. I received a telegram, which was

in fact, delivered to me while I was attending a class in the college. My friends

helped me to pack and board the evening train and I reached Bombay the next

day morning. My uncles advised my elder brother (who was then working for

Hollerith, a British company connected with computers) to get a transfer of his

job to take over the responsibility of our family. Suddenly, we felt the vacuum in

our house. We missed our father. After Diwali holidays, I was to return to the

college hostel and my mother had packed a tin of sweets and my father saw me

off at Dadar railway station. That was the last time when I saw him. He bid me

good bye forever. He was very keen to write a book. I understand that he had left

behind a draft of an Accountancy book which never got published!

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Table 3: Family Tree of R S Venkateswaran

Name RLT DOB Star Gothram DOM DOD

R S

Venkateswaran

16-12-1908 Uthram Haritha 21-11-1955

N R Alamelu W 3-5-1912 Anusham 15-8-2003

R V Subramanian S 25-8-1930 Uthradam 6-7-1958 23-11-1981

Seethalakshmi DIL 5-5-1936 Swathi

Kshama GD 28-12-1965 Shatayam 13-9-1989 25-8-2010

Narayanan GSIL 15-7-1962 Kettai Bharadwaja

Shrutha GGD 30-8-1990 Moolam

R V Parvathi D 4-8-1932 Makam X-X-1952 X-X-1957

S V Mani SIL 8-4-1927 Thiruvathirai Athreya 26-1-1991

Prabha GD 2-6-1956 Purattathi 31-8-1995

Seetharaman GSIL 22-7-1949 Rohini Koundinya

Gowrishankar GS 29-5-1953 Kettai 9-1-2001

R V Ramakrishnan S 16-1-1936 Chithirai 27-5-1962

Pankajam DIL 17-9-1940 Uthratathi

R Venkateswaran GS 17-6-1963 Aswathi 20-5-1990

Sripriya GDIL 23-4-1967 Chithrai

Ruchika GGD 20-12-1995 Anusham

Kritika GGD 15-2-2002 Poorattadi

R Ganesh GS 19-2-1967 Mrigaseesham 5-7-1993

Deepa GDIL 26-9-1972 Bharani

Vaishnavi GGD 17-3-1996 Avittam

Nivedita GGD 15-4-1998 Anusham

R V Ramamurthy S 17-11-1940 Makiram 4-9-1970

R V Lakshmi D 22-9-1945 Uthratathi 7-5-1973

N V Subramanian SIL 28-5-1939 Hastham Srivatsava

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Name

RLT DOB Star Gothram DOM DOD

R V Padma D 6-4-1947 Chithrai 6-2-1969

E V Krishnamurthy SIL 26-2-1941 Poorattadi Koundinya

Sandhya GD 20-6-1970 Pooradam 15-9-1996

Ramachandran GSIL 29-3-1966 Mrigaseersam Bharadwaj

Jyothsna GGD 19-11-1998 Anusham

Sashank GGS 24-6-2003 Rohini

Stuthi GD 20-6-1973 Avittam 4-12-2003

Craig GSIL 27-8-1975

Rohan Joshua GGS 5-1-2008 Anusham

Rio GGS 4-1-2010 Magam

Tharakaram GS 13-9-1974 Punarvasu Koundinya 21-2-2003

Srividya GDIL 3-4-1978 Avittam

Aditi GGD 2-2-2007 Ayilyam

Gopal V Iyer S 8-12-1950 Anusham 12-4-1978

Mahalakshmi DIL 26-11-1955 Revathi

Priya GD 8-10-1980 Hastham 16-11-2007

Ajit GSIL 4-2-1977 Ayilyam Kaushikam

Savita GD 16-11-1984 Ayilyam 21-5-2009

Trigun GSIL 5-5-1983 Tiruvonam Vashita

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Section 3: Amma

My mother N R Alamelu, was born on 3rd May 1912 and hails from

Naduvatheri Madam at Triprayar, a small township of Trichur District, Kerala

State. Her father was Ramakrishna Iyer. He had a huge house in front of the

backwaters. Triprayar is famous for it‟s huge Sri Rama temple which is typical of

Kerala architecture. I have been named after my maternal grandfather. It is

customary to name the first son of the family after the paternal grandfather and

the second son after the maternal grandfather. In fact, I was born in that house

and used to visit Triprayar during my school holidays. At Triprayar, I remember

to have accompanied my grandfather to the nearby market at Cherpu for buying

vegetables and more particularly, bananas and jack fruit. My grandmother is to

prepare a full tin box of banana and jack fruit (unripened) chips Our regular

temple visit included offering Vedi (a firework which was burst as an offering to

the Lord) and feeding puffed rice to the fishes in the temple tank.

We also use to enjoy the boat jetty, to cross the backwaters. Now, however,

there is a bridge across the backwaters. During our visits to South, we used to

cover Palghat and Triprayar. I understand that my paternal grandfather was

working in Guruvayoor for some time and that was the time, my father got

married. As my father was working in Railways for a long period, we used to get

2nd class pass for travel and we used to spend our school holidays, visiting temples

in South India. My mother had only one brother, elder to her and had four sisters

– one elder and three younger. After a prolonged litigation of the case filed by his

son‟s first wife for divorce compensation, the house had to be sold and due to that

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shock, my grandfather expired and my

grandmother moved to Madras and stayed

with my mother‟s younger sister, Kamalam, till

her death in 1972.

Figure 6-1971, Patti with her daughters, Alamelu and Kamalam, along

with , Pankajam and Lakshmi

When my father was working for the

Central Government, my mother lived with him

in Delhi and in summer they moved to Simla. Later, they settled down at

Bombay for nearly 30 years, at 8-A, Vissanji Park, Dadar. As my father used to

be busy with the work at the Institute, my mother shouldered the household

responsibility. I use to remember her going out every alternate day to a nearby

vegetable market at BB Dadar (now Western Railway side). She was an

excellent cook and her USP (unique selling point) was her special decoction

coffee. In fact, she used to buy raw coffee seeds, roast them and grind them in a

hand-operated machine, to obtain fresh coffee powder for brewing filter coffee.

My mother managed the house within a certain allocated amount given to her by

my father. Our house was always filled with guests, some invited by my father

and others who were visiting Bombay. With our house being close to the station

many relatives chose to board in our place. We did not have the luxury of having

electric water heater, fridge and telephone at home. We used to have a boiler

using coal, to get hot water for bath, located outside the bathroom. Since elder

brother Mani, was always busy with his studies and my younger brothers and

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sisters were too young the duty of helping my mother was assigned to me. In fact,

I learned a bit of cooking and the art of cutting vegetables (which I enjoy even

today!) Since rice was sold in limited quantity only through ration shops. I used

to get additional rice in exchange of wheat, from nearby hotels. Visanji Park

house truly harbors unforgettable moments of my childhood.

The marriage of my elder sister Seetha (Parvathi being her original name) was

celebrated at the terrace of our flat in the year 1952. My brother-in-law, S V

Mani, was a B.Com graduate and was staying in Madras along with his parents,

during their marriage. My sister moved to Madras for some time, till my father

invited them to Bombay and arranged for his job and provided a flat in Parel. She

expired in the year 1957, leaving behind her husband, one daughter (Prabha) and

one son (Gowrishankar). My elder brother got married to Seethalaxmi, in the year

1958. . Amma used to handle the kitchen and household affairs, even after my

Manni (sister-in-law) came home. The third calamity in the family was when my

elder brother Mani, expired at a young age of 51 years, again due to heart failure.

The next change in her life was when the flat at Vissanji Park was sold during

March 1986. Gopal booked a flat at Ghatkopar and mother had to move with

them.

My mother was very fair. She enjoyed buying Kancheepuram sarees and

jewellery. Every week she used to devoutly read the Tamil magazines, Ananda

Vikatan and Kalki. The Diwali supplements were a much awaited highlight. She

was a very good cook and kept the kitchen neat. At Vissanji Park, I remember her

preparing a variety of sweets and savories at home for Diwali; I also remember

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that for the marriage of my two sisters, Lakshmi and Padma, all the “seeru” items

were prepared at home with the help of a cook (who used to dictate her terms). In

fact, we really enjoyed the family life at Vissanji Park. Of course, the situation

changed after the marriage of my brother and me moving out of Bombay.

My mother had one elder brother, –Ramaswamy. He was a Chartered

Accountant who stayed in Hyderabad and had six daughters, and one son. The

first two daughters used to dance on stage. She had one elder sister

Subbalakshmi, who used to stay in Madras and expired at an early age. She had

three younger sisters – Kamalam, Rajamani and Rasam. We cannot forget our

association with Kamalam Chitti and Anantharama Iyer Chitappa. They were

staying at Tilak Street, T-Nagar and Madras. They had no children and they

adopted Krishnan, who was the second son of Rajamani. Krishnan and his family

were staying at Hyderabad, while his first daughter Anuradha (Anu) was staying

with Kamalam Chitti, till her marriage. Anantharama Iyer expired in the year

1972, due to oral cancer. Later Krishnan moved to Madras with his family and

was staying with Kamalam. She had arthritis in her later part of her life and she

expired in the year 1995, at Vijaya Hospital. Krishnan demolished the bungalow

at Tilak Street and constructed a new house for himself and his children in the

same plot. After his retirement, Ramakrishna Iyer Chitappa and Rajamani Chitti

settled down at Bangalore, along with their first son Devan and his family.

Ramakrishna Iyer expired in the year 2002, and was followed by Rajamani in the

same year. Devan also expired in the year 2005 and his family is currently staying

at their house in Bangalore. Rasam chitti and Rama Iyer chittappa were staying

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for a long period in Nellichery village in Palghat. We used to visit their house

during our visit to Palghat. Later they moved to a smaller house in Kalpathy

along with their first son Murthy, while their second son Venkatraman

(Venkittu) stayed separately with his family.. Rasam expired in the year 1998

while Rama Iyer was not keeping good health and expired in the year 2002. In

fact, my mother‟s brother and sisters expired during her life time.

My mother was staying with my brother Gopal at Ghatkopar from the year 1986.

She used to visit us at Madras very often for a change. We used to leave her at

Ghatkopar during our visits to Dubai and Singapore. We had taken a senior

citizen concession pass by Indian Airlines and as such she could travel by air

between Bombay and Madras. Combining our visits with official work, I used to

accompany Amma to Madras while Gopal used to escort her back to Bombay.

On 19th January 1989, when Amma was with us in K K Nagar, she had a

high diabetic condition and was admitted to Vijaya Hospital. Our tickets to

Bombay to attend the engagement function of Kshama had to be cancelled. I took

a night flight to join the engagement ceremony on 26th January 1989 at Bombay.

She joined us for Kshama‟s wedding with Sridhar, on 13th September 1989 at

Bombay. She had cataract surgeries at Vijaya Hospital in September 95.

Pankajam rendered special post operation care in our K K Nagar house. In June

1996, she had a fall from the bed at our house in T-Nagar due to high sugar and

had a deep cut in the nose and fracture in the right hand. During this period

when she was bed ridden, Dr Vijayaraghavan used to visit our house regularly.

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In Sept 2002, she

came home with me from

Mumbai and stayed with us

till her last days. She became

unwell after Sanath‟s

marriage in February2003

and never recovered. While Pankajam took special care, from June, an ayah was

appointed to take care of Amma in the nights. In the month of July, her health

further deteriorated. She had lost control of her senses and avoided taking solid

food from first week of August 03

On 15th August 2003, Pankajam got up at 3-30 am to check her condition

when she was feeling breathlessness. Her end came around 4-30 am. She had a

peaceful end at home, after having lived for a good period of 91 years.. Pankajam

immediately informed Gopal. He took an immediate flight and reached home by

9.30 am, in time to join me for the last rites. My sisters Lakshmi and Padma were

both in Madras and could hence join us without much delay. Her body was taken

to the Beasant Nagar electrical crematorium and I conducted all the rites along

with Gopal. We returned home at 3.30 pm after immersing the ashes in the sea at

Beasantnagar beach. Mahalakshmi joined us from Bombay on the fifth day.

Deepa, (who along with Vaishnavi and Nivedita were at Madras on a holiday)

was of great help to us. For the tenth day function, Manni from Bombay,

Figure 7: Amma in Ganesh's wedding 1993

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Venkatesh from Singapore, Venkatraman with his wife Rajee and Ashok, son of

Sundari, came from Bangalore. The last rites were conducted in a common centre,

Gnanavapi, in T-Nagar. The thirteenth day function was conducted at home.

The first year abdikam was also conducted at home in T-Nagar, from 31st July to

4th August. Gopal and Mahalakshmi from Bombay, Venkatesh from Singapore

and Ganesh from Dubai, joined us for the function, in addition to NVS

Mani/Lakshmi and Kittu/Padma.

At the most, my mother would have enjoyed a married life of 27 years, till my

father‟s death. She bore many shocks including the demise of her two sons Mani

and Ramamurthy and her daughter Seetha. We shall continue to miss her.

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Section 4: Uncles

My father had three brothers. Ramaswamy Iyer (RSR) and Narayana Iyer

(RSN) were elder while Sadasiva Iyer (RSS) was younger.

Figure 8 ; Patta and family 1937

Sitting: RVS Mani, RR Parvathi, RRS Mani, Myself, RR Janaki, RV Seetha, RN Rajamani Sitting: PK Raghunathan, Appa, RSR Periappa, Patta, RSS Chitappa. RSN Periappa, SS Nath Standing: Athai Kunjakka, Amma, RSR Periamma, RSN Periamma, Athai Akka

Narayana Iyer expired at a young age of 40 yrs due to a snake bite at our

village, leaving behind two sons, Rajamani and Krishnamani, of his first wife,

one daughter Parvathi of his second wife. In fact, Rajamani was staying with us

at Vissanji Park, till his marriage, while Krishnamani was with Uncle Sadasiva

Iyer. Krishnamani and I were of similar age group and were very close to each

other. Rajamani married my athai „Akka‟s‟ daughter Rajee, which was arranged

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by Patta during one of his visits to Bombay. Rajamani was working at Laxmi

College of Commerce for a long period and expired due to poor health in the year

2008, at an age of 76 years. Krishnamani having completed B. Com. at Podar‟s

College in Matunga worked till his retirement at Reserve Bank of India, Bombay.

He was married to Lakshmi.Ramaswamy Iyer retired as Chief Accounts Officer

of the Maharashtra Housing Board. He was responsible in developing a housing

colony for south Indians at Sreeram Nagar, Andheri. I recollect the days when I

used to spend my holidays at their flat and enjoyed special food prepared by

Andheri Periammai. After I completed my Inter Science in the year 1954, I was

to decide my future study and it was Periappa, who suggested that I should go in

for Engineering, instead of taking to Finance as suggested by others. Periappa

expired during the year 1959, when he had planned to celebrate his 59th year.

Periamma expired in the year 2000 at Bombay at her age of 92 yrs. They had one

son, R R Subrmanaian (RRS Mani). He was married to Sundari from Ernakulam.

Mani worked at Accountant General‟s office for a long period, then for a short

time worked with Eswaran Group at Madras and finally with Khoday Group at

Bangalore. They had two sons. Their eldest son Ramesh married Brinda and

settled down at Bombay, while their second son Ashok married Lalitha and

settled at Bangalore with his parents. RRS Mani expired at Bangalore due to a

heart attack in the year 1991; Sundari Manni was with her son Ashok and later

she explored settling down at “Vanaprastha”, a senior citizens home at

Coimbatore in the year 2005.. Uncle RSR‟s eldest daughter Parvathi married

Muthukrishnan who worked for Airport Authority Ltd and was posted at

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various locations in India. Finally when he expired at Madras, Parvathi settled

down at Nanganallur. Uncle RSR‟s second daughter Janaki was married to

Krishnan from Madras. Having lost her husband at an early age of around 40

years, Janaki stayed with her mother while working with LIC at Mumbai and

had one son Murali and two daughters Jaya and Shantha. She expired in the year

2006. Uncle RSR‟s last daughter is Savithri who was married to Sharma and

settled down in Delhi. They had two sons.

Figure 9: Seetha’s marriage 1952 - Sitting RSS Chitti, Amma, RSR Periamma, SV Mani’s mother, Seetha

Standing_ RSS Chittappa, Appa, RSR Periappa, SV Mani’s father and SV Mani

I wish to make special mention about my Chitappa (RSS), who was our

guide and mentor, after my father expired. My brother Mani used to consult him

for every family matter. As my father had left behind a big family, my uncle was

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particular we were settled well in life. While deciding on the girl for marriage for

my elder brother Mani, he was particular that the girl should be prepared to

adjust and fit to the family as the first daughter-in-law. My Manni

Seethalakhmi was daughter of Ramaswamy Iyer, a close friend of RSS. RSS was

very much attached to my brother and used to guide in all matters. RSS was

shocked on the unexpected expiry of my brother Mani in the year 1981 and felt

his absence at the college.

Figure 10 Patta and Family 1952 – Floor: R.V. Lakshmi, S.S. Baby, R.S. Veeran, P.R. Balan, R.S. Rajam, R.V.

Ramamurthy, R.S.Ramachandran, S.S.Mani,

Chair: R.S.Raman, R.R.S Mani, S.S.Nath, Appa with Padma, Periappa RSR, Janaki, Krishnan, Patta with

Ramakrishnan, P.K. Raghunathan, Chitappa RSS with Lakshmi, V.K.Moorthy, S.V. Mani, R.H. Raman,

First row standing: Sundari, Athai – Akka, Amma, Periamma RSR, R.R. Parvathi, Ammami, Athai – Kunjakka, Chitti

RSS, Sister Seetha, Second row standing: R.N. Krishnamani, S.S.Rajee, R.N. Rajamani, R.R.Savitri and Myself

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RSS took a leading role in settling my marriage and the marriages of my

brother Gopal and my two sisters Lakshmi and Padma. He has actively

participated in all our family functions, including Upanayanam of my two sons

at Madras. As he was the only surviving member of the family, all other members

used to consult him for all family matters. Initially, he was staying with his

family of three sons and two daughters at Harjivandas Estate, next to Broadway

Cinema in Dadar. He was very religious and used to conduct Bhagawati Sevai

and Velakku Pooja every year, at his residence. He used to visit Tirupathi once a

year with family members. We used to spend our holidays at his house which

always welcomed us. Chitappa used to stock a basket of alphonso mangoes and

tin of biscuits which we enjoyed to our hearts content.

RSS‟s first son Veeran married to Visalam of Madras worked at Bombay

Dyeing and settled down at Bombay. His second son Ramachandran who

completed a Diploma in Textiles at VJTI, Bombay, pursued higher studies in

USA and settled down there with his wife Meena from Coimbatore. Chittappa‟s

last son Venkat completed an MBA in US and returned to India, on expiry of his

father in the year 1984. He took over the administration of Laxmi College of

Commerce, till its closure in 2004. He has now settled down at US with his wife

Mala of Bombay. RSS‟s first daughter Rajam was married to SS Mani, who is

the first son of his sister Alamelu (known as „Akka‟ in our family) live at

Bombay. His second daughter Lakshmi was married to Thyagarajan, an Engineer

who settled in Coimbatore after retiring as Director at Engineers India Ltd. He

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expired in December 2008.

RSS and family moved to a flat in Chembur around the period in 1960 and

used to drive his car to come to the College in Dadar. He was the only member

among his brothers to celebrate 60th birthday and enjoyed a full life and was

working at the College till the last day. During his life time, all his sons and

daughters were married and settled and he had a peaceful death on 4th January

1984, at an age of 70 years. Pankajam and myself visited Bombay to offer our

condolences to Chitti and family, on the 10th day. We cherish his memory and

remain indebted to him.

My father had two sisters, eldest was Alamelu (Akkal) who was a very

active member in the family and used to come for help for all functions in the

family. She was very close to my mother, as both our families were staying close,

during the initial stages. Her husband was Swaminatha Iyer (Dr S S Nath), who

started Saraswathi Institute of Commerce at Parel, an Institute for coaching in

shorthand and typewriting. Dr S S Nath expired in 1996, while Akka expired in

2006, during her stay with her first son Mani at Borivili. They had a big family

of four sons and five daughters. Second sister Arundathi (Kunjakkal) married

Raghunatha Iyer and stayed at Dadar. They had one son Balan and one daughter

Uma.

Thus Bombay was a hub of many of our relatives whom we used to meet in all

family functions on a regular basis.

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Section 5: Brothers and Sisters

We are four brothers. Mani is elder to me and Ramamurty and Gopal are

younger to me. After my father‟s expiry in 1955, Mani, then 25 years old, had to

shoulder the responsibility as the head of our family. My younger brothers and

sisters, then at school and myself had very high regard for our elder brother Mani.

He had his schooling both at Delhi and Bombay. After completing Inter Science

at Ruia College, he completed Law at Bombay Law College and also did his

Advocate exam. My father got him his first job with Hollerith (a UK based

computer company) and he was posted at Calcutta to do a sales job. When my

father expired, he got a transfer to their head office in Bombay and joined their

secretarial department. He also joined our family Institute, Laxmi College of

Commerce and taught Law and Administration, on a part-time basis. He used to

have a very busy schedule with lectures in the morning and evening framing his

full time office works all six-days of the week. As my father had not left behind a

“will”, he had to go through many legal formalities to represent our family

members and obtain legal clearance of the estate -amount left behind by my father

in the banks and at Laxmi College of Commerce. With his contacts he got the help

of solicitors for this. Since all the funds were locked; RSS Chittappa helped us in

providing funds as advance from the College account, to take care of basic

expenses. Mani had a difficult time for the first three years after coming to

Bombay for resettling our family. His marriage with Seethalakshmi was

celebrated on 6th July 1958 at Bombay.

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Figure 11 Anna and Manni in 1962

After completing my Engineering, I took up my first job at Coimbatore in

the year 1957 and came back to Bombay after my marriage in the year 1962 and

we stayed at Vissanji Park as a joint family. Pankajam and myself along with

our son Kannan, moved out of Bombay in the year 1964. My brother along with

his wife moved out of Vissanji Park to a flat, Lakshmi Nivas, at Sion in the year

1964 and my sister Padma was staying with them, till her marriage. He had a

tough time in organizing the marriage, with his hectic schedule at office and

college, in addition to financial burden by taking loan from the office against his

Provident Fund. In view of his sincere hard work, he was promoted as the

Secretary of the company, now known as International Computers Ltd (ICL),

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with their office at Ballard Estate. He was the first in our family to go abroad

when he visited London to attend their board meeting. He was very good in his

studies and was an avid reader of books. He passed many international

professional courses and became „Fellow Member‟ in many professional

associations. He was very sincere and hard working at his office and was much

appreciated in the office. Considered an expert in finalizing business contracts

(leasing of computer systems), he was also involved in staff union negotiations.

He was instrumental in floating their public limited company for manufacture of

computer systems located at Poona and he was appointed as its Secretary, as

well. He had a company Ambassador car with a trusted and very good Malayalee

driver, Raman.

Kshama, their daughter, was born in Mumbai on 28th December 1965 after

much waiting. The family‟s pride, Kshama, was educated in the best of English

schools and played the guitar as well. Complying to her requests, my brother who

was otherwise busy during the day, used to take Kshama to night shows every

Saturday! After her graduation, she also took to Law course and like her father,

studied in Bombay Law College in 1976, they moved to a posh flat in the

prestigious Linking Road in Khar.

Soon, pressured by the increased responsibilities in his office and at Laxmi

College, we all felt that Mani was overworking. He developed a high BP and

was on medication. In July 1981, he suffered his first heart attack and was

admitted to Beach Candy Hospital. My uncle RSS informed me of his condition

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and I visited Bombay to meet him at the hospital. In just four months, on 23rd

Nov 1981 he was hospitalized again. On being informed by RSS Chittappa, I left

for Bombay by morning flight and went straight to the hospital only to learn that

Mani had expired at 2-00 pm. He was 51 years of age and left behind his wife

and 17 year old daughter, Kshama. His body was brought to his flat at Khar

Road, when all our relatives were waiting. The last rites were conducted by me on

behalf of my Manni; Pankajam joined me after three days. After completing the

13th day function, we left Bombay. This was the greatest shock for our family

members. From the joint financial resources of my mother and her two sons, my

brother had successfully discharged the family responsibilities of educating my

brothers and sisters and getting my sisters, Lakshmi and Padma married. Now,

Manni requested me and my younger brother Gopal to handle all the papers of my

brother RVS.

Soon, Manni was anxious about Kshama‟s marriage and we were in the

lookout for a suitable boy. Kshama‟s Nischiathartam was fixed to be held on 26th

January 1989. Pankajam, mother, Padma and I, had planned to attend the same,

from Chennai. But my mother was unwell and had to be hospitalised. Finally, I

took an Air-India night flight and attended the function held at Sion. Manni

and Kshama came to Madras to buy sarees and vessels for the marriage and she

requested our presence well in advance for the marriage. Kshama‟s marriage with

Sridhar was celebrated in a grand manner in a hall in Matunga on 13th September

1989. The reception was well organized. Pankajam, Kittu, Padma and myself

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joined from Madras, while my sons Venkatesh joined us from Calcutta and

Ganesh from Bangalore. The marriage was well attended and our uncle V K

Moorthy of Asthika Samaj gave lot of assistance.

Figure 12a &b : Kshama's vrattam and Unjal

Figure 13: Sridhar's family at Kshama's marriage 1989

Sridhar decided to stay with Kshama at their flat in Khar, along with my

Manni. Their daughter Shrutha was born on 30th August 1990. In fact, I could

attend her first birthday at Bombay, during one of my official visits. Manni and

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Kshama‟s family attended Ganesh‟s wedding in July 93 at Madras. In May 94,

we both attended Sridhar‟s brother Ramani‟s wedding at Trivandrum. During

February 95, on our way to Dubai, we could visit Khar when Kshama had

invited us for dinner. Only Manni attended my 60th birthday at Madras in

January 96. Kshama along with Shrutha joined us at Kences in May 96 for

Navagraha Homan, when they could meet Priya/Ruchika and Deepa/Vaishnavi.

Figure 14: Vaishnavi with Kshama Athai, Shrutha

Akka and Deepa, 1996

During our visit to Mumbai in

February 2002 to attend the wedding

of Dorai (son of Mr Moorthy of

Capitol), we could spend quality time

with Kshama and Manni. After my

mother‟s demise on 15th August 2003,

Manni joined us for the 10th day ritual

and stayed upto the 13th day function.

We both attended Shrutha‟s dance “arangetram” at Mumbai in February 2004.

During our visit to Mumbai for Priya‟s wedding in November 2007, we could

meet Manni, Kshama and her family both during muhurtham and reception. In

March 2008, Kshama was happy to inform us about Sridhar‟s promotion as All

India Sales Manager. Kshama however could not attend Savita‟s wedding in

May 2009.

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After completing her schooling with distinction, Shrutha is now studying

for Dentistry at Nair Hospital. Sridhar continues to work at Atlas Copco which

is a Swedish firm, manufacturing compressors. His work has been well

appreciated. She expired on 25th August 2010 at the young age of 45 years. On

getting the news from Gopal, Pankajam, Deepa and self took the first morning

flight to Mumbai. It

was a blow to

Manni, Sridhar and

Shrutha.

Figure 15: Shrutha and

Manni along with Nivedita

( as Krishna), Vaishnavi (as

Kalinga) along with Deepa

and Ganesh in Nivedita’s

arangetram

My first younger brother was Ramamurthy, who did his schooling at SIES

and B. Sc at Sydenham College. He also completed professional exam ACIS of

London and worked at Calico, Tata Power and South Indian Bank; however, he

expired at a young age of 30 years due to sickness. My last younger brother is

Gopal, who completed his schooling in English School, Dadar and did his B.Com

from Bombay University. As advised by my brother, Gopal completed CA exams

and became a certified Chartered Accountant and was practicing on part-time

basis, in the same name of my father‟s firm – R S V Iyer & Co. He is

professionally well qualified and is Fellow Member of the Institutes of Chartered

Accountants and Cost & Works Accountants. He worked with many

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organizations including Star Textiles, Automobile Products of India Christen

Holen and Voltas International, Mumbai. In 2005, he quit Voltas and after a

short stint at Captiol Industries, Mumbai, he joined Global Wool Alliance as

their CFO. Thereafter he is freelancing as a Consultant. He was married to

Mahalakshmi on 12th April 1978 and they moved to their flat in Ghatkopar in

1986. Mother was staying with them while we were at Madras.

Figure 16 : Gopal and Mahalaxmi 1978

In fact, the date of Gopal‟s marriage was fixed in

the month of April, to suit the convenience of uncle

RSS, who had planned to leave for States the next

month. However, it was not suitable to us because

of school exams for Kannan and Mohan. As

requested by my mother and brother Mani, Kannan

and I joined them for the marriage while Pankajam

and Mohan stayed behind in Madras. Mahalakshmi

is currently working for Rashtriya Chemicals at

Chembur. Their first daughter Priya completed her

Engineering in Electronics and got married to Ajith

on 16th November 2007 at Mumbai. Their second daughter Savitha who has

completed MBA and is currently working with State Bank of India, Mumbai,

got married to Trigun (of a Maharashtrian family) on 21st May 2009 at Mumbai.

Figure 16: Gopal and Mahalakshmi wedding

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Figure 17: Priya and Ajit wedding 2007

Figure 18 Savita Trigun wedding 2009

Figure 19: Gopal's family in 2009

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I had three sisters – one elder Seetha,

was born on 4th August 1932 at my mother‟s

place, Triprayar. I could remember that she

completed Matric at the SIES School in

Matunga. My father was anxious to get her

married at a young age and settled alliance

with a groom from Saidapet in Madras. The

marriage was celebrated in the terrace of our

flat at Vissanji Park, Dadar, in the year

1952 with Mr S V Mani, who was a B.

Com graduate, then working at AG‟s office in Madras. She had to move to

Madras and stay in the joint family, with his parents and sister. My father got

him a job in Bombay and the family moved to our own flat in Parel around the

year 1954. They had a daughter named Prabha and a son named Gowrishankar.

She expired in 1957 at a young age of 25 years. This distressed my mother and our

family. S V Mani was heading an Institution, EMCONS, started by him and

located in the Fort area. He expired

on 26th January 1991 and their son

Gowrishankar also expired at a

young age. Prabha is married to

Seetharaman of Trichur. They live in

a flat in Sion, Mumbai.

Figure 20: Seetha and SV Mani 1952.

Figure 21: Prabha & Seetharaman Sashtiabdapoorthy 2009

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Figure 20: Laxmi & NVSMani, 1973

My second sister, Lakshmi, born on 22nd

September 1945, completed her Matric at SIES‟s

school in Matunga. When we moved to Ernakulam

in 1964, she joined us and completed her B.A. at

Maharaja‟s college in June 1966. My uncle RSS

was helpful in finalizing her marriage with N V

Subramanian (NVS Mani), son of N S

Venkatakrishnan, my father‟s friend. This was

celebrated at Bombay on 7th May 1973. NVS

Mani was working as Secretary with Nepa Paper

Mills, near Itarsi in Maharashtra, till his

retirement in the year 1998. They had a comfortable

life while at Nepanagar.

Figure 21: Manni, Venkatesh, RVS Mani, Ganesh, Myself, Pankajam, Lakshmi, RSS Chitappa & RSS Chitti

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Figure 22 Lakshmi's wedding 1973: Sitting - Padma, Pankajam, Ganesh, Kshama, Lakshmi, NVS Mani,

Venka with Sandhya, Amma, Manni. Standing – EV Krishnamurthy, Myself, Gopal and Anna, RVS Mani.

Myself and Pankajam visited Nepanagar, to conduct her Seemantham function on 3rd

March 1985. My mother was already there. It was unfortunate that she delivered a

stillborn baby at Vijaya Hospital in Madras and it was yet another disappointment

for my mother. She had no issues after this event. After his retirement, they moved to

their flat at Alwarpet in Madras, during the year 1998. They moved to a flat in

Chrompet in June 2006. My third sister, Padma was born in Bombay on 6th April

1947 and completed her Matric in the English High School, close to our house in

Dadar. She stayed with my brother Mani at Sion, till her marriage. My uncle RSS

helped us in finalizing her marriage with E V Krishnamurthy, son of E K Venkatesan

(who was running a business on cuddapah slabs in Kurnoorl, Andhra Pradesh). The

marriage was conducted in a grand manner in Bombay, on 6th Feb 1969 and a big

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marriage party of relatives had come from

Madras. While I assisted my brother, Mani in

the marriage arrangements, Pankajam and

kids however could not attend the marriage.

Initially, Padma went and stayed at

Betamacharla along with Kittu‟s parents.

Eventually, they moved to Madras and his

60th Birthday was celebrated in the year

2001. They have three children.

Figure 23 Padma & EV Krishnamurthy, 1969

Figure 24: Padma and family 1994

Sandhya, their eldest daughter,

completed C.A and was working in

Madras. She married Ramachandran

in the year 1996, who is also a C.A.

and they have settled down in

Hyderabad. Padma‟s second

daughter, Stuthi, after graduation,

completed a Diploma course in Catering in Madras. After briefly working in Taj

Hotel, she then worked as an air hostess with Singapore Airlines and Emirates.

In 2003, she married Craig, an Anglo-Indian, and is now settled in Australia

with her two sons Rohan and Rio. Padma‟s son Tharakaram (Sanath), did his

Engineering in Computer Science in Dharwar and later worked as a Software

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Engineer in Madras and US and is currently, a partner to a U S Software

company Itreya Technologies. Married to Srividya in 2003, he has settled in

Bangalore with his little baby girl Aditi.. Pankajam, Deepa, Vaishnavi, Nivedita

and I had been to the Grihapravesam of his bungalow in 2007. Kittu and Padma

have now moved to Bangalore to

stay with their son.

Figure 25: Sandhya, Ramachandran, Jyotsana

and Sashank 2010

Figure 26: Sthuthi, Craig, Rohan and Rio 2010

Figure 27 Sanath, Vidya and Aditi 2010

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Figure 28: With brothers and sisters family, Sashtiabdapoorthy, 1996

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Section 6: School and College days

I was born on 16th January 1936, in my mother‟s house, Naduvatheri

Madom, Triprayar, Trichur District of Kerala State. I vaguely remember spending

my early days in Delhi and Simla, when my father was working for Central

Government. When we moved to Bombay, I was admitted to the SIES‟s High

school (South Indian Education Society) in Matunga, very close to Kings Circle,

a suburban railway station. I note that my date of birth had been changed to 26th

June 1936, (perhaps to show age as 6 years) while admission to the school and

this date has become the official date in my life. The school did not have uniforms

for the students and as such I used to wear a half shirt and half pant to the

school and carry a tiffin set containing curd rice (with pickles) for lunch. The

school had a shed at the rear, where students can take lunch during the recess.

My friends and I used to finish lunch quickly, so that we can play in the ground

for some time, before the bell rings. I was not amongst the best in class but

completed my school without any problem. My younger brother Ramamurthy and

sister Lakshmi used to accompany me to school. When my father left Railways

and was full time at the Institute we used to go to school by tram, . The tram

service was then very efficient in Bombay and we used to take the nearby

Kohinoor tram stop (named after Kohinoor Textile Mills). After our stop was the

Dadar Tram Terminus and the tram continues upto Kings Circle Tram Terminus.

Many times, I used to walk up to the next stop so as to save money. I also used

to enjoy chatting with the conductor when he comes for ticket collection. It was

good fun. I do not remember much of my school days. I completed the 11th

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standard, which had the Board exam and passed out of school in 1950. I used to

play with local boys in our building compound and thus picked up spoken

Marathi. As mentioned earlier the Ganesha Chaturthi was the highlight of our

building community celebrations. I can also recall an occasion, when I took part

in a fancy dress competition held at my father‟s Institute. I dressed up as a local

fisherman and I got a prize from the chief guest at the annual function in the

Institute. My father was surprised, when he learnt of my participation. We used

to enjoy our Diwali holidays with family members. My mother prepared lot of

sweets at home which we used to distribute to friends and relatives. My father

used to discourage us from buying crackers, as he believed it to be nothing less

than „burning money‟! Our house did not have modern amenities like, telephone,

fridge, dining table, AC, TV etc. We used to enjoy our lunches and dinners by

sitting down in a circle in the kitchen with all our family members. During the

mango seasons, my mother used to buy one dozen of mangoes every week and used

to allocate one mango per head and balance reserved for guests. We always had

guests at home for stay. While the company was always enjoyable, the house

remained permanently noisy and busy. Although my father used to discourage us

from seeing films, my mother used to take us to Tamil films on Sunday mornings

at Rivoli or Aurora theaters.

I joined the Ruia College of Science in Matunga, for Inter Science. I used to

walk up from home to the College. The routine changed – no more tiffin set and

school bag. I enjoyed the College with Physics and Chemistry Labs. I still

remember the experience of dissecting frogs and cockroaches! My close friend was

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Vishwanathan, whose father was a practicing doctor in Matunga. Both of us

used to go to the nearby Irani Restaurant and enjoy samosas and tea, during

recess time. By just obtaining 57%, I completed the Inter Science Exam of

Bombay University in 1952. During holidays, I used to spend time with my

cousin Krishnamani, who used to stay at my uncle RSS‟s house. We used to go

out for movies together. We were in the habit of seeing the first show on the first

day of the release of Hindi movies which was usually on Fridays. I still

remember the day when we both stood in the queue at Broadway Cinema Theatre

at Dadar, for getting five annas tickets (sixteen annas made a rupee) to see the

first show of the famous Hindi film “Barsat” of RK Films, on the first day of

release. During my college holidays, I took up coaching in Typewriting at Laxmi

College and passed out the 40 words-per-minute Government exam. To get my

pocket money, I used to work at the College as Typewriting class Instructor, as

Cashier and Librarian, which in fact, gave me good experience.

While discussing my future plans with the family, my elder uncle

Ramaswamy (Periappa) suggested that unlike others in the family who practiced

Accounts, I should pursue Engineering. I had no chance in getting admission in

VJTI in Bombay due to my marks and hence I started looking out for other

engineering colleges in the state. I was called for a written test and interview at

the New Engineering College, Sangli, in Maharashtra State. My father was not

very happy about it and said that in case I am interested, I can go. I took a train

to Poona and then a night train from Poona by meter gauge to Vishrambagh

Railway Station which was very close to the college. I reached in the morning

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and walked up to the college. I met many other students, who had also come for

the interview. We were asked to use the hostel rooms and report to the college

office in the morning for the test and interview. The results were announced in

the evening and to my luck, my name was there in the list for admission to civil

engineering. That was the only branch available at that time. Selected students

had to pay up full term fees to confirm their interest, within a week. Many

students paid up the fees but I could not since I did not have the money. I went

back home next day and informed my father, who took two days to decide to send

a money order for the admission. Finally I got the admission card for the

engineering college. In fact, I was the first engineer in our big family. My mother

was not happy in my leaving home and staying in a hostel for the next three

years. It was the first time in my life at the age of 18 years that I was moving out

of home. I prepared myself for hostel life, with my belongings and set off. I was

provided a room which I shared with another co-student. A small canteen

provided us breakfast and food. My first shock was when I was dished out

Maharashtrian cuisine for meals. I had no option but to get used to the food. My

father used to send me money monthly. I had to maintain an expense account and

send a monthly summary to him. I was eagerly waiting for Diwali holidays to go

home and enjoy with the family members. On return from the holidays, my mother

prepared a tin of eatables, both sweets and savories for me to enjoy in the hostel.

But I was in for a shock. On arrival, a group of friends came to my room, opened

the tin and polished the contents within hours! I was told that this was the

normal practice in the hostels. Of course, I also got a variety of such eats from

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other friends. During the first year, I was acquainted with two South Indian

friends, Varadarajan and Ramaswamy, both from Poona. I later came to know

that both of them had failed in the first year and taking classes with my batch for

the second time and I really got worried. We used to have a very tight schedule at

the college. We reported at 7-30 am for field work, 9-30 am for classes (after

breakfast), 4-30 pm for practical classes and close by 5-30 pm. We worked six

days a week. We had a one hour lunch break, to go to the canteen and back to

college. We had a small batch of South Indian friends in the college and we used

to meet often. We got fed up with the food in the canteen and felt that we should

set up our own. Our group of 12 south Indians, decided to have a small set up for

food in the afternoon and at night from the next year. We rented a room outside

the college campus, bought vessels and furniture (with our joint collection),

engaged a south Indian cook and started our Mess from the next year. For the

next two years, I enjoyed south Indian food including chapattis. Thanks to my

two friends who were very good in table tennis, my interest in the same also grew

and I used to play in college tournaments. I also got involved in many cultural

activities of the college. During the second year, I was elected as secretary for

college educational tour. I had wonderful experience in organizing the tour with

a group of members. Planning to visit many locations in India, we arranged with

the Railways to provide an exclusive bogie and attach the same to various trains.

We had to finalize the locations, write to the concerned authorities for visits and

prepare a schedule of our travel. We were a group 60 students and a professor

accompanying us to cover many locations of interest in the civil engineering

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construction. This tour was arranged during the yearend holidays. Starting from

Bombay we visited Allahabad, Benares, Mokameah, Calcutta, Delhi, Bhakra

Dam, Chandigarh etc. for about three weeks. We had a wonderful experience of

studying places.

During the second year of my Engineering, I had gone home during Diwali

vacations and after the holidays, my father saw me off at Dadar Railway

Station. I, then, never realized that I was never going to see him again. A

telegram was delivered to me while I was attending a lecture at the College

stating that my father had expired due to heart failure. My friends helped in

packing my luggage and immediately boarded me in a train to Poona. When I

reached home the next day morning, I was told that cremation was over the

previous day itself and my younger brother Ramamurthy had attended to the

rites. My elder brother could reach Bombay from Calcutta, later in the evening. I

met my mother who was in deep shock and sorrow. I could not imagine as to

what will happen to all of us. Except for my brother and self, all other siblings

were youngsters. After completing 13 days of rituals, I got back to College but

however, I felt the vacuum in our family. I could not concentrate on my studies.

During the final (third) year, I decided to prepare for the exams in a

systematic manner. I planned the preparations well three months in advance and

prepared a time-table. I used to wake up at 5-00 am and continue studying upto

11-00 pm. My room-mate used to study late till midnight and get up at 8-00 am.

I had collected past three years‟ question papers and used to answer them in

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writing, as a method of revision for my study. I did all my exams well except for

the last one, a paper on engineering design, wherein I made a small mistake in my

design calculations. Although I realized and corrected before handing in my

paper; I did not get enough time to complete the drawings and this greatly

worried me as it would affect my entire results and my toil would be fruitless. I

had requested my friends in Poona to convey the results to me on phone at the

Dadar Post office, since we did not have phone at home. On the scheduled

evening, I was eagerly waiting for the results at Dadar Head Post Office. As I

did not get a call at the expected time, I broke down thinking that I have lost.

However, after an hour of waiting, my friends conveyed the good news of my

success in the exam. I rushed to the famous Dayaram Damodar sweet shop at

Dadar Junction and took a packet of „pedas‟ (milk sweets) and rushed home to

celebrate the good news with family members. However, I suddenly felt the

absence of my father to share this achievement. My degree certificate of Bachelor

of Engineering from Poona University was received by post, as I could not

attend the convocation. Thus, in 1955, I passed out of Walchand College of

Engineering as it was subsequently called after it was funded by Walchand

Group. My mother felt proud of me, while my brother Mani and uncle RSS

congratulated me on my achievement.

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Figure 29: Engineering degree

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Section 7: Walchands

When I completed my Engineering in the year 1957, it was difficult to get

good jobs. I approached my college friend‟s father, who was the General Manager

of Hindustan Construction Company of the Walchand Group. He referred me to

Mr. G. B. Patel, Chief Engineer of Indian Hume Pipe Co Ltd at their head office

in Bombay. After my interview, I was offered a job as an Engineer on a three-

year agreement and I was asked to report in their Coimbatore factory. I discussed

with my uncle RSS and my brother and they agreed to my joining while my

mother was not happy. In fact, she remarked that many come from South India in

search of jobs to Bombay, while I want to move to South India! My uncle gave a

letter to one of his friends in Coimbatore to help me out in settling. I reported for

work in the month of July and stayed at their house for a week, before moving to

a lodge, close to the factory. The factory was manufacturing concrete pipes of

various diameters which are used for water supply, by a patented process and my

job was to supervise the production and achieve the schedules. The first weekend

after my joining for work, I visited our village at Ramanathapuram, Palghat and

met my grandfather (Patta) and gave him a shawl and took his blessings.

As I had experience in staying in college hostels, I had no problem in

adjusting to the situation at the lodge. I had a small room with minimum

convenience of a cot, a table and a chair. The toilet was common for all the

twelve boarders. After taking my bath, I used to go to a hotel on way to the

factory for my breakfast. I enjoyed south Indian dishes like idli, vadai, pongal,

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dosa, coffee etc and then report for work at 8-00 am. I went to another hotel for

having my lunch. After a light tiffin and coffee at 5-30 pm, I used to have dinner

by 8-30 pm. Later, I arranged with a Brahmin couple to provide homely food for

all of us in a place close to our lodge. On weekends, I used to visit the city area

and used to enjoy poorie/masala and hot milk from a Guajarati hotel. The

company had provided me with a cycle and it made my travel easy and

comfortable. On 18th August 1957, I got a call from uncle RSS to inform that my

grand-father had expired. Uncle RSS he was coming to Coimbatore by flight and

I should accompany him to the village. One of my jobs was to send telegrams to

various relatives from the post office, which was away from the village. I got

back after staying at the village for two days, when many relatives (he had a very

big family) arrived by train. On return, my uncle suggested that I should visit the

village house during weekends so as to give a moral support to the members at

home. On Saturdays, after my work, I used to directly take a one hour bus ride to

Palghat and have some tiffin on the way. From the bus stand at Palghat, I will

take an autorickshaw to reach the village house by around 8-00 PM to have

dinner. My step grandmother (Ammami as we used to call her), their two

daughters (Janaki and Seetha) and son Ramakrishnan waited for me in the

house.. They used to welcome my visits and in fact, Ammami used to wait

anxiously for my arrival every Saturday. On Sunday, after having my evening

tiffin, I used to take the bus back to Coimbatore. I used to visit them regularly

during weekends, till I left Coimbatore.

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In the year 1958 (within one year of my joining the branch) the Circle

Manager from Madras visited our factory for inspection and called me for

discussions and later suggested that I should take over as the Manager of the

factory at Arakonam. The company gave me a scooter for my local travel.

Although I was happy I was also very nervous about shouldering the full

responsibility. In fact, the outgoing Manager (an elderly man) was not happy on

this decision. As Arakonam was very close to Madras, I used to visit the house of

my mother‟s sister Kamalam at T-Nagar. I used to have my lunch and dinner at

the Arakonam Railway Station canteen. I used to visit Madras during festivals

and holidays and spend time with my uncle and aunt. I was transferred again to

our factory in Raichur, as the factory Manager in the year 1959. I stayed in a

room with two friends and used to go to the factory in cycle. Here again, like

Arakonam, Raichur was a Railway Junction and my lunch and dinner was at the

railway station restaurant. At the factory, I got experience in the manufacture of

concrete electrical poles and used to visit sites for erection. During my visit to

Bombay, I met my Chief Engineer at head office and discussed my future career. I

expressed my concern that as a civil engineer; I was not getting construction

experience at the factories.

On my request, he transferred me to Koyna Project site during the year 1960.

The company had taken up a contract for the fabrication of steel penstock pipes

(used for power generation) and erection in the tunnels at site. Koyna Hydro-

electric Project was located in Maharashtra and was designed with Swiss

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technical know-how. A massive dam was to be constructed upstream to collect

rain water which was to be conveyed by massive tunnels to generate power at the

power house located inside the tunnels on the downstream end, undertaken by

Maharashtra Electricity Board. Our contract was to fabricate pipes of various

diameters at the factory in Hadapsar, Poona, transport them to site, haul them to

tunnel by winches, erect them at site, weld, paint, and test and hand them over to

the Elecrticity Board. The Koyna Project site, Pophali, was three hours bus drive

from Poona, in Ratnagiri District of Maharashtra State. During my visits to

home, I used to carry basket full of alphonso mangoes purchased from Chiplun.

Initially, my job was to supervise the construction of sheds at our site for the

staff. Later, I was involved in the erection of the pipes in the tunnels. I used to

stay in a temporary shed along with other bachelor engineers. We had a small

mess for our food. . We used to go to site by jeep to supervise the work. We had

engaged Punjabi workmen (khalsis) for the erection work. One of my close

colleagues was Mr Menon, an aged Malayalee, who had wide experience in

erection. He gave good company to us in the mess. We had erected a small factory

at the site, where we used to assemble the pipe pieces received from factory and

move them to the tunnels. Along with an engineer from Electricity Board, my job

included checking and approving the positioning of the pipes inside the tunnel.

The erection used to continue in shifts and I could be called for checking at any

time. On an occasion I was visiting the site along with MSEB Engineer at night

for checking and approval. On my return, the jeep met with an accident and I had

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minor injuries. After completing our first stage of the contract in 1962, I was

transferred as site-in-charge to Bhira Project, close to Poona, for erection of

tunnel pipes for Tata Hydro Electric Power Company.

One day, when in Poona, I received a letter from my brother to say

that a family in Calcutta is in correspondence with RSS Chitappa, for my

marriage alliance. During his previous visit to Calcutta, he had visited the house

of Mr. D. Ganesa Iyer and they were interested in my alliance. On 28th April

1962 my uncle, mother and I took the night flight to Calcutta and visited their

house. N S Venkatakrishnan our family friend at Calcutta also joined us in

meeting the family. We „approved‟ the girl, Pankajam. After informing my

brother Mani at Bombay, my uncle decided to have the „nischiathartam‟ the same

evening, 29th April 1962. We returned to Bombay by the night flight. With

mutual consent, the marriage was finalized at Calcutta on 27th May 1962. Many

of my relatives at Bombay were anxious to attend the marriage and we were a big

party travelling by train from Bombay to Calcutta. The marriage party was

represented by all the family members. We were given a big reception at Howrah

Railway station on arrival and we were put up at N S Venkatakrishnan‟s house

which was very close to the marriage hall at National High School. On the

previous day, 26st May, the formal nischiathartam was celebrated at the hall and

they had arranged for a Plymouth car for the procession. The marriage in the

Hindu traditional manner was celebrated on 27nd May 1962. A reception was

arranged in the evening, when Mr Ganesa Iyer had invited all his office friends

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of Bata India Ltd. On return to Bombay, Pankajam joined us at Vissanji Park.

We then went on a short honeymoon to Matheran, a nearby hill station, where

we stayed in a hotel run by a Parsi.

Figure 30 In Bombay with Pankajam 1962

Figure 31: Manni and Pankajam in Bombay 1962

As it was mango season, the hotel

used to serve us alphonso mangoes cut

in a cup shape so as scoop the mango,

like ice creams. I had organized for a

get-together of my office friends in

Bombay, in a restaurant, so that they

can meet Pankajam. My uncle and my

brother joined us for the party. A

similar party was also arranged in a Hotel in Poona, where I invited my office

friends from Hadapsar factory and Koyna site. My uncle and my brother joined

the party. We celebrated our fist Diwali at Calcutta in October 1962, when my

Manni, Pankajam and I visited from Bombay

Pankajam‟s Seemantham was celebrated on 7th March 1963 at Vissanji

Park. Pankajam‟s parents who attended the function returned to Calcutta

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with her. She delivered a baby boy on 17th June 1963 at Calcutta. A telegram

was received by us at Bombay and we were very happy on getting the news. I

along with my mother attended the „Punyakavachanam‟ function at Calcutta.

Pankajam returned to Bombay along with the baby and her mother; it was a

great event for us to receive them at home. We called the baby Kannan at home.

He stole the attention of all family members and the many relatives who came to

see him.

In October 1962, I requested the company to transfer me either to Poona

factory or to Head Office in Bombay. My Chief Engineer accepted my request and

I reported for work at Bombay as Planning Engineer. I was happy that I could

join my family members at Vissanji Park, with my wife. I used to take a monthly

first class pass to travel from Dadar to VT and walk up to Walchand House.

Indian Hume Pipe Co Ltd was part of the Walchand Group, which had other

Engineering units including Hindustan Engineering Company, Walchand

Engineering Works, Premier Automobiles Ltd (Fiat car manufacturing unit in

Satara). I was reporting to the Chief Engineer to plan and execute the various

contracts; I had to coordinate with the factory at Hadapsar, Poona and various

erection sites to meet the contractual delivery. This called for my visits to

factories and sites in Maharashtra and Karnataka. Since the company was

handling contracts for hydro-electric projects at Koyna-II stage and Sharavathy

in Karnataka State, I had the opportunity of taking flights while visiting

Bangalore. For visits to our Poona factory, I used to take the Deccan Queen train

in the evening from the office at VT (dinner on train) and return the third day by

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the morning Deccan Queen train (breakfast on train) and directly report to the

work. At the office, my colleague Nagarajan who was involved in submission of

tenders for new projects and handled till receipt of orders; handed over the

responsibilities to me. It was an interesting job of planning and coordination. In

the year 1963, I was asked to move to Koyna site for completing certain balance

work and my wife Pankajam accompanied me to the site; she felt lonely at the

guest house, since other colleagues had left the site. We used to have our food in

the company canteen, managed by a Kannada cook.

However, I was not happy with my career as the company did not compensate

me well. As my requests for salary revisions, were not considered, I started

looking out for alternative opportunities. During my work, I was also involved in

having discussions with a Swiss company, Giovanola Freres, who were the

technical advisers to the project. During one occasion, one of their representatives

mentioned about their joint venture with Binny Ltd of Madras to execute hydro-

electric projects in South India and enquired if I was interested in joining them. I

took this opportunity of sending my application and I was called for an interview

at their Cochin office of Giovanola-Binny Ltd. I took a flight to Cochin via Goa

where I was interviewed by Mr Walter, an Englishman who was their Managing

Director. As I had similar experience, they offered me a job as a planning

engineer, which I readily accepted. I submitted my papers at Indian Hume Pipe

Co and I was relieved after much delay.

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Section 8: Pankajam

Pankajam was born on 17th September

1940 at Valavanoor village, near Villupuram, in

Tamil Nadu State. She had her school days in

Srirangam and Bangalore. When her father was

transferred to Calcutta, she completed her

Matric exam at National High School and Inter

Science at Gokhale College and B.Sc. in

chemistry at Ashutosh Mukherji College. She

enjoyed her school and college days in Calcutta.

She lived at 34 Raja Basanta Roy Road, near

Lake Road (South Indian locality) with her

parents, one younger sister, Susheela, and two

younger brothers, Ananthan and Vijayan. She

had picked up Bengali and had many South

Indian family friends. She used to attend many Carnatic music programmes along

with her parents and sister. My father-in-law Ganesa Iyer (popularly called as

Bata Ganesa Iyer) lost his father at a young age and he was brought up along

with his sister Rajam by his mother, Godavari Ammal in their village,

Marakathapuram, close to Villupuram railway station. With much financial

difficulty, he completed his Matriculation. His first employment was as a sales

Figure 34: Pankajam Graduation 1961

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representative with Higginbotham‟s book stall at Villipuram railway station.

During his free time, I believe, he used to read the newspapers and magazines.

This improved his English skills and understanding. He was handpicked up by a

Bata Shoe Company Executive at the Railway Station and thus started his career

in Bata where he remained till his retirement at their head office. The

manufacturing facility was at Batanagar, close to Calcutta. The founder of Bata

Shoe Company was a Czechoslovak and they had factories/offices in many

countries. Ganesa Iyer joined as a salesman in one of the shops in Madras and

later worked in various shops at Madras, Srirangam and Bangalore in South

India, which gave him wide experience in sales and marketing. He was promoted

with a transfer to their head office in Calcutta in the marketing department. In

view of his sincere hard work, he was promoted as Regional Sales Manager and

he was reporting to a Czech. To develop sales and open new shops in major cities,

he had to travel to almost all cities in India. The Management nominated him to

attend the Bata Advanco Conference and he visited many places in Europe. He

received the 25 years service award from Mr Bata himself at a function held at

Calcutta, in the

year 1965.

While at

Calcutta, he

used to travel

for three weeks

in a month. His

Figure 35: Receiving Bata Service Award from Mr. Bata 1965

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wife Laxmibhai took full responsibility of family and running the household.

Figure 36: Ananthan Nirmala's wedding 1975

Figure 37 Ananthan and Nirmala 1976

Pankajam‟s first younger brother Anathanarayanan

(Ananthan) had education initially at Bangalore

where his father was working and then at Calcutta.

He completed his B. Tech from IIT, Madras and

joined Larsen & Toubro Limited, Switchgear

Division at Powai, Bombay as a graduate engineer

trainee and continued in the same company till his

retirement as Vice President (R&D). Ananthan

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married Nirmala at Madras in January 1975. Continuing in Bombay; initially

they stayed at Ghatkopar and later moved to a company flat in Juhu, Bombay.

After retirement in 2004, they moved to Madras and stayed with his parents at

Ashok Nagar. He worked as a Consultant at L&T E-services for a period of two

years. They moved in to their new flat at Thiruvanmiyur in August 2009. They

have only one son, Asvin, who on completing his BTech from VJTI, Bombay,

further completed his MS at University of

Illinois, Chicago and currently works with

Microsoft at their headquarters in Seattle,

US.. He was married to Kirtika in the year

2005 at Bangalore and they have a baby

girl Mira. Figure 38: Asvin Kirtika and Mira, 2010

Figure 39 & 40: Susheela and Ramasubramanian, 1974

Figure 41: Susheela and Ramasubramanian, 2009

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Pankajam‟s younger sister Susheela completed her Degree in Calcutta and worked

for sometime in a local school at Calcutta till her marriage. She got married to S

Ramasubramanian in the year 1974, at Madras and settled down at Calicut. The

family moved to Madras in the year 1996. Their first son Shivram (Shibu) after

completing his B.E. (Mech) from Calicut University worked for a medium scale

engineering industry (Capitol Industries) for a period of five years and later joined

Infosys at Bangalore and now works for Cognizant, another software company,

at Madras. After official visits to China and US, he is presently on deputation to

US. He married Santhi in 2003 and they have two daughters, Sudeshna and

Sujana. Susheela‟s second son Ganesh (Vigu) completed his B.Com and is a

qualified Chartered Accountant. He worked for Satyam Computers at Hyderabad

and is currently with GMR group at Bangalore. He married to Priya in 2004 and

is now settled in Bangalore with their daughter, Anagha.

Figure 42: Shibu, Santhi, Sudeshna, Sujana 2010

Figure 43: Vigu, Priya and Anagha 2010

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Figure 44: Vijayan Indira, 1982

Pankajam‟s second brother

Vijayaraghavan (Vijayan) had his

school education in Calcutta and

completed BTech from IIT,

Kharagpur. After working for three

years at ONGC, Dehradun, he joined

and completed Post Graduate in Business Management from the prestigious

Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad. He worked in various

organizations including AFF Ferguson, Coromandel Indag, Standard Chartered

Bank, Indglobal Financial Trust, all at Madras and finally settled down to

operate his own company – Centum Corporate Financial Services, from 1999.

He was married to Indira in 1982. Indira worked for 22 years with United India

Assurance Co and took VRS in the year 2004. They have settled down in Madras.

Their first son

Chandrasekhar (Chandru)

completed his BTech in

Computer Science and

MBA from NUS

(National University of

Singapore) on a scholarship. He then joined Google at Singapore and is currently

Figure 45: Vijayan's family, 2009

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working in marketing at Oracle‟s headquarters in US. Vijayan‟s second son,

Jayendra, has joined SRM University for B.E. in Computer Engineering.

Sometime during the year 1967, my father-in-law had purchased a plot of

two and half grounds, in Ashok Nagar, as developed by Tamilnadu Housing

Board. During the period 1971-72, I was involved in constructing a house, in this

plot through Mr. Prabhakaran, a known contractor. This house was named,

“Sreyas”. The plan was simple and comprehensive. The front gate led to a portico

for car parking behind which stood a spacious house. It had a front verandah

leading to a huge hall comprising of drawing and dining of size 12‟x28‟. There

was also a master bed of size 12‟x10‟ with western closet, a study room, a puja

room, a second bed room of size 12‟x10‟, a kitchen with an attached store room,

rear verandah, toilet and another bathroom. The rear entrance led to a courtyard

and a well. The courtyard had coconut trees, mango trees and plantain trees. The

trees used to yield plenty of mangoes and coconuts. The house was rented out

from 1967, till he occupied the house in the year 1975.

My father-in-law retired from Bata in 1975, at his age of 60 years, after

having worked with the company for a period of about 40 years. He finally

moved to Madras in 1975 and started living at Sreyas. He celebrated his 60th

birthday in a grand manner (a three day function) in the year 1976, at Sreyas. His

four children, then, jointly presented him a TV.

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Figure 46 Pankajam's relatives 1976- Sitting Godavari Patti,

Standing - mother, father, Jayarama Sastrigal Periappa, Periamma, Rajam Athai and Mallikeshwara Iyer Athimbar

Figure 47 Ganesa Iyer Sashtiabdapoorthy 1976

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Many family functions were held at Sreyas. He used to regularly visit the

house of his cousin brother, Jayarama Sastrigal who stayed at West Mambalam.

Pankajam‟s paternal grandmother Godavari Ammal expired in the year 1980, at

Sreyas and this greatly distressed their family members. Due to health problems

relating to diabetics, BP and eye problems, Pankajam‟s mother, Lakshmi Bhai,

used to regularly visit doctors at Vijaya Hospital. Her father became weak in

health and also had hearing problems, which was irritating him. Since Vijayan

and family moved out of Sreyas around the year 1990, Pankajam‟s parents

managed Sreyas alone. A cook and Pankajam‟s maternal aunt Janaki (who

expired around the year1998) also lived with them. They found company and

support when Ananthan and Nirmala moved to Sreyas, in the year 2004.

On 16th August 2006 Pankajam‟s mother was admitted to Vijaya Hospital

where she expired due to heart attack at the age of 83 years. However the family

which was already grief-stricken was in for a greater shock when on 26th August,

10 days later, Pankajam‟s father also expired at an age of 91 years. Venka had

come down from Singapore and joined us for the rituals on that day. Deepa and

Vighu‟s wife Priya were of immense assistance during the ritual functions at

Sreyas. All the monthly rituals and the abdikam of Pankajam‟s father and mother

were conducted at Sreyas and attended by all their four children with their

families. Pankajam‟s parents had an eventful life. They conducted the marriage of

their four children, participated in the upanayanam functions of their seven

grandsons and marriages of five of the grandsons. An interesting feature in the

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family was that the third generation was of sons while the fourth generation was

only girls!

When Ananthan moved out of Sreyas to occupy their new flat in August

2009, the house became vacant. A decision was taken that the house at Ashok

Nagar should be sold. Hanu Reddy Realtors identified a suitable buyer for the

property. Within two months the sale agreement was signed in October with Mr

Devanathan. The final sale deed was registered on 27th November 2009 and the

net proceeds were equally divided among the four legal heirs of the property. The

legendary house, “Sreyas” at 18 Soundara Pandyan Street, Ashok Nagar, which

had seen many auspicious events including engagements of Venka: 1989, Ganesh:

1993 and Deepa‟s seemandam: 1996, thus changed hands after 35 years.

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Table: 4 Ganesa Iyer Family

Names RLT DOB STAR GOTHRAM DOM

D Ganesan 21-10-1915 Uthiratathi Aupamanya 31-5-1936

Lakshmi W 19-7-1923 Hastham

Pankajam D 17-9-1940 Uthiratathi 27-5-1962

R V Ramakrishnan SIL 16-1-1936 Chitirai Haritha

Venkateswaran GS 17-6-1963 Aswathi 20-5-1990

Sripriya GDIL 23-4-1967 Chitirai

Ruchika GGD 20-12-1995 Anusham

Kritika GGD 15-2-2002 Purathathi

Ganesh GS 19-2-1967 Mrigaseersham 5-7-1993

Deepa GDIL 26-9-1972 Bharani

Vaishnavi GGD 17-3-1996 Avittam

Nivedita GGD 15-4-1998 Anusham

Susheela D 16-6-1942 PunarPoosam 11-7-1974

Ramasubramanian SIL 9-1-1938 Revathy Naithrupa

Shivram GS 10-7-1975 Poosam Kashyapa 11-12-2003

Santhi GDIL 11-3-1982 Uthiram

Sudeshna GGD 12-11-2004 Vishakam

Sujana GGD 11-2-2010

Ganesh GS 4-6-1977 Pooradom 30-6-2004

Priya GDIL 11-10-1978 Thiruonam

Anagha GGD 4-10-2008 Anusham

Ananthanarayanan S 13-3-1946 Poosam 26-1-1975

Nirmala DIL 5-12-1952 Poosam

Asvin GS 18-5-1978 Utthiram 11-5-2005

Kirthika GDIL 4-12-1979 Mrigaseesham

Mira GGD 21-6-2009 Rohini

Vijayaraghavan S 11-7-1953 Punarpoosam 20-1-1982

Indira DIL 8-7-1956 Punarpoosam

Chandrasekhar GS 11-2-1984 Rohini

Jayendra GS 16-7-1991 Utthiram

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Section 9: Binnys

While I was with Indian Hume Pipe Co Ltd, at Bombay, I got an

interview call from Giovanola-Binny Ltd., Cochin. I took a flight from Bombay

to Cochin via Goa. Initially, I met Mr S Venkatraman, Company Secretary at the

factory and then I was asked to meet Mr R D Walter (a Britisher and old-timer

with Binny Group), who was the Managing Director of the Company. After the

interview, I was immediately offered a job as a Planning Engineer, after

negotiating the pay packet. I was very impressed with the factory at Palluruthy,

Mattancherry, Cochin. On return, I informed my uncle and my brother of the

offer. They left the decision to my choice. However, my mother was not happy

that we have to leave home.

Kerala Electricity Board agreed to sign up an agreement with Binny for

supply and erection of pipes for all projects in the State. Accordingly, Binny

formed a company, the Giovanola -Binny Ltd. It was a joint venture with 60%

of Binny and 40% of Giovanola Freres, Switzerland. Giovanola agreed to supply

the entire equipment for the fabrication facility and technical assistance in the

execution of such contracts. A modern fabrication plant was put up close to the

backwaters at Palluruthy. The facility contained plate preparation, rolling of

pipes, submerged-arc auto welding, x-ray and ultrasonic inspection, heat

treatment of fabricated pipes, an open yard for storing plates and pipes, crane

facilities for handling. Steel plates of various sizes and thickness were imported

and supplied by the KSEB. The plates used to arrive from the Cochin port to the

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factory, through barges and picked up by cranes at the factory. The fabricated

pipes were also transported by barges to the site locations. Giovanola also

provided experienced technicians to assist in the fabrication and erection of pipes

at site. They provided training for our supervisors and workmen including

welders.

We packed up and took leave of all at home. Pankajam, baby Kannan and

I took a train to Ernakulam. I reported for duty on March 1964 and I was asked

to work with Mr Santhanagopalan, contracts manager (who was originally

working at Binny Ltd., Madras) My job was to plan and control all activities in

the execution of contracts – the major one being supply, erection and

commissioning of Penstock Pipes for Sabarigiri Hydro-electric Project in Kerala.

For few days we stayed at the house of Ramachandra Iyer (father of our relative,

Sundari) till he made arrangement to fix up a house at Vaduthala, which was not

very convenient. I had to leave home by 7-00 am after breakfast with my lunch

packet, since the factory was far away and I had to reach by bus travel. I use to

return late in the evening and was working 6-day and week. Pankajam was alone

at home with the baby and had no friends around. I had only Sunday to spend

time with them and to attend to requirements at home. During our short stay at

that place, Pankajam‟s grandmother visited us from the village. She wanted to

see the baby and meet us. It was very much inconvenient for her to travel all the

way from Villipuram to Ernakulam via Madras. After about six months, we

moved to a house within Ernakulam city and closer to my factory. In 1965, we

moved to another bungalow type house, Vimala Nivas, Srikandath Road,

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Ravipuram and our stay was comfortable. My sister Lakshmi was attending

Maharaja‟s college and completed B. A. in June 1966. I got a second hand

Lambretta scooter during the year 1968. It was then convenient to reach office

and go out on Sundays with family. We used to regularly visit Dasaprakash

Hotel in Willington Island to enjoy ice cream and enjoy films in theatres. Both

Kannan and Mohan used to enjoy the snacks at the theatre and sleep off during

the show. Four of us used to manage to travel on the scooter with Kannan sitting

at the back stepeny tyre and Mohan standing in front (sometimes he used to sleep

off because of the cool wind). On 6th February 1969, my sister Padma‟s marriage

with Krishnamurthy was celebrated at Bombay. Pankajam, Kannan and Mohan

could not join me as the kids had measles.

Figure 48: Ernakulam 1967

My work included planning and scheduling for fabrication and erection of

pipes at various sites, both in

Kerala and in Tamil Nadu. I used

to visit various sites, finalize the

erection plans and accordingly

schedule the fabrication, in close

coordination with the Engineers

of the Electricity Boards. I also

received good training from the

Swiss technicians. . At the office,

I had very good company of Mr

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Rajaram, who was the Cost Accountant coming from Madras. I used to get lunch

from home, while Rajaram got it from Woodlands hotel. I had occasions to travel

with my MD to project sites for technical discussions and enjoyed my work. The

externally laid pipe lines had an “expansion joints” to take care of expansion and

contraction of the line during summer and winter. The expansion joints were

machined and assembled at our sister concern, Binny Engineering Works,

Madras. I had occasions to visit this unit to schedule and expedite our orders on

them. After a period of three years, we did not have enough orders from

Electricity Boards to keep the fabrication shop fully utilized. The company

decided to take the fabrication and supply of pressure vessels for process

industries including refineries and I was also involved in procurement of various

items, which called for extensive travel to Coimbatore, Bombay, Ahmedabad and

Baroda.

.However, the weather in Ernakulam was not comfortable. Always stuffy

and damp, it affected Pankajam‟s health. She used to have complaints of asthma

and this was worrying me. We were also worried about future education for both

Kannan and Mohan. We started looking out better schools outside Kerala with

hostel facilities. The life at the office was also not comfortable. We had a series of

strike and gherrao during May 1970. I approached our British Director during

one of his visits to the factory and requested for a transfer to Madras and he was

kind enough to accept my request. Finally, in June 1970, we moved out of

Ernakulam to Madras. Bata friends helped us to pack our belongings and

transport it by a lorry to Madras. We bid farewell to Ernakulam. On reaching

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Madras, we move to the house of our uncle Anantharama Iyer at T-Nagar. In

few days time, we fixed up a flat in Mahalingapuram.

I reported for duty to Mr S Renganathan, Works Manager, Binny

Engineering Works at Meenambakkam in Madras on 1st July 1970. He directed

me to meet their Marketing Manager, who assigned me the job of Central

Planning for the execution of contracts. I visited the widely spread out factory,

which included many production departments namely a foundry producing grey

iron castings of engineering products (both machine and hand moulded), a forge

shop having two drop hammers to produce forgings of various shapes using a

couple of dies, which were manufactured in the dye shop, a fabrication shop for

steel structures and piping, a huge machine shop (both heavy and small)

containing machining equipment for various operations, an assembly shop for

assembly and testing of various equipments (mainly for Sugar Mills) and a smithy

shop. The company accepted orders for equipments as also products manufactured

by the various departments which made the planning and execution very complex.

I was asked to study the various operations and estimate the capacity of the

various production departments. The execution included engineering design,

procurement, manufacturing, assembly and in few contracts erection at site. I had

to study the entire process of execution of contracts, estimate the time period for

each of the operations and schedule the work to meet the delivery committed to

our customers. During this work, I used to interact with the heads of the various

departments, including sales, design, purchase, manufacturing, inspection and

shipment. The factory used to work for two shifts, from 6-00 am to 10-30 pm and

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the working hours for general administration was from 8-00 am to 5-00 pm.

.Figure 49 : Porur Somasundara Mudali home 1971

In June 1971, we move to a first floor

flat at Porur Somasundara Mudali Street, very

close to North Usman Road and Kodambakam

Suburban Railway Station. I used to leave

home by 7-15 am after breakfast and walk up

to Kodambakam Station and travel by 1st class

to Meenambakkam Station; the factory of

walking distance from the station.

In 1971, I was transferred as

Head of Works Planning and reported to the Works Manager. My job was to

plan, schedule and expedite the various orders in the Factory Departments. I was

assisted by five engineers to issue monthly schedules and to coordinate with sales.

The Works Manager visited the various departments in the morning on a fixed

time schedule and I used to join him to review the progress. In discussion with

the Works Manager, I used to submit a shipment plan to marketing and finance.

The Heads of Marketing, Finance and Works used to report to the Chief

Executive, who reported to the Director of the Binny Board. We use to enjoy the

lunch at the factory. All the Heads of Departments used to join the Chief

Executive for lunch at the dining hall. We had western type lunch with soup,

three course meal and a desert.

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Figure 50: Kannan ( Venkatesh), 1973:

Figure 51: Mohan,( Ganesh), 1973

Figure 52: Holiday 1974

In the year 1974, Binnys engaged

the services of Management

Consultants from Bombay, to study

our entire operations and submit their

report on recommendations for the

overall improvement of operations and

profitability. During their study, they

also studied the Organization

Structure and made certain recommendations. Based on this, I was transferred as

Superintendent - Materials, since they found that I was good in planning and

scheduling, which was lacking in the Department. I should consider that this

change was a turning point in my career. I had some experience in Purchase

activities while at GB (Giovanola –Binny) and had to learn many activities on

the job, while reporting myself to the Works Manager. I took over the

Department from one of my colleagues, Mr Das, who was transferred to Projects.

My major activities included purchase of Consumables for Foundry, Steel plates

and structurals for Fabrication, Steel sections for Forge Shop, Steel shafts for

Machine Shop and assembly materials, and Capital Equipment for the factory

operations. My job called for extensive travel to Bombay, Ahmedabad, Calcutta,

Ranchi, Rourkela etc. When I joined the Department, Mr Das was the Secretary

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of the Indian Institute of Materials Management (IIMM) and he made me a

Member, which helped me to associate myself with Materials profession. This

was yet another turning point in

my professional career.

Figure 53 : 1976

After having served at

BEW (Binny Engineering Works)

for eight years, I could not see a

professional growth or recognition

of my work and I started looking

out for opportunities for a change.

During this period, one Mr

Gangolli (Materials Manager of Audco India Ltd) was the Chairman of IIMM,

Chennai Branch and I had interactions with him during monthly meetings.

Audco India (L&T Group) advertised for the position of Assistant Manager,

Purchase & Development and he suggested that I should apply for the position. I

was called for the preliminary interview at Madras, along with four others at

their factory in Manapakkam and I was lucky to be selected at the Regional

level. I came to understand that such regional interviews were held in West,

North and East. The final interview of four was conducted at the factory by a

team of two members – General Manager, Mr Sharma and Deputy General

Manager (Operations) Mr Gupta. I was provisionally selected and was called for

a second interview with the General Manager. I was then advised to go for

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a final interview with the Director, Mr U V Rao at L&T House, Bombay. To

attend the interview, I got a suit tailored at Madras and was bit nervous. The

interview went off well and I was finally selected and offered a contract in the

Covenanted cadre, which was very attractive. I felt very happy to join the

prestigious Engineering Group – Larsen & Toubro Ltd. My brother Mani was

happy on this change. I submitted my resignation letter and I left on 29th April

1978, after having served for a period of 8 years. My staff members of the

Purchase and Stores Department gave a farewell party. In fact, Mr Ramani of

Purchase Department and Mr Sunderaraman of Stores invited me and Pankajam

for lunch at their houses.

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Section 10: Venkatesh

My first son, Kannan (Venkatesh) was born on 17th June 1963 at

Calcutta, when Pankajam was with her parents at 34, Raja Bansanta Roy Road.

He was very fair and chubby and he was the first grand-child in our family. .

Kannan‟s first birthday was celebrated at Ernakulam on 4th July 1964, when

Pankajam‟s parents visited us from Calcutta. We had the religious function in

the morning and I had invited my office colleagues for a small party at home in

the evening, when they enjoyed „rasagollas‟ got from Calcutta.

Figure 54: Venka's first birthday 1964

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In the year 1968, Kannan joins KG class in a local school run by “Ananda

Marg”. Pankajam used to drop and pick up from the school. After our moving to

Madras in August 1970, Kannan and Mohan joined Navina School, which was

very close to our house – Madhavan Nair Colony. Pankajam used to drop and

pick them up from the School.

In June 1971, we moved to a first floor flat at Porur Somasundara Mudali

Street, very close to North Usman Road and Kodambakam Suburban Railway

Station. The house owner Mr Vanchinathan stayed in the ground floor with his

family – he had two sons Giri, Prem and one daughter Lalli. In fact, his two sons

became very good friends to Mohan and Kannan. Our next house was the

bungalow of Telugu film personalities of Vijayanirmala and Krishna. On most of

the Sundays, many tourist buses with full load of tourists (head shaven) from

Andhra Pradesh used to visit their house, on their return from Tirupathi to have

„darshan‟ of their hero and heroine, who is to oblige them by their presence from

first floor verandah. At the junction of our road with Periyar Road, was the

house where actress Sridevi stayed in the first floor, with her parents. During this

period, Kannan and Mohan joined Bharath School, near Woodlands Drive-In

Hotel at Mylapore. As the school was 4 to 5 km away, they used to go by a

specially arranged “rickshaw” One or two occasions; they came home from school

by a taxi, since the rickshaw did not report at the school. We were not happy

with Bharath School and wanted them to join Padma Seshadri School in

Nungambakkam. Kannan took a test for admission while Mohan refused

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the test. Kannan joined Padma Seshadri School in the Std V class, in June 1972,

while Mohan continued the same school for one more year. Our stay in this house

was very memorable, with many family events during our seven years of stay.

Deepavali festival was well celebrated at home – I used to fix up a budget for the

purchase of crackers. Along with Kannan and Mohan, we used to go to

Kamadhenu Departmental Stores on Mount Road, to buy them at cheaper rates.

On coming home, the crackers used to be made into two parts, one for each.

Kannan used to keep them safe in a box till the day of Deepavali, while Mohan

used to light them up from day one. They used to have company of Giri and Prem

for lighting up of crackers for two to three days. They also used to enjoy watching

the „bursting‟ of load of crackers at our neighbor‟s house. Another event used to

be during Christmas vacation, when we used to buy cakes every year from

Mcrenett Shop on the Mount Road. One

day, a Policeman reported at our house

and asked me to accompany him to

Nungambakkam Police station to

investigate an accident. My two sons –

Kannan and Mohan, got terribly worried

about my going to the Police Station. On

verification, the Police found that my

scooter was not involved in the said

accident (they had noted down wrong

number) and they excused themselves. .At

Figure 55: Venka's upanayanam 1974

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the age of 11 years, Kannan‟s “Upanayanam” was celebrated at a nearby Hall in

May 1974. The function was well attended including my mother, uncle RSS and

brother RVS with their families. Our house was full with relatives who had come

for the function. A small reception was organized the same evening, when office

friends and school friends were invited. I got a cycle for him to go to the school.

Both Kannan and Mohan used to go to a lending library for books on Ragaviah

road, close to our house. They both learnt driving scooter of mine, which became

useful at a later stage.

Figure 56: My family at Venka's upanayanam

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Figure 57: Pankajam’s relatives at Venka's upanayanam

In June 1978, Kannan passed X standard in 1st class (63%) from PSBB.

while Mohan passed Std VI, at Padma Seshadri School, Nungambakkam. On

5th Sept 1978, we moved to a company leased flat at Kamdar Nagar, on the first

floor, which was very spacious and

convenient. During the summer

vacations in April 1979, we planned

our first holiday to Kodaikanal Hill

Station. We had the wonderful

experience of traveling by AC I class

from Egmore to reach Kodaikanal

Figure 58: Holiday in Kodai

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Road Station, the next day morning. We took a bus to reach the Hill Station and

went to the company maintained Guest House – “Fair View”. We enjoyed our

10-day holiday visiting various locations, including boating in the Lake. Our stay

was made comfortable by the Caretaker-cum-Cook, who cooked delicious food to

our order; Kannan and Mohan used to enjoy different varieties of Cakes made by

him. I used to help him in learning car-driving till he got the license.

In June 1980, after securing first class (72%) in Std XII, Venkatesh (name

was changed) was anxious to join Commerce stream in the best college. He secured

admission at Vaishnav College and paid the fees. Pankajam‟s father talked to his

neighbor Mr Kumaraswamy, the then Registrar of Madras University, with

whose reference, Venka got B. Com admission at Loyola College, Nungambakkam

in June 1980. We were thrilled. In February 81, Venkatesh passed CA entrance

exam and in April 1983 Venkatesh joined A. F. Fergusons – Chartered

Accountants, as articled clerk, after passing out his B. Com from Madras

University. In fact, he could get in to AFF, a prestigious organization, only

through the reference made by

my late brother RVS Mani. .

In June 84, Venkatesh passed

out Inter CA, both groups in

first attempt. We enjoyed our

holiday in Kodaikanal during

the month of June 85.

Figure 59: Holiday in 1985

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In the month of August, Venkatesh passes Inter ACS (Company Secretary)

exam, both groups in first attempt, getting All India 4th position. The New Year

1986, brought the good news of Venkatesh passing out the Final CA (Institute of

Chartered Accountants) exam, obtaining 5th All India Rank, This was indeed, a

very great achievement and a proud moment for all of us. He worked for a short

period with Sundaram Clayton factory, Padi, Chennai.

After attending many interviews, Venkatesh finally joins IEL (Indian

Explosives Ltd) part of ICI Group (UK based) as Accounting Manager, at

Calcutta, on 1st December 1986. He occupies a company leased flat in Lake Road

and his office was at Chowringhee Circle. Myself and Pankajam visited Calcutta

in January 87 and spent good time with him

During our short stay at Bombay to attend the wedding of Kshama on

13th Sept 1989, we took the opportunity of meeting Mr T S Ramaswamy and his

family for marriage alliance of Venkatesh with Sripriya. On 20th September

Venkatesh accepted the marriage alliance. Sripriya had completed her SSC at

Bhilai School and did her B.Sc (Botany) at Stella Maris College, Madras; staying

for three years in the hostel. She completed M. Sc (Chemistry) at Bhilai,

Ravishanker University. Mr T S Ramaswamy after completing his BTech (Elec)

from I.I.T. of the First batch at Kharagpur, worked with Bhilai Steel Plant, and

retired in the year 1987, having held the position of Asst. General Manager.

Later he worked as a Consultant for L&T-Projects Division at Bhilai for about

nine and half years. He moved out of Bhilai during the beginning of 2001 and

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settled down at Sharda Apartments, Punkunnum, Trichur, being his native place.

On 18th Oct 89, formal engagement ceremony of Venkatesh with Sripriya

was conducted at Sreyas, Madras. Venkatesh could not join the function as he

could not get leave at his office. In March 90, Venka was transferred to IEL,

Bombay. On 20th May 1990, Venka married Sripriya at Kandimathi Kalyana

Mandapam, T-Nagar (Muhurtham 9-3- to 11-30 am). We had arranged for a

reception in the evening, when my friends and colleagues from the office attend

the same. Kshama/Manni, Gopal/Mahalakshmi, and their two daughters Priya

and Savita and Ananthan/Nirmala joined the wedding.

Figure 60: Venka and Priya's marriage 1990

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Figure 61: Venka - Priya reception

Venka and Sripriya moved to their flat

at Vashi, Navi Mumbai, in the month of May.

They both attend a reception at Bhilai on 7th

June. In July, I along with Pankajam and

Ganesh visit them at Vashi. Venka and Priya

spend their frist Diwali at Bhilai in October.

Figure 62: T S Ramaswamy's 60 Birthday 1991

In March 91, Sripriya‟s father celebrates his 60th birthday at Coimbatore,

when Pankajam, Ganesh and I attended. In the month of July, Venka joined

Madura Coates at Ambasamudram (near Tirunelveli) as Accounts Manager. In

September, Sripriya‟s brother Sridhar weds Jaya at Coimbatore, when self and

Ganesh join along with Venka and Sripriya.

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Figure 63: Sridhar, Jaya, Nandini and Sagar, 2010

In December, Pankajam along with

her father, Padma and children visit

Ambasamudram, at their company colony.

On 24th July 1993, Venka left for Bangkok,

to take up a new assignment as Financial

Controller, with President Park – estate

builders of Indian origin and on 28th

August, Sripriya joins him from Bhilai via

Calcutta.

Figure 64: Holiday at Ambasamudram

Figure 65: Venka leaving for Bangkok

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In July 95, Venkatesh booked a flat at Kences Enclave at T-Nagar by paying

the initial advance. We conduct the Grihapravesam at Kences in the month of

October. On 20th December 95, Sripriya delivers a baby girl (Ruchika) at

Bangkok Hospital. Priya could not join my 60th Birthday celebrations held on

10th February 96, at Madras. We both shift to Flat-2B, II Floor, Black-8,

Kences Enclave, 1-Ramakrishna Street, (close to North Usman Road) T-Nagar,

in the month of April 96. In the month of May, Sripriya arrived at Madras with

the baby along with her mother. On 25th May, Navagraha Homan was

performed at Kences flat with Ruchika, Vaishnavi, Priya and Deepa when

Kshama and Shrutha also joined. On 6th June, Sripriya with baby left for

Bangkok from Madras. Pankajam and myself made our first visit to Bangkok in

December 1996, to join the first birthday celebrations of Ruchika. Priya‟s parents

and brother Srikanth had come to Bangkok from Bhilai, earlier to our arrival.

Figure 66: First Bangkok trip 1996

Venka received us at the airport

in his Honda and drove us 45

minutes to his house, Villa Insaf,

where we were received by Sripriya.

A birthday party was organized on

22nd Dec, when friends of Venka

and Sripriya were invited – Ruchika

cut a cake around 6-00 pm. From

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24th Dec to 30th Dec, we visited Pattaya Beach/ Coral island, “Eravan” temple

(dancing girls), Grand Palace, Buddha temple. Royal Lapidary (gem stone factory

and jewellery shop), temple tour including three main Buddha temples (reclining

Buddha with gold covering), „Seacon‟ stores – special laser show for X-mas,

Floating market etc.

Figure 67: Ruchika’s andiniravu, January

1997

Ruchika‟s star birthday was

celebrated on 6th Jan 97, in our

traditional way with local priest,

when their friends joined us for

lunch. Priya‟s parents and brother

returned to Calcutta on 18th

January.

On 19th, Ruchika was unwell and hence

admitted to hospital for two days. I delivered

a talk on MRP-II at Asia Hotel to the

members of Purchasing Management

Association of Thailand – a certificate of

participation was issued by them.

Figure 68: Lecture in Bangkok 1997

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On the 24th, we both visited the Rice Barge by boat cruise which was

really enjoyable. On 26th Jan, Venka gifted me a shirt on my birthday, followed

by a special lunch (rasmalai, mysorepak) at home. Venka, Priya and Ruchika saw

us off at the airport on 28th Jan, for our return to Chennai. Pankajam‟s father

greeted us at the airport.

In July 99, Venka was transferred to Singapore at Digital and promoted

as Finance Manager (Global Services). Venka and family spend a 2-week holiday

in Australia. In February 2000, Venka and family

went on a holiday to Phuket by cruise, arranged by

his company Compaq (changed from Digital)

During May-June 2000, we both visited

Singapore, for a 6-week holiday. We took the Air

India flight from Madras on 14th May and were

received at the airport by Venka, Sripriya and

Ruchika. We reached the flat on the 13th floor of

“Flame Tree Park”.

Figure 69: Flame Tree Park 2000

During our stay, we visited Orchard Road, Serangoon temples, “Mustafa”

Superstore, Mariamman Temple at Yishun. Being holiday on 18th May, being

Buddha Purnima, we all visited Sentosa Island and were thrilled at the cable car

drive over the sea. The special attraction was the “Musical Fountain” for the 7-

30 PM show. Our flat was very close to “Bishan” MRT station. Sripriya bought

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Bus/Rail pass for both of us. Ruchu used to go by school bus to kindergarten. The

pre-school timing was 11 am to 2-15 pm from Monday to Friday. Venka used to

leave for his office –Compaq- by 8-30 am after breakfast and returned home late

in the evening by Toyota car. Venka/Priya celebrated their wedding anniversary

on 20th May. We visited Ayyappan temple in the morning and had dinner at

“Ganges” in Serangoon Road. On 22nd May, we received Sridhar, Kshama and

Shrutha at the airport and came home. On 27th May, being our wedding

anniversary day, we all went to Siva temple at Geylong in the morning and had a

special lunch at home. Venka/Sripriya presented

us a photo frame and Singapore curios. In the

evening, we visited “Suntech City Mall” with

five towers and a central fountain and food

courts. During our stay, we visited “IKEA” a

Swedish furniture mart, reservoir at Upper

Thomson Road, Jurong Bird Park and Singapore

Expo at Suntech.

Figure 70: Jurong Bird Park 2000

We all left for Malaysia by tourist bus and checked in to Hotel Noble, on

10th June. Next day, we took a tourist bus for a conducted tour to country

places, tin factory, boutique factory, typical Malay village house, curio factory,

Museum, Palace etc. Next day, we went to “Genting Highlands”, an hour up the

hill, by a special taxi. We covered Theme Park, Casino and returned to city by

evening and had a north Indian dinner at Sogo Mall. Next day, we visited

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the famous “PETRONAS Twin Towers” having 84 floors and enjoyed sightseeing

from 41st floor. After having dinner at Mr Raman‟s house, we returned to

Singapore by night. On 16th June, we spent some time with Stuthi at her flat.

Next day, we received Ganesh, Deepa and Vaishnavi at the airport and all of us

along with Stuthi came home to celebrate Venka‟s birthday. On 23rd June, our

entire family members of Self, Venka and Ganesh spent a picnic dinner at a

reservoir and visited zoo for night Safari – a wonderful experience. Next day, we

all enjoyed the East Coast Park Beach, Clark Quay and boat ride on the river. On

25th June, we took our flight back to Chennai along with Vaishnavi, while

Ganesh and Deepa left for Bangkok on a holiday. Ruchika was in tears at the

airport to see off the guests. Ramanathan and Girija along with Nivedita

received Vaishnavi at the Chennai airport.

In the month of October 2001, Venka was promoted as Operations &

Finance Manager (Services), South East Asia at HP (Compaq merging with HP).

On 15th February 2002, Sripriya delivered a baby girl (Kritika) at Singapore and

the same month Venka completed his CPA exam of US. We both visited

Singapore during April-June 2002 and spent our 6-week holiday with Venka and

family at his flat at Bradell Hill. We took the Air India flight from Chennai on

21st April and we were received at Singapore airport by Venka, Sripriya,

Ruchika and baby Kritika and reached home on 23rd floor. A cake was cut in the

evening to celebrate Sripriya‟s birthday on 23rd April; we presented her a

Rajasthani sari while Venka gave her a Nokia Mobile phone. Ruchika was

studying Hindi and music.

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Figure 71: Singapore 2002

On 1st May, Pank,

Venka, Ruchika and self

visited National

University of Singapore

(NUS) to meet Chandru

and went round the

campus. On a Sunday evening, we all went to a nearby reservoir and we were

joined by their friend Seenu and his family and also Kausik (who was working at

Citibank). I took the opportunity of visiting one of Compaq‟s warehouses to

study the operations. HP merger with Compaq (60:40) was declared and Venka

attended series of meetings at his office. Ganesh arrived by Emirates from Dubai

on official work. Stuthi visited us on a stop over from Melbourne to Dubai and

joined us for dinner. After 3-days stay, Ganesh left for Chennai. As a routine,

every Saturday, I used to join Venka to drop

Ruchika for music class at Serangoon and return

after buying vegetables. On our wedding

anniversary, a T-shirt was presented to me and a

sari for Pankajam; we all had special lunch and

saw a movie “Kabi Kushi Kabhi Hum” at home.

We were seen off at Singapore airport on 2nd

June by Venka and Ruchu and got back home

after having dinner at Sreyas.

Figure 72: Ruchu with 6month old Kiku

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During December, Venka and family visited

Trichur and Chennai and celebrated Ruchu‟s birthday

at Kences Community Hall. We had invited relatives

and friends;. We had prepared few items at home and

ordered balance items from Mansukh sweet shop.

After retirement, Priya‟s parents settled down at their

native place, Punkunnam, Trichur, and were close to

mama‟s brother and his family. Figure 73: One year old Kiku

Figure 74: Kiku's 2nd birthday

On 6th March 2003, Mr T S Ramaswamy underwent

a bye-pass surgery at Apollo Hospitals, Chennai. Priya

along with Kritika visited Chennai. When my mother

expired on 15th July, Venka visited Chennai to join us for

the 10th day rituals. In December, Venka and family

visited Trichur and Chennai on a holiday. During that

visit, we spend a 5-day holiday at Kodaikanal and stay at

Sterling Resorts Guest House. Ruchu‟s birthday was

celebrated at Kences Hall on return from Kodai. In May 2004, Venka joints

NCR-Singapore as Finance Director for Asia-Pacific. Venkatesh and Ganesh join

us for my mother‟s Abdikam (completion of one year) in August. Venka and

family join us for Diwali in November. We all attended Srikanth‟s wedding

with Seetha at Bangalore, on 17th November.

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In June 2005, along with Nirmala we left for Singapore on a 6-week

holiday. Venka received us at the airport and reached home at Flame Tree Park,

at Sin Min Avenue. We visited Ruchika‟s Bhavan‟s International School and did

some shopping at IKEA. We both used to travel by bus and attend satsang on

Sundays at SINDA, Serangoon, Nirmala, Pankajam and myself visited Sun Tech

Mall, Waterfalls, food courts, Carrefour shopping centre, Esplanade Hall

(Durian fruit shape) all by

bus and train which was a

good experience. Figure 76:

With Nirmala in Singapore, 2004

On Venka‟s birthday, we

celebrated at night by

home-made cake and

Nirmala had prepared special dishes for dinner. Priya took Nirmala to Malaysia

Figure 75:

Srikanth, Seetha and

Keerthi in 2009

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by train and spent two days, visiting tourist spots. We had to take care of

Ruchika and Kiku during Priya‟s absence from home. We both could also attend

to individual sitting with a preceptor by bus. Nirmala returned to Chennai after

three weeks stay at Singapore. We visited Hema‟s house and then Kausik‟s house

for evening tiffin. Venka and self attended Chandru‟s convocation at NUS, on

his completing Bachelor in Computer Engineering. Ruchika had her music classes

at SIFA on Sundays. We changed our programme to visit Hyderabad to attend

Master‟s 78th Birthday Celebrations and left Singapore on 23rd July.

Figure 77: Venka's family 2005

During October 2005, Venka shifts to a new

flat at “Anchorage” close to Bhavan‟s school.

During August 2006, Venka visits Chennai

to attend the 10th day rituals of Pankajam‟s

mother and is shocked to hear of Pankajam‟s

father‟s sad demise on the same day. Venka

joins the rituals.

In December, Venka and family

come on a holiday to Chennai, after

visiting Bangalore. We had a

dinner and cake cutting at GRT

Grand Hotel to celebrate Ruchika‟s

birthday. We had a group photo

taken at G K Vale. Figure 78: Family photo in 2006

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All of us visited Tirupathi, by engaging a car. Venka left for Singapore while

Priya and kids left for Trichur.

Figure 79: Our gift to Ruchika 2007

In March 2007, when Ruchika

matured, we presented her a gold chain

with diamond pendent and diamond ear

rings. During June, Venka and family

spend a holiday in Europe and also visited

Manchester to spend good time with

Ganesh and family.

Figure 80: Kiku in Scotland, 2007

Figure 81: Four sisters in UK

In the month of August,

Venka takes up a new

assignment as Services & Marketing Director. In the month of November, Seetha

Srikanth delivers a baby girl at Bangalore. As I was not well, a series of tests

were conducted during the first week of December and we decided to spend a

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holiday at Singapore, for a change. We both left for Singapore by Air-India

Express on 19th December and I asked for wheel chair both at Chennai and

Singapore airport. We had also taken “Seragem” equipment for use at Singapore.

We were received at Singapore airport by Venka, Ruchika and Kritika. Ruchika‟s

12th birthday was celebrated with cake cutting at home. We used to attend

Sunday Satsangs at SINDA in Serangoon and individual sittings with Br.

Jayakumar at Red Hills. Ruchika was busy practicing “Gita Verses” for a

competition. Venka gave X-mas gifts to all of us. Since my BP was high we

requested Hema, who was on holiday in India, to bring additional medicines. We

used to spend time at the swimming pool in the evenings while Kiku took her

swimming lessons. Priya was working as a teacher in Bhavan‟s School. Kiku use

to take the school bus to go to school. In most days, I used to see her off in the

school bus in the morning and receive her in the afternoon.

Figure 82: Singapore 2007

The servant maid at home used to take

care of all work. One evening, along with

Venka, Ruchika and Kritika, we went to

Bughis. Except me, all went up in a

balloon and enjoyed the scene. On my

birthday, Priya had prepared a special

“rava kesari cake” for me to cut. We attended Ruchika‟s chanting of Chapter 2

of Gita in a competition and by evening we came to know that she got the 3rd

prize and later got an award.

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Figure 83: Ruchika winning Gita Competition 2008

In the evening, Venka took all of us for Dinner at Hotel

Raj. On return from Mumbai, Venka brought garlic pods

sent by Gopal. As my BP was not under control, Venka

took me to their family doctor, Chang, who changed one

medicine. We both attended a full day program at

SINDA being Lalaji‟s birthday. Ruchika and her friend Amritha got first prize

in the group singing competition of Papanasam Sivan Music competition. On

Chinese Day, we all had lunch at Sreeni/Hema‟s house. Kiku‟s birthday was

celebrated at Anchorage Party Room. Many of her friends joined and had many

games. Chandru, Chitra/Ram joined the party. Venka and Priya saw us off at

Singapore airport on 17th Feb 2008. At Chennai, we came home after having

lunch at Sreyas. Venka becomes a proud owner of new

Toyota Camry car. In the month of July, Vijayan, Indira

and Jayendra left for Singapore and they have lunch at

Venka‟s house. Ruchika wins in a singing competition

and receives an award at the Annual Day. She also sings

a Hindi Film Song from “Chameli” for ZEE TV

Carnival. Figure 84: Ruchika , Global Indian Idol in school 2008

In December, Venka and family come to Chennai

from Trichur. We all went for “Varanam Ayiram”, a Tamil movie at Mayajal

Complex and had dinner at Taj Hotel to celebrate Ruchika‟s birthday. We

presented her a Harry Potter and new dresses to both Ruchika and Kritika. They

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left for Singapore by end of the month.

Figure 85: Priya and children, Anchorage

During the month of February 2009,

Venka visited Chennai on way to Bangalore

on duty. In the month of May, Venka was

happy to get a change in HP as Marketing &

Business Development Director, Financial

Services, for Asia Pacific & Japan. In the

month of November, he had a change as Sales

Director - Financial Services.

Figure 86: Venka with his colleagues 2009

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In December, Venka comes to Chennai for a 2-day stay on return from

Mumbai on official work. During his stay, we took him to SRCM Ashram at

Manapakkam. Later, Venka and

family spent a holiday in

Hongkong.

Figure 87: Priya's parents 2010

In January 2010, Priya‟s

parents visit Singapore and return

by second week of March to

Trichur via Chennai. We both left

for Singapore on 24th April by

Tiger Airways and were received by Venka and Kiku at the airport. This time,

Venka had booked our air tickets and arranged for visa “on-line” and sent it to us

in advance. We used to attend Sunday Satsang at Tamil Association Hall at

Serangoon and individual sittings at the same Centre. We used to travel

conveniently by bus – Anchor Point to Serangoon. We had carried the “tower” to

practice daily exercises for my back/neck pain. On 30th April, we spent the whole

day at SRCM Centre to celebrate Babuji‟s 111th Birthday. Kausik and family

visited us one evening. Sreeni and family were invited for dinner on the eve of

their leaving Singapore to take up a job with Oracle at Bangalore, when Kiku

had prepared a special desert for the dinner. At his new job, Venka is very busy

with international calls at odd hours and frequent tours, including China. On

22nd May, Venka took us out for Dinner at “Yantra” to celebrate their 20th

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Wedding Anniversary. We presented a Pattu sari to Priya, which she very much

liked. A fish tank with 8 fishes was installed and Kiku was thrilled. She was

unwell for nearly two weeks due to cold and fever. It was then decided to

abandon the “fish tank”

Sripriya had completed the degree in Bachelor in Education (B. Ed) and

was employed in a school as a teacher while they were at Bangkok and got good

experience. After coming to Singapore, she joined as a teacher for class 1 in the

same school that Ruchika and Kritika attended, from the year 2007. She took

interest in studying for Montessori system of teaching and passed the exam in the

year 2009. Her teaching assignment took much of her time every week from

Monday to Saturday, with heavy load of assignments and class work. However,

her work was well appreciated at the school and she was selected for the 3-day

workshop training at Dubai. On return from Dubai, Priya gave a gift to

Pankajam – 5grm gold coin.

On 8th June, Priya and Kiku left for Trichur and returned after 10 days.

We get news that Kausik get surgery done for „slip-disc‟ at Apollo Hospitals,

Chennai. I had a severe pack pain for about a week. Venka‟s birthday on 17th

June was celebrated – he cut a cake in the evening and we had mangoes for

“desert”. Pank had prepared special lunch for the day. We presented a formal

shirt and a T-shirt to him. We also gave dresses to both Ruchika and Kiku.

Venka had gone to US on official work, for one week. On 3rd July, Venka, Priya

and Kiku had come to the airport to see us off and we took the Tiger airways.

Received by Deepa at the Chennai airport, we came home in the evening

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after having lunch at Vijayan‟s house. In the month of September, Venka gets

posted as Head of Finance at HP.

Figure 88: Venka and Priya 2010

Figure 89: Ruchu-Kiku ,2010

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Table 5: T S Ramaswamy Family

Names RLT DOB Star Gothram DOM

T S Ramaswamy 24-3-1931 Karthikai Aupamanya 5-2-1961

Mangalam R W 1-7-1941 Anusham

Sripriya Venkat D 23-4-1967 Chitirai 20-5-1990

R Venkateswaran SIL 17-6-1963 Aswathi Haritha

Ruchika R GD 20-12-1995 Anusham

Kritika R GD 15-2-2002 Poorathadhi

Sridhar T R S 15-11-1962 Thiruvathirai Aupamanya 12-9-1991

Jaya Sridhar DIL 8-3-1968 Makeeram

Nandini GD 28-11-1999 Ayilyam

Sagar GS 10-2-2004 Hastam

Srikanth T R S 1-8-1974 Pooram Aupamanya 17-11-2004

Seetha S DIL 17-6-1979 Uthrathadi

Keerthi GD 10-11-2007 Vishakam

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Section 11: Ganesh

My second son Mohan was born on 19 February 1967 in Calcutta.

After a short stay there, Pankajam, Kannan and Mohan took a flight from

Calcutta to Madras and I received them at the airport. We took a night train to

Ernakulam. On my transfer to Binny‟s Engineering Works, we came to Madras

in June 1970 and stayed there in my maternal uncle‟s (Anantharama Iyer) house

in T-Nagar. After two days, we moved to a flat on the first floor of Madhavan

Nair Colony, Nungambakkam. Mohan met with an accident and fell down from

the first floor. Luckily, he only got a minor injury! We rushed him to Dr.

Sunderaraman in T-Nagar.

In August 1970, Kannan and Mohan joined Navina School, which

was very close to our house in Madhavan Nair Colony. In June 1971, we moved

to a flat on the first floor of Porur

Somasundara Mudali Street (very close to

North Usman Road and Kodambakam

Suburban Railway Station). Then, Kannan

and Mohan joined Bharath School, (near

Woodlands Drive-In Hotel). We were not

happy with the school and wanted them to

join Padma Seshadri in Nungambakkam.

Mohan joined a course on karate in a nearby

centre. He also got a cycle to go to school.

Figure 90: Ganesh, Karate 1976

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Figure 91 &92: Ganesh Upanayanam 1978

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On 29th January 1978, we celebrated the “Upanayanam” of Ganesh

in the same Hall at Madras, which was well attended by all our relatives. After I

joined Audco on May 1978, we moved to flat in Kamdar Nagar in September

1978. Mohan passed to VI standard. After the exams in April 1979, all four of

us had our first holiday in Kodaikanal. We travelled by AC First class which was

a thrill for Kannan and Mohan!! (Their names were changed to Venkatesh and

Ganesh later.)

As I did not have much time to spare, Pankajam took full care of the

education of Venkatesh and Ganesh, for example: she used to help them with

their studies on a daily basis. They were sent to special classes to learn Hindi at

the Hindi Prachar Sabha. Both of them passed their exams. I could spend time

with them only during the night (when I used to tell them fictional stories) and

they used to listen to them with great interest.

Figure93: Ganesh in PSBB 1978

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We moved to another flat in Ashok Nagar in September 1981. Ganesh used

to attend his classes in Nungambakkam by taking the bus from Ashok Nagar. In

June 1982, he passed X Standard with 78% and a 3rd rank in his school. We

gave a treat to Ganesh for his brilliant performance in his school exams, with

snacks and ice-cream at the Nala Restaurant (Opposite Music Academy).

Pankajam‟s parents also joined us.

In April 1984, Ganesh appeared for the Joint Entrance Exam for IIT

(Indian Institute of Technology). On 17th May 1984, we got the good news of

Ganesh passing 12th Standard CBSE obtaining 92% and standing 8th in All

India ranking. He was 1st rank at his school. Indeed a great achievement!! On

19th May, we had a dinner party for him in Hotel Palmgrove, and Kshama and

her mother joined us. We got the second good news

when Ganesh passed IIT – JEE, obtaining 229th

rank. It was all excitement and celebrations at home!

On 28th June 1984, Ganesh got admission to IIT –

Madras, in Mechanical stream.

After discussion, we decided that Ganesh

should join hostel to get better exposure. Thus on 8

July 1984 he occupied Ganga Hostel. On 31stAug

1984, Ganesh received the Rolling Cup from the

school for his achievements. In June 1985, we

enjoyed a 3-weekholiday at Kodaikanal, staying at

Audco Guest House.

Figure 94: Rolling cup for first in school for 12th std.

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Figure 95: Ganga Hostel

Figure 96: Ganesh with friends in IIT

In July 1987, Ganesh completes two weeks of industrial training in Audco.

In March 1988, Ganesh attends IIM interview in Hyderabad and joins IIM

(Indian Institute of Management) Bangalore on 1st July 1988. On 29th July

1988, Ganesh receives his BTech Certificate at IIT Convocation. We both

attended this prestigious function at IIT campus. In July 88, he joins IIM at

Bangalore and stays in their hostel. Ganesh had applied to various US

Universities and completed the GRE exams. However, a final decision was

taken, not to take up MS at North Carolina University, where he received

admission and internship. On 18 March 1990, Ganesh receives his Post Graduate

Diploma in Business Management (PGDBM) at the IIM-Bangalore

Convocation, with a gold medal in Systems. This was an important turning point

for his career. After completing campus interviews, Ganesh takes up an offer from

Citibank and joins Bombay office for training in April 1990.

In July 1990, Ganesh left for Bangkok for a 3-week training of Citibank

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and enjoyed the holiday as well. In August 1992, Ganesh left for Guam for

training. He worked at Citibank, Madras till he was transferred to Dubai in

1993. He used to attend office on Mount Road using the scooter at home. In

April 1992, Pankajam, Ganesh and I enjoyed a holiday at Audco guest house at

Kodaikanal. Inspite of initial plans, Venkatesh and Sripriya could not join us. .

On Feb 1993, Ganesh was promoted as Manager at Citibank, Madras. We

were in the lookout for a suitable marriage alliance for Ganesh. Mr C V

Ramanathan used to visit Audco as representative of a supplier. In one of our

meetings, he enquired about Ganesh for marriage alliance. On 28th March 1993,

we visited C V Ramanathan‟s house at Prithvi Avenue, Abhiramapuram, to meet

Deepa and in the same evening Ganesh approves her. We understand that Deepa

had completed her Higher Secondary (12th) at Good Shepherd Convent,

Nungambakkam and BA at Stella Marys College. She had also completed Inter

Exam of Institute of Cost & Works Accountants (ICWA). She had a passion for

music and dance, from her young days and was trained in Bharatanatyam by

Adyar Lakshman. A native of Chelakkara, Trichur District in Kerala, Mr

Ramanathan did his Mechanical Engineering Graduation in 1965 at Trichur

Engineering College, Kerala University. He further completed his PGDM (MBA)

in 1967 from Indian Institute of Management, Calcutta and started his career at

Enfield India Ltd. Madras. After eight years he started his own organisation,

Inmnac Services, to represent Indo Shell Group of Companies, Coimbatore,

Fairfield Mfg Co, Mumbai and Super Auto Group, Faridabad, to take after their

interests in Chennai.

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On 5th May 1993, Ganesh‟s engagement with Deepa was conducted at

Sreyas, Ashok Nagar. In June, Ganesh visits Dubai on official work. On 4th July

1993, the wedding “nischiathartam” was held at the prestigious AVM Rajeswari

Hall, Mylapore. Many of our relatives including Venkatesh/Priya, NVS

Mani/Lakshmi, Manni and Sridhar/Kshama join us from outstation.

On 5th July, the wedding was celebrated at the Hall. The evening reception was

well attended by my Audco colleagues and friends. It was a grand event. Ganesh

and Deepa went for

honeymoon at Audco

Guest House in

Kodaikanal. On 29th

August, Ganesh left to

Dubai along on transfer

along with Deepa.

Figure 97: Our family at Ganesh’s

wedding 1993

Figure 98: With Deepa’s parents

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We planned our first visit to Dubai (and outside India) in February 1995,

via Bombay. We spent two days at Bombay to meet our relatives and took the

evening Emirates flight. On arrival, we were given a special welcome by Ganesh

and Deepa and went to their flat at “Golden Sands”. During our three week

holiday, we visited many interesting places including, Burjuman, Choitram,

Ramada Hotel and Gold Souk where we bought gold jewellery. We also had a

long car drive to cover Burdubai, Diera, Jumeira, Amrita, Corniche, Trade Centre,

Makhtoum Bridge, Hyatt Hotel, Dubai Metropolitan, Crown Plaza, Alghurair

Centre and Wafi shopping mall. Deepa‟s relative Ranganathan took us for a 30

minute drive in his car to Sharjah and we joined them for dinner. We had a

wonderful family get-together at Safa Park with dinner. During this period,

Deepa was working as an Executive at Eagle Star Insurance Co. Ganesh cut two

cakes for his birthday, when many of his friends joined.

Figure 99: Ganesh's birthday 1994

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I had a very minor accident. I slipped in the bathroom and had a cut on the

forehead and was rushed to a nearby clinic by Deepa. The same evening, I

delivered a lecture on MRP-II and JIT Production to Executives of Algurg

Fosrock Co, arranged by Vishwanathan. We returned to Chennai via Bombay

after spending a wonderful holiday.

In May 1995, Ganesh booked a flat at Fairmont Gardens, Manapakkam.

On 26th January 1996, Deepa‟s seemantham was celebrated at Madras. On 10th

February 1996, Deepa and Ganesh join my 60th birthday celebrations. On 17th

March 1996, Deepa delivers a baby girl at Isabella Hospital, Madras. She was

called Vaishnavi. They both left for Dubai in June.

Figure 100: Vaishnavi, 2 months old

On 28th Aug 96, Deepa‟s

grandmother expired at Chennai after a

brief illness. Deepa and Vaishnavi came

from Dubai to Madras to join the rituals.

They also attend Sandhya‟s wedding in

September. In the month of October,

Ganesh gets promoted as Resident VP at

Citibank, Dubai and gets a Toyota Car. In

Dec 96, we perform the “Grihapravesam”

for the new flat, in Fairmont Gardens. On

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15th April 98, Deepa delivers a baby girl, Nivedita.

In December 1998, we left for our second trip to Dubai. After

having lunch at Sreyas, we took Air India flight and were received by Ganesh,

Deepa and the children at Dubai airport. Ganesh took us to their new flat in

their new car, Nissan Maxima. During our four weeks stay, we visited a

shopping mall (Lamcy Plaza) and Gold Souk where Ganesh set the stone we

gifted into a ring and bought bangles for Pankajam..

We had a long car drive covering Hamria, Mamzar Park and Jumeira

Beach. We also visited the 6-sar Chicago Beach Hotel and Lulu Supermarket,

where Ganesh presented us with an

“answering machine”. Ganesh was

designated as VP-Operations and had

holidays on Fridays. During Ramadan

festival, Ganesh had one week holiday.

He took us on a long car drive (150

KM) to Khorfarkan, Masafi, Dibba,

Fujairah, Friday market etc. We also

visited Abudhabi (a 150 km drive)

through an excellent highway.

Figure 101: With Vaishnavi and Nivedita 1998

On New Year‟s Day, after having a special lunch at home, we left for

another 150 km drive to Jebel Hafeet Zoo and Al Ain Fun city, when families of

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Sridhar and Vichu joined us. We also visited the house of Krishnan/Akilandam

(Nirmala‟s relatives) at Sharjah. We used to enjoy chats at “Bombay

Chowpathy”. On return in January 99, Vaishnavi joined us; the flight was

delayed and got diverted to Mumbai and finally landed at Madras. Ramanathan

and Girija had come to the airport to take Vaishnavi home with them.

In March 99, Ganesh and Deepa went for a 3-week holiday to Europe

(Vaishnavi and Nivedita were at Prithvi). Nivedita‟s first birthday was

celebrated at Swamy‟s Hall in Chennai. We get the good news that Ganesh was

promoted as Vice President, Citibank at Dubai. Kausik joined Asian Institute of

Technology at Bangkok for completing MBA.

Figure 102: Nivedita’s

birthday 1999

During

February 2000,

Ganesh goes to

London for three

weeks. Vaishnavi

becomes ill and needs

a hernia operation.

Girija visits Dubai to help. We had anxious moments about her health. However,

soon Vaishnavi performs on stage for a dance programme as Krishna.

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Ganesh goes in for the prestigious Mercedes

Benz Car in May 2001. During the month

of June, Ganesh, Pankajam, Vaishnavi,

Nivedita and I, visit Tirupathi by a special

van. On 29th July 2001, Vaishnavi

performs a dance programme in Chennai and

wins the Best dancer‟s award from

Nrithyopasana. Ganesh attends a one week

course of “Art of Living” in Bangalore.

Deepa‟s dance group has a dance

programme at Indian Consulate in Dubai.

Ganesh gets ten-year service certificate and

gold coin of 10gms from Citibank Figure 103: Vaishnavi as Krishna 2001

During Feb 2002, we both left for our third visit to Dubai on 8-week

holiday. We attend the dance programme of Dhananjayan and Shanta at Indian

School. We all left for Muscat a 5-hr drive to cover 450 km and stayed in a

Hotel. We enjoyed dolphin watching and after having lunch at Arun‟s house,

(Deepa‟s relative) we visited Qantab Beach, Bustan Palace Hotel, Rose Gardens

and had dinner at SS Venkat‟s house. At Dubai, Sthuthi was working for

Emirates and joins us for lunch. We also attend a music concert of Unnikrishnan

at Hotel Renaissance. We visit Dubai Festival in Global Village, Alguhrair

University, Creek Park and also an evening programme in Nivedita‟s school. On

Women‟s Day, Deepa had submitted Pankajam‟s application in a programme and

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Pankajam won an award.

Figure 104: Pankajam, Dubai Women’s Day Award, 2002

Figure 105: Dubai creek 2002

We also attended the

dance programme of Deepa‟s 12 students (includes Vaishnavi and Nivedita) at

the Indian pavilion of the Global village. Vaishnavi‟s birthday party was

celebrated in a park where 30 school friends joined them. Ganesh took us to an

exhibition of Persian carpets and bought one small size carpet for Pankajam.

Ganesh also took us to Abudhabi by car, to visit Russian Embassy for his visa

and visit Anand (son of Leela of Nanganallur). Ganesh leaves for Russia via

London on duty for two weeks. I take the opportunity of attending a 5-day

training programme of IRR on “Materials Management” at the Hotel Towers

Rotana. We visit Fujairah, a three hour drive by car and enjoy the beach and

Hilton hotel. Sthuthi comes home and joins us for a visit to Jumairah Beach and

7-star, Hotel Burj Al Arab. We returned to Chennai on 12th April 02.

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Figure 106: Ganesh's family, 2002

In June 02, Ganesh joins the “Art of

Living” classes at T-Nagar. In the month of

July, Ganesh, Deepa, Pankajam, the children

and I take a trip to Kerala to visit temples.

Kausik gets engaged to Meenu at Sagar,

where Ganesh and family join the function.

In January 2003, Deepa‟s father 60th

birthday is celebrated in a grand five day

function with Maharudram in their house

(Prithvi Avenue) when Ganesh and family

join. On 24th January, the seventh day,

Kausik gets married to Meenakshi at Chennai. In June, Ganesh and family visit

Singapore on a holiday. Deepa performs a solo dance at Dubai in December.

In January 2004, Ganesh gets a transfer to Citibank at Manchester (UK)

for the position of Director, Transaction Services & Technology. Deepa and the

children come to Madras along with Girija after winding up at Dubai and left

for Manchester in February. In July, Ganesh joins my mother‟s abdikam at home.

We both left in August 2004 for Manchester via Dubai (Emirates flight)

on an 8-week holiday. At Dubai, we had to rush from Gate No 4 to Gate No 38,

to take the flight to Manchester. Ganesh, Deepa and the children received us at

the airport and drove home to Didsbury by a blue Toyota Lexus car. It was twin

block three story house having; Living room, Kitchen, Dining room and one

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bathroom on the ground-floor, two bed rooms, two bathrooms and washing room

on first-floor and two more bed rooms and one bathroom on second-floor. All the

rooms have radiators to fight the cold weather. Ganesh took us to the house of Dr

Naren, a preceptor of SRCM for individual sitting for himself and Pankajam.

We all visited Birmingham to join the India Independence Day at Indian

Consulate and we also went to the Balaji temple on our return to Manchester.

Vaishnavi and Nivedita had school holidays and we could spend more time with

them playing many games and enjoying seeing movies at home. We visited City

Centre and TESCO (supermarket).

All of us went on a one-day trip to London by car, covering 200 miles in 4

hrs. We visited London Bridge (over River Thames), Tower of London, Big Ben

(Clock Tower), Parliament Palace, Trafalgar Square, Hyde Park, Regent Street,

Oxford Street, Westminster Abbey, Albert Memorial, Piccadilly Circus and the

Jewel House. During our stay, we really enjoyed visiting Tatton Park, Didsbury

Gardens and Mary Louis Gardens (enjoying the wonderful weather). We

experienced a visit to the 6th largest shopping mall in the UK (Trafford Centre).

Ganesh took us on a 2-hr drive to The Lake District National Park, a holiday

resort with greenery and lakes surrounding it. We also spent some time at the

Exhibition of a famous children‟s author, Beatrix Potter. Manchester High

School for Girls reopened in the first week of September – Vaishnavi was in 4th

class while Nivedita in 2nd class. Normally, Ganesh would drop them off at

school on his way to office and we used to pick them up in the evening and return

by a public bus. In many of our car trips, Deepa had to stay back just to

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accommodate three at the back seat of the car. We visited Liverpool (a 45

minutes drive by car) Cathedral, Albert Docks, Sunlight Village of Lever Brothers

and had tiffin with Gautam (son of NML of Audco).

We also visited Knowsley Safari Park, driving in the open area when

animals came close to the car (two monkeys sitting on the bonnet). Deepa

conducted music classes for children at home on Friday evenings and dance class

at Oldham on Saturdays. During our stay, we joined the family for Gayatri

Japam, Sama Veda Upakarma and Vinayaka Chaturthi. We could never forget

our trip to “Cadbury World” (a one hour drive from home). We visited the factory

and assorted factory shop.

We had the opportunity of visiting the 100 yr old “Quarry Bank Mill”. The

looms were being run by the shaft

which was run by the velocity of

the river water. We enjoyed an

evening dance programme of five

girls, a Kathak dance programme

at The Lowry and an English

Drama at the Opera House. We

had a two-hour drive to Cheshire

– the city of Romans. We returned

to Chennai on 4th Oct thus

completing our eventful holiday.

Figure 107: Ganesh's family in 2005

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In July 2005, Vaishnavi performed her arangetram at

Music Academy. This was well attended and appreciated. In

August, Deepa and the girls had five dance programmes in

Thanjavur

and Chennai.

Figure 108: Vaishnavi's arangetram

Figure 109: Bharatiya Vidya Bhawan .Chennai, 2005

Figure 110:: Party during my 70th birthday

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During January 2006, I receive greetings from Singapore and Manchester,

being my 70th birthday; I also receive a special flower bouquet and cake from

Ganesh and Deepa. On my star birthday, Ganesh arranges a party at home with

high tea for close relatives on 22nd January, during his visit to Chennai.

I

Figure 111: Party during my 70th birthday

In September, Deepa was very useful when the rituals were conducted on

the expiry of Pankajam‟s mother and father. Ganesh was promoted as Head of

Cards for Europe, Middle East & Africa. In December, Ganesh purchases his

house at Manchester.

In March 2007, Ganesh contributes Rs 50,000 for the purchase of

“Seragem” equipment for thermal therapy. In June, Venka and family were on a

holiday to UK, where they visited Manchester and Scotland with Ganesh and

family. In July, Ganesh joins us for Master‟s 80th Birthday celebrations at

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Tiruppur and on return, presents a

Phillips DVD Player to view

SRCM DVD “He the Hookah”.

Figure 112: At Swamimalai, 2007

During their visit, we all

had a holiday in Swamimalai near

Kumbakonam and we could spend

more time with them. Deepa and

kids joined us to visit Bangalore and attend the “Grihapravesam” function of

Sanath‟s house in August. We took the opportunity of bringing Deepa and the

children to the Ashram and we were fortunate to meet Master at his cottage.

Deepa received her first sitting from Master. Ganesh books a flat for 3.5 Cr in the

posh area of Poes Gardens, near Stella Mary‟s College.

We planned our second holiday to Manchester during April 2008. We took

a morning Emirates flight with a four hours transit at Dubai. Ganesh received us

at the airport and we reached home by 9-00 PM (local time). All of us along with

Mr & Mrs. Shailesh enjoyed a choir programme in a church in Warrington, when

Vaishnavi and Nivedita joined the choir on stage. Ganesh used to take both of us

to Sunday Satsang at SRCM centre. We joined Nivedita for her birthday

celebrations with her friends at the Trafford Centre. Pankajam gives dresses to

Vaish and Veda. Ganesh normally works from home, mostly attending conference

calls. The children were attending school and keeping themselves busy with cello,

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piano, dance and choir practices during the

week and weekends. We joined in Babuji‟s

birthday celebrations at SRCM centre.

Figure 113: Spring 2008, Manchester

We all attended the special dance

programme of Priya Govind at the Lowry

and Vaishnavi and Nivedita had a dance

programme at Liverpool. On Mother‟s day,

the kids arrange a special programme at

home and gifted a hand bag to Pankajam.

We also attended a cello competition at

Alderly Edge Festival (where the children participated) and a dance programme

of theirs at Chorlton Community Club. We visited their school to watch

Nivedita‟s Music Makers Competition where she won a prize.

Shailesh along with Ganesh visited Denmark (via London) to participate

in a Seminar where Master was there. Ganesh and Deepa selected a shirt and

pant for me at Marks & Spencers. Deepa took us on a long drive to Cheshire

Oaks and bought a set of ceramic plates as gift to Ananthan and Nirmala for

their Grihapravesam of their flat. We proceeded to Llandudno Pebble Beach in

North Wales. It was very cold weather accompanied by heavy wind. On our

Wedding anniversary day, we received gifts; shirt and Pant for me and a flask for

Pankajam. Ganesh gave us pens with our initials with a photo session.

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Figure 114: Llandudno Pebble Beach

Figure 115: Wedding Anniversary 2008

Vaishnavi and Nivedita

showed us around The Imperial War

Museum and all of us joined for

dinner at the house of Mr. Sinha.

Along with Shaileshs and his

parents, all of us went to Newcastle

upon Tyne where we stayed

Mayank‟s house. We had a

wonderful time there including

playing billiards. The next day,

Ganesh, Deepa, Pankajam and I

went to Edinburgh visiting the

famous castle and”Dynamic Earth”.

We also went to Liverpool where

we visited The Hope University to attend a key note address by India‟s former

President, Abdul Kalam. On Father‟s Day, the children gave gifts to me and

Ganesh. The same evening, along with other friends, all of us enjoyed a movie,

“Dasavatharam”. Ganesh took us to the famous Manchester United Stadium and

their store. Ganesh gave two “reclining seats” to Pankajam for use during

meditation. We gave a silk sari for Deepa and a shirt for Ganesh on their 15th

wedding anniversary. We got back to Chennai by end of June.

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Figure 116: Father's day celebration 2008 Figure 117: Autograph from Abdul Kalaam

Figure 118: Group photo 2010

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In July and August, Ganesh and family spent a four week holiday in USA.

They visited the houses of our relatives – Ramachandran, Venkat and Madhu.

Deepa‟s father arranged to sell off Ganesh‟s flat at Fairmont Gardens for 45 L.

In September, the financial crisis in US was reported. This also affected

Citibank, which was later bailed out by the US government. Kausik and family

spent a holiday in Manchester. Deepa‟s parents also join them for Diwali.

On May 2009, we get the good news that Vaishnavi has matured. To mark

this, Deepa‟s parents visit Kences with gold and silver jewellery along with

sweets, for Vaishnavi. The items included a coral necklace, gold ring, bangles,

diamond ring, silver flower basket, plate, glasses and a sari along with a makeup

set. We present Vaishnavi, a garnet with zircon necklace, earrings and bracelet.

Ganesh comes from Manchester to join us to visit Tiruppur and attend Master‟s

83rd Birthday on 24th July.

Figures 119 – 121: Vaishnavi’s gifts

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In the 5th Anniversary celebration of Upasana in September, Deepa and

her students performed a grand song and dance programme in Manchester.

Upasana is a non-profit UK based group formed in 1994 by Deepa and is a

cultural experiment in South Asian arts. It organizes a series of workshops and

classes to serve as a centre for excellence in Bharatanatyam. Upasana‟s activities

are funded from annual grants awarded by Government and various other charity

organisations.

In October 09, Vaishnavi joins us in Chennai to continue her UK

curriculum from India. We select a dress for Vaishnavi for Diwali. Vaishnavi

passes Piano Exam with distinction and wins the gold cup for coming first. We

celebrate this with a movie. In the month of December Ganesh and family, along

with Deepa‟s parents, thatha and Kausik‟s family left for Palghat for Nurani

Shasthapreethi where Nivedita‟s arangetram is conducted. Kshama‟s mother and

daughter Shrutha also joins them for the function. Vaishnavi and Nivedita also

perform a dance at Guruvayoor temple. Kausik goes to Palghat for an ayurvedic

treatment (puzhichal) for his hip problem. Vaishnavi joins them on return to

Manchester.

In the month of February 2010, Vaishnavi comes alone with Emirates

escort, back to Chennai and we meet her at the airport. On the same night

Deepa‟s father gets admitted to Apollo Hospital and undergoes a major operation

for a blood clot in the head and gets discharged after ten days. Ganesh gets his

UK citizenship, a milestone in his life. Vaishnavi who had gone to get her

citizenship gets caught in UK because of the ash cloud erupting from a

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volcano in Iceland. She returns only in May to India. On 14th June, Kausik gets

a surgery done for a „slip-disc‟ in his back in Apollo Hospital, Chennai.

In June, we also got news from Deepa that she met with a car accident.

Although she is ok, their car was written off. On the 5th of July, Ganesh came

from Bangalore after attending 20 years celebration of IIM Alumni‟s 1990 batch.

Deepa and Nivedita direct from Manchester. On 5th July, Ganesh and Deepa

celebrate their wedding anniversary. All of us are invited by Kausik for a

celebration at Park Sheraton. We present and ARY golden Taj Mahal for them.

After a very relaxing holiday at Yelagiri, on July 16th Ganesh performs

Grihapravesam for his flat at Poes Garden.

Figure 122: Grihapravesam, Poes Garden

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Figure 123: Ganesh’s family, 2010

After conducting her two

student‟s arangetrams,

Deepa along with

Vaishnavi and Nivedita

perform in Trichur where

we join her. In December,

Deepa completes her MA

in South Asian Studies.

Her dissertation elucidated how the Indian

diaspora in UK engaged with Bharatanatyam

to explore and express their identity.

Figure 124: Deepa’s convocation 2010

Figure 125: Yelagiri 2010

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Table 6: C.V. Ramanathan Family

Names RLT DOB STAR GOTHRAM DOM

C V Ramanathan 25-1-1943 Puram Kausika 2-12-1970

Girija R W 7-9-1951 Visakam

Deepa Ganesh D 26-9-1972 BHARANI 5-7-1993

R Ganesh SIL 19-2-1967 MRIGASEESHAM HARITHA

Vaishnavi GDR 17-3-1996 AVITTAM

Nivedita GDR 15-4-1998 ANUSHAM

Kausik S 11-12-1976 Aayilyam Kausika 24-1-2003

Meenakshi DIL 27-12-1980 Puram

Sarvesh GS 25-2-2006 Uthradam

M.H.Gopalakrishnan FIL 8-4-1917 Hastam Bharadwaja 3-6-1942

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Section 12: Audco

Audco India Limited was a 50:50% joint venture between

Larsen & Toubro Limited and Audco Valves Ltd of UK. They had established a

modern factory at Manapakkam on the Mount-Poonamalee Road, Madras. The

main business was design, manufacture and supply of industrial valves for

process industries. They held technical collaborations with many international

valve companies. I reported for duty on 3rd May 1978 as Assistant Manager,

Purchase with Mr M R Gangolli, Materials Manager. Initially, I had my doubts

on assimilating into the L&T culture and my acceptance into the company. I was

using my scooter to attend the office. I was eligible to have a car as per company‟s

car scheme. I joined the Bharath Driving Institute at Nungambakkam and got

my driving license by first week of July. I was also eligible for a leased

accommodation and we moved to a two-bed room first floor flat at Kamdar

Nagar near Mahalingapuram on Ganesh Chaturthi, 5th September. The famous

playback singer S P Balasubramanian (SPB) and his sister Shailaja were staying

very close to our flat. I purchased a Dyanora TV, a sofa set and Atlas cycle for

Ganesh. I selected a second hand Ambassador Car (TMX 5477) in the month of

April 79 and started taking the car to the office with the assistance of a

temporary driver.

At the office, I settled down in one year and moved to a cabin.

I had six buyers and a secretary to assist me. My responsibilities included

finalization of purchase contracts and procurement of castings, forgings,

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fasteners, packing etc for the manufacture of various sizes and types of valves. I

had to officially visit various locations like Coimbatore, Bombay, Ahmedabad,

and Bhavnagar. The office timing was 8-30 am to 5-30 pm on Mondays to

Fridays and 8-30 am to 1-00 pm on Saturdays, the factory was operating in two

shifts from 6-00am to 10-30 pm. I used to have breakfast at home and have

excellent buffet lunch at the company. I enjoyed the discipline and work culture

of the company. One day, I had a wonderful experience. While I was working

late in the evening, my Chief Executive, Mr R K Gupta, passed through my cabin

and on seeing me, came in and asked me, “Hope everything is fine at home?” I

said, “Yes.” He continued, “Why are you, then, at the office at 6-30 pm?” (He

expected everybody to leave the office by 5-30 pm) I had to explain that I was

collecting certain papers for my next day visit to Coimbatore!

I continued to be active at the Madras Branch of the Indian

Institute of Materials Management (IIMM) and in Nov 1980, I was elected as

Secretary. On 22nd May 1983, we perform “Grihapravesam” at our new HIG flat

at Rajamannar Salai, K K Nagar. On 12th July 1981, my brother R V S Mani,

was reported sick at Bombay and was admitted to Beach Candy Hospital at

Worli. As there was strike by workers at the factory, I could visit Bombay only

by 10th August and met him at the hospital, while he was discharged by 16th

August. In October 1981, I was promoted as Purchase Manager and we shifted

to another company leased first floor flat at 4th Avenue, Ashoknagar. The house

owner, Mr Vanchinathan, who was staying in the ground floor, had two sons,

Dhandu working at Dubai and Kumar staying with him along with a dog, which

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was very friendly with Venka and Ganesh. In the month of Nov 1981, my boss

Mr Gangolli was transferred to Bangalore factory, while my colleague Mr

Chakravarthy took over from him. On 22nd May 1983, we performed

“Grihapravesam” at our new HIG flat at Rajamannar Salai, K K Nagar. At

Audco, I was eligible for leased flat for our stay (a 10% of salary was deducted

for using leased accommodation) We discussed whether we should continue to

stay in leased flat or move to our flat in K K Nagar. Considering the overall

savings, we finally moved to our flat on 28th August 1983 (address: SB-2, Selfin

Apartments, Rajamannar Salai, K K Nagar, and Chennai 600078). Our

neighbour at SA-2, was Mr Ramamurthy and his wife, who moved in from

Dubai. At a later date, this flat was occupied by Mr Vasudevan and

Vijayalakshmi with their two sons. Another family who was very close to us was

that of Mr D K Moorhty staying at SD-2, along with his elderly mother, wife

Saroja and two sons – Kannan and Sundar. His mother used to visit our house

very often to spend time with my mother. They used to attend all our family

functions.

At the office, my work in Purchase was well recognized by the

Management. In November 83, Chief Executive R K Gupta called me for a

meeting along with my immediate boss Mr K Surendra, in his cabin. I am told

that I was transferred to Production. This was unexpected. Asking for

clarifications I wondered if it was because the Management was not happy with

my work at Purchase. On the contrary, Mr Gupta clarified that, they were happy

with my work and particularly pleased with my ability to schedule and monitor

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progress. In fact, they wanted to post an engineer to Production, who had less

experience in that area, so that new ideas of Production Management can be

thought of. I expressed my inexperience in the areas of Labour Management; they

assured me that they will support me in this particular area. On 3rd December

1983, I took over as Manager, Production to handle the entire production

activities of the company, both Plug and GGC valves. I was asked to shift to the

cabin inside the works, for better interaction and control. The work was very

challenging and my experience in Production Planning helped. I quickly

introduced systems to review daily production and to submit monthly production

report to management.

As part of L&T Group, Audco provided many perquisites to senior

managers, including leased accommodation, company car scheme with

driver/petrol allowances, telephone at residence, servant/curtain allowances,

reimbursement of medical expenses etc with yearly holiday at Audco Guest House

at Kodaikanal etc.. In fact, they even provided cash allowances towards

education through L&T Trust, which was utilized fully by Venkatesh and

Ganesh. I used to travel to many cities like Coimbatore, Cuddalore, Neyveli,

Bombay, Bangalore, Poona, Ahmedabad, Bhavnagar, New Delhi, Calcutta,

Durgapur, Ranchi, Bokaro etc., mainly to meet our suppliers at their factories. I

could travel by air or AC in train, stay at L&T well furnished Guest Houses and

use car during my tour. As such travel was made comfortable. My visits to

Coimbatore and Vellore were more frequent since we had two major suppliers of

Castings at these locations. As head of Purchase, I had to finalize rate contracts

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for supply of critical raw-materials and components. During our stay at K K

Nagar, I used to pool car with two of my Audco friends, Mr V V Krishnan and

Mr N Mahalingam, to attend the office.

On 4th January 1984, my uncle RSS expired at Bombay. He was in the hospital for a

week before his expiry, at his age of 70 years. Myself and Pankajam visited

Bombay to offer our condolences to my aunt and their family members, on the

10th day function. On 27th April 1984, Narayani Ammal (popularly called as

Ammami), step mother of my father, expired at Bombay, at her age of 87 years.

We had long association with her,

during our frequent visits to our

Ramanathapuram village. In October 84,

I attend the 2-week training programme

on Production Management at the

prestigious Administrative Staff College,

Hyderabad, sponsored by the company.

Figure 126: ASCI, Hyderabad 1984

On 31st October 1984, our Prime

Minister Smt Indira Gandhi was shot dead at her residence and there was state

morning. On 3rd March, my sister Laxmi‟s Seemantham was celebrated at

Nepanagar when Pankajam, my mother and I attended the same. However,

Laxmi delivered a still born baby at Vijaya Hospital, Madras.

.

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Figure 127: Audco Guest House in Kodai

Figure 128: Holiday in Kodai

We enjoyed our holiday in

Kodaikanal during the month of June 85.

On 1st February 86, my 50th birthday

was celebrated, with Ganapathi/Ayusha

homam in the morning and Bhgavathi

Seva in the evening, at home. On 2nd March 86, our flat at Vissanji Park,

Bombay, was sold. (Rather, right of stay was vacated) , My mother gave me a

part of the proceeds, which was issued in the name of Pankajam. Gopal‟s family

shifted to RCF flat in Chembur, after vacating the flat. With the amount

received, I booked a small plot in Porur in the name of Pankajam.

Audco Board had eight members, represented by four from L&T and

four from partnering US Company by name Invensys, who took over from BTR,

UK. At the Board meeting held in January 1986 at Madras, the foreign

Directors were not happy with the financial performance of Audco and they

wanted detailed analysis of groupwise profitability on each of the products. The

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analysis revealed that GGC Group which represented 30% of the turnover was

operating in a loss and other product groups were contributing to the overall

profitability. L&T management was asked to review and take corrective actions

for GGC group. With the result, on 7th May 1986, I was re-designated as

Production Manager, GGC Valves, which turned to be a challenge for me. Over

the years, I made lot of changes which included cutting down the third shift

operations, closing down the component cell and reducing manpower, both

supervisory and workmen. I had a good team of supervisors, who supported my

activities on the shop floor. Audco celebrated silver jubilee on 21st January 1987

with special programmes and a dinner was organized at Hotel TAJ on 22nd

January, wherein silver jubilee mementos were distributed to senior staff

members. Later, workers were given a watch as mementos. Pankajam missed the

celebrations, as she was in Calcutta, during this period. Asvin‟s Upanayanam

was performed 0n 19th Feb 87 at Madras, while that of Shibu was on 4th March

87 at Calicut. On 30th March 87, Pankajam starts “Devi Bhagavatam” at home.

On 2nd October 1988, Pankajam and I left for Kasi Yatra. We completed

rituals at Allahabad, Sangamam (river), and reached Benares on 6th Oct and

stayed till 12th October completing various pujas and temple visits. Our stay was

with a sastrigal‟s family in Benares and was very comfortable. On 13th October,

Pankajam took upadesam for “japam” from the senior sastrigal. We completed

rituals at Gaya on 14th-15th and took a train to Calcutta (it was an ordeal to get

into the reserved compartment and we had difficult time in the train). We both

stayed with Venkatesh for a week and enjoyed the Durga Pooja celebrations in

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Calcutta. We then visited Rameswaram on 27th and 28th October, to complete

the pilgrimage and conducted a final pooja at home.

Recognising my services, I was promoted as Deputy General

Manager (GGC Valves) at Audco India, on 1st June 1990. This was an

important turning point in my career. In order to operate as a profit centre,

Audco created a separate facility with building and equipment for each product

group. I moved to a new building, B block, with my staff. I had the full

responsibility to handle areas of sales coordination with L&T (valves division),

planning, materials, production, inspection and dispatch. It was an excellent

opportunity to work independently as a profit centre. On 31st March, I was

promoted and re-designated as Deputy General Manager (Manufacturing).

On 23rd May 94, Pank and self attend the wedding of Ramani (Kshama‟s

brother-in-law) at Trivandrum, when Manni anxiously informed about Kshama‟s

health. On 25th June, 1994, I retired from the services of Audco India Ltd, after

enjoying 16 years. As a gesture, Audco took me as a part-time Advisor

(Consultant) in materials management and productivity systems for one year from

1st July 94. My assignment covered all the three plants at Manapakkam,

Maramalainagar and Kancheepuram, which I used to visit on a weekly basis. I

used to collect data on inventory, analyse and submit monthly reports to

Management. I also assisted the Unit Heads of MM Nagar and Kancheepuram

in their improving overall productivity in their activities. On 30th June 96, my

special assignment at Audco came to an end and with it my wonderful

association with Audco India Ltd. (L&T Group). A grand send-off party

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was arranged by my colleagues and staff members, in which Pankajam also

participated. In my total career span, I consider my work at Audco very

satisfying wherein I much enjoyed the L&T culture. I continue to cherish my

special memories in Audco.

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Section 13: Professional

I wanted to plan my retirement days well such that I keep

myself busy both physically and mentally. I realized that my “strengths” were in

two areas, Consultancy and Training. Along with a book shelf and computer

with a printer, I set up an office in one of the rooms at Kences flat. I attended a

2-week training programme in computers, to familiarize myself with the use of

computers for professional work in Word, Excel and Power Point. I also took the

services of a Chartered Accountant – Mr Venkateswaran, to help me in filing my

income-tax papers.

The first priority was on professional development and getting

contacts in the industry. Even before retirement, I was an active member of the

Indian Institute of Materials Management and continue to take part in the

various activities for the past 25 years. I was elected as the Branch Chairman in

the year 1982. I was Chairman for Executive Development Programmes and for

In-house Training for more than 10 years. I am actively associated with the

Consultancy Division, SCM Quiz and Branch News Letter. At the National

Level, I was Member of the Board of Studies for five years and National

Councillor representing Chennai Branch. I was the Chairman of the Technical

sessions for the National Conventions held at Chennai in 1994 and 2001 and was

the Coordinator for releasing two reports on the Benchmarking study on Best

Practices in Supply Chain Management. I was awarded the Fellow Membership

in 1994 and Distinguished Membership in 1997 and Best Faculty in 2006. After

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attending a training organized by IIMM at Bombay and Bangalore, I became

one of the Certified Trainers of ITC, Geneva, for their Modular Learning System

in “International Purchasing & Supply Chain Management.

Figure 129: IIMM fellowship, 1994

Figure 130: Fellow Member 1994

Figure 131: Training in IIMM 1995

Figure 132: Lecturing 1996

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151 Figure 133: Distinguished member award 1997

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I always had a dream to write a book and the first success was to co-

author an International Book on “Introduction to Materials Management”

which was released by IIMM President at Chennai in February 2007. I have

presented many technical papers to various national and international seminars.

Many of my technical articles and book reviews have been published in

professional magazines.

Figure 134: Book 2007

Figure 135; IIMM Book Release, 2007

Figure 136: Dubai training, 2002 Figure 137: ITC Geneva, 2002

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Figure 138: IIMM Newsletter, 2007

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During my career, I had undergone various professional training

programmes including Total Quality Management (TQM), Enteprise Resource

Planning (ERP), Just-in-Time (JIT) Production, Business Process Re-engineering

(BPR), Total Productive Maintenance (TPM) and ISO 9000 Quality Systems.

I took up the following consultancy assignments in the areas of Materials

Management during the past twelve years:

Omnicast Pvt. Ltd., Cuddalore, 1995 -1996:

For improving their Foundry Operations, by visiting their Works

once a week.

Blue Star Ltd., Chennai, 2000 - 2001:

Inventory Management for Service Parts and Establishment of

National Parts Centre, along with two associates.

Capitol Industries,2002 -2006:

Contracted by their President Mr DK Moorthy to improve their

Operations at their two factories in Chennai, by visiting their units

four to six times a month.

Bonomi Belgium Ventiel Ltd., a Valve Unit, Coimbatore, 2002:

Director Mr Shyam Sunder (a colleague from Audco) contracted to

prepare a Procedure Manual on Materials Management System.

Assisted by Mr Kumar of L&T

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Chennai Petroleum Corporation Ltd, Chennai, 2002:

Prepare a Procedure Manual of Materials Management System as

a Consultant for IIMM, along with a colleague.

Kirloskar Electric Co Ltd., Bangalore, 2006,:

A Diagnostic Study on Material Planning and Procurement

Process prescribing Procedure Manuals for - Central Planning &

Control, Material Planning & Control and Production Planning

& Control. Assisted by Mr Venkatasubramanian,

Tamilnadu Newsprint & Papers Ltd, Pugalur, 2006:

Inventory Optimization of Consumables and Machinery Spares,

as a Consultant for IIMM, along with a colleague.

In fact, I really enjoyed working on consultancy assignments where I could

fully utilize my professional experience. The work involved travel to the Works

and client‟s office, holding several meetings, preparation of stagewise reports and

presentation of the reports to top management.

Figure 139: EDP Training at Dubai,2002

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Figure 140: EDP Coimbatore, 2005

Figure 141: EDP Maxwell, 2006

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I was involved in educational activities, mainly for Institutions

conducting classes for MBA. I taught Operations Management and Supply

Chain Management to leading Institutions in Chennai including Loyola Institute

for Business Administration (LIBA), IFMR, ITM, ICFAI and Apollo Institute

of Management. I also conducted regular classes for IIMM for the Diploma and

Post Graduate Diploma in Materials Management (PGDMM). I served as a

Project Guide for many students of MBA in Materials Management and

PGDMM.

For the past 10 years, I was a Faculty Member for Public

programmes and In-house Training Programmes, for Engineering Industries,

covering various topics of Materials Management and Production Management.

Leading Training Institutions of Tube Products Ltd., Rane India, Management

Training Centre, Maxwell Training Centre, WinSquare Services, used my services

to cover four to six programmes per month, both at Chennai and Bangalore.

IMRMI, Mumbai are the Indian Representatives for APICS

(American Production & Control Society) of USA, which is a professional body,

who conducts examination for – Certified Production & Inventory Management

(CPIM), Certified Relationship Management (CRIM) and Certified Supply Chain

Professional(CSCP), in various centers around the world. I was requested to be

their Representative in Chennai, to facilitate students appearing for the above

examinations. In view of my experience, IMRMI enrolled me a Corporate Trainer

for Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) and I conducted training programmes

during the period 2006 to 2008, for HCL Technologies at Noida, General

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Electric (Software Division) at Gurgaon, Hyderabad and Bangalore; as also for

ABB at their Works in Faridabad, Bangalore, Nasik and for Dupont at Chennai

As I had health problems, I reduced my professional activities in the year

2009 and practically stopped from January 2010. However, I am still having a

dream to write a book on “Lean Supply Chain” for which I have been collecting

notes and I hope to write the same in the next year.

R V RAMAKRISHNAN – SUMMARY OF CAREER

Legend

IHP Indian Hume Pipe Co Ltd

GB Giovanola-Binny Ltd

BEW Binny Engineering Works

Audco Audco India Ltd

Omnicast Omnicast Precision Castings

Capitol Capitol Industries

IIMM Indian Institute of Materials Management

MM Materials Management

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Table 7: R V Ramakrishnan- Summary of Career

NO YEAR MO FIRM LOCATION POSITION

1 1957 July IHP Coimbatore Factory Engineer

2 1958 Aug IHP Arakonam Factory Manager

3 1959 June IHP Raichur Factory Manager

4 1960 April IHP Koyna Works Erection Engineer

5 1962 Jan IHP Bhira Works Erection Manager

6 1962 July IHP H.O. - Bombay Planning & Progress Engineer

7 1964 Mar GB Cochin Planning & Progress Engineer

8 1970 July BEW Madras Planning Engineer

9 1975 Jan BEW Madras Supdt. - Materials

10 1978 May Audco Madras Asst Purchase Manager

11 1980 Nov IIMM Madras Branch Secretary

12 1981 Oct Audco Madras Purchase Manager

13 1982 Sept IIMM Madras Branch Chairman

14 1983 Sept IIMM Bombay National Council Member

15 1983 Dec Audco Madras Manager - Production

16 1986 May Audco Madras Production Manager - GGC

17 1990 June Audco Madras DGM – Gate Valves Manufacturing

18 1994 Mar Audco Madras Deputy General Manager – Manuf.

19 1994 June Audco Madras Retired from Service

20 1994 July Audco Madras Consultant - Materials

21 1994 Dec IIMM Bombay National Fellow Member

22 1996 Jan Omnicast Madras Consultant - Operations

23 1997 Nov IIMM Bombay National Distinguished Member

24 1998 Jan Capitol Madras Consultant - Operations

25 2000 Jan Madras Management & Training Consult.

26 2006 Oct IIMM Bombay National Best Faculty Award

27 2007 Feb IIMM Bombay Release of Book on MM

28 2010 Jan Madras Retired from professional activities

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Section 14: Post Retirement

Figure 142: Selfin Apts., 1995

In April 1995, I swapped my old Maruti Car

(TSI 2330) and bought a new Maruti 800cc AC car.

Vijayakumar, a new driver joined for duty and still continues to serve sincerely.

In July, I was unwell due to stomatch acidity and was admitted to Vijaya

Hospital. In January 1996, based on a stomach endoscopy which revealed

stomach acidity, I was advised diet control. On 10th Feb, my 60th Birthday

(Shashtiabdipoorthi) was celebrated, at Sringeri Mutt, Mylapore. This was well

attended by all relatives and friends including Manni from Bombay, Sundari,

Venkatraman and Rajee from Bangalore. On the previous day, we conducted

“Rudra Ekadasi” in the morning and

“Bhagavati Seva” at evening. Venkatesh,

Ganesh and Deepa participated. (After her

recent delivery in December, Sripriya could not

join.) Figure 143 & 144: Sashtiabdapoorthy

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On 12th April, we both shifted to Flat-2B, Block 8, and Kences Enclave

at T-Nagar and arranged for “Nava Graha Homam” in the month of May, when

Sripriya with Ruchika, Deepa with Vaishnavi, Kshama with Shrutha, joined us

for the function. At Kences, our neighbour is Mr Hashumall and his family – his

wife, his first son Ashok with his wife Madhuri, daughters Mona and Sonica; his

second son Pritam with his wife Neha, son Hitesh and daughter Urja. Kences is

having eight blocks of seven floors each to cover 125 flats. We have a well

structured Association with elected executive members including President, Vice

President, Secretary, Treasurer and eight block representatives. The daily

activities of the complex are being handled by an Office Manager.

As I used to have frequent stomatch acidity complaint, we decided to

consult Dr Siddique, for acupuncture treatment and as advised by him, stopped

taking all allopathy medicines. In the month of August, Pankajam completed

three weeks of training in Reiki treatment.

In June 99, we booked a two-bed room flat of Navin Housing, in

Trustpuram. In the month of September, myself, Pankajam, NVS Mani and

Lakshmi went on a 2-week pilgrimage visiting Haridwar, Kedarnath, Badrinath

via Delhi, which was arranged by Maruthi Travels. We fully enjoyed the

pilgrimage trip. In the month of August 2000, our flat at Selfin Apartments, KK

Nagar, was sold. A get-together party was arranged to celebrate Pankajam‟s

60th star birthday in October, 2000. Starting with 60th birthday of

Kittu/Padma at Madras, year 2001 was full of family get-togethers

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including our visit to Bangalore to attend Rajesh‟s wedding (son of

Ramachandran from US). Pankajam‟s plot at Porur was sold for a good deal. In

April, Pankajam underwent acupuncture treatment at Vijaya Hospital for her ear

problem.

In January 2002, I took delivery of a new Maruti 800 AC car (TN09-U-

8789) and sold the old car to our Shivram. In the month of February, we both

attended the wedding of Dorai (son of D K Moorthy of Capitol) at Mumbai. We

performed the “velakku” pooja at home. I join the “Art of Living” classes at T-

Nagar. During the visit of Venka and family in December, Pankajam got a crack

in the toe and was on bandage for three weeks. In January 2006, Ganesh

organized a family get-together at home to celebrate my 70th birthday, when

many of our relatives in Chennai joined us.

Figure 145: 70th birthday party, 2006

I

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Figure 146-: 70th Birthday

In March, our neighbour Hashumall

expired due to blood cancer. We felt very sad

on getting the news. In February 2007,

Pankajam joined the “Seragem” thermal

therapy at Mount Road and Ganesh

contributed to buy the unit for practice at home. In September, I had high BP

(180/90) and started acupuncture treatment at Vijaya Hospital. In November, as

I was not keeping well, I cancelled our air trip to Mumbai to attend Priya‟s

wedding (Gopal‟s daughter). However the next day we took a morning flight and

participated in the function.. On return, we met Dr Subramanian, Cardiologist at

Apollo Hospital, who had asked for a master checkup and prescribed some

medicines to control BP and Cholosterol. I also had consultations with Dr

Balasubramanian, Gastreoentrologist of Apollo Clinic, who also asked for various

tests and prescribed medicines for control of duodenal ulcer and gallbladder

stones. In December, we went to Singapore for a change. Pankajam started on

“Sreedhareeyam” ayurvedic treatment for her eye problem.

In March 2008, I had laser surgery for cataract of right eye at Dr Agarwal

Clinic and after a gap of two weeks, underwent surgery for the left eye. In April,

Pankajam had her eye check up at Dr Agarwal Clinic for her cornea and cataract

problem and she was recommended not to undergo cataract surgery. In August, I

took delivery of new car, UVA model of Chevrolet, after selling the Maruti car.

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The year 2009 opened with the news about the financial fraud at Satyam

Computers, Hyderabad and Mr Barack Obama elected as the 44th president of

US. In July, I met Dr Bharathshankar who advised certain exercises for the

back hip and neck pain and later added exercises using the “tower‟ equipment.

As I had many health problems (including weight loss), I decided to

discontinue professional activities from January 2010. I also started acupuncture

treatment at Dr Wahab clinic and felt better. Knowing about health problems,

brother Gopal came from Mumbai for assistance in February. As I did not have

significant improvement in hip/neck pain, I decided to consult Dr Krishna Ram

in September, who also advised certain exercises. As I did not have much

improvement, I shifted to acupressure treatment of Dr Jayalakshmi from October.

As I had free time, I started writing my autobiography. One of my father‟s

cousins, V K Moorthy expired on 27th November, at an age of 87 years in

Mumbai. He was a very popular personality having been associated with Asthika

Samaj Temple, for over 55 years

Our driver Vijayakumar has been very sincere in his services to us for the past

fifteen years. He comes by cycle from his present house at West Mambalam. He

has been assisting us in errands like, paying electricity bills, couriering, posting

letters and money orders etc.

Post-retirement, we enjoyed our annual holidays at Venka and Ganesh‟s

places with their families in Bangkok, Singapore, Dubai and Manchester. We

continue with our daily meditation and Sunday visits to Ashram.

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Section 15: Master

Figure 147: Lalaji Maharaj Figure 148: Babuji Maharaj Figure 149: Chariji

Shri Ram Chandra Mission (SRCM) is a non-profit spiritual organization

with its world headquarters at Chennai in India and registered in the year 1945,

with centers in all countries of the world. Over the years, the Mission has grown

enormously and has more than five hundred centers in India and ninety countries

over all the continents. The Mission has more than 200,000 abhyasis practicing

the Sahaj Marg, meaning “natural path” is a system of practical training in

spirituality. The Babuji Memorial Ashram at Manapakkam in Chennai, South

India, is the world headquarters of the Mission. It receives many thousands of

visitors annually from around the world. The unique feature of Sahaj Marg is the

yogic transmission from the Master to the abhyasi. Through the transmission,

spiritual progress is not only accelerated, but it actually expands our own limited

capacity for growth. The Daily Practice of the abhyasi consists of a „morning

meditation‟ for one hour, „cleaning‟ in the evening for about thirty minutes and a

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„prayer‟ before going to bed at night. (For more details log on to www.srcm.org)

Ganesh had come to Chennai on a holiday from Dubai during the month of

July 2002 and incidentally brought a book of Ram Chandra Mission (given to

him by his family friend Mr Pramod at Dubai) and gave to Pankajam to read and

to obtain more details about the Mission. On contacting the Mission office in

Manapakkam, she was advised to get in touch with one of their Preceptors, Mr

Varadan at T-Nagar. This prompted Pankajam to get to know more about the

activities of the Mission. She took the initiation to the Sahaj Marg system from

preceptor Varadan, on 5th November 2002, by having three sittings and

obtaining a temporary abhyasi pass from the Mission. This was followed by

Ganesh joining the Mission in January 2003, by taking his first sitting at Dubai

Centre. Pankajam attended the Bhandara at Hyderabad to celebrate the Babuji‟s

Birthday on 30th April 2003. This was her first experience in attending such a

grand function, where nearly 3,000 abhyasis come together for the 3-day

celebration. Pankajam also attends the Mission‟s camp at Calcutta during end of

December 2003, having stayed at the Ashram. During our visit to Mumbai in

February 2004, to attend the dance „arangetram‟ of Shrutha (daughter of

Sridhar/Kshama), we both visited the Ashram at Panvel (a suburb of Mumbai)

and she joined the morning satsang. Pankajam has been suggesting me to join

Sahaj Marg but I was not getting prepared.

However, I also joined Sahaj Marg and took my initial sitting on 7th

January 2005. I had the first darshan of Master Chariji during the satsang on the

Pongal Day (14th January) at Manapakkam. In April 2005, we both

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attended the Babuji‟s birthday celebrations in Tiruppur (Tamil Nadu) on 30th

April, after satsang, Master read out a „declaration‟ nominating Brother Ajay

Bhattar of Calcutta, as his successor. This was an important event for the

Mission. We enjoyed the spiritual atmosphere at Tiruppur for 4 days from 29th

April to 1st May. On 8th June 05, self, Pankajam and Nirmala left for Singapore

on a holiday; however, we felt sorry that we would be missing Master‟s birthday

celebrations at Hyderabad on 24th July 05. During our stay at Singapore, we felt

like joining the celebrations and were lucky to get our Air Tickets changed to

Hyderabad. We took the morning flight from Singapore and reached Hyderabad

on 23rd July and went straight to the Ashram. We enjoyed the sitting given by

Master on 24 July – being his 78th Birthday. After joining the Mission, we have

moved away from we have come far away from religion, rituals and worship in

temples.

The Chennai Ashram had proposed to acquire 100 acres of land in

Sriperumbudur and to develop an Ashram and allocate plots to abhyasis. On the

14th October 05, we registered for a half-acre plot by paying an advance of Rs

2.00 lakhs. Due to heavy rains in Tamil Nadu, our Ashram was flooded and had

to be closed for four weeks during December 2005. During the month of May

2006, Pankajam along with Susheela enjoyed one week at Satkol Ashram (a hill

station) near Nainital in North India. On 21st July, self and Pankajam, left by

special train (arranged by Ashram) to Raipur, with 1,500 abhyasis. Master‟s 79th

birthday was well celebrated on 24 July 2006 at Raipur. We were eagerly

waiting for the 80th birthday celebrations of Master, when it was announced

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that the venue will be Tiruppur. We felt happy that Ganesh could join us and we

had booked our rail tickets well in advance; we also booked the “Comfort Dorm”

(a special dormitory planned for stay of abhyasis on payment basis) – it had more

conveniences, like, sleeping got with mattresses, mosquito curtains, toilet

facilities etc. We had a comfortable stay and enjoyed the spiritual experience

during our three day stay – from 22nd to 25th July 2007

I thought of recording a special and memorable event. On 22nd August

2007, self, Pankajam along with Deepa and kids visited the Manapakkam

Ashram and got permission to meet Master at his cottage. Master met a group of

abhyasis and we were lucky to be in his company. Deepa and kids were

introduced to Master and he spoke with us for a while. Vaishnavi and Nivedita

sang a song, which was well appreciated by Master. Within few minutes Master

asked the company of abhyasis who had gathered there, to sit for Meditation and

to our surprise, asked Deepa to join the sitting and thus Deepa had the fortune of

getting her first sitting from Master himself. However, Deepa has not joined the

Mission till date; even though Master has put a seed in her heart.

We both have been regular in following the „sadhana‟ of Sahaj Marg,

namely the daily morning meditation, evening cleaning and night bed time prayer.

We attend the Sunday morning satsang at 9-00 am at the Ashram. We are lucky

to get a lift by van arranged by Ashram at 7-00 am at Vivek which is very close

to our house. After a good breakfast at the Ashram, we attend the satsang. We

return by the same van by 10-30am reaching home for lunch. We attended the

Wednesday satsang at Kodambakam Centre (provided by Brother Naidu

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Sir) and currently at Kailaimagal School in West Mambalam and fortnightly

individual sitting with preceptor – earlier with Br Sadasivam at West

Mambalam, later with Sr. Sowmya at Nungambakkam and now at Br Sivan‟s

house in Kodambakam. We were very lucky in not missing the Sunday satsang

during our holidays at Mission Centers at Singapore and Manchester. We could

even go for individual sittings while at Singapore and attend Wednesday sittings

while at Manchester. During our last visit to Singapore, we could also attend

Lalaji‟s birthday celebrations on 2 February 2008. At Singapore, we used to take

the bus to attend the Sunday satsang and while at Manchester, Ganesh used to

take us in his car. The Mission has been publishing lot of books and release

audio/video for improving the knowledge of the abhyasis and we are fortunate to

get these books for our study. Many memorable issues like the “Whispers” and

“He the Hookah” are commendable releases. Pankajam has been involved in the

activities of the Mission by translating Master‟s speeches to Tamil, for

publication and she has been enjoying this work, for the past three years.

In the year 2008, we attended the Lalji‟s birthday at Singapore Centre. We

really enjoyed the spiritual experience by listening to talks and spending the day

with our brothers and sisters. For the 81st birthday of our Master, we left for

Lucknow by the special train arranged by Ashram on 20 July 2008. We were at

the celebrations from 23rd to 25th. There was heavy thunder and rain in the early

morning of 24, being Master‟s birthday. Due to heavy rains, Manapakkam

ashram was flooded for the second time on 28th November, and was closed for

nearly four weeks. In the month of February 2009, Pankajam joined a group of

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fifty abhyasis to visit Natrampalli Ashram, by a special bus (I could not join in

view of commitments at IIMM) In June, Master announced that in future

Sunday satsang will be held at 7-30 am in all the centers in the world and

Brunch will be provided at 9am at Manapakkam ashram. In July, Pankajam,

Susheela, Ganesh and self attended Master‟s 83rd birthday celebrations at

Tiruppur. Susheela‟s husband Mani also joined Sahaj Marg in August.

Figure 150: Crest Meditation Hall

We both were lucky to join a

group of forty one abhyasis to

spend one week spiritual

sadhana at CREST (Centre for

Research, Education, and

Sadhana & Training) at

Bangalore during last week of

October. On return, I shared our experiences at Crest, with brothers and sisters

during the Wednesday satsang.

At Crest, we had a tight schedule with individual Meditation at 5 am,

satsang at 9 am, Technical sessions in the morning and afternoon, Cleaning at 6

pm, followed by one hour Golden Silence at Master‟s cottage, Video screening at

8 pm and Universal Prayer at 9 pm. We really enjoyed the spiritual atmosphere at

Crest. We were provided with good dormitory accommodation with excellent

breakfast, lunch and dinner.

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Figure 151: Dining hall at Crest Figure 152: Dormitory at Crest

Figure 153: Crest 2009

In July 2010, Pankajam and Ganesh attended the Master‟s 84th Birthday

celebrations at Lucknow (I could not join due to health reasons). They joined

other abhyasis by flight. In August during our personal visit to Thrissur, we took

the opportunity of visiting SRCM Ashram for Sunday satsang. Of late, our

Master has not been maintaining good health and as such stopped visiting foreign

countries. Hence, he invited batches of abhyasis from US, Malaysia/Singapore

and UK, to Manapakkam and held week long seminars.

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Epilogue

I recall enjoying my school and college days in the company of my parents,

brothers and sisters. However, the sudden demise of my father at his young age,

created a vacuum in our lives. The timely help and support from my uncle was an

encouragement to us. I appreciate the sacrifice of my elder brother who took over

the responsibility of educating and conducting the marriages of my brother and

two sisters. This makes me realize the values of our joint family systems.

Having enjoyed a happy family life, I feel happy of the achievements of my two

sons Venkatesh and Ganesh, both in their education and professional career.

After retirement, I felt fortunate in keeping myself busy with my professional

activities and enjoying the yearly foreign holidays with my family and the

pleasure of the company of my four granddaughters. I feel satisfied in

contributing to the Materials Management fraternity by sharing my knowledge

and experience to professionals through my training activities. During the last

five years, I am enjoying a peaceful life in spirituality and meditation. On

conclusion, quoting the message of

our revered Babuji Maharaj, Founder

of Sri Ram Chandra Mission

“The end of religion

is the beginning of spirituality;

The end of spirituality

is the beginning of reality and

the end of reality is the real bliss”