Celebrating 100 years of my thatha Sri T.S.Thirumalai

 

It is ages since I blogged. When I started blogging my first post was about my mother and I subsequently wrote a post on my grandfather. When I am writing something again after many years, it is only fitting that I thought of writing about both of them again.

This is my thatha’s 100th year and amma’s 75th year. Their birthdays are only few days apart. They left this world also only few months apart. Dec 7th is thatha’s birthday, so let me start with Thatha this time.

Thatha was a happy person who enjoyed life to the fullest. He had a great sense of humour and could not stop laughing when he heard a timely joke. I used to get him to talk and tell some incidents from his child hood or college days and would use that information to pull his leg later. When it came from me he could take a joke on himself and laugh at that as well. I once even got him to tell me his pet name and started calling him by that! 

Thatha was the first Post Graduate in our family and till date one of the very few PGs in the family. He was well read, a person with high IQ, had a great memory and extremely good general knowledge but he would never show off his knowledge and engage in unnecessary conversations about politics or other things which people of his age used to do. He was like an Encyclopaedia and a Dictionary available to tap on and enrich ourselves when needed. He had an accomplished career as a teacher and was revered for his mastery of English language and Economics but was very humble.

Thatha and me have watched few movies in Theatre. Varsham 16 was one. It was a youthful love story and he liked it and was great company. Later in life he used to talk to me like a friend about the English books he read and the movies he saw. 

He was a great foodie and he introduced me to some delicacies like Prema Vilas halwa, Elai potta sappadu, Onion Rava or medhu pakkoda for evening tiffin. These are things I really enjoy till date. He was a pro and appreciated the finer details like the level of condiments in a Uppma, checking the back side of an idli to see if it is fully cooked or the need to have a little mixture after having a plate full of halwa which will leave your mouth too sweet! When some food item was good he always used to relish with a “besh” or a “ahaa” irrespective of who made it.

I had the privilege of travelling with Thatha to a few places like Karaikudi, Thirali and Srirangam. He was really caring and ensured we had good food at the right time. When we went to Karaikudi for an exam, I remember him waiting for me patiently for few hours at the bus stop. I had gone to someone else’s house on the way without informing him. He handled it in a very calm manner when I came back. While I used to wonder if I will handle a similar situation that way, maybe I will if my grand child does it!

His english knowledge was unparalleled. I once got into a Titan naming contest where he helped me come up with a name. He suggested Aurora and said Aura also meant gold and would be apt for Titan who were launching gold plated watches. It won the third place and got me a cash prize of Rs.1000. I was happy to see recently that Titan had used this name for one of the watches under the Raga series!

Thatha really wanted me to do well in life but never put pressure on me. He was quite disappointed when I didn’t get into IIT but stayed with me through some tough times till I finally made it big and got a job in IT. He always blessed me

abundantly and used to say “all I want is for you to have a car and bungalow and live happily”.

He was very happy when I bought an apartment and car and took him in my car to the grahapravesam (house warming) of the new apartment. Thinking back I am really happy that he also stayed with us for few months at my apartment. I did take him for a few outings to Saravana Bhavan and Sangeetha and he really enjoyed that.

He used to read news items about TCS when the company went IPO and share them with me. In fact he was the only elder who asked me what I do as part of my work. I explained to him and he listened keenly and appreciated what I was doing.

My love for Carnatic music and Sabha sappadu started much later and thatha would have been great company to those places. I remember pulling him once, when he was listening to the great Semmangudi doing a neraval, asking if the Vidwan had forgotten his lines!

I must say I had some unique experiences with Thatha and while I explored more of the funnier side of thatha during my interactions with him, If thatha were alive today maybe I would have had tapped more on his experiences and knowledge and had more meaningful conversations with him. But then I also have thatha inside me and can feel him in things I do and see around me.  Everything doesn’t need to be spoken about after all and like Kannadasan said it is the unspoken words that are priceless. 

சொல்லாத சொல்லுக்குத் தானே விலை ஏதும் இல்லை!