Saturday, October 09, 2010

Enna solli Azhaithaal, Varuvaayo?


I will always remember...
  • That walkman by his ear, singing to him in all intensity, the panthuvarali ragam...and many other ragams, the depth of which I will never understand the way he did...such love for carnatic music.
  • His unfailing faith...a gift not many are blessed with...
  • The three stripes of grey vibuthi eternally on his forehead...
  • His love for coffee, and rasam made with the apt amount of perungaayam...
  • His teethy smile...
  • His willingness to be photographed! No fusses about wearing santa caps or birthday hats for the picture... just that smile, time and again...
  • His childish excitement, each time he wore a new shirt...The way he squeezed the oil out of a vaazhakaai bajji using a dinamalar newspaper, claiming it absorbs much better than the english newspapers!
  • His Mandira bedi and Kareena Kapoor fancy!
  • His hilarious comments on every actor and politician...like he was the representative of 'tea-kadai-bench' for Upasana!
  • His everyday NDTV profit stock market checks...
  • How he spoke to me about a particular part of a book again and again, each time sounding like he was telling me about it for the first time...
  • His stories from travels around south india, and the awesome food he ate back then - Oru dosai, Oru Kaapi :)
  • How he was so bad at Maths...he managed to score in geometry, but hated algebra...and always talked about the 'maadu mekara' problem, where he had to calculate the circumfrence of a field based on the distance a cow tethered to a post walked around it!
  • The million times he mentioned that Paati got more marks than him in 12th std!
  • His love for Badam Halwa, and digestive biscuits... plain milk chocolate and little bits of velam...
  • Dining table conversations with him, and the brothers...about how they're all meant to marry only Iyers, Iyengars or Rao's! :)
  • His absolute non-necessity for the air-conditioning...! And his claims about feeling cold under the fan in the hot Chennai weather!
  • His tech-saviness! Good enough to read gossip on 'kumudam reporter' on the internet!
  • Him being paranoid about locking the house every night!
  • Him closing his mouth with his hand saying 'vaai ilaa poochi' after passing some mocking comment about someone, or after saying something not entirely appropriate about the taste of the food at the table! Aah... an everyday act which always called for laughter, and attempts to provoke him to say more, much to Paati's wrath!
  • His rare attempt to help in cooking! Which went as far as holding the dosai thiruppi...and once, somewhere close to chopping spinach!
  • His idea of getting rid of the 'bangu' notes first! (the 10Rs bills that were torn and old!)
  • His wonderful knack of never forcing an issue...never imposing his opinion...or giving his advice... unless he thinks it is called for...
  • The influence he has had in 8 very important years of my life...

S. Arunachalam Iyer. My grandfather. The best thatha ever... I cannot describe what exactly thinking of him reminds me of... partly awe for the way he lived his life, and influenced others around him...admiration...smiles...and the lingering sadness, that all we have of him now are these thoughts and some photographs...But even now, I can hear the echo of his voice... of him calling Paati 'Thaaye'...saying his usual 'Ramaa nannu brovara'...trying to sing a part of some Maharajapuram Santhanam Aalaapanai... Upasana will never be the same. We will never be the same...Love you forever. And so the breeze shall sing your song... and we shall reminisce. Cry. Smile. And live on...

Say a little prayer for you...

Kulir Mazhai Kaakka kudai piditha Giridhari...Enna solli Azhaithaal, varuvayo?

Yours "Sarvogya, Brahmarpanamasthu" ly
Signing off...