1988--Foreign Trip and what my bags contained

I was by now settling into my job. As a Sales Manager, I was required to travel frequently to Bombay,Baroda,Delhi and Calcutta and also the occasional trip to Viralimalai.

By now, I was playing tennis regularly at our R K Nagar colony.My colleague Mohan at Trichy was also a regular tennis player.I used to pack my tennis kit even for a one-day visit to Trichy. We used to stay at Hotel Sangam in Trichy and the Officers' Club ( where Mohan was a member) was close to the hotel.It had floodlights so we could play after dark.

I used to return from the factory to the hotel around 6 PM, change into my tennis gear and be in the club by 6.30 PM. We used to play till 8 PM, then rush back to the hotel, have a quick shower, change, gulp down dinner and be in the Railway Station at 8.55 PM to catch the Rockfort Express back to Madras at 9 PM.

Mohan was in Operations and I was in Marketing and we used to have a lot of arguments in Office on customer priorities for shipments, early deliveries etc. All this used to be forgotten on the tennis court and I got him to agree to many things in the tennis court which he would have vehemently refused that morning!! This is the power of sports, I suppose.

In February, the President of Xomox,USA came visiting and he wanted to visit the Taj Mahal on his way back. I was asked to accompany him on this visit.I had last visited the Taj Mahal in 1958 and this gave me a good opportunity to visit the monument again. From Agra, I went to Calcutta on my way to Bangladesh on a business trip.

I had to apply for the Bangladesh visa in Calcutta. I went to the Consulate and after handing over the papers, I was asked to come back in the evening.It was pouring heavily and we were all asked to stand on the other side of the street while the Consulate officials bellowed out the names thru a loudspeaker. Everybody collected their passports and I was the last one left.
I asked why my name was not called and the official replied in his thick Bengali accent," Of course we called your name Mr.Arkalgud".

I collected the passport and was on a Biman Bangladesh flight the next day to Dhaka.I visited Dhaka and Chittagong during this trip.Dhaka is like any other Indian city, but I've never seen so many cycle-rikshaws anywhere else. The commercial areas are crowded and the posh residential areas are very quiet. My host took me for dinner to Dhaka Club and it was no different from any of the British-era clubs in India.

I shopped for a Dhaka muslin saree for Sudha. The material is reputed to be so fine that you can pass an entire saree through a ring.I also bought a bright yellow wall clock that stayed with us for a very long time.

On my return, I plunged into my work and was constantly on the move. I stayed in some very good hotels--- Sea Rock at Mumbai, Hyatt and Maurya Sheraton at Delhi, Oberoi at Calcutta. The Sheraton group offered Welcom Awards during our stay and I collected enough Welcom Awards to be able to take Sudha and the kids out for dinner to the Residency at Park Sheraton frequently.
Sachin ( or was it Sandeep?) still remembers one of these dinners and you can ask them why!!

I remember that I spent Mar 22nd ( the first anniversary of daddy's death) in a hotel room in Hyderabad.I was on my way to Vizag.If you remember, I had mentioned that I didn't shed any tears when daddy died.On that day ( one year later), I remembered daddy and the good times we had and it all came out. I shed copious tears alone in the hotel room and finally achieved closure.

In May 1988, I was inducted as a member of the Madras Boat Club.Straightaway I felt at home in this Club since the ambience was so similar to that of the Clubs in KGF.MBC still has a drink called Cricket.One sip of this and the taste would take me back to the days of Shankar the barman mixing an Orange Squash in Nundydroog Club. The MBC even today organizes Tombola evenings on Sundays and mom was very happy to be able to attend this whenever she was in Madras.

One day in May 1988, I was called in by my boss and asked to be prepared to visit our Joint Venture partner's factories in Cincinnati( USA), Barnstaple (UK) and Lindau ( Germany). I was pretty excited since this was my first opportunity to visit Western countries.The visit was scheduled for sometime in Sep/Oct 1988 and my colleague K.S.Ravindran was to accompany me..

A couple of weeks before the visit, I was playing tennis in Trichy when I slipped and landed heavily on my left wrist.Straightaway I knew that I had broken a bone. I went to a hospital in Trichy and they reset the bone.Next day, I took a flight back to Madras.My left arm was put in a cast and the physiotherapy started when the cast was removed in a couple of weeks.

I even made a trip to Delhi with my cast. Talk about dedication to work!!

The foreign trip was postponed on account of this and then finally the program was made. I was determined to make the most of this trip and visit as many of my relations as possible.I spoke to Omprakash in New York and to Bharathi ( Appaji's daughter) in Chicago.I was also determined to visit Papachi and
K S N Swamy in Geneva though I had no idea how far Lindau was from Geneva.I also wanted to visit Disneyland in LA or Disneyworld in Orlando.

Looking back on my program now, I see that the personal component of my visit was more than the business component and I must really thank my stars that I had an understanding boss who agreed to my requirements.

Travel Corporation of India were our travel agents and I was personally co-ordinating with them for all my travel within the US.Those days,there was a scheme called VUSA ( Visit USA) where you could get a certain number of flight coupons for a fixed sum of money.My plan was New York-Cincinnati-Chicago-Orlando-New York.This involved 4 flight coupons but TCI was offering me only 3 coupons and wanted me to pay for the extra flight coupon that I required.I discussed with the TCI manager in the morning and he asked me to come back in the evening and collect the VUSA ticket after paying for the extra flight coupon. I went to the TCI office in the evening.The Manager did not see me come in since he had his back to me and asked his assistant " Has the Xomox "fellow" come?".He then turned around and blanched when he saw me. I told him that he was referring to one of his customers as a "fellow" and said that I would report this to my management.He profusely apologized to me and finally offered to give me the extra coupon at no extra charge.

Ravi and I finally left on Nov 4th by a British Airways flight to London.We left at 9 PM from Madras and landed at Heathrow at 6 AM after a brief stop over in Kuwait.It was bitterly cold , but I was well prepared.I had borrowed a jacket and gloves from my friend Gurushankar and this served me well.

We freshened up at Heathrow, had a good breakfast and then caught the 11 AM flight to New York JFK.After a 7 hour trans- Atlantic flight during which we had lunch and slept well, we landed at New York at 1.45 PM local time on Saturday 5th Nov.We were fresh as a daisy.

Omprakash met us at the airport and wanted to know whether we should go home to rest or whether we could visit Padma, Ravi and Gowri ( Anti's family-- they had emigrated to USA after Anti's death) in New Jersey.We opted to go to NJ.We had a nice visit and a good dinner at Padma's house.They gifted me a Van Heusen white shirt ( Palmgrove Hotel in Bombay lost it after 8 years, but that's another story).

We finally reached Omprakash's house in Staen Island at 11 PM on 5th Nov after seeing the World Trade centre and Empire State Building on the way back.

Sudha and the kids ( Anand and Aamod) had gone to Philadelphia and had returned by then, accompanied by Sudha's brother. Ravi stayed with me and we spent the night at Omprakash's house.

This was my first visit to USA and I was gaping at the sights and sounds of New York.Next day morning ( 6th Nov, Sunday), we got up and made a trip to K-Mart. Ravi and I then took the ferry and came over to Manhattan. We visited Battery Park and strolled down toWall Street and the New York Stock Exchange. I'd never seen such thick,fat squirrels before.There was no crowd and we practically had the place to ourselves.

Omprakash then took us to Jackson Heights in Queens.This seemed like Little India with lots of Indians walking around and Indian stores all over.I bumped into my Executive Director there.This was the first of such incidents where I bumped into my colleagues /relations in outlandish places.I bought a coral chain for my mom and lots and lots of Pampers for Swathi and Shruti.

I think I bought enough to last them for about 5 years and I lugged this all over America, England,Switzerland and Germany. So this explains the title of this blog.

We caught the evening flight to Cincinnati.Del Wahlert met us at the airport and took us to the company guest house.I was flabbergasted when I saw the TV and remote.We were making do with Doordarshan 1 and Doordarshan 2 at that time and here we had a choice of 62 channels, all of them running for 24 hours!! Man , this was paradise!! It took me an hour to figure out how to operate the remote.

The kitchen was another wonder for us.The variety of knives in that special knife scabbard amazed me.We spent 4 days in Cincinnati( 7th to 10th Nov). During this time, I visited Jayashree and Ramdas's house.Both were related tome from my dad and mom's side respectively.I remember they had this huge teddy bear for their daughter.Ramdas already had a car phone installed so this was another source of wonder for me. Will we ever be able to experience all this  in India was the question that came to my mind in 1988.Now we have the answer.

On 10th Nov evening, we flew to Chicago. Bharathi and her husband were on hand to receive me at O'Hare Airport. Ravi flew on from there to Minnesota to spend the weekend with his relative. Chicago lived up to its reputation as a windy city.The wind chill factor was very high but Bharathi said that I had come well prepared for the weather.

Next day ( Friday 11th), I went downtown and took a city tour of Chicago.This is the city of Frank Llyod Wright, the famous architect and I saw many fine buildings.I visited the Chicago Museum and also went past Mohammad Ali's house.I saw the Sears Tower and the John Hancock Building, both fine specimens.

The day after that, Bharathi drove me to the Aurora Temple.It felt strange to be given ಗೋಡಂಬಿ and ದ್ರಾಕ್ಷಿ and ಬಾದಾಮಿ as ಪ್ರಸಾದ .She then got me a yellow full sleeved shirt . Their house was a magnificent mansion in an exclusive locality called Oakwood.It was reputed to have cost over 100,000 $ way back in 1988.
Their son Ravi was a Chicago Bulls fan and regaled me with stories of their baseball and football teams.

My colleague Ravi returned from Minnesota the next day. We met up at the Airport and took the next flight to Orlando. We stayed at a Days Inn hotel. We bought a 3 day passport to Disneyworld.We saw the Magic Kingdom, Epcot Centre and a few other attractions.Unfortunately, it was the Thanksgiving weekend and there was a huge crowd with long lines for every ride.

We took a flight to La Guardia and then a BA flight to London.The return flight was terrible.All too soon we were in London and I was still groggy with sleep.We took a bus to Reading and then an Inter City train to Exeter St George.Barnstaple is a small town in the south-west of England, no bigger than a village actually.We spent 3 days in Barnstaple. On one of the days, one of the employees who had spent some time in our Indian facility took us pub-hopping.English pubs have a unique local flavour.It's almost like a club and every person has his favourite "local". "I'm going down to the local for a pint( of bitters) " is a very common English expression.These pubs have board games such as darts and skittles.Some of these pubs date back to 200 or 300 years and each pub has its own traditions which are very fiercely guarded and handed down from generation to generation.

           One of the Xomox employees was Derek Lathwell who was a very keen cricketer.His son   Mark Lathwell later played for Somerset and for England.

                    After 3 days in Barnstaple, we caught a flight to Geneva.We landed there on a Friday with the intention of spending the weekend with Papachi and K S N Swamy.They received us at the airport and took us to their apartment. The first thing that struck us was the total absence of noise in spite of heavy traffic.Honking was an absolute no-no.Papachi told us that even in the apartment, flushing the toilet in the night was taboo. I wondered how people manage when they get ಔಸರ .
We went to the French border,a drive to Lake Geneva and visit to some of the UN Buildings such as the Red Cross, WHO etc.The air was fresh and crisp.Everything in Switzerland is neat and orderly.
( Please note that all this while I was carrying nearly 2 suitcases full of Pampers for Swathi and Shruti. I think they still have some left!!)
The next day was a Monday and we caught the 6 AM train from Geneva to Zurich.The plan was for us to get down at Zurich.Someone from Lindau was to meet us and take us by car across Lake Constance ( ferry service) and into Lindau in Germany. I had heard about the famed Swiss habit of punctuality and I was watching the large clock close to our compartment on the railway platform.As the needle hit 6 O'Clock, the train silently steamed out.
We passed thru Lausanne, Bern, Interlaken and the scenery was like a picture postcard with huge cows grazing contentedly with their huge cowbells ( it hadn't started snowing yet).We got off at Zurich but missed the person who was supposed to come and pick us up. After some frantic calls to Lindau, we caught another train to St.Gallen and the person received us there and took us by road via Austria.
I was afraid that we would get stuck because I didn't have an Austrian visa ( this was before the days of Schengen) but surprisingly our passports were not checked in Austria as well as at the German border.I don't remember much of Lindau--- it was snowing and we couldn't move around much.

We spent 2 days in Lindau and then came back to Zurich to catch a flight to Gatwick.We spent the next 3 days in London--- a hotel called Commodore close to Queensway and to Marble Arch.Hyde Park was just across the road.
We took a London Tour and did Buckingham Palace, Harrod's, The Tower, Trafalgar Square, the Embankment, Houses of Parliament etc. I had always been a student of British history and it was fascinating to see many of the places I had read about come alive before my eyes. We also went to Madame Tussaud's and shopped at Oxford Street.Piccadily Circus was a riot of colour and I remember we also took in a movie there.I bought a Prince tennis racquet for 19 Pounds, a real steal.
Finally it was time to return to India and we caught the BA flight from Heathrow to Madras via Kuwait.We landed in Madras on 30th Nov.
By now, Sudha had learnt car driving.The other remarkable thing about 1988 was how tall Sachin grew in this one year.he was barely 10 years old but he was almost reaching up to my shoulder bythe end of the year.
Oh yes, Pampers wasn't the only thing I carried back in my bag.There were backpacks for Sachin and Sandeep and a pair of jeans for both of them.
I forgot to mention--- before I left on the tour I had to visit the Reserve Bank of India and explain to an official there as to why I needed 2100$ for my 21 days trip.He asked me a lot of questions about the purpose of my trip and even told me to send a visit report to RBI and , if possible, to save some of the 2100$ and remit it back.
Those were the days!!!
As I come to the close of my story for 1988, here's wishing all readers a Very Happy and Prosperous 2011.

1987-----Annuser More Horribliser

1987 was even  worse than 1986 in terms of personal tragedies. But then again, there were some good events also----- nature's way of balancing out things.

Daddy had continued to experience some problems with his heart even after the installation of the pacemaker.Since Dec 1986, he had been in and out of hospital.Since he and mom were staying with Rummy and Nagaraj at that time, he was admitted to Chaya Nursing Home, run by Dr.Ramu Nadig.

In Jan 1987, he was once again taken ill and was admitted to hospital. Towards the end of the month, Chubbadi and Sethuram suddenly landed up in our Chennai house.They had received information that Anti Chikkappa had died of a heart attack while he was staying in Om Prakash's house in Staten Island,USA.

Anti was working in Korba ( Chattisgarh) but he had gone to USA to try for a job there since he was planning to emigrate with his family.His wife Padma and children Ravi and Gowri were in Korba at that time.

Chubbadi was informed that Padma, Ravi and Gowri were on their way to Bangalore and had come to Chennai to meet them and take them to Bangalore.
I went with Chubbadi and Sethuram to Central Station.We had no idea which train they were coming in .Just when we had given up all hopes of meeting them, we bumped into Ravi.

Ravi and Padma were not aware that Anti had passed away.They had only been informed that Anti was serious.When we told them the sad news, they broke down.We took them all home and then began a round of hectic trunk calls to Om Prakash and to Srinivas, Padma's brother--- who was living in Texas, as to the arrangements to bring Anti's body back to India.

Please understand that this was 1987 and telephone facilities were primitive, to say the least.Anyway, they all left for Bangalore after making all the arrangements.Daddy was still in hospital and was not informed of Anti's death.

Among all this, we learnt that Sandhya was expecting again. I remember telling daddy that he should now be looking forward to the birth of one more grandchild in the family.

Lambi was rattled by all this and came down from Dehra Dun to look up daddy in Jan.His condition worsened in March 1987 and I again rushed to Bangalore on 18th Mar. It happened to be Sandhya's wedding anniversary but we were maintaining a vigil at Chaya Nursing Home.On 20th Mar, the doctor told me that it was now a matter of days but one couldn't say when.

I returned to Madras on 21st Mar ( it was my birthday).On 22nd Mar morning ( it was a Sunday), I got a call from B S Nagaraj at 4 AM that daddy's condition had worsened and I decided to leave immediately for Bangalore. Just as I was getting ready, I got another call that he had passed away. We then decided that all 4 of us would fly to Bangalore immediately. I spoke to Venu and gave him the news and he and Chikkamma came down immediately to take us to the airport.Venu had always been close to daddy and was affected by daddy's demise.

We reached Bangalore by 8 AM and drove down immediately to BSN's house where daddy's body had been brought.He looked peaceful in death.A doctor was called in to remove the pacemaker and then a priest came for the ceremonies.I was made to don a simple white dhoti and an upper garment and went thru the preliminary rituals.

The good thing about these rituals is that it takes away one's mind from the immediate bereavement. Perhaps that is one intent of these rituals!!

One thing that remains in my memory of that day is that I did not shed any tears.That came later and I shall describe it when I come to it.

All that I felt was genuine sorrow at the premature passing away of a good man ( he was just 64 years old).The best gift that he gave to my mom, Rummy, Sandhya and me was that he had lived to see us grow and live our independent lives.He had provided well for mummy and did not leave us with any debts.

I have seen many families grieving when the head of the family passes away.They are basically grieving for themselves because of either financial issues or because some family commitments still remain unfulfilled.

This was not the case with my dad. I genuinely grieved for him and wished that he was around to enjoy life a little more. I had heard that he danced for joy when India won the Cricket World Cup in 1983 and wished that he was around for a few more similar occasions.

The cremation was at the Srirampura Crematorium and 2 days later, accompanied by my uncles, I went to Paschimavahini in Srirangapatna to immerse the ashes.The other ceremonies were gone through in the following days at another place in Bangalore and ended up with the Vaikuntasamaradhane on the 14th day. Did I ensure that my dad really went to heaven by doing these ceremonies? I don't know--- but at least I was satisfied that I had performed the duties expected of a son .

Sudha and I then went to Dr.Ramu Nadig's house and offered to pay for dad's hospitalization expenses but he refused to accept any payment.This was a measure of the respect in which he held daddy and BSN's family---- a debt we'll never be able to repay.

In April 1987 I got a call from Kanthu with the joyful news that Sandhya was expecting twins. The twins gene was running thru Ravi's family. How happy daddy would have been !!!

In May 1987, Sudha and I  accompanied by the kids went on a trip to Pune and Bombay. We stayed with Veena's parents in Pune and with MSK and Chambi in Bombay.

Swathi and Shruti were born on 6th Jul 1987.There's an interesting story about Sandhya just before she delivered. A couple of days before she went into labour, Sandhya suddenly got the urge to go to MTR on a Sunday evening and eat some snacks.Sunday evenings in MTR is just crazy--- there are queues a mile long and it takes hours just to get a place to sit.As soon as the staff saw her distended figure, they went into overdrive and probably created a record in customer service, just so she out of there quickly and didn't create "labour" problems.

Around this time, I was looking around for a change of job since I knew that I would need to work in a Corporate Head Office if I were to move up in any Organization. The Head Office of Akay Industries was in Bombay and I didn't fancy shifting to Bombay. So I was looking out for a job in a company that was headquartered in Madras or for a job in the Gulf.

I applied for a job in Muscat and even travelled up to Bombay for the interview but nothing came of it. I went again to Bombay for another interview with an industrialist who was keen on setting up a unit in Bangalore but I wasn't satisfied with the terms offered and turned down the offer.

I then got a call from S.Thiagarajan of Durametallic India Ltd whether I would be interested in a job as Sales Manager in Xomox India Ltd. He however told me that the factory was located in Viralimalai near Trichy and I might need to shift to Viralimalai.

I went for the interview.This was a mere formality since I knew the company and the people already. Sudha and I thought long and hard on the decision to shift to Trichy since we  were already well established in Madras, but she finally said yes.

I finally joined Xomox India limited on 5th Oct 1987.All Saturdays were working days ( full day) except the 3rd Saturday of the month.This was in contrast to the 5 day week that I enjoyed when I was working in Akay.

I was part of a pool car system. I had to be ready by 7.45 AM with my breakfast finished and my lunch packed. I would normally return by 6.15 PM. The work was fun and the people were nice so I soon settled in. Very quickly, I was off on visits to Bombay, Calcutta, Baroda and Delhi, apart from my usual trips to Viralimalai. I enjoyed these trips since I had not been to these places before.

I had surrendered my office car given to me by Akay and I had to wait for 6 months before I was eligible for a loan from Xomox to buy a new car.We managed these 6 months by travelling around on the TVS-50 Moped---- all 4 of us on some occasions!!!

Rummy and family and Sandhya and family had planned to spend Christmas and New Year with us.They all landed in Madras on 24th Dec morning and that was the day MGR died. We barely made it back to our house from the station before the entire city shut down. All the sighseeing and shopping programs were cancelled and we settled down to watching programs about MGR on Doordarshan TV.The funeral was held a couple of days later and normalcy returned only after this. By that time it was time for them to return to Bangalore.

My next blog will cover 1988.

1986-------Annus Horriblis

1986 was a very forgettable year--- a year of tragedy, health problems etc but also good in some ways.

We had been living in the Teynampet house since 1981.In the beginning of 1986, the house owner informed us that we should vacate since her daughter and son-in-law wanted to shift to this house.

We had already moved 4 times in 8 years and were quite fed up with the constant shifting.We now had to look for a new place all over again.

Sometime in January 1986, we saw an advertisement in "The Hindu" for a flat available for rent in Ramakrishna Nagar,Mandaiveli.I was already familiar with R K Nagar since Sachin's class mate Ashish Mangnani was living there and I used to drop him for birthday parties etc.

Sudha and I saw the house and liked it a lot.It was a 2 bedroom flat, spacious, with a verandah, a balcony, a spiral stairway at the back, a garage etc.The asking rent was Rs.1500.The owner was an elderly gentleman named Mr.M.A.Krishnaswamy who was running the M.A.Krishnaswamy Group of educational institutions.

We were paying Rs.550 per month for the Teynampet house and felt that Rs.1500 was too steep a jump.Sudha and I met Mr.Krishnaswamy in his office and told him that the flat was extremely good and worth Rs.1500 but we couldn't afford more than Rs.1200.Mr.Krishnaswamy regretted his inability to reduce the asking rent.We bid a pleasant goodbye and forgot about the matter.

Around Feb 15th, I got a call from Mr.Krishnaswamy asking me to meet him in his office.Sudha and I went there again.Mr.Krishnaswamy said that he liked us and would be willing to give it to us for Rs.1200.Sudha and I were overwhelmed.The only condition that Mr.Krishnaswamy put was that we should pay the rent regularly. Apparently, the previous tenant was irregular in paying the rent and hence this request.We assured him that we will be very prompt in paying the rent and even touched his feet while taking leave of him.

We moved into R K Nagar on 1st Mar 1986.This house was really good.It was south facing, had good ventilation and , best of all, there was a tennis court in the colony.There was a lovely playground and the compound made the colony safe and secure.The icing on the cake was that the DAV school bus was stopping right by the compound.

Our block had 6 flats--- 2 flats on each floor.Our neighbours were two brothers , Mr.Ramanathan with his wife Uma and Mr.Vaidyanathan with his wife Viji.Both of them had two sons each and the grandmother was also staying with them.They were a very lively family and Sudha soon became good friends with Uma and Viji and Sachin & Sandeep became friends with the 4 boys. Sachin also had his friend Ashish staying in the same colony, though in a different block and they settled in very quickly.

Meanwhile, I  joined the tennis group.I used to play from 6 AM to 7 AM daily and then leave for the Office. I also used to represent the R K Nagar Colony in the Chennai City Inter-Club Tennis matches.

In May 1986, I took my annual 15 day vacation and went to Bangalore with the family.My Dad and mom were also there, but dad looked very tired. I took him to Dr.Shivaram for consultation.The X-Ray showed that daddy's heart had enlarged and Dr.Shivaram suggested that he be implanted with a pacemaker.

The operation took place in June 1986 in Dr,Jayadeva Institute of Cardiology which, at that time, was in Chamarajpet.

Meanwhile, we decided that dad should sell the house in Mysore and move to the Bangalore flat.

This was what was happening to daddy.Simultaneously, Sudha's brother Vinod was suffering from fever in Kanpur.He was staying there with Veena and his son Vinay.The fever did not go even after a month and BVN ordered Vinod to come down immediately to Bangalore with his family.When Vinod landed in Bangalore, we were all shocked because he looked so wasted and thin.He was straightaway admitted to Ratnam Nursing Home in Jayanagar and subjected to a battery of tests.Finally, he was diagnosed with meningitis, an inflammation of the membrane surrounding the brain and the spinal cord.

Vinod spent most of May 1986 in the Nursing Home.We used to visit him regularly and there was a slow but gradual recovery.Vinod was finally discharged in June 1986, just around the time my dad had to undergo his pacemaker implantation.This was a pretty horrible time for all of us and we were doing the rounds of various hospitals.

In September 1986, my company gave me a white Maruti Omni and I sold the Ambassador Car.

In October 1986, we travelled to Mysore by car.Dad and mom were in Bangalore and we picked them up on our way to Mysore.We stopped at Ranganathittu on the way but dad was too tired to come out of the car.

Meanwhile, Vinod had again suffered complications since the spinal fluid was not getting drained. So the hospital had put a tube in his brain to drain out the fluid.He was admitted to Ratnam Nursing Home again in Oct 1986 .

We returned to Madras on 10th Oct 1986 and I had to leave for Mettur Dam immediately on official work on 11th Oct.I returned on 13th Oct, only to learn that K.N.Manjunath, an industrialist, a Vice-President of Kannada Balaga and , above all, a terrific human being had died in a car accident on 12th Oct while driving back to Madras from Bangalore.He was travelling with his wife Prabha and young daughters Ashwini and Archana.Ashwini and Archana escaped with minor injuries.

It was around this time that R.N.K.Prasad of Kannadigara Koota, Besant Nagar mooted the idea of celebrating Rajyotsava jointly by all the Kannada Associations.Each association was asked to present a program and Kiran Kumar of Kannada Balaga decided to present K.S.Narasimhaswamy's poem "Rayaru Bandaru Maavane Manege" from "Mysore Mallige" in the form of a playlet. I was the Rayaru and Shantha, Kiran Kumar's wife, played my wife.

We almost decided to drop our program in view of Manjunath's death but finally decided to go ahead. On 27th Oct, Venu's brother Vijayasimha met with an accident at Tirusoolam Railway station ( opp: Madras Airport) and died on the spot.He was around 45 and left behind his wife Rama, a young daughter and a son.

As if this was not enough, dad fell ill again .He had finally managed to find a buyer for the Mysore house and had to do a bit of running around in Mysore to get various document copies and fix up the registration.He was admitted to Jayadeva Institute again and I rushed to Bangalore to meet him.I had barely reached Sandhya's house when I got the shocking news that Vinod had passed away in the Nursing Home.I immediately rang up my neighbours in Madras and asked them to convey the news gently to Sudha and also requested them to arrange for a car to bring Sudha and the kids to Bangalore.

I then went to the Nursing Home where Vinod's body was lying and then also went to see my dad in Jayadeva since he was asking for me.Of course, I didn't mention about Vinod's passing away to him.

It was pathetic to see Veena and her young son Vinay who was just 31/2 years old.BVN took the news bravely.Vinod was just 32 years old and in the prime of life when death snatched him away.He was a handsome guy and he did superb sketches of buildings as a hobby.

Dad recovered and came back to Sandhya's house.But he still felt very weak.
In hindsight, I'm not really sure whether the pacemaker helped him since it is basically meant for arrythmia( irregular beating of the heart) whereas his problem was that the heart muscle was weak and the pumping efficiency had come down.

I'll cover 1987 ( a year of mixed fortunes) in my next blog.

Sandeep's admission to School & Other Lesser Events (1985)

I'm reminded by my nieces that I had forgotten to mention the
Gruhapravesha of Rummy and Nagaraj's house in June 1984, so I've added it here.
1985 dawned bright and clear with Rajiv Gandhi at the nation's helm after the tragic assassination of Indira Gandhi.
The young PM brought a breath of fresh air to the nation.I remember a Doordarshan TV program where he interacted with a group of young school children.He was absolutely at ease with them and answered their most inane questions.His Hindi wasn't as good as that of his mom's.I remember us mentioning that , under Rajiv, India had become a banana republic.That's because all his speeches were laced with " Hum yeh banana hai. Hum woh banana hai".

I had by now completed my Post Graduate Diploma in Marketing Management from Madras University and was now doing my Diploma in Management from AIMA.I had to attend classes 3 days a week and also manage my official tours.

I had my final exams to complete and I had got the timetable.I had kept the exam timetable in the car and the guy who came to clean the car every day thought it was some scrap paper and threw it out.I didn't know if the exam the next day was Management Accounting or Business Law and I had no way of checking with my batchmates.Anyway, I thought it was Management Accounting and so went early to the exam hall so that I could check with the other candidates as to what the subject really was .

I had carried my Management Accounting Text Book and was pacing the corridor.One guy came in and nearly fainted on seeing my text book.He broke into a cold sweat and almost started crying.I asked him what's the problem.He said that he had though that day's subject was Business Law and didn't know it was Management Accounting. I said," Relax, you're right" and then went ahead and wrote the Business Law exam and --- wonder of wonders--- actually got the highest marks out of all subjects!!

That was around Feb 1985.The next major hurdle was Sandeep's admission to DAV School.I had nightmares at the thought of standing all night in a queue all over again.

In March 1985 , I was travelling to Hubli.Sudha made some enquiries and learnt that, since DAV School was run by Arya Samaj, it would help if we knew some senior members of Arya Samaj.She immediately rang up Jayalakshmi Chikkamma to ask if Chikkamma knew anybody in Arya Samaj.
Just at that moment, a person who used to sell Jewellery stones to Chikkamma for over 20 years was visiting her house to show her some diamonds.His name was, I think, Mr.Pillai. He overheard Chikkamma talking to Sudha and the words Arya Samaj and DAV School being bandied around.He asked Chikkamma what was the problem.Chikkamma dismissively told him," No, it's just my niece on the phone and she wanted to know whether I knew anybody in Arya Samaj for help in getting admission to DAV School and I said I don't know anybody." Mr.Pillai said , " Maybe I can help". Chikkama asked how and he said " Because I'm the President of Arya Samaj. Ask her to send someone to the School after a couple of days and I'll see that she gets the application form."

Sudha told me all this when I was in Hubli ( Oh yes, the other big event of 1984 was that we got our telephone-- No.453691--- on 18 Dec 1984 after 2 years of waiting---- a remarkably short waiting period for those times, I might add.).
The earth stood still for a couple of minutes while I digested this information.However,ever the cautious person, I still told Sudha to stand in the queue since Mr.Pillai had said that he would give us the form after the general public got it.Our heart was not in this and so we missed out on getting the form in the regular manner. On the appointed day, I went to the school.Mr.Pillai was there and gave me the application form. I'm pretty sure  that half of our punya acquired in our previous janma was used up for the purpose of getting this application form.But it was worth it.

My father-in-law, in the meanwhile, had found a house in Jayanagar 8th Block and had set about constructing a new house on the 80ftx 50 ft plot.The Gruhapravesha was held in June 1985.

Thammiah, Saraswathi's son, committed suicide in Sep 1985. This was a major blow to me since he and I were very close from childhood.I got the news on a saturday when I was working in the Office. I immediately rushed to Bangalore and broke down on seeing his body. Such a promising life cut short in the prime of youth!! He left behind his wife Leela and a son ( Bharath) and a daughter.

The other notable event was the Gruhapravesha of Sethuram's house ( an addition to Sathya Chikkappa's house on the same plot of land) in Oct 1985.

Sudha, Sachin, Sandeep and I went from this function to Hubli. We stayed in the Akay Industries Guest House and the Khimjis were most gracious hosts. From there, we went to Goa and stayed there for a couple of days before returning to Madras.

Vinod was now working in Kanpur with J.K.Cements.He had come to Bangalore on an official trip and stayed with us for a couple of days in Madras on his way back to Kanpur.

The rest of the year passed off uneventfully and I'll cover 1986 in my next blog.

Bye for now.

The Story of My Life ( 1984 )

1984 was a momentous year in more ways than one.

It was the year when the World Heart Congress was held in New Delhi and the conference decided that salt was the single largest contributor to heart disease.
On reading this, I decided to stop having extra salt at the dining table---- a decision that I've stuck to till now.

I was 33 years old now and had not had much opportunity to indulge in physical exercises. I decided that I would touch my toes a 100 times in the bathroom before my bath and straightaway started.

Sudha and I were now looking at buying an apartment in Chennai though we had no idea how we would rustle up the money.We saw one 1000 sq ft apartment on Coats Road in Chennai ( near the Raghavendra Mutt). The going rate was Rs.140/sq ft, making the flat value Rs.1,40,000.We decided this was too expensive. We saw another apartment on TTK Road ( then Mowbray's Road), just behind Palki Restaurant.The going rate for a 1000 sq ft apartment was Rs.240/sq ft and I had even gone and paid the advance of Rs.10000.Then I had second thoughts and went to the builder and took back my advance.

Dad and mom were by now settled in Mysore and would occasionally drop in to Bangalore and to Chennai.Sometime in early October, dad woke up sweating.He immediately called Nagaraj and Ravi and they rushed to Mysore and brought dad and mom back to Bangalore with them. Dad consulted a doctor and was told that he had suffered a mild heart attack.

We immediately decided that dad and mom would shift to Bangalore. I rushed to Bangalore to see dad. Around this time, there was a vacant flat in the 3rd floor of South End Apartments where Ravi and Sandhya were staying.Before I went to Bangalore, Ravi was trying hard to contact the owner.On the day I landed, he managed to speak to the owner who told him to talk to a person in Bangalore and gave the contact number.

After seeing dad, Ravi and I met this person.Ravi said we were interested in buying the flat ( though I had no intention to buy a flat when I left for Bangalore). We struck a deal at Rs.225/sq ft and the person said " Hand over the money and take the keys".

I was in a daze.I said we would need to prepare an Agreement and another 3 months after the Agreement to take a loan and then do the final purchase.

It was agreed that I would pay Rs.30000 in 10 days time and then we would have the Sale Agreement.I didn't have Rs.30000 with me.Nagaraj, Ravi and my father -in-law helped out and the Agreement got done. Next I wrote to my company and they were kind enought to sanction an interest free loan of Rs.50000. I approached HDFC and got another loan of Rs.50000 and drew out whatever was eligible from my PF account.

We signed the documents in December 1984 and I was now the proud owner of a 820 sq ft flat in Bangalore.

Meanwhile , more momentous things were happening in the country.I was travelling in Trichy on 31st Oct 1984 when I got the news of Indira Gandhi's assassination.By a curious coincidence, I happened to be in Trichy when Sanjay Gandhi died in an airplane accident in June 1980.

All hotels immediately shut down and train and bus services were withdrawn.
There were no services to Madras and so I took a decision to travel further south to Tuticorin .Wrong decision.Things were equally bad here too.Thankfully, I got a room in a hotel but no offices were open.On 2nd Nov evening, I caught a train back to Madras.This train came up to Chingleput and was then detained again since the mmob would not allow the train to proceed till the funeral was over. The funeral got completed on 3rd Nov evening and then the train was allowed to go and I reached Madras on 3rd Nov night.

Sachin was now going to school regularly. I would drop him off in the morning on my way to Office and Sudha would pick him up in her moped in the afternoon.
My father-in -law had retired from service and had moved to Bangalore.He was staying temporarily at his ancestral house in Srirampuram and was looking to buy land and build his house.

Sudha and I were gearing up to now admit Sandeep in the same school ( DAV) as Sachin.This was another challenge and I had nightmares about spending another 10 nights in the queue as I did for Sachin.I was , in fact, dreading March 1985 when this exercise would commence.

What really happened? Watch out for my next blog which will detail the events of 1985.

2 Days in Jamnagar--26th and 27th Oct 2010

I had work in Jamnagar and so landed up in Rajkot on 26th Oct morning at 7 AM.
I took a car at Rajkot airport for the 2 hour journey to Jamnagar.The road was good and the weather was balmy at that hour in the morning.

The car driver ( Zakir) stopped for breakfast at a roadside eatery--- it wasn't 5-star, I can assure you that.The tea stall owner was frying fresh ghatias ( something like our ompudi).This a favourite breakfast dish in Kutch and is meant to be eaten with onion smeared with red chili powder and raw green chillies---- yes, you got it right--- raw green chillies. I said no, thank you to the green chillies and proceeded toeat the ghatia with the onion masala.Truly enjoyable and then I topped it off with a glass of tea.

One would normally associate Saurashtra with dryness but the landscape was very green.The menfolk in this area wear a particular kind of dress.The upper portion is like a kind of frock and the chudidar is very loose and baggy.Both garments are usually in spotless white.

The common mode of public transport is a motorized tricycle fitted with a Bullet engine.The sides are very colourfully painted and the vehicle vies for attention with the riotous coloured clothes of the womenfolk.

Dwarka is around 140 Km from Jamnagar and another common sight in the area is the groups of people trudging on the road to these pilgrim destinations.It's not that they can't afford to travel by vehicle but a way of penance.Travelling in company probably eases the hardship.And then there are the camel driven carts--- Jamnagar is as different from Chennai as chalk and cheese.

Regretfully, I couldn't make the trip to Dwarka this time but I'll probably do this in my next visit.

Jamnagar was a princely state and there are vestiges of the old buildings still in sight.
The roar of fighter planes overhead reminds me that there is an airbase nearby.Remember that Jamnagar is a mere 10 minutes away from Pakistan and there are plenty of assets to protect.

The work has been satisfactorily completed and I head back to Chennai tomorrow.The car driver reminds me that Jamnagar is home to exquisite bandhini  sarees and dresses but I'm not adventurous enough to buy.

Meanwhile I had a relaxing time watching "Khoon Bhari Maang" and a couple of meaningless Vinod Khanna movies and lots of songs from old Hindi films.

2 days in Bhopal---- 7th and 8th Oct 2010

Work has brought me to this lovely city of Bhopal. My colleagues and I arrived here on 7th Oct morning from Baroda by the Somnath Express.

We reached Bhopal by 9 AM and straightaway checked into Jehan Numa Palace Hotel which is situated on Shyamala Hills in Bhopal. We had to make a visit to Mandideep and were scheduled to leave the same evening for Mumbai.

I was actually feeling sorry that I would not be able to stay back and enjoy the lovely ambience of the hotel. As luck would have it, we were forced to defer our departure by a day and so I had the opportunity to explore this lovely place.

Jehan Numa Palace was built in 1890 by Gen. Obaidullah Khan,Commander-in -Chief of the Bhopal State Army and second son of Nawab Sultan Jehan Begum.The General died in 1924 and then the palace went through many occupancies before it was reclaimed and renovated by the grandsons of Gen.Obaidullah Khan in Sep 1983.

The hotel has many photographs of the late 1800s vintage as well as early 1900s and displays them proudly along with a display of weapons belonging to Gen Obaidullah Khan.

The structure is typically colonial with wide verandahs, cane chairs, trellissed doors etc etc.

The staff are extremely hospitable and rush to meet the whim of each guest.There is a general laidback atmosphere and one can put one's feet up and while away the day.

Definitely recommended for those wanting to de-stress and re-discover the meaning of life.

Bhopal is the capital of Madhya Pradesh and is accessible by air from Mumbai and New Delhi.

The Birth of Sandeep and later( 1981-1983)

The birth of my second child was due around Deepavali in 1981 and I decided to go to Jabalpur around that time.

Sudha's gynaecologist was Dr.Sarojini,a very old family friend of Sudha's parents.We celebrated Deepavali on 27th Oct and BVN's old friends, the Dwarkanaths had come from Nagpur to celebrate the occasion with us.

On 29th morning, Sudha developed labour pains and she was taken to hospital.There was a delay in the arrival of the doctor and she almost delivered right in the waiting room.
Anyway, everything went well and she delivered a healthy, bouncing 8lb baby boy at 9.15 AM.We were so sure that it would be a girl that it took some time for the fact to sink in that we had a second boy.

I reached the hospital around 12 Noon and there he was, cute and almost red all over.

My dad and mom got the news in KGF as they were about to leave KGF forever and settle down in Mysore.

Mrs.Dwarkanath was of great help during this time.

Finalizing a name for the child took all of 2 seconds.A son ( San) born on Deep(avali)day automatically became Sandeep.
OK, it wasn't actually Deepavali but Bhai Dhooj, it didn't matter.

The other notable event during that period was Sachin, Ravi and I going to see "Yaarana" starring Amitabh Bachchan and Amjad Khan. I had worn a particular coloured shirt for the movie and for a couple of years after that, Sachin referred to it as the Yaarana shirt whenever I wore it.

I returned to Madras soon after to resume my bachelor life. Dad and mom visited Jabalpur to see the child in Dec 1981.I remember mom mentioning that the child was trying to climb up her shoulder even when he was barely 2 months old.

I visited Mysore later in Dec 1981 and was happy to see my parents settling into their own home in Jayanagar Extension.

1982 dawned and this was the year of the Asian Games--- but a fairly momentous year for me.

Vasudha got married in Jan 1982 and I think Sudha missed this wedding.

Sudha returned to Madras with Sachin and Sandeep in Feb 1982.We were now in Teynampet in an independent house at the back of a main house.The owner was a Kannadiga, Dr.Srinivasan and the upstairs portion was occupied by Mr.Venkatachalam, his wife Meena and their two sons Mohan and Balaji.Mr.Venkatachalam was working in Best & Crompton Engineering.

Meena adopted Sandeep as soon as Sudha returned to Madras. He used to spend all his time in their house and called Meena "Amma".

March 1982 saw the first test for us as a family.The issue was school admission for Sachin.We had heard that DAV School at Gopalapuram,Madras was good and were determined that he would study only there.
The problem was that the admission was restricted to pupils whose parents were able to get an application form.

It was announced that applications would be distributed in Mar 1982 but the date was not announced.Sudha's brother Ravi was staying with us at that time and we took turns going to the school and waiting in a queue.The Principal ( Mr.Ram Kalia--- and a stricter disciplinarian I am yet to see) would come in the morning and say that applications would not be given that day and we would all disperse.

There were only 40 seats in LKG so the problem was to be among the first 40 in the queue.The queue started from 5 AM and slowly started going back to 4 AM, 3 AM and so on.By the 15th day, the queue started from 8 PM the previous day. Ravi was of great help to us during this time.

Finally, one day Mr.Ram Kalia announced that applications would be given and luckily we were among the first 40.

Nanjunda got married in Jun 1982 in Mysore and we attended the wedding.

In July 1982, my boss Mr.N.P.Shah who was the Branch Manager of Akay Industries resigned to start his own business. This was also the time when the office lease at Casa Major Road in Egmore had expired and we had to start looking for a new place.

Mr.Dewnany, a senior person from Administration in Bombay, came down to Madras and we finalized new premises at Hardevi Chambers in Pantheon Road at Egmore, not more than 500 metres away.

Around the same time, Sudha's brother Vinod was engaged to be married to Veena whose parents were also in Nagpur.The alliance was finalized thru the Dwarkanaths who knew both the families well.The wedding was finalized for Oct 29th, 1982---- Sandeep's first birthday.

Another significant event that took place was our Office Sales Conference in Lonavala in Sep 1982. My colleague Verghese and I attended and the employees from Hubli came by us with their families.We were put up at the Faryas Resort and had a lovely time. The icing on the cake was the China Silk saree that was presented to each spouse.Sudha got a nice purple one and liked it immensely.

Around this time, I had also enrolled for a Post Graduate Course in Marketing at the University of Madras and had to attend evening classes for 3 days in a week.

With Mr.Shah's resignation, I was made acting head of the Madras Branch and the office car ( an Ambassador) was given to me.

My parents in-law had shifted to Nowgong in Bundelkand region of Madhya Pradesh in early 1982 and BVN's driver Shiraz had taught me driving in BVN's office Jeep when I had gone there in May 1982.Therefore, I had no problems driving the car.I remember that our first car trip was from Teynampet to West Mambalam to visit our good friends Kiran Kumar and Shantha.

We shifted to the new Office during a weekend in Oct 1982 and this was my first test of leadership.We closed at the old office on a Friday and the shifting was done over the weekend and we were back in business at the new office on Monday.We had also managed to get our office phone connection on Saturday---- no mean feat considering that Telephones was still a Government monopoly at that time.

Oct 18th ( Mon) was when Veena together with her sister Nalini and her parents were passing thru Madras on their way to Bangalore for the wedding.It was raining very heavily but Sudha and I were there to receive them at the station and with food packets.

Soon after, we all went to Bangalore for Vinod's wedding.It was a nice affair, made doubly memorable with Sandeep's first birthday.

The boys were growing up nicely.No trouble ( at least that's how it appears to us now).

The Asian Games came up in New Delhi in Nov 1982 and saw the advent of colour television.

Sachin was going to school regularly now.I would drop him off in the morning and Sudha would pick him up in her TVS 50 moped which we bought in Sep 1982.

Sandhya delivered her first child ( a son ) in Mysore.Sunil was born on Feb 13th.Ravi had also bought his flat in South End Apartments and the Grihapravesha was held in Apr 1983.

I drove down to Mysore in the Ambassador ( my first outstation trip) and brought my parents and Sandhya and Sunil to Bangalore for the grihapravesha

I took Sachin on his first airplane trip to Bangalore in Aug 1983.I left him at Bangalore, went to Hubli on official work and then came back with Sachin in Brindavan Express.I remember getting Sachin some comics to read and he was immersed in reading about Kalia the Crow, Doob Doob the Crocodile, Chamataka the Fox etc etc.

My Doddappa A.C.Kanteeravaswamy passed away in Sep 1983.He was ill for a couple of months . He and Kamala Doddamma were childless but they loved children and had an open house for visitors.Dad was in Mysore at that time and I had to speak to his neighbour and ask him to convey the news to my dad so that he could rush to Bangalore for the cremation. Communication was a major problem in those days.

Our company was participating in the ChemAsia Exhibition in Singapore in Dec 1983 and I was chosen by my company to go along with two other colleagues.

I was pretty excited since this was to be my first overseas trip.I was given Rs.7500 and told to get a suit stitched and also buy some more new clothes.

I left for Bombay on 2nd Dec and we all flew out from Bombay to Singapore on 4th Dec night.At Bombay, my MD gave each of us US $750 for our expenses.We landed in Singapore on 5th Dec 1983 ( it was my parents' 35th wedding anniversary).

Singapore was like a wonder land and we were just gaping at the sights. We stayed in a house of one of my colleagues' friends.Next day, we went to the World Trade Centre where the Exhibition was to be held.We got our exhibits unpacked and set up our stall.

In the meantime, my colleague Sharma and I decided to go to Bangkok and come back after the exhibition and so we booked our tickets.We were booked to return from Singapore to Bombay on 17th Dec but our return ticket was not confirmed.

The exhibition was for 4 days and was a great learning experience.In the evenings, we went to all the malls---- Scotts, Far East, Takashimaya, C K Tangs, Centre Point, Yaohawn's--- we went to all of them.

I bought a Minolta camera ( which is still with me), a transistor cum tape recorder ( the ubuquitious 2 in 1), a watch for Sudha,another bracelet, sarees for mom and Sudha and shirts and shaving accessories for the gents. A toy train for Sachin and lots of clothes for both the kids. I also bought a lot of English music cassettes, a suitcase etc.

During those days, none of these articles were available freely in India.Of course, things are vastly different now.

We also went to Sentosa Island, the Haw Par Villa, Japan Garden, China Garden etc.

Singapore has always been one of my favourite destinations outside of India and its charm is evergreen.

We were told to stay in Patpong area in Bangkok and had no idea that this was a very notorious area.Barely 5 minutes after we checked into the hotel, one of the waiters appeared and asked " You want girl?" We said no. He said " Oh, you want boy?". It was taken for granted that we were visited Bangkok only for naughty purposes.

We made a one day visit to Pattaya and saw an interesting " show".

We returned to Singapore but found that our Bombay ticket was still not confirmed.

Meanwhile, the date of departure was drawing nearer and we were almost in a panic.On the 17th , we were told to try our luck in the Airport.We were really worried and didn't know what we would do if the ticket was not confirmed.Our money was running out and those were the days before international credit cards.

We went to the check-in counter and waited and waited. All the confirmed passengers were cleared and then the names of waitlisted passengers were called. The time of departure was nearing and we had lost hope.I started reciting the Gayatri Mantra. At last they called "Prasad and Sharma". We put our hands up, checked in and sprinted to the departure gate.

We landed in Bombay next day morning and then I caught the evening flight to Madras. My dad and mom were very proud that I had made a foreign trip and had come to the airport with a garland.

A couple of days later, I got a call from my Bombay office asking how much duty I had paid in Bombay airport. I said Rs.2000. A couple of days later I got an envelope containing Rs.2000.

That's it for now. My next blog will cover 1984 and later.

The Joys of Parenthood ( Contd)-----------( 1978-1981)

I have a feedback from my son Sachin on my previous blog.He says that I have focused more on the agony of theatre than on the joys of parenthood.

Mea culpa, and I'll proceed to set right matters.

The most endearing thing about Sachin as a baby, apart from his marble-like black eyes, was the way he would suck his right forefinger and middle finger . This was heaven to him.

He was a late walker, only at around 11 months or so.He was also a very quiet boy--- absolutely no tantrums.When we were in Ashoknagar, Vasuki and Arathi had come to visit us. They took him outside the house in his pram and then tried to race the pram.In the process, Sachin fell off from the pram and sustained minor injuries.I was off at work then and these two were shivering in their boots wondering what I'd say when I came back home.They still remember the incident.

In May 1979, we went to Bangalore to attend Rajani's wedding.It was a gala affair and we enjoyed ourselves hugely.Sachin was just 9 months old then and really quite chubby. Sethuram called him "benne biscuit" and fussed over him a lot.

We celebrated his first birthday in Aug 1979 by cutting a cake and calling Prakash and Rosy who were staying in Besant Nagar then. I remember that they presented him with a copy of "Bala Ramayana".

Sandhya was extremely fond of him and used to call him Johnny boy.He used to call her Jujja and the name has stuck till this day.We had all gone to KGF for Janmashtami in Sep 1979 and Sachin was dressed up like a little Krishna.Very cute.

Sandhya would invariably take Sachin every date to Oorgaum Railway Station to watch the train passing by.

1979 was when we bought our first TV--- a black and white TV set called Bharath TV. Every day we would watch from 6.30 PM starting with the Doordarshan logo.Initially we had just the Doordarshan channel and then we had Doordarshan 1 and Doordarshan 2 where the second channel was a commercial one with advertisements etc.

Wimbledon was a great attraction and watching the epic final between McEnroe and Bjorn Borg made me feel that the TV was paisa vasool.

Gayathri got married in May 1980 to Vittal and we travelled to Bangalore for the wedding.

In September 1980, I made my second travel by flight from Madras to Bombay for a Sales Conference in Ankleshwar.

We stayed in Hotel Poonam International in Shiv Sagar Estate in Worli and travelled by bus to Ankleshwar.I bought a saree for mummy at Akbarally's and Bombay Halwa for everyone at Dadar.

By now, Sandhya had finished her B Com and my parents were on the lookout for a suitable groom for her.Sandhya's friend Shobha was the first to get engaged and the wedding date was fixed for 21 Mar 1981.Within a short while, Sandhya was engaged to Ravikumaraswamy who was a partner in a packaging industry in Bangalore.

Ravi's parents stayed in Jayanagar 1st Block and his father Prof S.Ramaswamy was a retired Professor of Physics in Central College, Bangalore.His grandather , Dr.S Subba Rao, was the palace physician to the Maharaja of Mysore and had travelled overseas in the 1930s .Ravi was the youngest of 5 brothers, all of whom were staying in Bangalore.

The wedding was fixed for 18th Mar 1981 at Prasanna Kalyana Mantapa in Jayanagar 1st Block near Ashoka Pillar.Sudha was now pregnant again. Her parents and Vinod and Ravi came down from Jabalpur where BVN was now transferred.

Sachin had high fever during the wedding but recovered soon.

We returned to Madras after attending Shobha's wedding also.
Meanwhile, Sudha was told that her iron content was low and was advised to take Fefol along with an oil injection which was a particularly painful one.This injection was to be taken once a week and she had to be under complete bed rest.

Mummy and Bhagya came down to KGF to look after her and we had to miss Nandini's wedding in May 1981.

Rummy, in the meanwhile, delivered her second child--- a boy--- in KGF on 1 May 1981.Aditya was born almost 8 1/2 years after Akhila. I conveyed the happy news to B S Nagaraj in Bangalore. He repeatedly asked me if I was sure it was a boy and I said yes, yes, yes.

Dad also retired from service on 31 May 1981 and was allowed to stay in the bungalow for another 3 months while Rummy was undergoing her bananthana( post natal care).

May 1981 was therefore a hectic month in many respects.

Sudha left with Sachin for Jabalpur in July 1981, but prior to that we shifted from Ashok Nagar to Teynampet.This was centrally located but the house was very small.Once again, I was forced to live the bachelor life.

The child was expected around Deepavali in 1981 and I planned my leave so as to be in Jabalpur around the time of the delivery.

Meanwhile, there was a Kannada drama called "Udhbhava" being staged and I was given a small role in it.Small means really small--- just one line of dialogue. I went for practice for one whole month.I had another friend called Srinivas who also had just one line of dialogue--- after mine.

On the day of the play, I was waiting eagerly to deliver my line. Srinivas was even more eager than me.He jumped the queue and delivered his dialogue before mine and thus I lost my chance. Such are the ways of theatre.

My next blog will cover the details of the birth of my second son.

The Joys of Parenthood( 1978-1981)

I forgot to mention in my earlier blog that Thammayya ( Saraswathi's son) got married in June 1978.

I returned from Jagdalpur in Oct 1978 and continued with my bachelor life.Sudha stayed back in Jagdalpur and was expected to return to Madras sometime in Dec 1978 but no date was set.

One fine day in Dec, I returned from Office and found they were already home!! No phone call, no telegram --- nothing.Her parents had accompanied Sudha and Sachin and they had made the journey by car.

I used to normally give the house key next door to the Gopinaths so that the maidservant could finish up her washing and cleaning, so Sudha and her parents had no problem getting into the house.They were surprised to see the house spic and span even without any notice of their arrival.

Rama Aunty straightaway took charge of Sachin.The regular oil bath and massage and looking after him when Sudha was having her bath was all taken care of by Rama Aunty.

As Sachin started his baby steps and then the running around, Sudha used to tie him to an immovable object---- the dining table or the sofa--- with enough length to enable him move within a confined area.

Around this time, relations sarted to sour between our landlady and us.The landlady was jealous of the increased friendship between the Gopinaths and us on the first floor.

Finally, matters came to a head in March 1979 and we were told to vacate.We looked desperately for a house in T'Nagar but didn't anything suitable.We finally moved to an independent house in Ashok Nagar ( rent Rs.500 per month).
The house was very nice with 2 bedrooms and a lawn but it was too far from Mount Road, my Office and all our usual haunts.The house was owned by the brother-in-law of one of my friends G.Jayaraman.Sudha was very unhappy with the move but soon settled down.

Miraculously, we found another Maami at the back of our house.The lady was a widow and was staying with her 2 sons and 2 daughters ( all in their teens and early twenties). Straightaway they adopted Sachin and made life easier for us.

I know I'm writing about the joys of parenthood and it isn't as though the joy comes from having other people take care of your kid--- but still, it felt good to know that there were others to take care of Sachin when things became a little too much.

Meanwhile our activities in Kannada theatre increased.There was one drama to be done for the Sourabha program of Doordarshan and we all practised hard. Sudha would carry Sachin on her hips and do the rehearsals at Karnataka Sangha.
There were plenty of others to look after Sachin also.

In May 1979, I got a chance to make my first trip in an aeroplane and also my first stay in a 5 star hotel. A business visitor had come from Malaysia and I was told to accompany him to Bangalore, Manipal( where the visitor's son was studying at Manipal Medical College), Hubli and back to Madras via Bangalore.

We were booked in Hotel Ashok at Bangalore and caught a flight from Bangalore to Madras.

In May 1979, we also attended Rajani's wedding with Murali at Bangalore. This was a gala affair with all uncles and aunts in attendance. Anti's Navilu dance was one of the highlights of the entertainment program.
Sachin was properly fussed over and Sethuram used to call him "Benne Biscuit".

In June 1979 we visited Bhadravati for the Grihapravesha of Seethakka's house.Sudha was keen on going to a Kannada movie " Hombisilu" and went with Shashi and Chaya.She left Sachin behind at home and as usual he cried because his mom had left him.
Sudha was met with accusing stares when she got back from the movie and promptly burst into tears, especially when Seethakka told her how "poor" Kesari was left alone to manage the kid.

In October 1979, we travelled to Bhadravati again for Chaya's wedding.Good fun as usual.

Kittu Maava ( my mother-in-law's brother) came down to Bangalore in November 1979 and we had a pleasant meeting with him.
In November 1979, we were invited by the Karnataka Nataka Academy to the Horanada Kannadigara Drama Festival at Ravindra Kalakshetra in Bangalore.Our Director was H.N.Srinivas, a HR professional with United India Insurance at that time.The play chosen was a Kannada translation of a Sanskrit play called "Bhagavathachukeya" and the Kannada name of the play was "Soole Sanyasi". It was a play about a prostitute and an ascetic and the transmigration of souls.

It involved songs and dances and the subject was esoteric, to say the least--not the kind of story that could be understood by the common man.

We practiced the dialogues and dance in our drawing room which was no more than 12ft x 10ft.Since all of us were working, there were always one or two people absent during every rehearsal.

Our drama was to be staged on a Sunday.It was a double header with the first play being "Jokumaraswamy" --- a very famous one being staged for the 50th time by a professional drama troupe and was already making waves in the theatre circuit.

We travelled on a Friday night from Madras to Bangalore and rang up all our friends and relatives to come and watch our performance on Sunday.

We met up on the Saturday evening for a rehearsal and this was in fact the first time that all actors were present.We had to wait till the featured play got over and the stage was given to us at 12 midnight.

Our first surprise was the stage.It was huge-- at least 40ft x 40 ft.By the time we went one round of the stage, we were breathless.The play also involved intricate lighting where there would be two groups of actors on the stage.One group would talk among themselves in one part of the stage and the other group would stand in darkness in another part of the stage.The dialogue would then switch to the other group and the previous group would stand in darkness since they were not supposed to know what was being spoken.Srinivas called one of his theatre friends in Bangalore to watch the rehearsal and make notes in the script on the lighting changes to be done.

It was 4 AM by the time we finished the rehearsal and went home.We came back to the venue by 3 PM.There was a huge crowd and a big clamour for tickets.People came to me and begged for tickets but I shrugged them off imperiously."Jokumaraswamy" got over and was a huge success judging by the audience applause.

And then our play started.Things started to go wrong right from the beginning.One of the actors said " Huli Banthu! Huli Banthu!!" ( The tiger is coming!!) and a cat ran across the stage.This was actually supposed to be a serious situation , but the audience roared with laughter.

One of the actors forgot his dialogue midway, so he started all over again.Another actor spoke a dialogue of the 8th scene while doing the 3rd scene and the play carried on from there.A couple of people were supposed to die in the 4th and 5th scenes but they never got the chance and so continued living.

One actress was playing dead and suddenly relaized that she was not supposed to be on stage.She just got up and walked away.

The lighting specialist was so confused by all this that he forgot to control the lights. The result was that there were two groups on stage with the lights focused on both.One group mouthed the dialogues and suddenly went silent and then the other group mouthed their dialogue and kept silent.

The audience had no clue about what was going on ( and neither did the actors, for that matter).Mercifully the play came to an end and all our relations and friends came and said what a wonderful performance it was . We knew better.

Next day, there was a review of the play by a Kannada paper.
The reviewer wrote:" We have seen some pretty bad plays in our journalistic career but yesterday's play staged by a Madras troupe takes the cake. We had no clue about what the play was all about and neither did the actors.People came on to the stage and went out of it at will.The actors were mouthing their dialogues and then standing there like dumb puppets( this was when the lighting was not done as planned).
The only comforting factor is that this was a brave attempt by a Horanada ( out of State) troupe and therefore we must commend their bravery in trying out a complicated drama".

( to be continued)

Life in Madras(1976-1978)

After this adventure in Madurai, life became more normal.

In Sep 1976, Sudha and I made a trip to Jagdalpur.My father-in-law had been posted to Jagdalpur as Superintending Engineer in the PWD .

We travelled to Vizag and he had come there to pick us up by car.It was an 8 hour journey from Vizag to Jagdalpur, much of it through forested area. We passed through Sunabeda, Koraput and the Dandakaranya forest of Ramayana lore. In fact,there is a common perception in these areas that the Lanka of Ravana is from this region and not Sri Lanka as is commonly believed.In fact, all these places have a suffix Lanka after their names eg Kanker Lanka, Dantewada Lanka etc.

Anyway, we reached Jagdalpur in the evening.BVN had a huge bungalow with 6 bedrooms, 6 dressing rooms and 6 atached bathrooms.There was an army of retainers waiting to receive us.The house also had a table tennis table.

Jagdalpur was a small town and the capital of Bastar District which was bigger in area than the state of Kerala.

During our trip, we paid a visit to Kutumsar caves which have stalactites and stalagmites.On the way back,we came through Bhadrachalam to Vijayawada and returned to Madras.

After we returned from Jagdalpur, Sudha and I moved from Annanagar to Chetput so that I could be closer to my office in Egmore.This move was made in Sep 1976.

In Oct 1976, we again went to Mysore for Rosy's wedding and , on the way back, we attend Venu's sister Vani's wedding at Bangalore on 13 Oct 1976.Vani's husband G.V.Sukumara was my senior in Hassan.

Our weekends were spent in going to Balu's house or Bhagavan's house to watch movies on Doordarshan.We also went to a lot of movies, prominent among them being "Kabhi Kabhi", "Khel Khel Mein", "Karz" etc.

In Feb 1977, Venu's father A.N.Anantharamiah passed away and Venu and Jayalakshmi had to be in Bangalore for the ceremonies. They left behind their children Vagdevi,Abhaya and Prasad at our house.

I thought I was the only one who hated cream ( kene) in milk and curds, but Abhaya went one better than me. He always used to carry a filter in his pocket. He would use this to filter the coffee and curds and ensure no cream.

In March 1977, we moved to another house in Kamala Bai Street in T'Nagar. How we got there is an interesting story.

Balu had told us about a portion of a house being vacant in Kamala Bai Street near Vani Mahal.We went to the place and started looking for the house.It was night and we heard some music emanating from one of the upper floors of a house.We went and found that there was a group practising Kannada songs.On further enquiry, we found that the house we were looking for was in another portion of the same building.
The head of the family was introduced to us.He was Mr.M K Gopinath and the family including his wife Rama, sons Mohan and Prabhu and daughter Sheela.One of the guests there was Girija Vishwanath who was born in Chitradurga and knew Kanthu.We straightaway knew that this was the place we wanted to live in.
The building was split into four portions. The two portions on the ground floor belonged to two brothers who were not on speaking terms with each other. Mr.Gopinath was the tenant on the 1st floor in one portion and the other portion on the first floor was the vacant one which we had come to see.

We took the house on rent ( Rs.300 per month) and moved in on 1st Mar 1977.This house was centrally located; Pondy Bazaar was just a street away and Panagal Park was also within walking distance though it had not yet gained its fame ( notriety??) as a shopping centre as it has now.The only problem was that Kamala Bai Street was a low lying area and used to get flooded if there was rain.Friends and relatives visiting us would joke that what we needed was a boat, not a scooter.

Balu's house was less than a kilometre away and we went to their house frequently.

Venu and family had moved to Hyderabad meanwhile so that was one house where we stopped our visits.

In Oct 1977, Dad, Mom and Sandhya went on a trip to Kashmir.Kanthu and Venkatesh were in Srinagar and the plan was to visit Delhi and Bombay on the way back.Tragically, Ramanna( mom's father) passed away in Shimoga when they were all in Srinagar, so Mom and Kanthu caught the next flight from Srinagar to Bangalore.

In Dec 1977, Sudha and I got the happy news that she was pregnant.

Meanwhile, Sudha and I had become members of Kannada Balaga and took part in our first Kannada Drama in Feb 1978 for the Ladies & Gents program.We had a brother and sister role and it came out fairly well.

Dad and Mom arranged the Shreemantha ceremony at KGF on 20th May 1978, a couple of days ahead of Sudha's cousin Viju's wedding on 25th May 1978 at Bangalore.
Sudha's parents were in attendance as also her brothers Vinod and Ravi.They had all come down from Jagdalpur by car.

From KGF all of us went to Bangalore for Viju's wedding. I remember that 25th May 1978 also happened to be the 25th wedding anniversary of Chandu Mava and Prema Atte.We had a grand time during the wedding.

From Bangalore, Sudha proceeded straight to Jagdalpur with her parents and brothers for her confinement.

I was back to living a bachelor's life again.Rama Aunty and Gopinath became my foster parents and took care of me well whenever I was in Madras. Otherwise I plunged myself into tours just to avoid being in Madras.

The Gopinaths were avid cards players and I would usually spend some time after dinner playing with them.

It was when I was having one such cards session on the evening of 22nd Aug 1978 that I got a telegram which said that Sudha had delivered a baby boy at 1.15 PM that day.

I immediately made preparations to leave for Jagdalpur and also bought a nice white and blue saree for Sudha.She maintains that this is the best saree of all the sarees that I have gifted her.

I reached Waltair a couple of days later and then caught a bus next day for the 8 hour journey to Jagdalpur.I reached at night and went to the maternity hospital next day.There was this child all wrapped up and the only thing I can remember was his marble like eyes peeping out at me.It was such a lovely experience holding this cute baby in my arms.

As usual , Sudha had a story for me about the delivery.

Her dad had checked out the delivery room of the maternity hospital a month before the delivery and found that it badly needed a coat of paint.He couldn't obviously get one room painted so he got the whole maternity hospital a new coat of paint.

A week before the delivery date, there was a new crisis.The lady doctor had received her transfer orders and the replacement doctor had not yet arrived.BVN was very worried that there would be no doctor available when the need arose.
So he delayed providing the required transport for the doctor to move out of Jagdalpur and thus the situation was saved.The PWD engineers gave the reason for non availability of transport as flooding of the bridges and roads and miraculously everything became OK as soon as the baby was born.

In October 1978 ( 2 months after the baby was born), my dad, mom, Sandhya, Rummy, Nagaraj, Akhila and I went together from Madras to Jagdalpur for the Namakarna ( Naming Ceremony).

We went by Coromandel Express from Madras to Waltair and reached there in the evening.We were to take a taxi from the station to the hotel for an overnight stay before catching a bus next morning for the 8 hour trip to Jagdalpur.

A person met us on the station platform and offered to take us to the hotel.We followed him and sat down in what must have been a 1930 model taxi.I sat in the front seat next to the taxi driver and he gave me a small plastic pipe to hold.
As soon as he sat, the driver took the pipe from me and put it somewhere close to his leg.The taxi moved in fits and starts and soon the driver pulled up near a petrol bunk.He have me the plastic pipe again and then took a plastic jerry can from near his leg to get the petrol filled. This was the petrol tank!!!

Incredibly, we engaged the same taxi again next morning to take us to the bus-stand and got there without any mishap.

The Namakarna ceremony went off very well and the baby boy was named Sachin. This was the name of a popular film star those days and the most romantic star pair those days was Sachin-Sarika.A lot of boys and girls born in 1978 were called Sachin and Sarika respectively.

There was a huge party arranged in the evening on the lawns of the bungalow.Everybody spoke only in Hindi and tis was a bit of a problem for us. Anyway Rummy decided to try out her Hindi on a small boy by calling out to him " Udhar Aao, Udhar Aao"--- instead of "Idhar Aao". The boy wa ssuitably confused and wondered whether he had learnt his Hindi properly.

We spent around 3 or 4 days playing cards ( Rummy) and Ravi made a neat Rs.150 which was a lot of money those days.

After a pleasant stay, we all returned to Madras .

My next blog will dwell on the joys of parenthood.

Grihastashrama( Married Life)---- 1976 to 1978

My first day in Madras as the head of a household was a bit of a disaster.

As I've mentioned earlier, my dad and mom and Sethuram and Seetha accompanied us to Madras.

We were staying in Annanagar West which was just on the edge of civilization.My scooter was the only mode of conveyance.To top it all, Sudha didn't know a word of Tamil.

We didn't have a gas connection and we didn't have a sofa set or dining table.A fridge was out of the question.

The first thing we did was to hire a small girl ( maybe around 10 years) as a servant maid.We called her Ponnu.

Next was to register with Aavin for daily milk supply.

As soon as we landed in Madras, I went out and made a phone call to Venu to tell him that we had come.Somewhere during the conversation, I invited Venu over with his family for dinner that night and Venu promptly accepted. This was around 1 PM. I came back and told Sudha and my mom that Venu and his family were coming home that evening for dinner.

They looked at me in horror and gave me a look that indicated that I must have gone out of my mind.After she recovered her wits, my mom asked me whether I knew that we didn't have enough plates and glasses, we didn't have chairs to seat any guests, we didn't have a dining table to dine on, we didn't have any milk and curds, we didn't have enough dishes to cook a decent meal and we didn't have enough vegetables etc etc etc.She also reminded me that all cooking was to be done on a single electric stove since we didn't have cooking gas.

After having delivered that royal firing, mom, Sudha and Seetha got down to prepare something. I'm sure their simmering anger against me helped speed up the cooking.

I went crazy with fetching things from the Chintamani Supermarket on my scooter for the dinner.

After this notable event, things settled down somewhat and we made a few trips in 7C Bus Route to Parry's Corner and Evening Bazaar to get some essential household stuff.

We also made a bus trip to Adyar Gate to visit Venu's house.It was a long bus ride and all of us , barring Sudha, went off to sleep. She didn't know where we should get off and was hesitant to wake us up. Anyway, I woke up in time and we had no mishaps.

My parents-in-law visted us and gifted a dining table set.
My company managing director gave me a gift of Rs.1000 and we bought a sofa set with this money.

We were staying in a portion of a house which had two other tenants, both of them sisters.They were Sindhis and Sudha felt very comfortable talking to them in Hindi

I used to be off to work by 8.30 AM and returned in the evening.Sudha took stenography and typing classes to while away her time.Her teacher was a retired Legislative Assembly Stenographer and his wife was a typical Madras Maami who would give Sudha Arashina + Kunkuma on festival days etc.

In the evenings, Sudha and I would go out shopping and buy things to furnish our house.Grocery and provision purchase was at the nearby Chinthamani Supermarket where I would stand in one queue to buy Kerosene and Sudha would stand in another queue to buy Aavin Butter or some such scarce commodity.

I had applied to the Park Town Co-Operative Society for an Indane Gas Connection but it normally took 3 years to get a connection. I had a friend in Indian Oil who helped me get an out of turn connection in May 1976.

In the same month, Rajani, Nandini,Anil and Badri came to spend a couple of days with us.We had no extra cots and all of us would sleep in the drawing room.We had good fun.

I had gone on a tour of Andhra during May and I visited places such as Sirpur Kaghaznagar and Bellampally where the weather was extremely hot. I caught a fever in Sirpur but decided to continue with my visit to Bellampally and then return to Chennai. This was my first to Bellampally where coal was being mined.I reached there with a high fever around 8 PM and checked into a dingy hotel.The air was thick with coal dust.There was no decent food available and I had to manage with Fanta Orange.

The next morning, the sun was bright and shining by 5.30 AM and it was already hot.I went to the Office of Singareni Collieries and the person there was shocked at seeing me. He asked me whether I had been asked to come. I said no, I came on my own.He told me never to come unless I was called and also said that, in that case, the company would make arrangements for transport and stay in their guest house.

I finished my work by 10 AM and scooted out of the place.

In June 1976, I went on a tour of Trichy, Madurai and Tuticorin and took Sudha along with me. We went to the Rock Fort Temple in Trichy, Srirangam, Madurai Meenakshi Temple and also to Kanyakumari.In Sriangam, I paid Rs.12 and bought a colourful saree for Sudha.

In August 1976, I went on a tour of Southern Tamil Nadu and almost got married a second time. Here's how it happened.

I had gone to visit a company called Kothari Phytochemicals which was on the outskirts of Madurai. I had gone there by a mofussil bus.After I finished my work, I came out and was waiting at a bus stop for a bus.I had a newspaper with me and was busy reading it.A few minutes later a woman in her twenties came and stood next to me.After some time, she asked me " Are you coming from Palani?"I did not want to enter into a conversation by saying yes or no, so I buried my face in the newspaper and gave a grunt.She took this as a yes and then asked " Are you going to Madurai?" Grunt.
"Weather is very hot , no?" Grunt.This went on for quite some time--- she asking questions and my replying with grunts with my face buried in the newspaper.

After some time, I realized the incogruity of the situation and thought I would get rid of her by walking up to a nearby teashop. She came behind me. I asked for a cup of tea and she said " One for me also". The shopkeeper looked at me and I nodded yes since it would be churlish to refuse a cup of tea to a lady.

The bus came and I got in and sat in the back seat.In Tamilnadu, the entire left side seats of any bus are usually reserved for women and a few seats were empty. Still the lady came and sat next to me.By now, alarm bells were ringing in my mind.

The conductor came around and I bought one ticket.The woman immediately said "One more ticket for me".The conductor looked questioningly at me and I shrugged my shoulders indicating I did not know who she was.Surprisingly, he did not ask the woman for any money but gave her a ticket anyway.

By now I was certain that something funny was going on.As the bus neared Madurai bus stand, I casually got up and edged my way towards the exit.The lady immediately got up and came behind me.

As the bus slowed down near the bus stand, I got off and ran to the nearest cycle rickshaw and told the driver to move.He asked me where to go.I told him to just start and get away.
The lady ran hard behind the cycle rickshaw and caught hold of a bar at the back and did not let go. I kept urging the driver to cycle faster but she did not let go.By now, we were going through the main street in Madurai and a crowd was looking on.In between gasps of breath, the lady kept shouting " Enne vittitu povadeengo"--- Don't leave me and go.

I asked the rickshaw driver to stop near a traffic policeman.
By now a big crowd had gathered. I went up to the policeman and told him that the lady had followed me all the way from the suburb.The policeman asked her why she was following me and she replied" En purushan saar. Enne vittitu poyitanga"--- " He is my husband.he has left me and gone".

I told the policeman that I was already married and from Madras and produced my visiting card. He took one look at it and asked me to get away as soon as possible.I got into the rickshaw again and told the driver to move fast. The lady broke away and again started running behind me but we had already covered some distance.I was staying at The New College House and decided to cut short my Madurai visit and proceed to Tuticorin. The problem was that I had to catch a bus and therefore would have to come to the bus stand again.

I changed my clothes, put on my sunglasses and very warily came to the bus stand.Fortunately, the woman was nowhere to be seen and I made a smooth getaway.

End of story.

Preparations for Grihastashrama and the Wedding

Sudha and her parents went back to Bhopal on 31st Aug 1975 and my parents and Sandhya left soon after to KGF.

Then began a long exchange of letters between me and Sudha--- the usual kootchie-cooing stuff.Meanwhile, I started looking for a house.

In October 1975, Kamaraj died and Madras came to a standstill.All hotels were shut and 3 days holidays were declared.I decided to go to KGF and caught the afternoon express train.It was packed with passengers and the weather was extremely hot.The one memory I have was of sweat dripping from the passengers on the upper berth on to me as I was sitting. Yuck!!!

In the same month, Sundari and G.L.N.Ayya had the Grihapravesha of their house in Mysore and I went there. I remember a group of us cousins going to see "Sholay" in a Mysore theatre.

On my return, I moved into a house in Annanagar in Nov 1975.Rent was Rs.250 a month.This was one of the few owners willing to rent a house to a bachelor and that too on my promise that I was engaged and would get married in a couple of months.

In Dec 1975, I paid a visit to Bhopal.Sudha took me to all the important landmarks and introduced me to her friend Sandhya.We all went to see "Uljhan", a Sanjeev Kumar-Sulakshana Pandit starrer. We also paid a visit to Sanchi and saw the stupa there.

Meanwhile, the wedding date was fixed for 2nd Feb 1976 and the wedding hall was Nijaguna Kalyana Mandira on Bull Temple Road in Basavanagudi, Bangalore.The chatra was just being inaugurated and ours was the first wedding to be held there.

BVN asked my father to recommend a suitable caterer and my father suggested Nagaraja Sastry who had catered in Rummy's wedding.

I was in the meantime incurring capital expenditure --- I bought a Godrej cupboard and a cot (both of which remain with us to this day)and 2 chairs.

The wedding was a grand affair.All of my dad's siblings and all of my mom's siblings were present.There was a godly crowd present from my mother-in-law and my father-in-law's side too and most of them ( like the Nadig family)and Gangammanavaru and her family were known to us.Oh yes, this was the other connection that I forgot to mention in my earlier blog.

Gangammanavaru was the sister of NDS Rao who was married to BVN's sister.Gangammanavaru was also the mother of my aunt Kamala who was married to dad's brother Kanteerava.

In this way, there was a good interaction during the wedding between the two families which is usually missing in most weddings.

The wedding over, I returned to KGF with my parents. Sudha and her parents accompanied by her brothers Vinod and Ravi came over to KGF on 5th Feb and left her there.

After a couple of days, we left on our honeymoon to Mysore and Ooty.This remains a sore point with Sudha even today.She still remains disappointed that we did not go to Kashmir for our honeymoon.

We stayed at Hotel Dasaparakash in Mysore and had hardly stirred out of the hotel when we ran into Appaji. He was shocked that we had checked into a hotel ( didn't he know that we were on our honeymoon?) and insisted that we move to his house right away. That evening , Sudha and I went to Brindavan Gardens and took a lot of photos.

Next, we went to Ooty and again stayed in Hotel Dasaprakash.
We went to the lake for boating by ourselves and got stuck in the middle of the lake because of the weeds underneath the boat.It was really funny because there I was in my wedding suit and Sudha in her Conjeevaram saree and dripping with jewellery and we were frantically waving out to get help!!Someone finally came and cut the weeds and we were back to terra firma again.

We returned to KGF and immediately left for Bhopal.We gave the film for developing and found , to our shock and horror, that the photo studio had misplaced the film.The studio owner then made a very generous offer.He said that if we went to the same place and got the photographs a second time, he would develop and print the photos for free.

Incredibly, we did this. We had gone to Rosy's wedding in Mysore in Oct 1976. We again went to Brindavan Gardens, posed in the same places and sent the film to Bhopal and the studio owner kept his word. But I'm getting ahead of my story.

When we came back to Madras towards the end of Feb 1976 to resume our married life, my parents and Sethuram and Seetha accompanied us.

My next blog will detail our life in Madras starting with our first grand dinner on the day we arrived!!

The ACH-BVN Connection

I mentioned in my previous blog that my dad and B.V.Nagaraj hit it off like old friends when they met in Chennai in August 1975.

The two families were related in a variety of ways.

Let me start with the information I have.

My mom's elder sister Seethakka got married to Lakkavalli Srikantiah.Srikantiah was the son of Lakkavalli Puttiah whose children included Seshamma,Srikantiah,Sathyanarayana,Jayamma,Subba,Rama,Naga, Gopamma,Susheela,Savithri and Kitti( thanks to Naga who updated me with this information today-19.8.2010-- as I'm writing this blog)

Seethakka went off to live in Bhadravathi with her husband.They lived as a joint family with Puttiah's other children. Occasionally, my mom would go there to visit her sister and would play with the girls Susheela and Savithri.

Subsequently, dad's brother Sathya got married to Susheela .

B.V.Nagaraj got married to Savithri in the early 1950s and their children were Vinod ( born 31 Dec 1954) and Sudha ( born 17 May 1956). Savithri died of cancer in Jan 1962 and
B V Nagaraj was left alone to raise the 2 kids. I still remember the postcard that Seethakka wrote to mummy stating that Savithri had passed away .

Around this time, there was a Civil Surgeon Dr.D.V.Subba Rao in KGF who used to reside in Robertsonpet and we used to go to their house occasionally.He had three children--- Dr.D.S.Chandrasekhar, Krish ( living in America and married to Magdalene, a German )and Lalitha.Lalitha had done her M.A.in Political Science in Mysore University.This was a pretty high qualification at that time.

It was my dad who arranged the wedding between BVN and Lalitha .

Other connections--- Naga's wife Swarna's sister Vishali was married to mom's cousin Kanta.

Lalitha's brother Dr.Chandrasekhar was married to Prema from the Nadig family.Prema's father was Dr.S.N.Gundu Rao whose son Ramu was running Chaya Nursing Home and the family was very close to my brother-in-law B.S.Nagaraj's family.

The story also goes that my mom had decided long ago that Savithri's daughter would be brought into her family.

You will therefore see that this family was known to us and related to us in many ways and so there was a great comfort factor.