- Seventy five Years of Journey

R V Ramakrishnan
December 2010

0
 DOWN MEMORY LANE
Contents
Preface ................................................................................................................. 2
Section 1: ............................................................................................................. 4
Ramanathapuram - My Village Home ................................................................. 4
Table 1: Family Tree of R R Subramania Iyer and first wife .......................................................... 9
Table 2: Family Tree of R R Subramania Iyer and second wife ................................................... 11
Legend for all tables ...................................................................................................................... 12
Section 2: Appa................................................................................................. 13
Table 3: Family Tree of R S Venkateswaran ................................................................................. 20
Section 3: Amma ................................................................................................ 22
Section 4: Uncles ............................................................................................... 29
Section 5: Brothers and Sisters........................................................................... 35
Section 6: School and College days ..................................................................... 50
Section 7: Walchands......................................................................................... 58
Section 8: Pankajam .......................................................................................... 66
Table: 4 Ganesa Iyer Family ......................................................................................................... 76
Section 9: Binnys ............................................................................................... 77
Section 10: Venkatesh........................................................................................ 86
Table 5: T S Ramaswamy Family ................................................................................................ 112
Section 11: Ganesh........................................................................................... 113
Table 6: C.V. Ramanathan Family.............................................................................................. 139
Section 12: Audco ............................................................................................ 140
Section 13: Professional ................................................................................... 149
Table 7: R V Ramakrishnan- Summary of Career........................................................................ 159
Section 14: Post Retirement ............................................................................. 160
Section 15: Master ........................................................................................... 165
Epilogue........................................................................................................... 172
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 Preface
One day I was sitting in the verandah of my father in-law, Sri. Ganesa
Iyer‟s house, and was chatting about his life‟s events. As my gaze meandered, it
landed on his diary in which he had painstakingly recorded the daily events of the
past four decades. I suggested that he should write his autobiography based on
his chronicle. Later, on joining the Sri Ramchandra Mission, I had the
opportunity of reading the precious autobiography of my Master, titled “Down
Memory Lane.” In this book, Master‟s life, ranging from his childhood and school
days to his work at the Mission is vividly recorded. This motivated me to write
my own autobiography.
I could recall the life I enjoyed with my parents, brothers and sisters and
specifically the fun of being in a joint family which in today‟s world is a rarity if
not a nonexistent fiction. Children of the next generation are missing the
company of other children in the family; their parents are separated from the
extended family and they rarely meet each other. Sometimes, the relationships are
forgotten. I felt this autobiography could reflect on the values of our joint family
system apart from also recording the various events and members of the family.
After my marriage, in 1962, I started writing my diary and ever
since I have been recording major events of the extended family. After my
retirement, when my wife and I visited Dubai, Bangkok, Singapore and
Manchester, I used to maintain separate diaries to record these travels. Prompted
by my cousin, Venkatraman‟s idea I had started collecting various details of
different members of our family. Thus my personal diary and this collated data
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along with my personal collection of photos forms the basis of this narrative.
I have divided this autobiography into fifteen chapters, covering my
village, parents, uncles, siblings, wife, sons, official career, professional career, my
post-retirement and my Master. Each chapter is supported with family trees,
photographs and a compilation of dates and events for easy reference.
With much effort and time, I have made an attempt to record the family
events till December 2010 and hope to release my autobiography on 26th January
2011, on the occasion of my 75th birthday. I wish to acknowledge Gopal,
Pankajam and Deepa for compiling the photos and editing. I hope this
autobiography will be a good reference for all members of our family, especially
for the younger generation. I optimistically look forward that one of the family
members will continue to record further events and prepare the second edition of
this autobiography. With love and best wishes to all my family members.

31 December 2010
R .V. Ramakrishnan

3
 Section 1:
Ramanathapuram - My Village Home

Our family is associated with our ancestral village – Ramanathapuram,

which has about thirty houses, in two rows facing each other, on either side of a
broad road. The village is about six kilometers from Palghat Railway Station and
about 10 km from Palghat Junction (also known as Olavakkot Station) – it is on
the Chennai-Cochin Rail route and between Coimbatore and Trichur Railway
Stations. The village represents the traditional „agraharam‟ with its Brahmin
families. There are two temples of Ganesha and Krishna on entrance and temple
of Siva along with Devi and a bathing tank, at the end of the village. Our house
was located at the centre of the village and close to the village well. There were
two cows in our backyard which also had some coconut trees, banana trees, a
kitchen garden and a deep well with fresh water, adjacent to the kitchen along
with some wooden logs stored for the kitchen fire. Our house like others was
typical of Kerala architecture. My grandfather, R.R .Subramania Iyer (Patta)
who was born in 1880 must have spent most of his seventy seven years of his life
in this house before his demise in 1957.

4
Patta, who retired as Registrar of District Court, lived a very pious life. His
routine included „nithya1 Siva pooja with abhishekams‟ and reading the
Ramayanam, the Hindu epic, every
afternoon. Patta had paddy fields
from which we got semi-polished par
boiled rice (which was red in colour)
for our daily meals. Our family deity
is “Manapully Amman‟. This temple
is located at East Yekkara (near the
Fort) at Palghat town. Those days,
the only transport to the town was
either by walk (20 to 25 minutes) or
bullock-cart (owned by the village
barber!)
Figure 1 - Patta in his daily Puja

Patta and his first wife Parvathi had four sons and two daughters. My
father, Venkateswaran, was the third son. The other children were: Ramaswamy
– first son, Narayanan – second son, Sadasivan – fourth son, Alamelu (Akka) –
first daughter, Arundathi (Kunjakka) – second daughter. While Patta, himself
had completed Matric in education; he had provided college education for his first

1
daily

5
son, Ramaswamy, who completed B.A.(Economics) at Maharaja‟s College,
Palghat and provided Matric level education for his other three sons. I
understand that my father‟s mother expired at a young age of about 36 years,
leaving behind the children in the care of his grandmother, who advised my Patta
to remarry for the sake of the children.
Patta, by his second wife Narayani, had three sons – Raman,
Venkatraman, Ramakrishnan and six daughters – Lakshmi, Rukmani, Rajam,
Radha, Janaki and Sita. Patta, as such, had a very big family to take care of. He
used to depend on his sons (from his first wife) to support him during the early
days. During his life time, he could educate his first two sons, Raman and
Venkatraman upto Matric and married off four of his daughters..
I remember to have enjoyed the village life while visiting Patta‟s house. As
my father was working in Railways, he was eligible to railway passes and our
visit to village was frequent, during our school holidays. Patta used to visit
Bombay and take my elder brother (lovingly called as Manikutty) to the village,
as he was eligible for railway pass as an „escort‟ to my brother. My visit to the
village became more frequent, during my stay at Coimbatore, when I was in
employment (1957-58). Patta expired in August 1957, at an age of seventy seven.
Many members of the family visited the village, to attend the last rites. After his
expiry, his second wife – Narayani Ammal (popularly called as Ammami), stayed
at the house along with her son, Ramakrishnan, and daughters, Janaki and Sita
and felt very lonely and requested me to visit them every week, from Coimbatore.
I was then working six days a week in a factory called, “Indian Hume Pipe Co.

6
Ltd.” On Saturdays, after completing my work at five in the evening, I used to
take a bus to Palghat (those days it used to take just one hour, with a halt for
tea/snacks) On reaching Palghat Bus Terminus, I used to take an autorickshaw
to reach the village by around 8-00 PM. I vividly remember seeing my
grandmother who used to anxiously await my arrival, seated by the entrance.
After the weeklong hotel food in Coimbatore, I thoroughly enjoyed this homely,
tasty Saturday feast which was special not just because it was cooked in copper
vessels over a slow fire kindled by firewood but more because it was specially
flavored with love and care. On Sunday mornings, Ramakrishnan (her son) and I
used to go to the bathing tank. I still remember that along with our change of
clothes and a towel we carried two small packets, one containing roasted husk
with little salt2 and the other containing „vibhuthi‟. We used to brush our teeth,
take bath, wash at the bathing tank and then visit the Siva temple. On returning
home, Ramakrishnan used to do an elaborate „Siva‟ pooja, in continuation to his
father‟s wish. After the pooja, we all gorged on our sumptuous lunch, served
with love, by Ammami, my grandmother. I then used to promptly wait for the
evening‟s special tiffin items which she very painstakingly prepared for me with
care. After enjoying the pure, healthy village air for a day, by Sunday evening,
the household poignantly bid me farewell. I would leave for Coimbatore with all,
including myself, eagerly waiting for the next Saturday evening! This weekly

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

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rendezvous continued till I left Coimbatore in 1957 when I was transferred to
Arakonam branch (near Madras).
Later, along with my wife Pankajam and first son Kannan, I came down
to Ernakulam (near Cochin) in March 1964 and joined the firm, Giovanola-Binny
Ltd., as Planning Engineer. During our stay at Ernakulam, till 1970, annually,
we used to engage a car and visit Ramanathapuram, Nellichery and Manapully
Kavu. Sometimes, we also visited Guruvayoor and Sri Ramar temple at Triprayar
(near Trichur).
After our transfer to Madras in the year 1970, our visit to Palghat
was reduced. Our village house in Ramanathapuram was sold in the year 1972,
when most of the family members left to Bombay and other places. During our
subsequent visits to Palghat, we used to stay in a hotel and visit Manapully
Kavu and other temples in south. I continue to cherish my sweet memories of the
visits to the village. However, these temple and village visits, stopped, after our
joining the Sahaj Marg (which will be covered in later chapters) I now
understand that the village has prospered with a Brahmin Association, which
runs a Patasala (to teach Vedas to young Brahmin boys) as reported by my son
Ganesh, who visited the village in 2007 and 2009. We cannot forget the village.
After all, my first initial, „R‟ just like my father‟s and grandfather‟s is named
after our village. Ramanathapuram. (See Appendix 1 and 2 for RRS family tree
details.)

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Table 1: Family Tree of R R Subramania Iyer and first wife
Names RLT DOB Star DOD

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

Parvathi W

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

Subbalakshmi DIL x-4-1907 Uthram 19-1-2000
R R Subramanian GS 21-10-1925 Anusham 20-9-1991
Sundari GDL 19-10-1932 Makeeram
Parvathy GD 12-9-1927 Poorattathi
Muthukrishnan GSL 24-12-1993
Janaky GD 26-7-1930 Ayilyam
Krishnan GSL
Savithri GD 13-2-1938 Pooyam
Sharma K P GSL

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

Subbambal DIL 22-3-1915 Avittam x-x-x
Seethalakshmi DIL ?-9-1924 Uthram 4-6-1990
R N Subramanian GS 26-1-1932 Pooram 24-3-2008
(Rajamani)
Raji/Subbalakshmi GDL 8-5-1939 Pooradam
R N Krishnamani GS 3-4-1935 Uthrattathi
Lakshmi Krishnamani GDL
Parvathy R N GD 10-2-1944 Makam
Subramanian R GSL

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

Almelu N R DIL 3-5-1912 Anusham 15-8-2003
R V Subramanian (Mani) GS 25-8-1930 Uthradam 1-7-1984
Seethalakshmi GDL 5-5-1936 Swathi
Parvathi (Seetha) GD 4-8-1932 Makam x-x-1957
S V Mani GSL 8-4-1927 Thiruvatharai 26-1-1991
R V Ramakrishnan GS 26-1-1936 Chitra
Pankajam GDL 17-9-1940 Uthrattathi
R V Ramamurthy GS 17-11-1940 Makeeram 4-9-1970
Lakshmy R V GD 22-9-1945 Uthrattathi
Subramanian N V GSL 28-5-1939 Hastham
Padma R V GD 6-4-1947 Chitra
Krishnamurthy E V GSL 26-2-1941 Poorattadi
Gopal V Iyer GS 8-12-1950 Anisham
Mahalakshmi GDL 26-11-1955 Revathi

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

Names RLT DOB Star DOD

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

U S Rugmini DIL 21-5-1923 Pooyam
R S Subramanian/Veeran GS 10-12-1940 Aswati
Visalam Veeran GDL 28-6-1946 Pooyam
R S Ramachandran GS 31-7-1942 Poorattathi
Meena Ramachandran GDL 20-6-1949 Revathi
Parvathi/Rajam GD 24-10-1944 Uthradam
S.S.Mani GSL 9-6-1942 Uthradam
Lakshmi GD 17-9-1946 Rohini
Thyagarajan T V GSL 4-6-1937 Revathi
Venkat R S Iyer GS 30-10-1948 Hastham
Mala Venkat GDL 6-6-1952 Visakam

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

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

Raji/Subbalakshmi GD 8-5-1939 Poordam

R N Subramanian (Rajamani) GSL 26-1-1932 Pooram
Parvathi/Baby GD 27-1-1941 Thiruvonam
P Ganesh GSL 1-7-1931 Poorattathi
S.S.Mani GS 9-6-1942 Uthradam
Parvathi/Rajam GDL 24-10-1944 Uthradam
Janaki/Jana GD 12-1-1945 Moolam
Vishwanathan R G GSL 14-12-1934 Visakham
Saraswathi-Sarasa GD 11-8-1946 Uthradam
K S Gopalakrishnan GSL 17-5-1937 Moolam
Champa GD 9-4-1948 Revathi
Parameswaran K S GSL 7-7-1937 Chatayam
Venkat S GS 1-8-1949 Chitra
Prema Venkat GDL 5-1-1953
Swaminathan /Kitcha GS 23-1-1951 Pooyam
Padma Swaminathan GDL 6-9-1956 Uthram
Sadasivan S GS 3-12-1954 Chatayam
Uma Sadasivan GDL 5-10-1958 Thiruvathira
R S Arundathi / Kunjakka D 11-12-1918 Poorattathi x-x-1976
Raghunathan P K SIL 16-6-1916 Anusham 18-8-1986
Balan P K R GS 30-10-1940 Swathi
Radha/Kalyani GDL 24-6-1943 Poorattathi
Uma P K R GD 20-8-1945 Utram
P R Gopalakrishnan GSL 4-1-1949 Makeeram

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Table 2: Family Tree of R R Subramania Iyer and second wife
Name RLT DOB STAR DOD

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

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

Raman R S S 27-11-1922 Chatayam

Sundari DIL 27-04-1929 Pooram
Nalini GD 29-08-1948 Makeeram
Bhamini GD 08/01/1954 Pooram
Savitha / Ranju GD 26-07-1958 Anusham
Lakshmi GD 28-04-1961 ? 12/05/1984
Subramanian / Raja GS 18/10/1962 Thiruvathira
Venkatesh GS 01/01/1966 Aswathi

Lakshmi R S D 15-06-1925 Utharttathi

Subramanian / Chami SIL 00-12-1913 Pooratathi 25.07.2008
Parvathi GD 00-00-1944 Avittam
Sivaraman / Ambi GS 04/07/1946 Makeeram 27.07.1997
Radha GD 00-00-1949 Rohini
Pankajam / Pappa GD 00-06-1954 Bharani
Balasubramanian GS 00-06-1956 Swathi
Varadarajan GS 12/01/1957 Uthram
Soundarajan GS 04/04/1961 Bharani
Uma GD 06/04/1963 Viskam

Rugmani R S D 27-01-1928 Utharattathi 10.05.2010

Ananthanarayanan T K SIL 00-12-1921 Thiruvonam 10/06/1989
Mani GS 14-11-1946 Pooyam
Balasubramanian / Raju GS 22-03-1952 Thiruvonam
Dr Raji GD 22-08-1955 Chitrai
Shanta GD 00-00-1959 Poorattathi
Ramakrishnan GS 18-03-1961 Revathi

Rajam R S D 05/05/1932 Aswathi 17.06.2005

Ramaswamy N H SIL 00-10-1918 Anusham 10.02.2006
Baby GD 30-04-1947 Pooram 31.10.2004
Narayani GD 07/11/1948 Uthram
Hari GS 06/04/1952 Rohani
Venkatesh GS 31/1/1957 Uthram
Krishnan GS 21/12/1957

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

Sita / Raji DIL 20-01-1945 Aswathi
Balasubramanian / Kannan GS 05/10/1964 Aswathi

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

Name RLT DOB STAR DOD

Devi GD 16-11-1971 Swathi

Radha R S D 26-03-1937 Thiruvonam

Raghupathy SIL 01/04/1928 Aswathi 30.09.2007
Dhanalakshmi / Raji GD 21-02-1957 Visakam
Gopalakrishnan GS 01/07/1959 Kettai
Balasubramanian / Sundar GS 24-01-1961 Bharani
Rugmani / Geeta GD 19-05-1965 Pooradam

Janaky R S D 01/04/1944 Aswathi

Eswaran J S SIL 13-10-1935 Aswathi 20/2/2004
Geetha GD 28-05-1962 Uthirattathi
Lata GD 20-10-1965 Makam
Sudha GD 11/05/1967 Moolam
Lakshmi GD 28-01-1972 Thiruvathira

Sita R S D 29-07-1945 Uthirattathi

Venkatachalam A R SIL 15-02-1941 Hastham
Satya GD 14-03-1971 Chitrai

Ramakrishnan R S S 23-09-1948 Karthikai

Meena DIL 14-05-1953 Makeeram
Anand GS 14-03-1977 Pooradam
Chitra GD 30-12-1980 Chitrai

Legend for all tables

RLT (RELATIONSHIP WITH HEAD OF FAMILY)

SON S
DAUGHTER-IN-LAW DIL
DAUGHTER D
SON-IN-LAW SIL
GRAND SON GS
GRAND DAUGHTER-IN-LAW GDL
GRAND DAUGHTER GD
GRAND SON-IN-LAW GSL

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 Section 2: Appa
My father, R S Venkateswaran, was born on 16th December 1908. Since
my grandfather was in service in Kerala State, I presume he was born there. He
was educated upto Matriculation and moved out of the village for employment.
As my memory goes, he was initially employed with Central Government at
Delhi. My elder brother Mani used to go to school in Delhi in a „tonga‟ (horse-
cart). Since Delhi was very hot in summer, the Britishers, who then ruled India,
shifted the entire government administration to Simla (a hill resort near Delhi). I
vaguely remember our stay in Simla, where the Government provided
accommodation. After that period, Appa moved to Bombay (now known as
Mumbai) and joined Railways. The entire family of four brothers and two sisters
of my father along with their families stayed together in a big ground floor flat,
of the building “Railway View”, very close to Dadar station. The memories of a
joint family with a common kitchen are truly nostalgic.
Later on, the family got split and each member moved to a separate flat.
We had moved in to a flat, 8-A, Vissanji Park, Naigaum Cross Road, Dadar
(Central Railway). The building was walkable distance from the railway station.
During the early days, we were admitted to South Indian Education Society‟s
School at Matunga. Since my father was working in Railways, we got free pass
to travel by train. We used to take the local train from Dadar station to
Matunga station and from there walk up the distance to school (15 minutes).
Initially, we were staying in the ground floor and flat 8-A was occupied by
my father‟s elder brother and his family. When they moved out of Bombay, we
13
shifted to the 3rd floor (8-A flat). The flat was very convenient. We had a
verandah at the main door, leading to a big hall, a kitchen, a bed room, a
bathroom and a toilet. The kitchen was provided with cooking gas facility which
was brought through a piped connection from a central location. The size of the
kitchen was big enough that all members could sit down for our meals. We did
not have a telephone connection at home and had a radio, which was considered a
luxury. I had many local friends in the building, which had a big compound for us
to play. The local language was Marathi. Apart from other festivals, the main
celebration was Ganesh Chaturthi. In our building, this was momentously
celebrated for 11 days. The residents pooled in money and a huge Ganesh idol was
installed in a big tent with fanfare and music. Apart from pooja which was
conducted every morning and evening there were also music and drama
programmes in the evening which I used to enjoy with my friends. The 11th day
was an important event, when the idol was taken in procession to Shivaji Park
Beach for immersion into the sea.
In 1932, my father established an educational institution called, „The
Laksmi Tutorial Institute‟. This was within walkable distance from our house
and in the Western Railway side of Dadar. Initially, they held morning and
evening classes for typewriting and shorthand and helped the students to appear
in examinations held by Maharashtra Government. Later, classes were also held
for Diploma in Commerce for exams held by Indian Chamber of Commerce (IMC).

14
 Figure 2: Laxmi College 1945 Sitting: 2 Appa, 4 RSN Periappa, RSS Chitappa
Standing: 3 NS Venkatakrishnan, 4 PK Raghunathan, 6 RSR Mani, 7 RS Raman

Figure 3: Laxmi College 1950 Sitting: 2 Appa, 3 RSR Periappa,

Standing first Row: 4 NS Venkatakrishnan, 7 RSS Chitappa, 3rd Row 6 Brother RVS Mani

15
 Figure 4: Lakshmi College 1954 – Sitting 1 RSR Mani, 3 RSS Chitappa, 4RSR Periappa, 6 Appa, 8
Brother RVS Mani, 9 SV Mani

My father used to attend the Institute both in the mornings and evenings, in
addition to attending his office in the Railways. The activities of the Institute
enlarged. They added more classes to coach candidates appearing for professional
exams of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India and the Institute of
Cost & Works Accountants. In the year 1962, the Institute was renamed as
Lakshmi College of Commerce. My father was joined by his two brothers,
Ramaswamy (elder) and Sadasivan (younger), thus forming a partnership to run
the business. My father had to resign from Railways to give full time attention to
the Institute as the Principal. My father had to qualify himself; he completed the
exams leading to Registered Accountant (RA) and Cost Accountant. When the
Indian Institutes of Chartered Accountants and Cost Accountants, were formed,
my father automatically got membership. He also started an auditing firm by the
name R S V Iyer & Co, Chartered Accountants. My father worked from 7-30 am
to 8-30 pm, alternating between the College and the Auditing firm. At one time,

16
he even opened a city office in the Fort area to be close to his clients. Both my
uncles, RSR and RSS, were partners along with my father at Laxmi College of
Commerce and they took classes in the evenings. RSR used to teach Economics
while RSS taught Costing. Having passed Costing exam of ICWA, RSS joined
Bradbury Mills (Ruia Group) as Cost Accountant at Bombay and later took over
the position of General Manager till his retirement. He was an active Member of
the Institute of Cost & Works Accountants (ICWA) and was elected as
President for a two year period. During that period he visited France to attend
an International Conference. As an active Member, he used to visit Calcutta very
often to attend meetings of ICWA and used to be a guest of our family friend
Venkatakrishna Iyer. When my father expired, RSS inducted my brother Mani to
Laxmi College of Commerce making him a Joint Principal.

My father was very religious and followed all the Hindu functions. Daily,
he got up early in the morning and after his oil bath and morning
Sandhyavandanam, left for the Institute. He came home in the afternoon for
lunch. Resting in his reclining “easy chair”, he read some chapters of Ramayanam.
After coffee and tiffin, he went again to the Institute for the evening classes. On
Sunday mornings, it was my duty to bring flowers for his pooja. At times, when
we went to Tamil films in the afternoon, he never joined us, as he was not
interested in films! In the evenings, he used to visit his brother‟s house (uncle
RSS), at Harjivandas Estate, which was close to our place. Both of them use to
walk the distance to Matunga (where most of the South Indians stay) and spend

17
time at the house of his cousin brother, V K Murthy (of Asthika Samaj). On
return they got some vegetables for home.

Figure 5 1953
Appa and family –
Floor: Lakshmi
and Padma,
Sitting: Amma,
Appa, Ramamurthy,
Gopal, Seetha with
Gowri, S.V.Mani,
Standing: RVS Mani
and Myself

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

visiting Faculty at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) at Kharagpur. I
remember his travelling in AC I class compartment. It was a matter of pride for
our entire family. He had applied for Fulbright Scholarship of US for an
exchange program. Initially, his application was rejected on the grounds that he
was not a Graduate. However, on clarification that his membership of the Indian
Institute of Chartered Accountants was equivalent to a Graduate degree; he was
invited to one of the US University. Hence, he applied for his passport and visa.
However, unfortunately, on 20th November 1955, when he was returning from
the Institute in the afternoon, he became unconscious and fell down on the road.

18
He was admitted to Sion Hospital and after one day, he expired due to “Coronary
Thrombosis” (heart attack) on 21st November 1955. He expired at the young age
of 47years. He left behind my mother (43 yrs), my elder brother (25 years), my
elder sister Seetha (23 years), myself (19 years), my two younger brothers,
Ramamurthy (15 years), Gopal (5 years), my to two younger sisters, Lakshmi (10
years) and Padma (8 years).. My elder brother Mani and my mother had to
suddenly shoulder the huge responsibility. At that time, Mani was working at
Calcutta and I was studying for Engineering at Sangli. My other brothers and
sisters were studying. My two paternal uncles, Ramaswamy and Sadasivan, took
charge of the situation. The last rites were conducted by my younger brother,
Ramamurthy. A message was sent to our family friend Mr Venkatakrishnan at
Calcutta, to send my brother to Bombay, without informing him about the death.
My brother took a flight and rushed to Bombay. I received a telegram, which was
in fact, delivered to me while I was attending a class in the college. My friends
helped me to pack and board the evening train and I reached Bombay the next
day morning. My uncles advised my elder brother (who was then working for
Hollerith, a British company connected with computers) to get a transfer of his
job to take over the responsibility of our family. Suddenly, we felt the vacuum in
our house. We missed our father. After Diwali holidays, I was to return to the
college hostel and my mother had packed a tin of sweets and my father saw me
off at Dadar railway station. That was the last time when I saw him. He bid me
good bye forever. He was very keen to write a book. I understand that he had left
behind a draft of an Accountancy book which never got published!

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 Table 3: Family Tree of R S Venkateswaran
Name RLT DOB Star Gothram DOM DOD

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

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

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

Seethalakshmi DIL 5-5-1936 Swathi
Kshama GD 28-12-1965 Shatayam 13-9-1989 25-8-2010
Narayanan GSIL 15-7-1962 Kettai Bharadwaja
Shrutha GGD 30-8-1990 Moolam

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

S V Mani SIL 8-4-1927 Thiruvathirai Athreya 26-1-1991
Prabha GD 2-6-1956 Purattathi 31-8-1995
Seetharaman GSIL 22-7-1949 Rohini Koundinya
Gowrishankar GS 29-5-1953 Kettai 9-1-2001

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

Pankajam DIL 17-9-1940 Uthratathi
R Venkateswaran GS 17-6-1963 Aswathi 20-5-1990
Sripriya GDIL 23-4-1967 Chithrai
Ruchika GGD 20-12-1995 Anusham
Kritika GGD 15-2-2002 Poorattadi
R Ganesh GS 19-2-1967 Mrigaseesham 5-7-1993
Deepa GDIL 26-9-1972 Bharani
Vaishnavi GGD 17-3-1996 Avittam
Nivedita GGD 15-4-1998 Anusham

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

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

N V Subramanian SIL 28-5-1939 Hastham Srivatsava

20
Name RLT DOB Star Gothram DOM DOD

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

E V Krishnamurthy SIL 26-2-1941 Poorattadi Koundinya
Sandhya GD 20-6-1970 Pooradam 15-9-1996
Ramachandran GSIL 29-3-1966 Mrigaseersam Bharadwaj
Jyothsna GGD 19-11-1998 Anusham
Sashank GGS 24-6-2003 Rohini
Stuthi GD 20-6-1973 Avittam 4-12-2003
Craig GSIL 27-8-1975
Rohan Joshua GGS 5-1-2008 Anusham
Rio GGS 4-1-2010 Magam
Tharakaram GS 13-9-1974 Punarvasu Koundinya 21-2-2003
Srividya GDIL 3-4-1978 Avittam
Aditi GGD 2-2-2007 Ayilyam

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

Mahalakshmi DIL 26-11-1955 Revathi
Priya GD 8-10-1980 Hastham 16-11-2007
Ajit GSIL 4-2-1977 Ayilyam Kaushikam
Savita GD 16-11-1984 Ayilyam 21-5-2009
Trigun GSIL 5-5-1983 Tiruvonam Vashita

21
 Section 3: Amma
My mother N R Alamelu, was born on 3rd May 1912 and hails from
Naduvatheri Madam at Triprayar, a small township of Trichur District, Kerala
State. Her father was Ramakrishna Iyer. He had a huge house in front of the
backwaters. Triprayar is famous for it‟s huge Sri Rama temple which is typical of
Kerala architecture. I have been named after my maternal grandfather. It is
customary to name the first son of the family after the paternal grandfather and
the second son after the maternal grandfather. In fact, I was born in that house
and used to visit Triprayar during my school holidays. At Triprayar, I remember
to have accompanied my grandfather to the nearby market at Cherpu for buying
vegetables and more particularly, bananas and jack fruit. My grandmother is to
prepare a full tin box of banana and jack fruit (unripened) chips Our regular
temple visit included offering Vedi (a firework which was burst as an offering to
the Lord) and feeding puffed rice to the fishes in the temple tank.
We also use to enjoy the boat jetty, to cross the backwaters. Now, however,
there is a bridge across the backwaters. During our visits to South, we used to
cover Palghat and Triprayar. I understand that my paternal grandfather was
working in Guruvayoor for some time and that was the time, my father got
married. As my father was working in Railways for a long period, we used to get
2nd class pass for travel and we used to spend our school holidays, visiting temples
in South India. My mother had only one brother, elder to her and had four sisters
– one elder and three younger. After a prolonged litigation of the case filed by his
son‟s first wife for divorce compensation, the house had to be sold and due to that
22
 shock, my grandfather expired and my
grandmother moved to Madras and stayed
with my mother‟s younger sister, Kamalam, till
her death in 1972.

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

with , Pankajam and Lakshmi

When my father was working for the

Central Government, my mother lived with him
in Delhi and in summer they moved to Simla. Later, they settled down at
Bombay for nearly 30 years, at 8-A, Vissanji Park, Dadar. As my father used to
be busy with the work at the Institute, my mother shouldered the household
responsibility. I use to remember her going out every alternate day to a nearby
vegetable market at BB Dadar (now Western Railway side). She was an
excellent cook and her USP (unique selling point) was her special decoction
coffee. In fact, she used to buy raw coffee seeds, roast them and grind them in a
hand-operated machine, to obtain fresh coffee powder for brewing filter coffee.
My mother managed the house within a certain allocated amount given to her by
my father. Our house was always filled with guests, some invited by my father
and others who were visiting Bombay. With our house being close to the station
many relatives chose to board in our place. We did not have the luxury of having
electric water heater, fridge and telephone at home. We used to have a boiler
using coal, to get hot water for bath, located outside the bathroom. Since elder
brother Mani, was always busy with his studies and my younger brothers and
23
sisters were too young the duty of helping my mother was assigned to me. In fact,
I learned a bit of cooking and the art of cutting vegetables (which I enjoy even
today!) Since rice was sold in limited quantity only through ration shops. I used
to get additional rice in exchange of wheat, from nearby hotels. Visanji Park
house truly harbors unforgettable moments of my childhood.
The marriage of my elder sister Seetha (Parvathi being her original name) was
celebrated at the terrace of our flat in the year 1952. My brother-in-law, S V
Mani, was a B.Com graduate and was staying in Madras along with his parents,
during their marriage. My sister moved to Madras for some time, till my father
invited them to Bombay and arranged for his job and provided a flat in Parel. She
expired in the year 1957, leaving behind her husband, one daughter (Prabha) and
one son (Gowrishankar). My elder brother got married to Seethalaxmi, in the year
1958. . Amma used to handle the kitchen and household affairs, even after my
Manni (sister-in-law) came home. The third calamity in the family was when my
elder brother Mani, expired at a young age of 51 years, again due to heart failure.
The next change in her life was when the flat at Vissanji Park was sold during
March 1986. Gopal booked a flat at Ghatkopar and mother had to move with
them.
My mother was very fair. She enjoyed buying Kancheepuram sarees and
jewellery. Every week she used to devoutly read the Tamil magazines, Ananda
Vikatan and Kalki. The Diwali supplements were a much awaited highlight. She
was a very good cook and kept the kitchen neat. At Vissanji Park, I remember her
preparing a variety of sweets and savories at home for Diwali; I also remember

24
that for the marriage of my two sisters, Lakshmi and Padma, all the “seeru” items
were prepared at home with the help of a cook (who used to dictate her terms). In
fact, we really enjoyed the family life at Vissanji Park. Of course, the situation
changed after the marriage of my brother and me moving out of Bombay.
My mother had one elder brother, –Ramaswamy. He was a Chartered
Accountant who stayed in Hyderabad and had six daughters, and one son. The
first two daughters used to dance on stage. She had one elder sister
Subbalakshmi, who used to stay in Madras and expired at an early age. She had
three younger sisters – Kamalam, Rajamani and Rasam. We cannot forget our
association with Kamalam Chitti and Anantharama Iyer Chitappa. They were
staying at Tilak Street, T-Nagar and Madras. They had no children and they
adopted Krishnan, who was the second son of Rajamani. Krishnan and his family
were staying at Hyderabad, while his first daughter Anuradha (Anu) was staying
with Kamalam Chitti, till her marriage. Anantharama Iyer expired in the year
1972, due to oral cancer. Later Krishnan moved to Madras with his family and
was staying with Kamalam. She had arthritis in her later part of her life and she
expired in the year 1995, at Vijaya Hospital. Krishnan demolished the bungalow
at Tilak Street and constructed a new house for himself and his children in the
same plot. After his retirement, Ramakrishna Iyer Chitappa and Rajamani Chitti
settled down at Bangalore, along with their first son Devan and his family.
Ramakrishna Iyer expired in the year 2002, and was followed by Rajamani in the
same year. Devan also expired in the year 2005 and his family is currently staying
at their house in Bangalore. Rasam chitti and Rama Iyer chittappa were staying

25
for a long period in Nellichery village in Palghat. We used to visit their house
during our visit to Palghat. Later they moved to a smaller house in Kalpathy
along with their first son Murthy, while their second son Venkatraman
(Venkittu) stayed separately with his family.. Rasam expired in the year 1998
while Rama Iyer was not keeping good health and expired in the year 2002. In
fact, my mother‟s brother and sisters expired during her life time.
My mother was staying with my brother Gopal at Ghatkopar from the year 1986.
She used to visit us at Madras very often for a change. We used to leave her at
Ghatkopar during our visits to Dubai and Singapore. We had taken a senior
citizen concession pass by Indian Airlines and as such she could travel by air
between Bombay and Madras. Combining our visits with official work, I used to
accompany Amma to Madras while Gopal used to escort her back to Bombay.

On 19th January 1989, when Amma was with us in K K Nagar, she had a
high diabetic condition and was admitted to Vijaya Hospital. Our tickets to
Bombay to attend the engagement function of Kshama had to be cancelled. I took
a night flight to join the engagement ceremony on 26th January 1989 at Bombay.
She joined us for Kshama‟s wedding with Sridhar, on 13th September 1989 at
Bombay. She had cataract surgeries at Vijaya Hospital in September 95.
Pankajam rendered special post operation care in our K K Nagar house. In June
1996, she had a fall from the bed at our house in T-Nagar due to high sugar and
had a deep cut in the nose and fracture in the right hand. During this period
when she was bed ridden, Dr Vijayaraghavan used to visit our house regularly.

26
 Figure 7: Amma in Ganesh's wedding 1993

In Sept 2002, she

came home with me from
Mumbai and stayed with us
till her last days. She became
unwell after Sanath‟s
marriage in February2003
and never recovered. While Pankajam took special care, from June, an ayah was
appointed to take care of Amma in the nights. In the month of July, her health
further deteriorated. She had lost control of her senses and avoided taking solid
food from first week of August 03

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

when she was feeling breathlessness. Her end came around 4-30 am. She had a
peaceful end at home, after having lived for a good period of 91 years.. Pankajam
immediately informed Gopal. He took an immediate flight and reached home by
9.30 am, in time to join me for the last rites. My sisters Lakshmi and Padma were
both in Madras and could hence join us without much delay. Her body was taken
to the Beasant Nagar electrical crematorium and I conducted all the rites along
with Gopal. We returned home at 3.30 pm after immersing the ashes in the sea at
Beasantnagar beach. Mahalakshmi joined us from Bombay on the fifth day.
Deepa, (who along with Vaishnavi and Nivedita were at Madras on a holiday)
was of great help to us. For the tenth day function, Manni from Bombay,

27
Venkatesh from Singapore, Venkatraman with his wife Rajee and Ashok, son of
Sundari, came from Bangalore. The last rites were conducted in a common centre,
Gnanavapi, in T-Nagar. The thirteenth day function was conducted at home.
The first year abdikam was also conducted at home in T-Nagar, from 31st July to
4th August. Gopal and Mahalakshmi from Bombay, Venkatesh from Singapore
and Ganesh from Dubai, joined us for the function, in addition to NVS
Mani/Lakshmi and Kittu/Padma.

At the most, my mother would have enjoyed a married life of 27 years, till my
father‟s death. She bore many shocks including the demise of her two sons Mani
and Ramamurthy and her daughter Seetha. We shall continue to miss her.

28
 Section 4: Uncles
My father had three brothers. Ramaswamy Iyer (RSR) and Narayana Iyer
(RSN) were elder while Sadasiva Iyer (RSS) was younger.

Figure 8 ; Patta and family 1937

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

Narayana Iyer expired at a young age of 40 yrs due to a snake bite at our
village, leaving behind two sons, Rajamani and Krishnamani, of his first wife,
one daughter Parvathi of his second wife. In fact, Rajamani was staying with us
at Vissanji Park, till his marriage, while Krishnamani was with Uncle Sadasiva
Iyer. Krishnamani and I were of similar age group and were very close to each
other. Rajamani married my athai „Akka‟s‟ daughter Rajee, which was arranged

29
by Patta during one of his visits to Bombay. Rajamani was working at Laxmi
College of Commerce for a long period and expired due to poor health in the year
2008, at an age of 76 years. Krishnamani having completed B. Com. at Podar‟s
College in Matunga worked till his retirement at Reserve Bank of India, Bombay.
He was married to Lakshmi.Ramaswamy Iyer retired as Chief Accounts Officer
of the Maharashtra Housing Board. He was responsible in developing a housing
colony for south Indians at Sreeram Nagar, Andheri. I recollect the days when I
used to spend my holidays at their flat and enjoyed special food prepared by
Andheri Periammai. After I completed my Inter Science in the year 1954, I was
to decide my future study and it was Periappa, who suggested that I should go in
for Engineering, instead of taking to Finance as suggested by others. Periappa
expired during the year 1959, when he had planned to celebrate his 59 th year.
Periamma expired in the year 2000 at Bombay at her age of 92 yrs. They had one
son, R R Subrmanaian (RRS Mani). He was married to Sundari from Ernakulam.
Mani worked at Accountant General‟s office for a long period, then for a short
time worked with Eswaran Group at Madras and finally with Khoday Group at
Bangalore. They had two sons. Their eldest son Ramesh married Brinda and
settled down at Bombay, while their second son Ashok married Lalitha and
settled at Bangalore with his parents. RRS Mani expired at Bangalore due to a
heart attack in the year 1991; Sundari Manni was with her son Ashok and later
she explored settling down at “Vanaprastha”, a senior citizens home at
Coimbatore in the year 2005.. Uncle RSR‟s eldest daughter Parvathi married
Muthukrishnan who worked for Airport Authority Ltd and was posted at

30
various locations in India. Finally when he expired at Madras, Parvathi settled
down at Nanganallur. Uncle RSR‟s second daughter Janaki was married to
Krishnan from Madras. Having lost her husband at an early age of around 40
years, Janaki stayed with her mother while working with LIC at Mumbai and
had one son Murali and two daughters Jaya and Shantha. She expired in the year
2006. Uncle RSR‟s last daughter is Savithri who was married to Sharma and
settled down in Delhi. They had two sons.

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

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

I wish to make special mention about my Chitappa (RSS), who was our
guide and mentor, after my father expired. My brother Mani used to consult him
for every family matter. As my father had left behind a big family, my uncle was

31
particular we were settled well in life. While deciding on the girl for marriage for
my elder brother Mani, he was particular that the girl should be prepared to
adjust and fit to the family as the first daughter-in-law. My Manni
Seethalakhmi was daughter of Ramaswamy Iyer, a close friend of RSS. RSS was
very much attached to my brother and used to guide in all matters. RSS was
shocked on the unexpected expiry of my brother Mani in the year 1981 and felt
his absence at the college.

Figure 10 Patta and Family 1952 – Floor: R.V. Lakshmi, S.S. Baby, R.S. Veeran, P.R. Balan, R.S. Rajam, R.V.
Ramamurthy, R.S.Ramachandran, S.S.Mani,
Chair: R.S.Raman, R.R.S Mani, S.S.Nath, Appa with Padma, Periappa RSR, Janaki, Krishnan, Patta with
Ramakrishnan, P.K. Raghunathan, Chitappa RSS with Lakshmi, V.K.Moorthy, S.V. Mani, R.H. Raman,
First row standing: Sundari, Athai – Akka, Amma, Periamma RSR, R.R. Parvathi, Ammami, Athai – Kunjakka, Chitti
RSS, Sister Seetha, Second row standing: R.N. Krishnamani, S.S.Rajee, R.N. Rajamani, R.R.Savitri and Myself

32
 RSS took a leading role in settling my marriage and the marriages of my
brother Gopal and my two sisters Lakshmi and Padma. He has actively
participated in all our family functions, including Upanayanam of my two sons
at Madras. As he was the only surviving member of the family, all other members
used to consult him for all family matters. Initially, he was staying with his
family of three sons and two daughters at Harjivandas Estate, next to Broadway
Cinema in Dadar. He was very religious and used to conduct Bhagawati Sevai
and Velakku Pooja every year, at his residence. He used to visit Tirupathi once a
year with family members. We used to spend our holidays at his house which
always welcomed us. Chitappa used to stock a basket of alphonso mangoes and
tin of biscuits which we enjoyed to our hearts content.

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

Dyeing and settled down at Bombay. His second son Ramachandran who
completed a Diploma in Textiles at VJTI, Bombay, pursued higher studies in
USA and settled down there with his wife Meena from Coimbatore. Chittappa‟s
last son Venkat completed an MBA in US and returned to India, on expiry of his
father in the year 1984. He took over the administration of Laxmi College of
Commerce, till its closure in 2004. He has now settled down at US with his wife
Mala of Bombay. RSS‟s first daughter Rajam was married to SS Mani, who is
the first son of his sister Alamelu (known as „Akka‟ in our family) live at
Bombay. His second daughter Lakshmi was married to Thyagarajan, an Engineer
who settled in Coimbatore after retiring as Director at Engineers India Ltd. He

33
expired in December 2008.

RSS and family moved to a flat in Chembur around the period in 1960 and
used to drive his car to come to the College in Dadar. He was the only member
among his brothers to celebrate 60th birthday and enjoyed a full life and was
working at the College till the last day. During his life time, all his sons and
daughters were married and settled and he had a peaceful death on 4th January
1984, at an age of 70 years. Pankajam and myself visited Bombay to offer our
condolences to Chitti and family, on the 10th day. We cherish his memory and
remain indebted to him.

My father had two sisters, eldest was Alamelu (Akkal) who was a very
active member in the family and used to come for help for all functions in the
family. She was very close to my mother, as both our families were staying close,
during the initial stages. Her husband was Swaminatha Iyer (Dr S S Nath), who
started Saraswathi Institute of Commerce at Parel, an Institute for coaching in
shorthand and typewriting. Dr S S Nath expired in 1996, while Akka expired in
2006, during her stay with her first son Mani at Borivili. They had a big family
of four sons and five daughters. Second sister Arundathi (Kunjakkal) married
Raghunatha Iyer and stayed at Dadar. They had one son Balan and one daughter
Uma.

Thus Bombay was a hub of many of our relatives whom we used to meet in all
family functions on a regular basis.

34
 Section 5: Brothers and Sisters
We are four brothers. Mani is elder to me and Ramamurty and Gopal are
younger to me. After my father‟s expiry in 1955, Mani, then 25 years old, had to
shoulder the responsibility as the head of our family. My younger brothers and
sisters, then at school and myself had very high regard for our elder brother Mani.
He had his schooling both at Delhi and Bombay. After completing Inter Science
at Ruia College, he completed Law at Bombay Law College and also did his
Advocate exam. My father got him his first job with Hollerith (a UK based
computer company) and he was posted at Calcutta to do a sales job. When my
father expired, he got a transfer to their head office in Bombay and joined their
secretarial department. He also joined our family Institute, Laxmi College of
Commerce and taught Law and Administration, on a part-time basis. He used to
have a very busy schedule with lectures in the morning and evening framing his
full time office works all six-days of the week. As my father had not left behind a
“will”, he had to go through many legal formalities to represent our family
members and obtain legal clearance of the estate -amount left behind by my father
in the banks and at Laxmi College of Commerce. With his contacts he got the help
of solicitors for this. Since all the funds were locked; RSS Chittappa helped us in
providing funds as advance from the College account, to take care of basic
expenses. Mani had a difficult time for the first three years after coming to
Bombay for resettling our family. His marriage with Seethalakshmi was
celebrated on 6th July 1958 at Bombay.

35
 Figure 11 Anna and Manni in 1962

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

the year 1957 and came back to Bombay after my marriage in the year 1962 and
we stayed at Vissanji Park as a joint family. Pankajam and myself along with
our son Kannan, moved out of Bombay in the year 1964. My brother along with
his wife moved out of Vissanji Park to a flat, Lakshmi Nivas, at Sion in the year
1964 and my sister Padma was staying with them, till her marriage. He had a
tough time in organizing the marriage, with his hectic schedule at office and
college, in addition to financial burden by taking loan from the office against his
Provident Fund. In view of his sincere hard work, he was promoted as the
Secretary of the company, now known as International Computers Ltd (ICL),
36
with their office at Ballard Estate. He was the first in our family to go abroad
when he visited London to attend their board meeting. He was very good in his
studies and was an avid reader of books. He passed many international
professional courses and became „Fellow Member‟ in many professional
associations. He was very sincere and hard working at his office and was much
appreciated in the office. Considered an expert in finalizing business contracts
(leasing of computer systems), he was also involved in staff union negotiations.
He was instrumental in floating their public limited company for manufacture of
computer systems located at Poona and he was appointed as its Secretary, as
well. He had a company Ambassador car with a trusted and very good Malayalee
driver, Raman.
Kshama, their daughter, was born in Mumbai on 28th December 1965 after
much waiting. The family‟s pride, Kshama, was educated in the best of English
schools and played the guitar as well. Complying to her requests, my brother who
was otherwise busy during the day, used to take Kshama to night shows every
Saturday! After her graduation, she also took to Law course and like her father,
studied in Bombay Law College in 1976, they moved to a posh flat in the
prestigious Linking Road in Khar.

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

College, we all felt that Mani was overworking. He developed a high BP and
was on medication. In July 1981, he suffered his first heart attack and was
admitted to Beach Candy Hospital. My uncle RSS informed me of his condition

37
and I visited Bombay to meet him at the hospital. In just four months, on 23rd
Nov 1981 he was hospitalized again. On being informed by RSS Chittappa, I left
for Bombay by morning flight and went straight to the hospital only to learn that
Mani had expired at 2-00 pm. He was 51 years of age and left behind his wife
and 17 year old daughter, Kshama. His body was brought to his flat at Khar
Road, when all our relatives were waiting. The last rites were conducted by me on
behalf of my Manni; Pankajam joined me after three days. After completing the
13th day function, we left Bombay. This was the greatest shock for our family
members. From the joint financial resources of my mother and her two sons, my
brother had successfully discharged the family responsibilities of educating my
brothers and sisters and getting my sisters, Lakshmi and Padma married. Now,
Manni requested me and my younger brother Gopal to handle all the papers of my
brother RVS.

Soon, Manni was anxious about Kshama‟s marriage and we were in the
lookout for a suitable boy. Kshama‟s Nischiathartam was fixed to be held on 26th
January 1989. Pankajam, mother, Padma and I, had planned to attend the same,
from Chennai. But my mother was unwell and had to be hospitalised. Finally, I
took an Air-India night flight and attended the function held at Sion. Manni
and Kshama came to Madras to buy sarees and vessels for the marriage and she
requested our presence well in advance for the marriage. Kshama‟s marriage with
Sridhar was celebrated in a grand manner in a hall in Matunga on 13th September
1989. The reception was well organized. Pankajam, Kittu, Padma and myself

38
joined from Madras, while my sons Venkatesh joined us from Calcutta and
Ganesh from Bangalore. The marriage was well attended and our uncle V K
Moorthy of Asthika Samaj gave lot of assistance.

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

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

Sridhar decided to stay with Kshama at their flat in Khar, along with my
Manni. Their daughter Shrutha was born on 30th August 1990. In fact, I could
attend her first birthday at Bombay, during one of my official visits. Manni and

39
Kshama‟s family attended Ganesh‟s wedding in July 93 at Madras. In May 94,
we both attended Sridhar‟s brother Ramani‟s wedding at Trivandrum. During
February 95, on our way to Dubai, we could visit Khar when Kshama had
invited us for dinner. Only Manni attended my 60th birthday at Madras in
January 96. Kshama along with Shrutha joined us at Kences in May 96 for
Navagraha Homan, when they could meet Priya/Ruchika and Deepa/Vaishnavi.
Figure 14: Vaishnavi with Kshama Athai, Shrutha

Akka and Deepa, 1996

During our visit to Mumbai in

February 2002 to attend the wedding
of Dorai (son of Mr Moorthy of
Capitol), we could spend quality time
with Kshama and Manni. After my
mother‟s demise on 15th August 2003,
Manni joined us for the 10th day ritual
and stayed upto the 13th day function.
We both attended Shrutha‟s dance “arangetram” at Mumbai in February 2004.
During our visit to Mumbai for Priya‟s wedding in November 2007, we could
meet Manni, Kshama and her family both during muhurtham and reception. In
March 2008, Kshama was happy to inform us about Sridhar‟s promotion as All
India Sales Manager. Kshama however could not attend Savita‟s wedding in
May 2009.

40
 After completing her schooling with distinction, Shrutha is now studying
for Dentistry at Nair Hospital. Sridhar continues to work at Atlas Copco which
is a Swedish firm, manufacturing compressors. His work has been well
appreciated. She expired on 25th August 2010 at the young age of 45 years. On
getting the news from Gopal, Pankajam, Deepa and self took the first morning
flight to Mumbai. It
was a blow to
Manni, Sridhar and
Shrutha.
Figure 15: Shrutha and
Manni along with Nivedita
( as Krishna), Vaishnavi (as
Kalinga) along with Deepa
and Ganesh in Nivedita’s
arangetram

My first younger brother was Ramamurthy, who did his schooling at SIES
and B. Sc at Sydenham College. He also completed professional exam ACIS of
London and worked at Calico, Tata Power and South Indian Bank; however, he
expired at a young age of 30 years due to sickness. My last younger brother is
Gopal, who completed his schooling in English School, Dadar and did his B.Com
from Bombay University. As advised by my brother, Gopal completed CA exams
and became a certified Chartered Accountant and was practicing on part-time
basis, in the same name of my father‟s firm – R S V Iyer & Co. He is
professionally well qualified and is Fellow Member of the Institutes of Chartered
Accountants and Cost & Works Accountants. He worked with many
41
organizations including Star Textiles, Automobile Products of India Christen
Holen and Voltas International, Mumbai. In 2005, he quit Voltas and after a
short stint at Captiol Industries, Mumbai, he joined Global Wool Alliance as
their CFO. Thereafter he is freelancing as a Consultant. He was married to
Mahalakshmi on 12th April 1978 and they moved to their flat in Ghatkopar in
1986. Mother was staying with them while we were at Madras.

Figure 16 : Gopal and Mahalaxmi 1978

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

the month of April, to suit the convenience of uncle
RSS, who had planned to leave for States the next
month. However, it was not suitable to us because
of school exams for Kannan and Mohan. As
requested by my mother and brother Mani, Kannan
and I joined them for the marriage while Pankajam
and Mohan stayed behind in Madras. Mahalakshmi
is currently working for Rashtriya Chemicals at
Chembur. Their first daughter Priya completed her
Engineering in Electronics and got married to Ajith
on 16th November 2007 at Mumbai. Their second daughter Savitha who has
completed MBA and is currently working with State Bank of India, Mumbai,
got married to Trigun (of a Maharashtrian family) on 21st May 2009 at Mumbai.

42
Figure 17: Priya and Ajit wedding 2007

Figure 18 Savita Trigun wedding 2009

Figure 19: Gopal's family in 2009

43
 Figure 20: Seetha and SV Mani 1952.

I had three sisters – one elder Seetha,

was born on 4th August 1932 at my mother‟s
place, Triprayar. I could remember that she
completed Matric at the SIES School in
Matunga. My father was anxious to get her
married at a young age and settled alliance
with a groom from Saidapet in Madras. The
marriage was celebrated in the terrace of our
flat at Vissanji Park, Dadar, in the year
1952 with Mr S V Mani, who was a B.
Com graduate, then working at AG‟s office in Madras. She had to move to
Madras and stay in the joint family, with his parents and sister. My father got
him a job in Bombay and the family moved to our own flat in Parel around the
year 1954. They had a daughter named Prabha and a son named Gowrishankar.
She expired in 1957 at a young age of 25 years. This distressed my mother and our
family. S V Mani was heading an Institution, EMCONS, started by him and
located in the Fort area. He expired
on 26th January 1991 and their son
Gowrishankar also expired at a
young age. Prabha is married to
Seetharaman of Trichur. They live in
a flat in Sion, Mumbai.

Figure 21: Prabha & Seetharaman Sashtiabdapoorthy 2009 44

 Figure 20: Laxmi & NVSMani, 1973

My second sister, Lakshmi, born on 22nd

September 1945, completed her Matric at SIES‟s
school in Matunga. When we moved to Ernakulam
in 1964, she joined us and completed her B.A. at
Maharaja‟s college in June 1966. My uncle RSS
was helpful in finalizing her marriage with N V
Subramanian (NVS Mani), son of N S
Venkatakrishnan, my father‟s friend. This was
celebrated at Bombay on 7th May 1973. NVS
Mani was working as Secretary with Nepa Paper
Mills, near Itarsi in Maharashtra, till his
retirement in the year 1998. They had a comfortable
life while at Nepanagar.
Figure 21: Manni, Venkatesh, RVS Mani, Ganesh, Myself, Pankajam, Lakshmi, RSS Chitappa & RSS Chitti

45
Figure 22 Lakshmi's wedding 1973: Sitting - Padma, Pankajam, Ganesh, Kshama, Lakshmi, NVS Mani,
Venka with Sandhya, Amma, Manni. Standing – EV Krishnamurthy, Myself, Gopal and Anna, RVS Mani.

Myself and Pankajam visited Nepanagar, to conduct her Seemantham function on 3rd
March 1985. My mother was already there. It was unfortunate that she delivered a
stillborn baby at Vijaya Hospital in Madras and it was yet another disappointment
for my mother. She had no issues after this event. After his retirement, they moved to
their flat at Alwarpet in Madras, during the year 1998. They moved to a flat in
Chrompet in June 2006. My third sister, Padma was born in Bombay on 6th April
1947 and completed her Matric in the English High School, close to our house in
Dadar. She stayed with my brother Mani at Sion, till her marriage. My uncle RSS
helped us in finalizing her marriage with E V Krishnamurthy, son of E K Venkatesan
(who was running a business on cuddapah slabs in Kurnoorl, Andhra Pradesh). The
marriage was conducted in a grand manner in Bombay, on 6th Feb 1969 and a big
46
marriage party of relatives had come from
Madras. While I assisted my brother, Mani in
the marriage arrangements, Pankajam and
kids however could not attend the marriage.
Initially, Padma went and stayed at
Betamacharla along with Kittu‟s parents.
Eventually, they moved to Madras and his
60th Birthday was celebrated in the year
2001. They have three children.
Figure 23 Padma & EV Krishnamurthy, 1969
Figure 24: Padma and family 1994

Sandhya, their eldest daughter,

completed C.A and was working in
Madras. She married Ramachandran
in the year 1996, who is also a C.A.
and they have settled down in
Hyderabad. Padma‟s second
daughter, Stuthi, after graduation,
completed a Diploma course in Catering in Madras. After briefly working in Taj
Hotel, she then worked as an air hostess with Singapore Airlines and Emirates.
In 2003, she married Craig, an Anglo-Indian, and is now settled in Australia
with her two sons Rohan and Rio. Padma‟s son Tharakaram (Sanath), did his
Engineering in Computer Science in Dharwar and later worked as a Software

47
Engineer in Madras and US and is currently, a partner to a U S Software
company Itreya Technologies. Married to Srividya in 2003, he has settled in
Bangalore with his little baby girl Aditi.. Pankajam, Deepa, Vaishnavi, Nivedita
and I had been to the Grihapravesam of his bungalow in 2007. Kittu and Padma
have now moved to Bangalore to
stay with their son.

Figure 25: Sandhya, Ramachandran, Jyotsana

and Sashank 2010

Figure 26: Sthuthi, Craig, Rohan and Rio 2010

Figure 27 Sanath, Vidya and Aditi 2010

48
Figure 28: With brothers and sisters family, Sashtiabdapoorthy, 1996

49
 Section 6: School and College days
I was born on 16th January 1936, in my mother‟s house, Naduvatheri
Madom, Triprayar, Trichur District of Kerala State. I vaguely remember spending
my early days in Delhi and Simla, when my father was working for Central
Government. When we moved to Bombay, I was admitted to the SIES‟s High
school (South Indian Education Society) in Matunga, very close to Kings Circle,
a suburban railway station. I note that my date of birth had been changed to 26th
June 1936, (perhaps to show age as 6 years) while admission to the school and
this date has become the official date in my life. The school did not have uniforms
for the students and as such I used to wear a half shirt and half pant to the
school and carry a tiffin set containing curd rice (with pickles) for lunch. The
school had a shed at the rear, where students can take lunch during the recess.
My friends and I used to finish lunch quickly, so that we can play in the ground
for some time, before the bell rings. I was not amongst the best in class but
completed my school without any problem. My younger brother Ramamurthy and
sister Lakshmi used to accompany me to school. When my father left Railways
and was full time at the Institute we used to go to school by tram, . The tram
service was then very efficient in Bombay and we used to take the nearby
Kohinoor tram stop (named after Kohinoor Textile Mills). After our stop was the
Dadar Tram Terminus and the tram continues upto Kings Circle Tram Terminus.
Many times, I used to walk up to the next stop so as to save money. I also used
to enjoy chatting with the conductor when he comes for ticket collection. It was
good fun. I do not remember much of my school days. I completed the 11th
50
standard, which had the Board exam and passed out of school in 1950. I used to
play with local boys in our building compound and thus picked up spoken
Marathi. As mentioned earlier the Ganesha Chaturthi was the highlight of our
building community celebrations. I can also recall an occasion, when I took part
in a fancy dress competition held at my father‟s Institute. I dressed up as a local
fisherman and I got a prize from the chief guest at the annual function in the
Institute. My father was surprised, when he learnt of my participation. We used
to enjoy our Diwali holidays with family members. My mother prepared lot of
sweets at home which we used to distribute to friends and relatives. My father
used to discourage us from buying crackers, as he believed it to be nothing less
than „burning money‟! Our house did not have modern amenities like, telephone,
fridge, dining table, AC, TV etc. We used to enjoy our lunches and dinners by
sitting down in a circle in the kitchen with all our family members. During the
mango seasons, my mother used to buy one dozen of mangoes every week and used
to allocate one mango per head and balance reserved for guests. We always had
guests at home for stay. While the company was always enjoyable, the house
remained permanently noisy and busy. Although my father used to discourage us
from seeing films, my mother used to take us to Tamil films on Sunday mornings
at Rivoli or Aurora theaters.
I joined the Ruia College of Science in Matunga, for Inter Science. I used to
walk up from home to the College. The routine changed – no more tiffin set and
school bag. I enjoyed the College with Physics and Chemistry Labs. I still
remember the experience of dissecting frogs and cockroaches! My close friend was

51
Vishwanathan, whose father was a practicing doctor in Matunga. Both of us
used to go to the nearby Irani Restaurant and enjoy samosas and tea, during
recess time. By just obtaining 57%, I completed the Inter Science Exam of
Bombay University in 1952. During holidays, I used to spend time with my
cousin Krishnamani, who used to stay at my uncle RSS‟s house. We used to go
out for movies together. We were in the habit of seeing the first show on the first
day of the release of Hindi movies which was usually on Fridays. I still
remember the day when we both stood in the queue at Broadway Cinema Theatre
at Dadar, for getting five annas tickets (sixteen annas made a rupee) to see the
first show of the famous Hindi film “Barsat” of RK Films, on the first day of
release. During my college holidays, I took up coaching in Typewriting at Laxmi
College and passed out the 40 words-per-minute Government exam. To get my
pocket money, I used to work at the College as Typewriting class Instructor, as
Cashier and Librarian, which in fact, gave me good experience.
While discussing my future plans with the family, my elder uncle
Ramaswamy (Periappa) suggested that unlike others in the family who practiced
Accounts, I should pursue Engineering. I had no chance in getting admission in
VJTI in Bombay due to my marks and hence I started looking out for other
engineering colleges in the state. I was called for a written test and interview at
the New Engineering College, Sangli, in Maharashtra State. My father was not
very happy about it and said that in case I am interested, I can go. I took a train
to Poona and then a night train from Poona by meter gauge to Vishrambagh
Railway Station which was very close to the college. I reached in the morning

52
and walked up to the college. I met many other students, who had also come for
the interview. We were asked to use the hostel rooms and report to the college
office in the morning for the test and interview. The results were announced in
the evening and to my luck, my name was there in the list for admission to civil
engineering. That was the only branch available at that time. Selected students
had to pay up full term fees to confirm their interest, within a week. Many
students paid up the fees but I could not since I did not have the money. I went
back home next day and informed my father, who took two days to decide to send
a money order for the admission. Finally I got the admission card for the
engineering college. In fact, I was the first engineer in our big family. My mother
was not happy in my leaving home and staying in a hostel for the next three
years. It was the first time in my life at the age of 18 years that I was moving out
of home. I prepared myself for hostel life, with my belongings and set off. I was
provided a room which I shared with another co-student. A small canteen
provided us breakfast and food. My first shock was when I was dished out
Maharashtrian cuisine for meals. I had no option but to get used to the food. My
father used to send me money monthly. I had to maintain an expense account and
send a monthly summary to him. I was eagerly waiting for Diwali holidays to go
home and enjoy with the family members. On return from the holidays, my mother
prepared a tin of eatables, both sweets and savories for me to enjoy in the hostel.
But I was in for a shock. On arrival, a group of friends came to my room, opened
the tin and polished the contents within hours! I was told that this was the
normal practice in the hostels. Of course, I also got a variety of such eats from

53
other friends. During the first year, I was acquainted with two South Indian
friends, Varadarajan and Ramaswamy, both from Poona. I later came to know
that both of them had failed in the first year and taking classes with my batch for
the second time and I really got worried. We used to have a very tight schedule at
the college. We reported at 7-30 am for field work, 9-30 am for classes (after
breakfast), 4-30 pm for practical classes and close by 5-30 pm. We worked six
days a week. We had a one hour lunch break, to go to the canteen and back to
college. We had a small batch of South Indian friends in the college and we used
to meet often. We got fed up with the food in the canteen and felt that we should
set up our own. Our group of 12 south Indians, decided to have a small set up for
food in the afternoon and at night from the next year. We rented a room outside
the college campus, bought vessels and furniture (with our joint collection),
engaged a south Indian cook and started our Mess from the next year. For the
next two years, I enjoyed south Indian food including chapattis. Thanks to my
two friends who were very good in table tennis, my interest in the same also grew
and I used to play in college tournaments. I also got involved in many cultural
activities of the college. During the second year, I was elected as secretary for
college educational tour. I had wonderful experience in organizing the tour with
a group of members. Planning to visit many locations in India, we arranged with
the Railways to provide an exclusive bogie and attach the same to various trains.
We had to finalize the locations, write to the concerned authorities for visits and
prepare a schedule of our travel. We were a group 60 students and a professor
accompanying us to cover many locations of interest in the civil engineering

54
construction. This tour was arranged during the yearend holidays. Starting from
Bombay we visited Allahabad, Benares, Mokameah, Calcutta, Delhi, Bhakra
Dam, Chandigarh etc. for about three weeks. We had a wonderful experience of
studying places.
During the second year of my Engineering, I had gone home during Diwali
vacations and after the holidays, my father saw me off at Dadar Railway
Station. I, then, never realized that I was never going to see him again. A
telegram was delivered to me while I was attending a lecture at the College
stating that my father had expired due to heart failure. My friends helped in
packing my luggage and immediately boarded me in a train to Poona. When I
reached home the next day morning, I was told that cremation was over the
previous day itself and my younger brother Ramamurthy had attended to the
rites. My elder brother could reach Bombay from Calcutta, later in the evening. I
met my mother who was in deep shock and sorrow. I could not imagine as to
what will happen to all of us. Except for my brother and self, all other siblings
were youngsters. After completing 13 days of rituals, I got back to College but
however, I felt the vacuum in our family. I could not concentrate on my studies.

During the final (third) year, I decided to prepare for the exams in a
systematic manner. I planned the preparations well three months in advance and
prepared a time-table. I used to wake up at 5-00 am and continue studying upto
11-00 pm. My room-mate used to study late till midnight and get up at 8-00 am.
I had collected past three years‟ question papers and used to answer them in

55
writing, as a method of revision for my study. I did all my exams well except for
the last one, a paper on engineering design, wherein I made a small mistake in my
design calculations. Although I realized and corrected before handing in my
paper; I did not get enough time to complete the drawings and this greatly
worried me as it would affect my entire results and my toil would be fruitless. I
had requested my friends in Poona to convey the results to me on phone at the
Dadar Post office, since we did not have phone at home. On the scheduled
evening, I was eagerly waiting for the results at Dadar Head Post Office. As I
did not get a call at the expected time, I broke down thinking that I have lost.
However, after an hour of waiting, my friends conveyed the good news of my
success in the exam. I rushed to the famous Dayaram Damodar sweet shop at
Dadar Junction and took a packet of „pedas‟ (milk sweets) and rushed home to
celebrate the good news with family members. However, I suddenly felt the
absence of my father to share this achievement. My degree certificate of Bachelor
of Engineering from Poona University was received by post, as I could not
attend the convocation. Thus, in 1955, I passed out of Walchand College of
Engineering as it was subsequently called after it was funded by Walchand
Group. My mother felt proud of me, while my brother Mani and uncle RSS
congratulated me on my achievement.

56
Figure 29: Engineering degree

57
 Section 7: Walchands
When I completed my Engineering in the year 1957, it was difficult to get
good jobs. I approached my college friend‟s father, who was the General Manager
of Hindustan Construction Company of the Walchand Group. He referred me to
Mr. G. B. Patel, Chief Engineer of Indian Hume Pipe Co Ltd at their head office
in Bombay. After my interview, I was offered a job as an Engineer on a three-
year agreement and I was asked to report in their Coimbatore factory. I discussed
with my uncle RSS and my brother and they agreed to my joining while my
mother was not happy. In fact, she remarked that many come from South India in
search of jobs to Bombay, while I want to move to South India! My uncle gave a
letter to one of his friends in Coimbatore to help me out in settling. I reported for
work in the month of July and stayed at their house for a week, before moving to
a lodge, close to the factory. The factory was manufacturing concrete pipes of
various diameters which are used for water supply, by a patented process and my
job was to supervise the production and achieve the schedules. The first weekend
after my joining for work, I visited our village at Ramanathapuram, Palghat and
met my grandfather (Patta) and gave him a shawl and took his blessings.

As I had experience in staying in college hostels, I had no problem in

adjusting to the situation at the lodge. I had a small room with minimum
convenience of a cot, a table and a chair. The toilet was common for all the
twelve boarders. After taking my bath, I used to go to a hotel on way to the
factory for my breakfast. I enjoyed south Indian dishes like idli, vadai, pongal,
58
dosa, coffee etc and then report for work at 8-00 am. I went to another hotel for
having my lunch. After a light tiffin and coffee at 5-30 pm, I used to have dinner
by 8-30 pm. Later, I arranged with a Brahmin couple to provide homely food for
all of us in a place close to our lodge. On weekends, I used to visit the city area
and used to enjoy poorie/masala and hot milk from a Guajarati hotel. The
company had provided me with a cycle and it made my travel easy and
comfortable. On 18th August 1957, I got a call from uncle RSS to inform that my
grand-father had expired. Uncle RSS he was coming to Coimbatore by flight and
I should accompany him to the village. One of my jobs was to send telegrams to
various relatives from the post office, which was away from the village. I got
back after staying at the village for two days, when many relatives (he had a very
big family) arrived by train. On return, my uncle suggested that I should visit the
village house during weekends so as to give a moral support to the members at
home. On Saturdays, after my work, I used to directly take a one hour bus ride to
Palghat and have some tiffin on the way. From the bus stand at Palghat, I will
take an autorickshaw to reach the village house by around 8-00 PM to have
dinner. My step grandmother (Ammami as we used to call her), their two
daughters (Janaki and Seetha) and son Ramakrishnan waited for me in the
house.. They used to welcome my visits and in fact, Ammami used to wait
anxiously for my arrival every Saturday. On Sunday, after having my evening
tiffin, I used to take the bus back to Coimbatore. I used to visit them regularly
during weekends, till I left Coimbatore.

59
 In the year 1958 (within one year of my joining the branch) the Circle
Manager from Madras visited our factory for inspection and called me for
discussions and later suggested that I should take over as the Manager of the
factory at Arakonam. The company gave me a scooter for my local travel.
Although I was happy I was also very nervous about shouldering the full
responsibility. In fact, the outgoing Manager (an elderly man) was not happy on
this decision. As Arakonam was very close to Madras, I used to visit the house of
my mother‟s sister Kamalam at T-Nagar. I used to have my lunch and dinner at
the Arakonam Railway Station canteen. I used to visit Madras during festivals
and holidays and spend time with my uncle and aunt. I was transferred again to
our factory in Raichur, as the factory Manager in the year 1959. I stayed in a
room with two friends and used to go to the factory in cycle. Here again, like
Arakonam, Raichur was a Railway Junction and my lunch and dinner was at the
railway station restaurant. At the factory, I got experience in the manufacture of
concrete electrical poles and used to visit sites for erection. During my visit to
Bombay, I met my Chief Engineer at head office and discussed my future career. I
expressed my concern that as a civil engineer; I was not getting construction
experience at the factories.

On my request, he transferred me to Koyna Project site during the year 1960.

The company had taken up a contract for the fabrication of steel penstock pipes
(used for power generation) and erection in the tunnels at site. Koyna Hydro-
electric Project was located in Maharashtra and was designed with Swiss

60
technical know-how. A massive dam was to be constructed upstream to collect
rain water which was to be conveyed by massive tunnels to generate power at the
power house located inside the tunnels on the downstream end, undertaken by
Maharashtra Electricity Board. Our contract was to fabricate pipes of various
diameters at the factory in Hadapsar, Poona, transport them to site, haul them to
tunnel by winches, erect them at site, weld, paint, and test and hand them over to
the Elecrticity Board. The Koyna Project site, Pophali, was three hours bus drive
from Poona, in Ratnagiri District of Maharashtra State. During my visits to
home, I used to carry basket full of alphonso mangoes purchased from Chiplun.

Initially, my job was to supervise the construction of sheds at our site for the
staff. Later, I was involved in the erection of the pipes in the tunnels. I used to
stay in a temporary shed along with other bachelor engineers. We had a small
mess for our food. . We used to go to site by jeep to supervise the work. We had
engaged Punjabi workmen (khalsis) for the erection work. One of my close
colleagues was Mr Menon, an aged Malayalee, who had wide experience in
erection. He gave good company to us in the mess. We had erected a small factory
at the site, where we used to assemble the pipe pieces received from factory and
move them to the tunnels. Along with an engineer from Electricity Board, my job
included checking and approving the positioning of the pipes inside the tunnel.
The erection used to continue in shifts and I could be called for checking at any
time. On an occasion I was visiting the site along with MSEB Engineer at night
for checking and approval. On my return, the jeep met with an accident and I had

61
minor injuries. After completing our first stage of the contract in 1962, I was
transferred as site-in-charge to Bhira Project, close to Poona, for erection of
tunnel pipes for Tata Hydro Electric Power Company.

One day, when in Poona, I received a letter from my brother to say

that a family in Calcutta is in correspondence with RSS Chitappa, for my
marriage alliance. During his previous visit to Calcutta, he had visited the house
of Mr. D. Ganesa Iyer and they were interested in my alliance. On 28th April
1962 my uncle, mother and I took the night flight to Calcutta and visited their
house. N S Venkatakrishnan our family friend at Calcutta also joined us in
meeting the family. We „approved‟ the girl, Pankajam. After informing my
brother Mani at Bombay, my uncle decided to have the „nischiathartam‟ the same
evening, 29th April 1962. We returned to Bombay by the night flight. With
mutual consent, the marriage was finalized at Calcutta on 27th May 1962. Many
of my relatives at Bombay were anxious to attend the marriage and we were a big
party travelling by train from Bombay to Calcutta. The marriage party was
represented by all the family members. We were given a big reception at Howrah
Railway station on arrival and we were put up at N S Venkatakrishnan‟s house
which was very close to the marriage hall at National High School. On the
previous day, 26st May, the formal nischiathartam was celebrated at the hall and
they had arranged for a Plymouth car for the procession. The marriage in the
Hindu traditional manner was celebrated on 27nd May 1962. A reception was
arranged in the evening, when Mr Ganesa Iyer had invited all his office friends

62
of Bata India Ltd. On return to Bombay, Pankajam joined us at Vissanji Park.
We then went on a short honeymoon to Matheran, a nearby hill station, where
we stayed in a hotel run by a Parsi.
Figure 30 In Bombay with Pankajam 1962

Figure 31: Manni and Pankajam in Bombay

1962

As it was mango season, the hotel

used to serve us alphonso mangoes cut
in a cup shape so as scoop the mango,
like ice creams. I had organized for a
get-together of my office friends in
Bombay, in a restaurant, so that they
can meet Pankajam. My uncle and my
brother joined us for the party. A
similar party was also arranged in a Hotel in Poona, where I invited my office
friends from Hadapsar factory and Koyna site. My uncle and my brother joined
the party. We celebrated our fist Diwali at Calcutta in October 1962, when my
Manni, Pankajam and I visited from Bombay

Pankajam‟s Seemantham was celebrated on 7th March 1963 at Vissanji

Park. Pankajam‟s parents who attended the function returned to Calcutta
63
with her. She delivered a baby boy on 17th June 1963 at Calcutta. A telegram
was received by us at Bombay and we were very happy on getting the news. I
along with my mother attended the „Punyakavachanam‟ function at Calcutta.
Pankajam returned to Bombay along with the baby and her mother; it was a
great event for us to receive them at home. We called the baby Kannan at home.
He stole the attention of all family members and the many relatives who came to
see him.
In October 1962, I requested the company to transfer me either to Poona
factory or to Head Office in Bombay. My Chief Engineer accepted my request and
I reported for work at Bombay as Planning Engineer. I was happy that I could
join my family members at Vissanji Park, with my wife. I used to take a monthly
first class pass to travel from Dadar to VT and walk up to Walchand House.
Indian Hume Pipe Co Ltd was part of the Walchand Group, which had other
Engineering units including Hindustan Engineering Company, Walchand
Engineering Works, Premier Automobiles Ltd (Fiat car manufacturing unit in
Satara). I was reporting to the Chief Engineer to plan and execute the various
contracts; I had to coordinate with the factory at Hadapsar, Poona and various
erection sites to meet the contractual delivery. This called for my visits to
factories and sites in Maharashtra and Karnataka. Since the company was
handling contracts for hydro-electric projects at Koyna-II stage and Sharavathy
in Karnataka State, I had the opportunity of taking flights while visiting
Bangalore. For visits to our Poona factory, I used to take the Deccan Queen train
in the evening from the office at VT (dinner on train) and return the third day by

64
the morning Deccan Queen train (breakfast on train) and directly report to the
work. At the office, my colleague Nagarajan who was involved in submission of
tenders for new projects and handled till receipt of orders; handed over the
responsibilities to me. It was an interesting job of planning and coordination. In
the year 1963, I was asked to move to Koyna site for completing certain balance
work and my wife Pankajam accompanied me to the site; she felt lonely at the
guest house, since other colleagues had left the site. We used to have our food in
the company canteen, managed by a Kannada cook.
However, I was not happy with my career as the company did not compensate
me well. As my requests for salary revisions, were not considered, I started
looking out for alternative opportunities. During my work, I was also involved in
having discussions with a Swiss company, Giovanola Freres, who were the
technical advisers to the project. During one occasion, one of their representatives
mentioned about their joint venture with Binny Ltd of Madras to execute hydro-
electric projects in South India and enquired if I was interested in joining them. I
took this opportunity of sending my application and I was called for an interview
at their Cochin office of Giovanola-Binny Ltd. I took a flight to Cochin via Goa
where I was interviewed by Mr Walter, an Englishman who was their Managing
Director. As I had similar experience, they offered me a job as a planning
engineer, which I readily accepted. I submitted my papers at Indian Hume Pipe
Co and I was relieved after much delay.

65
 Section 8: Pankajam
Figure 34: Pankajam Graduation 1961

Pankajam was born on 17th September

1940 at Valavanoor village, near Villupuram, in
Tamil Nadu State. She had her school days in
Srirangam and Bangalore. When her father was
transferred to Calcutta, she completed her
Matric exam at National High School and Inter
Science at Gokhale College and B.Sc. in
chemistry at Ashutosh Mukherji College. She
enjoyed her school and college days in Calcutta.
She lived at 34 Raja Basanta Roy Road, near
Lake Road (South Indian locality) with her
parents, one younger sister, Susheela, and two
younger brothers, Ananthan and Vijayan. She
had picked up Bengali and had many South
Indian family friends. She used to attend many Carnatic music programmes along
with her parents and sister. My father-in-law Ganesa Iyer (popularly called as
Bata Ganesa Iyer) lost his father at a young age and he was brought up along
with his sister Rajam by his mother, Godavari Ammal in their village,
Marakathapuram, close to Villupuram railway station. With much financial
difficulty, he completed his Matriculation. His first employment was as a sales

66
representative with Higginbotham‟s book stall at Villipuram railway station.
During his free time, I believe, he used to read the newspapers and magazines.
This improved his English skills and understanding. He was handpicked up by a
Bata Shoe Company Executive at the Railway Station and thus started his career
in Bata where he remained till his retirement at their head office. The
manufacturing facility was at Batanagar, close to Calcutta. The founder of Bata
Shoe Company was a Czechoslovak and they had factories/offices in many
countries. Ganesa Iyer joined as a salesman in one of the shops in Madras and
later worked in various shops at Madras, Srirangam and Bangalore in South
India, which gave him wide experience in sales and marketing. He was promoted
with a transfer to their head office in Calcutta in the marketing department. In
view of his sincere hard work, he was promoted as Regional Sales Manager and
he was reporting to a Czech. To develop sales and open new shops in major cities,
he had to travel to almost all cities in India. The Management nominated him to
attend the Bata Advanco Conference and he visited many places in Europe. He
received the 25 years service award from Mr Bata himself at a function held at
Calcutta, in the
year 1965.
While at
Calcutta, he
used to travel
for three weeks
in a month. His

Figure 35: Receiving Bata Service Award from Mr. Bata 1965 67
wife Laxmibhai took full responsibility of family and running the household.

Figure 36: Ananthan Nirmala's wedding 1975

Figure 37 Ananthan and Nirmala 1976

Pankajam‟s first younger brother Anathanarayanan

(Ananthan) had education initially at Bangalore
where his father was working and then at Calcutta.
He completed his B. Tech from IIT, Madras and
joined Larsen & Toubro Limited, Switchgear
Division at Powai, Bombay as a graduate engineer
trainee and continued in the same company till his
retirement as Vice President (R&D). Ananthan

68
married Nirmala at Madras in January 1975. Continuing in Bombay; initially
they stayed at Ghatkopar and later moved to a company flat in Juhu, Bombay.
After retirement in 2004, they moved to Madras and stayed with his parents at
Ashok Nagar. He worked as a Consultant at L&T E-services for a period of two
years. They moved in to their new flat at Thiruvanmiyur in August 2009. They
have only one son, Asvin, who on completing his BTech from VJTI, Bombay,
further completed his MS at University of
Illinois, Chicago and currently works with
Microsoft at their headquarters in Seattle,
US.. He was married to Kirtika in the year
2005 at Bangalore and they have a baby
girl Mira. Figure 38: Asvin Kirtika and Mira, 2010

Figure 39 & 40: Susheela and Ramasubramanian, 1974

Figure 41: Susheela and Ramasubramanian, 2009

69
Pankajam‟s younger sister Susheela completed her Degree in Calcutta and worked
for sometime in a local school at Calcutta till her marriage. She got married to S
Ramasubramanian in the year 1974, at Madras and settled down at Calicut. The
family moved to Madras in the year 1996. Their first son Shivram (Shibu) after
completing his B.E. (Mech) from Calicut University worked for a medium scale
engineering industry (Capitol Industries) for a period of five years and later joined
Infosys at Bangalore and now works for Cognizant, another software company,
at Madras. After official visits to China and US, he is presently on deputation to
US. He married Santhi in 2003 and they have two daughters, Sudeshna and
Sujana. Susheela‟s second son Ganesh (Vigu) completed his B.Com and is a
qualified Chartered Accountant. He worked for Satyam Computers at Hyderabad
and is currently with GMR group at Bangalore. He married to Priya in 2004 and
is now settled in Bangalore with their daughter, Anagha.
Figure 42: Shibu, Santhi, Sudeshna, Sujana 2010
Figure 43: Vigu, Priya and Anagha 2010

70
 Figure 44: Vijayan Indira, 1982

Pankajam‟s second brother

Vijayaraghavan (Vijayan) had his
school education in Calcutta and
completed BTech from IIT,
Kharagpur. After working for three
years at ONGC, Dehradun, he joined
and completed Post Graduate in Business Management from the prestigious
Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad. He worked in various
organizations including AFF Ferguson, Coromandel Indag, Standard Chartered
Bank, Indglobal Financial Trust, all at Madras and finally settled down to
operate his own company – Centum Corporate Financial Services, from 1999.
He was married to Indira in 1982. Indira worked for 22 years with United India
Assurance Co and took VRS in the year 2004. They have settled down in Madras.

Figure 45: Vijayan's family, 2009

Their first son

Chandrasekhar (Chandru)
completed his BTech in
Computer Science and
MBA from NUS
(National University of
Singapore) on a scholarship. He then joined Google at Singapore and is currently

71
working in marketing at Oracle‟s headquarters in US. Vijayan‟s second son,
Jayendra, has joined SRM University for B.E. in Computer Engineering.

Sometime during the year 1967, my father-in-law had purchased a plot of

two and half grounds, in Ashok Nagar, as developed by Tamilnadu Housing
Board. During the period 1971-72, I was involved in constructing a house, in this
plot through Mr. Prabhakaran, a known contractor. This house was named,
“Sreyas”. The plan was simple and comprehensive. The front gate led to a portico
for car parking behind which stood a spacious house. It had a front verandah
leading to a huge hall comprising of drawing and dining of size 12‟x28‟. There
was also a master bed of size 12‟x10‟ with western closet, a study room, a puja
room, a second bed room of size 12‟x10‟, a kitchen with an attached store room,
rear verandah, toilet and another bathroom. The rear entrance led to a courtyard
and a well. The courtyard had coconut trees, mango trees and plantain trees. The
trees used to yield plenty of mangoes and coconuts. The house was rented out
from 1967, till he occupied the house in the year 1975.

My father-in-law retired from Bata in 1975, at his age of 60 years, after

having worked with the company for a period of about 40 years. He finally
moved to Madras in 1975 and started living at Sreyas. He celebrated his 60th
birthday in a grand manner (a three day function) in the year 1976, at Sreyas. His
four children, then, jointly presented him a TV.

72
 Figure 46 Pankajam's relatives 1976- Sitting Godavari Patti,
Standing - mother, father, Jayarama Sastrigal Periappa, Periamma, Rajam Athai and Mallikeshwara Iyer Athimbar

Figure 47 Ganesa Iyer Sashtiabdapoorthy 1976

73
 Many family functions were held at Sreyas. He used to regularly visit the
house of his cousin brother, Jayarama Sastrigal who stayed at West Mambalam.
Pankajam‟s paternal grandmother Godavari Ammal expired in the year 1980, at
Sreyas and this greatly distressed their family members. Due to health problems
relating to diabetics, BP and eye problems, Pankajam‟s mother, Lakshmi Bhai,
used to regularly visit doctors at Vijaya Hospital. Her father became weak in
health and also had hearing problems, which was irritating him. Since Vijayan
and family moved out of Sreyas around the year 1990, Pankajam‟s parents
managed Sreyas alone. A cook and Pankajam‟s maternal aunt Janaki (who
expired around the year1998) also lived with them. They found company and
support when Ananthan and Nirmala moved to Sreyas, in the year 2004.

On 16th August 2006 Pankajam‟s mother was admitted to Vijaya Hospital

where she expired due to heart attack at the age of 83 years. However the family
which was already grief-stricken was in for a greater shock when on 26th August,
10 days later, Pankajam‟s father also expired at an age of 91 years. Venka had
come down from Singapore and joined us for the rituals on that day. Deepa and
Vighu‟s wife Priya were of immense assistance during the ritual functions at
Sreyas. All the monthly rituals and the abdikam of Pankajam‟s father and mother
were conducted at Sreyas and attended by all their four children with their
families. Pankajam‟s parents had an eventful life. They conducted the marriage of
their four children, participated in the upanayanam functions of their seven
grandsons and marriages of five of the grandsons. An interesting feature in the

74
family was that the third generation was of sons while the fourth generation was
only girls!

When Ananthan moved out of Sreyas to occupy their new flat in August
2009, the house became vacant. A decision was taken that the house at Ashok
Nagar should be sold. Hanu Reddy Realtors identified a suitable buyer for the
property. Within two months the sale agreement was signed in October with Mr
Devanathan. The final sale deed was registered on 27th November 2009 and the
net proceeds were equally divided among the four legal heirs of the property. The
legendary house, “Sreyas” at 18 Soundara Pandyan Street, Ashok Nagar, which
had seen many auspicious events including engagements of Venka: 1989, Ganesh:
1993 and Deepa‟s seemandam: 1996, thus changed hands after 35 years.

75
 Table: 4 Ganesa Iyer Family

Names RLT DOB STAR GOTHRAM DOM

D Ganesan 21-10-1915 Uthiratathi Aupamanya 31-5-1936
Lakshmi W 19-7-1923 Hastham

Pankajam D 17-9-1940 Uthiratathi 27-5-1962

R V Ramakrishnan SIL 16-1-1936 Chitirai Haritha
Venkateswaran GS 17-6-1963 Aswathi 20-5-1990
Sripriya GDIL 23-4-1967 Chitirai
Ruchika GGD 20-12-1995 Anusham
Kritika GGD 15-2-2002 Purathathi
Ganesh GS 19-2-1967 Mrigaseersham 5-7-1993
Deepa GDIL 26-9-1972 Bharani
Vaishnavi GGD 17-3-1996 Avittam
Nivedita GGD 15-4-1998 Anusham

Susheela D 16-6-1942 PunarPoosam 11-7-1974

Ramasubramanian SIL 9-1-1938 Revathy Naithrupa
Shivram GS 10-7-1975 Poosam Kashyapa 11-12-2003
Santhi GDIL 11-3-1982 Uthiram
Sudeshna GGD 12-11-2004 Vishakam
Sujana GGD 11-2-2010
Ganesh GS 4-6-1977 Pooradom 30-6-2004
Priya GDIL 11-10-1978 Thiruonam
Anagha GGD 4-10-2008 Anusham

Ananthanarayanan S 13-3-1946 Poosam 26-1-1975

Nirmala DIL 5-12-1952 Poosam
Asvin GS 18-5-1978 Utthiram 11-5-2005
Kirthika GDIL 4-12-1979 Mrigaseesham
Mira GGD 21-6-2009 Rohini

Vijayaraghavan S 11-7-1953 Punarpoosam 20-1-1982

Indira DIL 8-7-1956 Punarpoosam
Chandrasekhar GS 11-2-1984 Rohini
Jayendra GS 16-7-1991 Utthiram

76
 Section 9: Binnys
While I was with Indian Hume Pipe Co Ltd, at Bombay, I got an
interview call from Giovanola-Binny Ltd., Cochin. I took a flight from Bombay
to Cochin via Goa. Initially, I met Mr S Venkatraman, Company Secretary at the
factory and then I was asked to meet Mr R D Walter (a Britisher and old-timer
with Binny Group), who was the Managing Director of the Company. After the
interview, I was immediately offered a job as a Planning Engineer, after
negotiating the pay packet. I was very impressed with the factory at Palluruthy,
Mattancherry, Cochin. On return, I informed my uncle and my brother of the
offer. They left the decision to my choice. However, my mother was not happy
that we have to leave home.

Kerala Electricity Board agreed to sign up an agreement with Binny for

supply and erection of pipes for all projects in the State. Accordingly, Binny
formed a company, the Giovanola -Binny Ltd. It was a joint venture with 60%
of Binny and 40% of Giovanola Freres, Switzerland. Giovanola agreed to supply
the entire equipment for the fabrication facility and technical assistance in the
execution of such contracts. A modern fabrication plant was put up close to the
backwaters at Palluruthy. The facility contained plate preparation, rolling of
pipes, submerged-arc auto welding, x-ray and ultrasonic inspection, heat
treatment of fabricated pipes, an open yard for storing plates and pipes, crane
facilities for handling. Steel plates of various sizes and thickness were imported
and supplied by the KSEB. The plates used to arrive from the Cochin port to the

77
factory, through barges and picked up by cranes at the factory. The fabricated
pipes were also transported by barges to the site locations. Giovanola also
provided experienced technicians to assist in the fabrication and erection of pipes
at site. They provided training for our supervisors and workmen including
welders.

We packed up and took leave of all at home. Pankajam, baby Kannan and
I took a train to Ernakulam. I reported for duty on March 1964 and I was asked
to work with Mr Santhanagopalan, contracts manager (who was originally
working at Binny Ltd., Madras) My job was to plan and control all activities in
the execution of contracts – the major one being supply, erection and
commissioning of Penstock Pipes for Sabarigiri Hydro-electric Project in Kerala.
For few days we stayed at the house of Ramachandra Iyer (father of our relative,
Sundari) till he made arrangement to fix up a house at Vaduthala, which was not
very convenient. I had to leave home by 7-00 am after breakfast with my lunch
packet, since the factory was far away and I had to reach by bus travel. I use to
return late in the evening and was working 6-day and week. Pankajam was alone
at home with the baby and had no friends around. I had only Sunday to spend
time with them and to attend to requirements at home. During our short stay at
that place, Pankajam‟s grandmother visited us from the village. She wanted to
see the baby and meet us. It was very much inconvenient for her to travel all the
way from Villipuram to Ernakulam via Madras. After about six months, we
moved to a house within Ernakulam city and closer to my factory. In 1965, we
moved to another bungalow type house, Vimala Nivas, Srikandath Road,

78
Ravipuram and our stay was comfortable. My sister Lakshmi was attending
Maharaja‟s college and completed B. A. in June 1966. I got a second hand
Lambretta scooter during the year 1968. It was then convenient to reach office
and go out on Sundays with family. We used to regularly visit Dasaprakash
Hotel in Willington Island to enjoy ice cream and enjoy films in theatres. Both
Kannan and Mohan used to enjoy the snacks at the theatre and sleep off during
the show. Four of us used to manage to travel on the scooter with Kannan sitting
at the back stepeny tyre and Mohan standing in front (sometimes he used to sleep
off because of the cool wind). On 6th February 1969, my sister Padma‟s marriage
with Krishnamurthy was celebrated at Bombay. Pankajam, Kannan and Mohan
could not join me as the kids had measles.

Figure 48: Ernakulam 1967

My work included planning and scheduling for fabrication and erection of

pipes at various sites, both in
Kerala and in Tamil Nadu. I used
to visit various sites, finalize the
erection plans and accordingly
schedule the fabrication, in close
coordination with the Engineers
of the Electricity Boards. I also
received good training from the
Swiss technicians. . At the office,
I had very good company of Mr

79
Rajaram, who was the Cost Accountant coming from Madras. I used to get lunch
from home, while Rajaram got it from Woodlands hotel. I had occasions to travel
with my MD to project sites for technical discussions and enjoyed my work. The
externally laid pipe lines had an “expansion joints” to take care of expansion and
contraction of the line during summer and winter. The expansion joints were
machined and assembled at our sister concern, Binny Engineering Works,
Madras. I had occasions to visit this unit to schedule and expedite our orders on
them. After a period of three years, we did not have enough orders from
Electricity Boards to keep the fabrication shop fully utilized. The company
decided to take the fabrication and supply of pressure vessels for process
industries including refineries and I was also involved in procurement of various
items, which called for extensive travel to Coimbatore, Bombay, Ahmedabad and
Baroda.

.However, the weather in Ernakulam was not comfortable. Always stuffy

and damp, it affected Pankajam‟s health. She used to have complaints of asthma
and this was worrying me. We were also worried about future education for both
Kannan and Mohan. We started looking out better schools outside Kerala with
hostel facilities. The life at the office was also not comfortable. We had a series of
strike and gherrao during May 1970. I approached our British Director during
one of his visits to the factory and requested for a transfer to Madras and he was
kind enough to accept my request. Finally, in June 1970, we moved out of
Ernakulam to Madras. Bata friends helped us to pack our belongings and
transport it by a lorry to Madras. We bid farewell to Ernakulam. On reaching

80
Madras, we move to the house of our uncle Anantharama Iyer at T-Nagar. In
few days time, we fixed up a flat in Mahalingapuram.

I reported for duty to Mr S Renganathan, Works Manager, Binny

Engineering Works at Meenambakkam in Madras on 1st July 1970. He directed
me to meet their Marketing Manager, who assigned me the job of Central
Planning for the execution of contracts. I visited the widely spread out factory,
which included many production departments namely a foundry producing grey
iron castings of engineering products (both machine and hand moulded), a forge
shop having two drop hammers to produce forgings of various shapes using a
couple of dies, which were manufactured in the dye shop, a fabrication shop for
steel structures and piping, a huge machine shop (both heavy and small)
containing machining equipment for various operations, an assembly shop for
assembly and testing of various equipments (mainly for Sugar Mills) and a smithy
shop. The company accepted orders for equipments as also products manufactured
by the various departments which made the planning and execution very complex.
I was asked to study the various operations and estimate the capacity of the
various production departments. The execution included engineering design,
procurement, manufacturing, assembly and in few contracts erection at site. I had
to study the entire process of execution of contracts, estimate the time period for
each of the operations and schedule the work to meet the delivery committed to
our customers. During this work, I used to interact with the heads of the various
departments, including sales, design, purchase, manufacturing, inspection and
shipment. The factory used to work for two shifts, from 6-00 am to 10-30 pm and

81
the working hours for general administration was from 8-00 am to 5-00 pm.
.Figure 49 : Porur Somasundara Mudali home 1971

In June 1971, we move to a first floor

flat at Porur Somasundara Mudali Street, very
close to North Usman Road and Kodambakam
Suburban Railway Station. I used to leave
home by 7-15 am after breakfast and walk up
to Kodambakam Station and travel by 1st class
to Meenambakkam Station; the factory of
walking distance from the station.

In 1971, I was transferred as

Head of Works Planning and reported to the Works Manager. My job was to
plan, schedule and expedite the various orders in the Factory Departments. I was
assisted by five engineers to issue monthly schedules and to coordinate with sales.
The Works Manager visited the various departments in the morning on a fixed
time schedule and I used to join him to review the progress. In discussion with
the Works Manager, I used to submit a shipment plan to marketing and finance.
The Heads of Marketing, Finance and Works used to report to the Chief
Executive, who reported to the Director of the Binny Board. We use to enjoy the
lunch at the factory. All the Heads of Departments used to join the Chief
Executive for lunch at the dining hall. We had western type lunch with soup,
three course meal and a desert.

82
 Figure 50: Kannan ( Venkatesh), 1973:

Figure 51: Mohan,( Ganesh), 1973

Figure 52: Holiday 1974

In the year 1974, Binnys engaged

the services of Management
Consultants from Bombay, to study
our entire operations and submit their
report on recommendations for the
overall improvement of operations and
profitability. During their study, they
also studied the Organization
Structure and made certain recommendations. Based on this, I was transferred as
Superintendent - Materials, since they found that I was good in planning and
scheduling, which was lacking in the Department. I should consider that this
change was a turning point in my career. I had some experience in Purchase
activities while at GB (Giovanola –Binny) and had to learn many activities on
the job, while reporting myself to the Works Manager. I took over the
Department from one of my colleagues, Mr Das, who was transferred to Projects.
My major activities included purchase of Consumables for Foundry, Steel plates
and structurals for Fabrication, Steel sections for Forge Shop, Steel shafts for
Machine Shop and assembly materials, and Capital Equipment for the factory
operations. My job called for extensive travel to Bombay, Ahmedabad, Calcutta,
Ranchi, Rourkela etc. When I joined the Department, Mr Das was the Secretary

83
of the Indian Institute of Materials Management (IIMM) and he made me a
Member, which helped me to associate myself with Materials profession. This
was yet another turning point in
my professional career.

Figure 53 : 1976

After having served at

BEW (Binny Engineering Works)
for eight years, I could not see a
professional growth or recognition
of my work and I started looking
out for opportunities for a change.
During this period, one Mr
Gangolli (Materials Manager of Audco India Ltd) was the Chairman of IIMM,
Chennai Branch and I had interactions with him during monthly meetings.
Audco India (L&T Group) advertised for the position of Assistant Manager,
Purchase & Development and he suggested that I should apply for the position. I
was called for the preliminary interview at Madras, along with four others at
their factory in Manapakkam and I was lucky to be selected at the Regional
level. I came to understand that such regional interviews were held in West,
North and East. The final interview of four was conducted at the factory by a
team of two members – General Manager, Mr Sharma and Deputy General
Manager (Operations) Mr Gupta. I was provisionally selected and was called for
a second interview with the General Manager. I was then advised to go for
84
a final interview with the Director, Mr U V Rao at L&T House, Bombay. To
attend the interview, I got a suit tailored at Madras and was bit nervous. The
interview went off well and I was finally selected and offered a contract in the
Covenanted cadre, which was very attractive. I felt very happy to join the
prestigious Engineering Group – Larsen & Toubro Ltd. My brother Mani was
happy on this change. I submitted my resignation letter and I left on 29th April
1978, after having served for a period of 8 years. My staff members of the
Purchase and Stores Department gave a farewell party. In fact, Mr Ramani of
Purchase Department and Mr Sunderaraman of Stores invited me and Pankajam
for lunch at their houses.

85
 Section 10: Venkatesh
My first son, Kannan (Venkatesh) was born on 17th June 1963 at
Calcutta, when Pankajam was with her parents at 34, Raja Bansanta Roy Road.
He was very fair and chubby and he was the first grand-child in our family. .
Kannan‟s first birthday was celebrated at Ernakulam on 4th July 1964, when
Pankajam‟s parents visited us from Calcutta. We had the religious function in
the morning and I had invited my office colleagues for a small party at home in
the evening, when they enjoyed „rasagollas‟ got from Calcutta.

Figure 54: Venka's first birthday 1964

86
 In the year 1968, Kannan joins KG class in a local school run by “Ananda
Marg”. Pankajam used to drop and pick up from the school. After our moving to
Madras in August 1970, Kannan and Mohan joined Navina School, which was
very close to our house – Madhavan Nair Colony. Pankajam used to drop and
pick them up from the School.

In June 1971, we moved to a first floor flat at Porur Somasundara Mudali

Street, very close to North Usman Road and Kodambakam Suburban Railway
Station. The house owner Mr Vanchinathan stayed in the ground floor with his
family – he had two sons Giri, Prem and one daughter Lalli. In fact, his two sons
became very good friends to Mohan and Kannan. Our next house was the
bungalow of Telugu film personalities of Vijayanirmala and Krishna. On most of
the Sundays, many tourist buses with full load of tourists (head shaven) from
Andhra Pradesh used to visit their house, on their return from Tirupathi to have
„darshan‟ of their hero and heroine, who is to oblige them by their presence from
first floor verandah. At the junction of our road with Periyar Road, was the
house where actress Sridevi stayed in the first floor, with her parents. During this
period, Kannan and Mohan joined Bharath School, near Woodlands Drive-In
Hotel at Mylapore. As the school was 4 to 5 km away, they used to go by a
specially arranged “rickshaw” One or two occasions; they came home from school
by a taxi, since the rickshaw did not report at the school. We were not happy
with Bharath School and wanted them to join Padma Seshadri School in
Nungambakkam. Kannan took a test for admission while Mohan refused
87
the test. Kannan joined Padma Seshadri School in the Std V class, in June 1972,
while Mohan continued the same school for one more year. Our stay in this house
was very memorable, with many family events during our seven years of stay.
Deepavali festival was well celebrated at home – I used to fix up a budget for the
purchase of crackers. Along with Kannan and Mohan, we used to go to
Kamadhenu Departmental Stores on Mount Road, to buy them at cheaper rates.
On coming home, the crackers used to be made into two parts, one for each.
Kannan used to keep them safe in a box till the day of Deepavali, while Mohan
used to light them up from day one. They used to have company of Giri and Prem
for lighting up of crackers for two to three days. They also used to enjoy watching
the „bursting‟ of load of crackers at our neighbor‟s house. Another event used to
be during Christmas vacation, when we used to buy cakes every year from
Mcrenett Shop on the Mount Road. One
day, a Policeman reported at our house
and asked me to accompany him to
Nungambakkam Police station to
investigate an accident. My two sons –
Kannan and Mohan, got terribly worried
about my going to the Police Station. On
verification, the Police found that my
scooter was not involved in the said
accident (they had noted down wrong
number) and they excused themselves. .At
Figure 55: Venka's upanayanam 1974

88
the age of 11 years, Kannan‟s “Upanayanam” was celebrated at a nearby Hall in
May 1974. The function was well attended including my mother, uncle RSS and
brother RVS with their families. Our house was full with relatives who had come
for the function. A small reception was organized the same evening, when office
friends and school friends were invited. I got a cycle for him to go to the school.
Both Kannan and Mohan used to go to a lending library for books on Ragaviah
road, close to our house. They both learnt driving scooter of mine, which became
useful at a later stage.

Figure 56: My family at Venka's upanayanam

89
 Figure 57: Pankajam’s relatives at Venka's upanayanam

In June 1978, Kannan passed X standard in 1st class (63%) from PSBB.
while Mohan passed Std VI, at Padma Seshadri School, Nungambakkam. On
5th Sept 1978, we moved to a company leased flat at Kamdar Nagar, on the first
floor, which was very spacious and
convenient. During the summer
vacations in April 1979, we planned
our first holiday to Kodaikanal Hill
Station. We had the wonderful
experience of traveling by AC I class
from Egmore to reach Kodaikanal
Figure 58: Holiday in Kodai
90
Road Station, the next day morning. We took a bus to reach the Hill Station and
went to the company maintained Guest House – “Fair View”. We enjoyed our
10-day holiday visiting various locations, including boating in the Lake. Our stay
was made comfortable by the Caretaker-cum-Cook, who cooked delicious food to
our order; Kannan and Mohan used to enjoy different varieties of Cakes made by
him. I used to help him in learning car-driving till he got the license.

In June 1980, after securing first class (72%) in Std XII, Venkatesh (name
was changed) was anxious to join Commerce stream in the best college. He secured
admission at Vaishnav College and paid the fees. Pankajam‟s father talked to his
neighbor Mr Kumaraswamy, the then Registrar of Madras University, with
whose reference, Venka got B. Com admission at Loyola College, Nungambakkam
in June 1980. We were thrilled. In February 81, Venkatesh passed CA entrance
exam and in April 1983 Venkatesh joined A. F. Fergusons – Chartered
Accountants, as articled clerk, after passing out his B. Com from Madras
University. In fact, he could get in to AFF, a prestigious organization, only
through the reference made by
my late brother RVS Mani. .
In June 84, Venkatesh passed
out Inter CA, both groups in
first attempt. We enjoyed our
holiday in Kodaikanal during
the month of June 85.
Figure 59: Holiday in 1985

91
 In the month of August, Venkatesh passes Inter ACS (Company Secretary)
exam, both groups in first attempt, getting All India 4th position. The New Year
1986, brought the good news of Venkatesh passing out the Final CA (Institute of
Chartered Accountants) exam, obtaining 5th All India Rank, This was indeed, a
very great achievement and a proud moment for all of us. He worked for a short
period with Sundaram Clayton factory, Padi, Chennai.

After attending many interviews, Venkatesh finally joins IEL (Indian

Explosives Ltd) part of ICI Group (UK based) as Accounting Manager, at
Calcutta, on 1st December 1986. He occupies a company leased flat in Lake Road
and his office was at Chowringhee Circle. Myself and Pankajam visited Calcutta
in January 87 and spent good time with him

During our short stay at Bombay to attend the wedding of Kshama on

13th Sept 1989, we took the opportunity of meeting Mr T S Ramaswamy and his
family for marriage alliance of Venkatesh with Sripriya. On 20th September
Venkatesh accepted the marriage alliance. Sripriya had completed her SSC at
Bhilai School and did her B.Sc (Botany) at Stella Maris College, Madras; staying
for three years in the hostel. She completed M. Sc (Chemistry) at Bhilai,
Ravishanker University. Mr T S Ramaswamy after completing his BTech (Elec)
from I.I.T. of the First batch at Kharagpur, worked with Bhilai Steel Plant, and
retired in the year 1987, having held the position of Asst. General Manager.
Later he worked as a Consultant for L&T-Projects Division at Bhilai for about
nine and half years. He moved out of Bhilai during the beginning of 2001 and

92
settled down at Sharda Apartments, Punkunnum, Trichur, being his native place.

On 18th Oct 89, formal engagement ceremony of Venkatesh with Sripriya

was conducted at Sreyas, Madras. Venkatesh could not join the function as he
could not get leave at his office. In March 90, Venka was transferred to IEL,
Bombay. On 20th May 1990, Venka married Sripriya at Kandimathi Kalyana
Mandapam, T-Nagar (Muhurtham 9-3- to 11-30 am). We had arranged for a
reception in the evening, when my friends and colleagues from the office attend
the same. Kshama/Manni, Gopal/Mahalakshmi, and their two daughters Priya
and Savita and Ananthan/Nirmala joined the wedding.

Figure 60: Venka and Priya's marriage 1990

93
 Figure 61: Venka - Priya reception

Venka and Sripriya moved to their flat

at Vashi, Navi Mumbai, in the month of May.
They both attend a reception at Bhilai on 7th
June. In July, I along with Pankajam and
Ganesh visit them at Vashi. Venka and Priya
spend their frist Diwali at Bhilai in October.
Figure 62: T S Ramaswamy's 60 Birthday 1991

In March 91, Sripriya‟s father celebrates his 60th birthday at Coimbatore,

when Pankajam, Ganesh and I attended. In the month of July, Venka joined
Madura Coates at Ambasamudram (near Tirunelveli) as Accounts Manager. In
September, Sripriya‟s brother Sridhar weds Jaya at Coimbatore, when self and
Ganesh join along with Venka and Sripriya.

94
 Figure 63: Sridhar, Jaya, Nandini and Sagar, 2010

In December, Pankajam along with

her father, Padma and children visit
Ambasamudram, at their company colony.
On 24th July 1993, Venka left for Bangkok,

to take up a new assignment as Financial

Controller, with President Park – estate
builders of Indian origin and on 28th
August, Sripriya joins him from Bhilai via
Calcutta.
Figure 64: Holiday at Ambasamudram
Figure 65: Venka leaving for Bangkok

95
 In July 95, Venkatesh booked a flat at Kences Enclave at T-Nagar by paying
the initial advance. We conduct the Grihapravesam at Kences in the month of
October. On 20th December 95, Sripriya delivers a baby girl (Ruchika) at
Bangkok Hospital. Priya could not join my 60th Birthday celebrations held on
10th February 96, at Madras. We both shift to Flat-2B, II Floor, Black-8,
Kences Enclave, 1-Ramakrishna Street, (close to North Usman Road) T-Nagar,
in the month of April 96. In the month of May, Sripriya arrived at Madras with
the baby along with her mother. On 25th May, Navagraha Homan was
performed at Kences flat with Ruchika, Vaishnavi, Priya and Deepa when
Kshama and Shrutha also joined. On 6th June, Sripriya with baby left for
Bangkok from Madras. Pankajam and myself made our first visit to Bangkok in
December 1996, to join the first birthday celebrations of Ruchika. Priya‟s parents
and brother Srikanth had come to Bangkok from Bhilai, earlier to our arrival.
Figure 66: First Bangkok trip 1996

Venka received us at the airport

in his Honda and drove us 45
minutes to his house, Villa Insaf,
where we were received by Sripriya.
A birthday party was organized on
22nd Dec, when friends of Venka
and Sripriya were invited – Ruchika
cut a cake around 6-00 pm. From

96
24th Dec to 30th Dec, we visited Pattaya Beach/ Coral island, “Eravan” temple
(dancing girls), Grand Palace, Buddha temple. Royal Lapidary (gem stone factory
and jewellery shop), temple tour including three main Buddha temples (reclining
Buddha with gold covering), „Seacon‟ stores – special laser show for X-mas,
Floating market etc.

Figure 67: Ruchika’s andiniravu, January

1997

Ruchika‟s star birthday was

celebrated on 6th Jan 97, in our
traditional way with local priest,
when their friends joined us for
lunch. Priya‟s parents and brother
returned to Calcutta on 18th
January.

On 19th, Ruchika was unwell and hence

admitted to hospital for two days. I delivered
a talk on MRP-II at Asia Hotel to the
members of Purchasing Management
Association of Thailand – a certificate of
participation was issued by them.

Figure 68: Lecture in Bangkok 1997

97
 On the 24th, we both visited the Rice Barge by boat cruise which was
really enjoyable. On 26th Jan, Venka gifted me a shirt on my birthday, followed
by a special lunch (rasmalai, mysorepak) at home. Venka, Priya and Ruchika saw
us off at the airport on 28th Jan, for our return to Chennai. Pankajam‟s father
greeted us at the airport.

In July 99, Venka was transferred to Singapore at Digital and promoted

as Finance Manager (Global Services). Venka and family spend a 2-week holiday
in Australia. In February 2000, Venka and family
went on a holiday to Phuket by cruise, arranged by
his company Compaq (changed from Digital)
During May-June 2000, we both visited
Singapore, for a 6-week holiday. We took the Air
India flight from Madras on 14th May and were
received at the airport by Venka, Sripriya and
Ruchika. We reached the flat on the 13th floor of
“Flame Tree Park”.

Figure 69: Flame Tree Park 2000

During our stay, we visited Orchard Road, Serangoon temples, “Mustafa”

Superstore, Mariamman Temple at Yishun. Being holiday on 18th May, being
Buddha Purnima, we all visited Sentosa Island and were thrilled at the cable car
drive over the sea. The special attraction was the “Musical Fountain” for the 7-
30 PM show. Our flat was very close to “Bishan” MRT station. Sripriya bought
98
Bus/Rail pass for both of us. Ruchu used to go by school bus to kindergarten. The
pre-school timing was 11 am to 2-15 pm from Monday to Friday. Venka used to
leave for his office –Compaq- by 8-30 am after breakfast and returned home late
in the evening by Toyota car. Venka/Priya celebrated their wedding anniversary
on 20th May. We visited Ayyappan temple in the morning and had dinner at
“Ganges” in Serangoon Road. On 22nd May, we received Sridhar, Kshama and
Shrutha at the airport and came home. On 27th May, being our wedding
anniversary day, we all went to Siva temple at Geylong in the morning and had a
special lunch at home. Venka/Sripriya presented
us a photo frame and Singapore curios. In the
evening, we visited “Suntech City Mall” with
five towers and a central fountain and food
courts. During our stay, we visited “IKEA” a
Swedish furniture mart, reservoir at Upper
Thomson Road, Jurong Bird Park and Singapore
Expo at Suntech.

Figure 70: Jurong Bird Park 2000

We all left for Malaysia by tourist bus and checked in to Hotel Noble, on
10th June. Next day, we took a tourist bus for a conducted tour to country
places, tin factory, boutique factory, typical Malay village house, curio factory,
Museum, Palace etc. Next day, we went to “Genting Highlands”, an hour up the
hill, by a special taxi. We covered Theme Park, Casino and returned to city by
evening and had a north Indian dinner at Sogo Mall. Next day, we visited
99
the famous “PETRONAS Twin Towers” having 84 floors and enjoyed sightseeing
from 41st floor. After having dinner at Mr Raman‟s house, we returned to
Singapore by night. On 16th June, we spent some time with Stuthi at her flat.
Next day, we received Ganesh, Deepa and Vaishnavi at the airport and all of us
along with Stuthi came home to celebrate Venka‟s birthday. On 23rd June, our
entire family members of Self, Venka and Ganesh spent a picnic dinner at a
reservoir and visited zoo for night Safari – a wonderful experience. Next day, we
all enjoyed the East Coast Park Beach, Clark Quay and boat ride on the river. On
25th June, we took our flight back to Chennai along with Vaishnavi, while
Ganesh and Deepa left for Bangkok on a holiday. Ruchika was in tears at the
airport to see off the guests. Ramanathan and Girija along with Nivedita
received Vaishnavi at the Chennai airport.

In the month of October 2001, Venka was promoted as Operations &

Finance Manager (Services), South East Asia at HP (Compaq merging with HP).
On 15th February 2002, Sripriya delivered a baby girl (Kritika) at Singapore and
the same month Venka completed his CPA exam of US. We both visited
Singapore during April-June 2002 and spent our 6-week holiday with Venka and
family at his flat at Bradell Hill. We took the Air India flight from Chennai on
21st April and we were received at Singapore airport by Venka, Sripriya,
Ruchika and baby Kritika and reached home on 23rd floor. A cake was cut in the
evening to celebrate Sripriya‟s birthday on 23rd April; we presented her a
Rajasthani sari while Venka gave her a Nokia Mobile phone. Ruchika was
studying Hindi and music.

100
 Figure 71: Singapore 2002

On 1st May, Pank,

Venka, Ruchika and self
visited National
University of Singapore
(NUS) to meet Chandru
and went round the
campus. On a Sunday evening, we all went to a nearby reservoir and we were
joined by their friend Seenu and his family and also Kausik (who was working at
Citibank). I took the opportunity of visiting one of Compaq‟s warehouses to
study the operations. HP merger with Compaq (60:40) was declared and Venka
attended series of meetings at his office. Ganesh arrived by Emirates from Dubai
on official work. Stuthi visited us on a stop over from Melbourne to Dubai and
joined us for dinner. After 3-days stay, Ganesh left for Chennai. As a routine,
every Saturday, I used to join Venka to drop
Ruchika for music class at Serangoon and return
after buying vegetables. On our wedding
anniversary, a T-shirt was presented to me and a
sari for Pankajam; we all had special lunch and
saw a movie “Kabi Kushi Kabhi Hum” at home.
We were seen off at Singapore airport on 2nd
June by Venka and Ruchu and got back home
after having dinner at Sreyas.
Figure 72: Ruchu with 6month old Kiku
101
 During December, Venka and family visited
Trichur and Chennai and celebrated Ruchu‟s birthday
at Kences Community Hall. We had invited relatives
and friends;. We had prepared few items at home and
ordered balance items from Mansukh sweet shop.
After retirement, Priya‟s parents settled down at their
native place, Punkunnam, Trichur, and were close to
mama‟s brother and his family. Figure 73: One year old Kiku
Figure 74: Kiku's 2nd birthday

On 6th March 2003, Mr T S Ramaswamy underwent

a bye-pass surgery at Apollo Hospitals, Chennai. Priya
along with Kritika visited Chennai. When my mother
expired on 15th July, Venka visited Chennai to join us for
the 10th day rituals. In December, Venka and family
visited Trichur and Chennai on a holiday. During that
visit, we spend a 5-day holiday at Kodaikanal and stay at
Sterling Resorts Guest House. Ruchu‟s birthday was
celebrated at Kences Hall on return from Kodai. In May 2004, Venka joints
NCR-Singapore as Finance Director for Asia-Pacific. Venkatesh and Ganesh join
us for my mother‟s Abdikam (completion of one year) in August. Venka and
family join us for Diwali in November. We all attended Srikanth‟s wedding
with Seetha at Bangalore, on 17th November.

102
 Figure 75:

Srikanth, Seetha and

Keerthi in 2009

In June 2005, along with Nirmala we left for Singapore on a 6-week

holiday. Venka received us at the airport and reached home at Flame Tree Park,
at Sin Min Avenue. We visited Ruchika‟s Bhavan‟s International School and did
some shopping at IKEA. We both used to travel by bus and attend satsang on
Sundays at SINDA, Serangoon, Nirmala, Pankajam and myself visited Sun Tech
Mall, Waterfalls, food courts, Carrefour shopping centre, Esplanade Hall
(Durian fruit shape) all by
bus and train which was a
good experience. Figure 76:

With Nirmala in Singapore, 2004

On Venka‟s birthday, we
celebrated at night by
home-made cake and
Nirmala had prepared special dishes for dinner. Priya took Nirmala to Malaysia

103
by train and spent two days, visiting tourist spots. We had to take care of
Ruchika and Kiku during Priya‟s absence from home. We both could also attend
to individual sitting with a preceptor by bus. Nirmala returned to Chennai after
three weeks stay at Singapore. We visited Hema‟s house and then Kausik‟s house
for evening tiffin. Venka and self attended Chandru‟s convocation at NUS, on
his completing Bachelor in Computer Engineering. Ruchika had her music classes
at SIFA on Sundays. We changed our programme to visit Hyderabad to attend
Master‟s 78th Birthday Celebrations and left Singapore on 23rd July.
Figure 77: Venka's family 2005

During October 2005, Venka shifts to a new

flat at “Anchorage” close to Bhavan‟s school.
During August 2006, Venka visits Chennai
to attend the 10th day rituals of Pankajam‟s
mother and is shocked to hear of Pankajam‟s
father‟s sad demise on the same day. Venka
joins the rituals.

In December, Venka and family

come on a holiday to Chennai, after
visiting Bangalore. We had a
dinner and cake cutting at GRT
Grand Hotel to celebrate Ruchika‟s
birthday. We had a group photo
taken at G K Vale.
Figure 78: Family photo in 2006
104
All of us visited Tirupathi, by engaging a car. Venka left for Singapore while
Priya and kids left for Trichur.
Figure 79: Our gift to Ruchika 2007

In March 2007, when Ruchika

matured, we presented her a gold chain
with diamond pendent and diamond ear
rings. During June, Venka and family
spend a holiday in Europe and also visited
Manchester to spend good time with
Ganesh and family.

Figure 80: Kiku in Scotland, 2007

Figure 81: Four sisters in UK

In the month of August,

Venka takes up a new
assignment as Services & Marketing Director. In the month of November, Seetha
Srikanth delivers a baby girl at Bangalore. As I was not well, a series of tests
were conducted during the first week of December and we decided to spend a
105
holiday at Singapore, for a change. We both left for Singapore by Air-India
Express on 19th December and I asked for wheel chair both at Chennai and
Singapore airport. We had also taken “Seragem” equipment for use at Singapore.
We were received at Singapore airport by Venka, Ruchika and Kritika. Ruchika‟s
12th birthday was celebrated with cake cutting at home. We used to attend
Sunday Satsangs at SINDA in Serangoon and individual sittings with Br.
Jayakumar at Red Hills. Ruchika was busy practicing “Gita Verses” for a
competition. Venka gave X-mas gifts to all of us. Since my BP was high we
requested Hema, who was on holiday in India, to bring additional medicines. We
used to spend time at the swimming pool in the evenings while Kiku took her
swimming lessons. Priya was working as a teacher in Bhavan‟s School. Kiku use
to take the school bus to go to school. In most days, I used to see her off in the
school bus in the morning and receive her in the afternoon.

Figure 82: Singapore 2007

The servant maid at home used to take

care of all work. One evening, along with
Venka, Ruchika and Kritika, we went to
Bughis. Except me, all went up in a
balloon and enjoyed the scene. On my
birthday, Priya had prepared a special
“rava kesari cake” for me to cut. We attended Ruchika‟s chanting of Chapter 2
of Gita in a competition and by evening we came to know that she got the 3rd
prize and later got an award.
106
Figure 83: Ruchika winning Gita Competition 2008

In the evening, Venka took all of us for Dinner at Hotel

Raj. On return from Mumbai, Venka brought garlic pods
sent by Gopal. As my BP was not under control, Venka
took me to their family doctor, Chang, who changed one
medicine. We both attended a full day program at
SINDA being Lalaji‟s birthday. Ruchika and her friend Amritha got first prize
in the group singing competition of Papanasam Sivan Music competition. On
Chinese Day, we all had lunch at Sreeni/Hema‟s house. Kiku‟s birthday was
celebrated at Anchorage Party Room. Many of her friends joined and had many
games. Chandru, Chitra/Ram joined the party. Venka and Priya saw us off at
Singapore airport on 17th Feb 2008. At Chennai, we came home after having
lunch at Sreyas. Venka becomes a proud owner of new
Toyota Camry car. In the month of July, Vijayan, Indira
and Jayendra left for Singapore and they have lunch at
Venka‟s house. Ruchika wins in a singing competition
and receives an award at the Annual Day. She also sings
a Hindi Film Song from “Chameli” for ZEE TV
Carnival. Figure 84: Ruchika , Global Indian Idol in school 2008

In December, Venka and family come to Chennai

from Trichur. We all went for “Varanam Ayiram”, a Tamil movie at Mayajal
Complex and had dinner at Taj Hotel to celebrate Ruchika‟s birthday. We
presented her a Harry Potter and new dresses to both Ruchika and Kritika. They

107
left for Singapore by end of the month.

Figure 85: Priya and children, Anchorage

During the month of February 2009,

Venka visited Chennai on way to Bangalore
on duty. In the month of May, Venka was
happy to get a change in HP as Marketing &
Business Development Director, Financial
Services, for Asia Pacific & Japan. In the
month of November, he had a change as Sales
Director - Financial Services.

Figure 86: Venka with his colleagues 2009

108
 In December, Venka comes to Chennai for a 2-day stay on return from
Mumbai on official work. During his stay, we took him to SRCM Ashram at
Manapakkam. Later, Venka and
family spent a holiday in
Hongkong.

Figure 87: Priya's parents 2010

In January 2010, Priya‟s

parents visit Singapore and return
by second week of March to
Trichur via Chennai. We both left
for Singapore on 24th April by
Tiger Airways and were received by Venka and Kiku at the airport. This time,
Venka had booked our air tickets and arranged for visa “on-line” and sent it to us
in advance. We used to attend Sunday Satsang at Tamil Association Hall at
Serangoon and individual sittings at the same Centre. We used to travel
conveniently by bus – Anchor Point to Serangoon. We had carried the “tower” to
practice daily exercises for my back/neck pain. On 30th April, we spent the whole
day at SRCM Centre to celebrate Babuji‟s 111th Birthday. Kausik and family
visited us one evening. Sreeni and family were invited for dinner on the eve of
their leaving Singapore to take up a job with Oracle at Bangalore, when Kiku
had prepared a special desert for the dinner. At his new job, Venka is very busy
with international calls at odd hours and frequent tours, including China. On
22nd May, Venka took us out for Dinner at “Yantra” to celebrate their 20th
109
Wedding Anniversary. We presented a Pattu sari to Priya, which she very much
liked. A fish tank with 8 fishes was installed and Kiku was thrilled. She was
unwell for nearly two weeks due to cold and fever. It was then decided to
abandon the “fish tank”

Sripriya had completed the degree in Bachelor in Education (B. Ed) and
was employed in a school as a teacher while they were at Bangkok and got good
experience. After coming to Singapore, she joined as a teacher for class 1 in the
same school that Ruchika and Kritika attended, from the year 2007. She took
interest in studying for Montessori system of teaching and passed the exam in the
year 2009. Her teaching assignment took much of her time every week from
Monday to Saturday, with heavy load of assignments and class work. However,
her work was well appreciated at the school and she was selected for the 3-day
workshop training at Dubai. On return from Dubai, Priya gave a gift to
Pankajam – 5grm gold coin.

On 8th June, Priya and Kiku left for Trichur and returned after 10 days.
We get news that Kausik get surgery done for „slip-disc‟ at Apollo Hospitals,
Chennai. I had a severe pack pain for about a week. Venka‟s birthday on 17th
June was celebrated – he cut a cake in the evening and we had mangoes for
“desert”. Pank had prepared special lunch for the day. We presented a formal
shirt and a T-shirt to him. We also gave dresses to both Ruchika and Kiku.
Venka had gone to US on official work, for one week. On 3rd July, Venka, Priya
and Kiku had come to the airport to see us off and we took the Tiger airways.
Received by Deepa at the Chennai airport, we came home in the evening
110
after having lunch at Vijayan‟s house. In the month of September, Venka gets
posted as Head of Finance at HP.

Figure 88: Venka and Priya 2010

Figure 89: Ruchu-Kiku ,2010

111
 Table 5: T S Ramaswamy Family
Names RLT DOB Star Gothram DOM

T S Ramaswamy 24-3-1931 Karthikai Aupamanya 5-2-1961

Mangalam R W 1-7-1941 Anusham

Sripriya Venkat D 23-4-1967 Chitirai 20-5-1990

R Venkateswaran SIL 17-6-1963 Aswathi Haritha

Ruchika R GD 20-12-1995 Anusham

Kritika R GD 15-2-2002 Poorathadhi

Sridhar T R S 15-11-1962 Thiruvathirai Aupamanya 12-9-1991

Jaya Sridhar DIL 8-3-1968 Makeeram

Nandini GD 28-11-1999 Ayilyam

Sagar GS 10-2-2004 Hastam

Srikanth T R S 1-8-1974 Pooram Aupamanya 17-11-2004

Seetha S DIL 17-6-1979 Uthrathadi

Keerthi GD 10-11-2007 Vishakam

112
 Section 11: Ganesh
My second son Mohan was born on 19 February 1967 in Calcutta.
After a short stay there, Pankajam, Kannan and Mohan took a flight from
Calcutta to Madras and I received them at the airport. We took a night train to
Ernakulam. On my transfer to Binny‟s Engineering Works, we came to Madras
in June 1970 and stayed there in my maternal uncle‟s (Anantharama Iyer) house
in T-Nagar. After two days, we moved to a flat on the first floor of Madhavan
Nair Colony, Nungambakkam. Mohan met with an accident and fell down from
the first floor. Luckily, he only got a minor injury! We rushed him to Dr.
Sunderaraman in T-Nagar.

In August 1970, Kannan and Mohan joined Navina School, which

was very close to our house in Madhavan Nair Colony. In June 1971, we moved
to a flat on the first floor of Porur
Somasundara Mudali Street (very close to
North Usman Road and Kodambakam
Suburban Railway Station). Then, Kannan
and Mohan joined Bharath School, (near
Woodlands Drive-In Hotel). We were not
happy with the school and wanted them to
join Padma Seshadri in Nungambakkam.
Mohan joined a course on karate in a nearby
centre. He also got a cycle to go to school.
Figure 90: Ganesh, Karate 1976
113
Figure 91 &92: Ganesh Upanayanam 1978

114
 On 29th January 1978, we celebrated the “Upanayanam” of Ganesh
in the same Hall at Madras, which was well attended by all our relatives. After I
joined Audco on May 1978, we moved to flat in Kamdar Nagar in September
1978. Mohan passed to VI standard. After the exams in April 1979, all four of
us had our first holiday in Kodaikanal. We travelled by AC First class which was
a thrill for Kannan and Mohan!! (Their names were changed to Venkatesh and
Ganesh later.)
As I did not have much time to spare, Pankajam took full care of the
education of Venkatesh and Ganesh, for example: she used to help them with
their studies on a daily basis. They were sent to special classes to learn Hindi at
the Hindi Prachar Sabha. Both of them passed their exams. I could spend time
with them only during the night (when I used to tell them fictional stories) and
they used to listen to them with great interest.

Figure93: Ganesh in PSBB 1978

115
 We moved to another flat in Ashok Nagar in September 1981. Ganesh used
to attend his classes in Nungambakkam by taking the bus from Ashok Nagar. In
June 1982, he passed X Standard with 78% and a 3rd rank in his school. We
gave a treat to Ganesh for his brilliant performance in his school exams, with
snacks and ice-cream at the Nala Restaurant (Opposite Music Academy).
Pankajam‟s parents also joined us.

In April 1984, Ganesh appeared for the Joint Entrance Exam for IIT
(Indian Institute of Technology). On 17th May 1984, we got the good news of
Ganesh passing 12th Standard CBSE obtaining 92% and standing 8th in All
India ranking. He was 1st rank at his school. Indeed a great achievement!! On
19th May, we had a dinner party for him in Hotel Palmgrove, and Kshama and
her mother joined us. We got the second good news
when Ganesh passed IIT – JEE, obtaining 229th
rank. It was all excitement and celebrations at home!
On 28th June 1984, Ganesh got admission to IIT –
Madras, in Mechanical stream.

After discussion, we decided that Ganesh

should join hostel to get better exposure. Thus on 8
July 1984 he occupied Ganga Hostel. On 31stAug
1984, Ganesh received the Rolling Cup from the
school for his achievements. In June 1985, we
enjoyed a 3-weekholiday at Kodaikanal, staying at
Audco Guest House.
Figure 94: Rolling cup for first in school for 12th std. 116
 Figure 95: Ganga Hostel
Figure 96: Ganesh with friends in IIT

In July 1987, Ganesh completes two weeks of industrial training in Audco.

In March 1988, Ganesh attends IIM interview in Hyderabad and joins IIM
(Indian Institute of Management) Bangalore on 1st July 1988. On 29th July
1988, Ganesh receives his BTech Certificate at IIT Convocation. We both
attended this prestigious function at IIT campus. In July 88, he joins IIM at
Bangalore and stays in their hostel. Ganesh had applied to various US
Universities and completed the GRE exams. However, a final decision was
taken, not to take up MS at North Carolina University, where he received
admission and internship. On 18 March 1990, Ganesh receives his Post Graduate
Diploma in Business Management (PGDBM) at the IIM-Bangalore
Convocation, with a gold medal in Systems. This was an important turning point
for his career. After completing campus interviews, Ganesh takes up an offer from
Citibank and joins Bombay office for training in April 1990.

In July 1990, Ganesh left for Bangkok for a 3-week training of Citibank

117
and enjoyed the holiday as well. In August 1992, Ganesh left for Guam for
training. He worked at Citibank, Madras till he was transferred to Dubai in
1993. He used to attend office on Mount Road using the scooter at home. In
April 1992, Pankajam, Ganesh and I enjoyed a holiday at Audco guest house at
Kodaikanal. Inspite of initial plans, Venkatesh and Sripriya could not join us. .

On Feb 1993, Ganesh was promoted as Manager at Citibank, Madras. We

were in the lookout for a suitable marriage alliance for Ganesh. Mr C V
Ramanathan used to visit Audco as representative of a supplier. In one of our
meetings, he enquired about Ganesh for marriage alliance. On 28th March 1993,
we visited C V Ramanathan‟s house at Prithvi Avenue, Abhiramapuram, to meet
Deepa and in the same evening Ganesh approves her. We understand that Deepa
had completed her Higher Secondary (12th) at Good Shepherd Convent,
Nungambakkam and BA at Stella Marys College. She had also completed Inter
Exam of Institute of Cost & Works Accountants (ICWA). She had a passion for
music and dance, from her young days and was trained in Bharatanatyam by
Adyar Lakshman. A native of Chelakkara, Trichur District in Kerala, Mr
Ramanathan did his Mechanical Engineering Graduation in 1965 at Trichur
Engineering College, Kerala University. He further completed his PGDM (MBA)
in 1967 from Indian Institute of Management, Calcutta and started his career at
Enfield India Ltd. Madras. After eight years he started his own organisation,
Inmnac Services, to represent Indo Shell Group of Companies, Coimbatore,
Fairfield Mfg Co, Mumbai and Super Auto Group, Faridabad, to take after their
interests in Chennai.

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 On 5th May 1993, Ganesh‟s engagement with Deepa was conducted at
Sreyas, Ashok Nagar. In June, Ganesh visits Dubai on official work. On 4th July
1993, the wedding “nischiathartam” was held at the prestigious AVM Rajeswari
Hall, Mylapore. Many of our relatives including Venkatesh/Priya, NVS
Mani/Lakshmi, Manni and Sridhar/Kshama join us from outstation.

On 5th July, the wedding was celebrated at the Hall. The evening reception was
well attended by my Audco colleagues and friends. It was a grand event. Ganesh
and Deepa went for
honeymoon at Audco
Guest House in
Kodaikanal. On 29th
August, Ganesh left to
Dubai along on transfer
along with Deepa.

Figure 97: Our family at Ganesh’s

wedding 1993

Figure 98: With Deepa’s parents

119
 We planned our first visit to Dubai (and outside India) in February 1995,
via Bombay. We spent two days at Bombay to meet our relatives and took the
evening Emirates flight. On arrival, we were given a special welcome by Ganesh
and Deepa and went to their flat at “Golden Sands”. During our three week
holiday, we visited many interesting places including, Burjuman, Choitram,
Ramada Hotel and Gold Souk where we bought gold jewellery. We also had a
long car drive to cover Burdubai, Diera, Jumeira, Amrita, Corniche, Trade Centre,
Makhtoum Bridge, Hyatt Hotel, Dubai Metropolitan, Crown Plaza, Alghurair
Centre and Wafi shopping mall. Deepa‟s relative Ranganathan took us for a 30
minute drive in his car to Sharjah and we joined them for dinner. We had a
wonderful family get-together at Safa Park with dinner. During this period,
Deepa was working as an Executive at Eagle Star Insurance Co. Ganesh cut two
cakes for his birthday, when many of his friends joined.

Figure 99: Ganesh's birthday 1994

120
 I had a very minor accident. I slipped in the bathroom and had a cut on the
forehead and was rushed to a nearby clinic by Deepa. The same evening, I
delivered a lecture on MRP-II and JIT Production to Executives of Algurg
Fosrock Co, arranged by Vishwanathan. We returned to Chennai via Bombay
after spending a wonderful holiday.

In May 1995, Ganesh booked a flat at Fairmont Gardens, Manapakkam.

On 26th January 1996, Deepa‟s seemantham was celebrated at Madras. On 10th
February 1996, Deepa and Ganesh join my 60th birthday celebrations. On 17th
March 1996, Deepa delivers a baby girl at Isabella Hospital, Madras. She was
called Vaishnavi. They both left for Dubai in June.

Figure 100: Vaishnavi, 2 months old

On 28th Aug 96, Deepa‟s

grandmother expired at Chennai after a
brief illness. Deepa and Vaishnavi came
from Dubai to Madras to join the rituals.
They also attend Sandhya‟s wedding in
September. In the month of October,
Ganesh gets promoted as Resident VP at
Citibank, Dubai and gets a Toyota Car. In
Dec 96, we perform the “Grihapravesam”
for the new flat, in Fairmont Gardens. On

121
15th April 98, Deepa delivers a baby girl, Nivedita.

In December 1998, we left for our second trip to Dubai. After

having lunch at Sreyas, we took Air India flight and were received by Ganesh,
Deepa and the children at Dubai airport. Ganesh took us to their new flat in
their new car, Nissan Maxima. During our four weeks stay, we visited a
shopping mall (Lamcy Plaza) and Gold Souk where Ganesh set the stone we
gifted into a ring and bought bangles for Pankajam..

We had a long car drive covering Hamria, Mamzar Park and Jumeira
Beach. We also visited the 6-sar Chicago Beach Hotel and Lulu Supermarket,
where Ganesh presented us with an
“answering machine”. Ganesh was
designated as VP-Operations and had
holidays on Fridays. During Ramadan
festival, Ganesh had one week holiday.
He took us on a long car drive (150
KM) to Khorfarkan, Masafi, Dibba,
Fujairah, Friday market etc. We also
visited Abudhabi (a 150 km drive)
through an excellent highway.

Figure 101: With Vaishnavi and Nivedita 1998

On New Year‟s Day, after having a special lunch at home, we left for
another 150 km drive to Jebel Hafeet Zoo and Al Ain Fun city, when families of
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Sridhar and Vichu joined us. We also visited the house of Krishnan/Akilandam
(Nirmala‟s relatives) at Sharjah. We used to enjoy chats at “Bombay
Chowpathy”. On return in January 99, Vaishnavi joined us; the flight was
delayed and got diverted to Mumbai and finally landed at Madras. Ramanathan
and Girija had come to the airport to take Vaishnavi home with them.

In March 99, Ganesh and Deepa went for a 3-week holiday to Europe
(Vaishnavi and Nivedita were at Prithvi). Nivedita‟s first birthday was
celebrated at Swamy‟s Hall in Chennai. We get the good news that Ganesh was
promoted as Vice President, Citibank at Dubai. Kausik joined Asian Institute of
Technology at Bangkok for completing MBA.

Figure 102: Nivedita’s

birthday 1999

During
February 2000,
Ganesh goes to
London for three
weeks. Vaishnavi
becomes ill and needs
a hernia operation.
Girija visits Dubai to help. We had anxious moments about her health. However,
soon Vaishnavi performs on stage for a dance programme as Krishna.

123
Ganesh goes in for the prestigious Mercedes
Benz Car in May 2001. During the month
of June, Ganesh, Pankajam, Vaishnavi,
Nivedita and I, visit Tirupathi by a special
van. On 29th July 2001, Vaishnavi
performs a dance programme in Chennai and
wins the Best dancer‟s award from
Nrithyopasana. Ganesh attends a one week
course of “Art of Living” in Bangalore.
Deepa‟s dance group has a dance
programme at Indian Consulate in Dubai.
Ganesh gets ten-year service certificate and
gold coin of 10gms from Citibank Figure 103: Vaishnavi as Krishna 2001

During Feb 2002, we both left for our third visit to Dubai on 8-week
holiday. We attend the dance programme of Dhananjayan and Shanta at Indian
School. We all left for Muscat a 5-hr drive to cover 450 km and stayed in a
Hotel. We enjoyed dolphin watching and after having lunch at Arun‟s house,
(Deepa‟s relative) we visited Qantab Beach, Bustan Palace Hotel, Rose Gardens
and had dinner at SS Venkat‟s house. At Dubai, Sthuthi was working for
Emirates and joins us for lunch. We also attend a music concert of Unnikrishnan
at Hotel Renaissance. We visit Dubai Festival in Global Village, Alguhrair
University, Creek Park and also an evening programme in Nivedita‟s school. On
Women‟s Day, Deepa had submitted Pankajam‟s application in a programme and

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Pankajam won an award.

Figure 104: Pankajam, Dubai

Women’s Day Award, 2002

Figure 105: Dubai creek 2002

We also attended the

dance programme of Deepa‟s 12 students (includes Vaishnavi and Nivedita) at
the Indian pavilion of the Global village. Vaishnavi‟s birthday party was
celebrated in a park where 30 school friends joined them. Ganesh took us to an
exhibition of Persian carpets and bought one small size carpet for Pankajam.
Ganesh also took us to Abudhabi by car, to visit Russian Embassy for his visa
and visit Anand (son of Leela of Nanganallur). Ganesh leaves for Russia via
London on duty for two weeks. I take the opportunity of attending a 5-day
training programme of IRR on “Materials Management” at the Hotel Towers
Rotana. We visit Fujairah, a three hour drive by car and enjoy the beach and
Hilton hotel. Sthuthi comes home and joins us for a visit to Jumairah Beach and
7-star, Hotel Burj Al Arab. We returned to Chennai on 12th April 02.

125
 Figure 106: Ganesh's family, 2002

In June 02, Ganesh joins the “Art of

Living” classes at T-Nagar. In the month of
July, Ganesh, Deepa, Pankajam, the children
and I take a trip to Kerala to visit temples.
Kausik gets engaged to Meenu at Sagar,
where Ganesh and family join the function.
In January 2003, Deepa‟s father 60th
birthday is celebrated in a grand five day
function with Maharudram in their house
(Prithvi Avenue) when Ganesh and family
join. On 24th January, the seventh day,
Kausik gets married to Meenakshi at Chennai. In June, Ganesh and family visit
Singapore on a holiday. Deepa performs a solo dance at Dubai in December.

In January 2004, Ganesh gets a transfer to Citibank at Manchester (UK)

for the position of Director, Transaction Services & Technology. Deepa and the
children come to Madras along with Girija after winding up at Dubai and left
for Manchester in February. In July, Ganesh joins my mother‟s abdikam at home.

We both left in August 2004 for Manchester via Dubai (Emirates flight)
on an 8-week holiday. At Dubai, we had to rush from Gate No 4 to Gate No 38,
to take the flight to Manchester. Ganesh, Deepa and the children received us at
the airport and drove home to Didsbury by a blue Toyota Lexus car. It was twin
block three story house having; Living room, Kitchen, Dining room and one
126
bathroom on the ground-floor, two bed rooms, two bathrooms and washing room
on first-floor and two more bed rooms and one bathroom on second-floor. All the
rooms have radiators to fight the cold weather. Ganesh took us to the house of Dr
Naren, a preceptor of SRCM for individual sitting for himself and Pankajam.

We all visited Birmingham to join the India Independence Day at Indian

Consulate and we also went to the Balaji temple on our return to Manchester.
Vaishnavi and Nivedita had school holidays and we could spend more time with
them playing many games and enjoying seeing movies at home. We visited City
Centre and TESCO (supermarket).

All of us went on a one-day trip to London by car, covering 200 miles in 4

hrs. We visited London Bridge (over River Thames), Tower of London, Big Ben
(Clock Tower), Parliament Palace, Trafalgar Square, Hyde Park, Regent Street,
Oxford Street, Westminster Abbey, Albert Memorial, Piccadilly Circus and the
Jewel House. During our stay, we really enjoyed visiting Tatton Park, Didsbury
Gardens and Mary Louis Gardens (enjoying the wonderful weather). We
experienced a visit to the 6th largest shopping mall in the UK (Trafford Centre).
Ganesh took us on a 2-hr drive to The Lake District National Park, a holiday
resort with greenery and lakes surrounding it. We also spent some time at the
Exhibition of a famous children‟s author, Beatrix Potter. Manchester High
School for Girls reopened in the first week of September – Vaishnavi was in 4th
class while Nivedita in 2nd class. Normally, Ganesh would drop them off at
school on his way to office and we used to pick them up in the evening and return
by a public bus. In many of our car trips, Deepa had to stay back just to
127
accommodate three at the back seat of the car. We visited Liverpool (a 45
minutes drive by car) Cathedral, Albert Docks, Sunlight Village of Lever Brothers
and had tiffin with Gautam (son of NML of Audco).

We also visited Knowsley Safari Park, driving in the open area when
animals came close to the car (two monkeys sitting on the bonnet). Deepa
conducted music classes for children at home on Friday evenings and dance class
at Oldham on Saturdays. During our stay, we joined the family for Gayatri
Japam, Sama Veda Upakarma and Vinayaka Chaturthi. We could never forget
our trip to “Cadbury World” (a one hour drive from home). We visited the factory
and assorted factory shop.

We had the opportunity of visiting the 100 yr old “Quarry Bank Mill”. The
looms were being run by the shaft
which was run by the velocity of
the river water. We enjoyed an
evening dance programme of five
girls, a Kathak dance programme
at The Lowry and an English
Drama at the Opera House. We
had a two-hour drive to Cheshire
– the city of Romans. We returned
to Chennai on 4th Oct thus
completing our eventful holiday.
Figure 107: Ganesh's family in 2005

128
 In July 2005, Vaishnavi performed her arangetram at
Music Academy. This was well attended and appreciated. In
August, Deepa and the girls had five dance programmes in
Thanjavur
and Chennai.

Figure 108: Vaishnavi's arangetram

Figure 109: Bharatiya Vidya Bhawan .Chennai, 2005
Figure 110:: Party during my 70th birthday

129
 During January 2006, I receive greetings from Singapore and Manchester,
being my 70th birthday; I also receive a special flower bouquet and cake from
Ganesh and Deepa. On my star birthday, Ganesh arranges a party at home with
high tea for close relatives on 22nd January, during his visit to Chennai.

Figure 111: Party during my 70th birthday

In September, Deepa was very useful when the rituals were conducted on
the expiry of Pankajam‟s mother and father. Ganesh was promoted as Head of
Cards for Europe, Middle East & Africa. In December, Ganesh purchases his
house at Manchester.

In March 2007, Ganesh contributes Rs 50,000 for the purchase of

“Seragem” equipment for thermal therapy. In June, Venka and family were on a
holiday to UK, where they visited Manchester and Scotland with Ganesh and
family. In July, Ganesh joins us for Master‟s 80th Birthday celebrations at
130
Tiruppur and on return, presents a
Phillips DVD Player to view
SRCM DVD “He the Hookah”.
Figure 112: At Swamimalai, 2007

During their visit, we all

had a holiday in Swamimalai near
Kumbakonam and we could spend
more time with them. Deepa and
kids joined us to visit Bangalore and attend the “Grihapravesam” function of
Sanath‟s house in August. We took the opportunity of bringing Deepa and the
children to the Ashram and we were fortunate to meet Master at his cottage.
Deepa received her first sitting from Master. Ganesh books a flat for 3.5 Cr in the
posh area of Poes Gardens, near Stella Mary‟s College.

We planned our second holiday to Manchester during April 2008. We took

a morning Emirates flight with a four hours transit at Dubai. Ganesh received us
at the airport and we reached home by 9-00 PM (local time). All of us along with
Mr & Mrs. Shailesh enjoyed a choir programme in a church in Warrington, when
Vaishnavi and Nivedita joined the choir on stage. Ganesh used to take both of us
to Sunday Satsang at SRCM centre. We joined Nivedita for her birthday
celebrations with her friends at the Trafford Centre. Pankajam gives dresses to
Vaish and Veda. Ganesh normally works from home, mostly attending conference
calls. The children were attending school and keeping themselves busy with cello,

131
piano, dance and choir practices during the
week and weekends. We joined in Babuji‟s
birthday celebrations at SRCM centre.
Figure 113: Spring 2008, Manchester

We all attended the special dance

programme of Priya Govind at the Lowry
and Vaishnavi and Nivedita had a dance
programme at Liverpool. On Mother‟s day,
the kids arrange a special programme at
home and gifted a hand bag to Pankajam.
We also attended a cello competition at
Alderly Edge Festival (where the children participated) and a dance programme
of theirs at Chorlton Community Club. We visited their school to watch
Nivedita‟s Music Makers Competition where she won a prize.

Shailesh along with Ganesh visited Denmark (via London) to participate

in a Seminar where Master was there. Ganesh and Deepa selected a shirt and
pant for me at Marks & Spencers. Deepa took us on a long drive to Cheshire
Oaks and bought a set of ceramic plates as gift to Ananthan and Nirmala for
their Grihapravesam of their flat. We proceeded to Llandudno Pebble Beach in
North Wales. It was very cold weather accompanied by heavy wind. On our
Wedding anniversary day, we received gifts; shirt and Pant for me and a flask for
Pankajam. Ganesh gave us pens with our initials with a photo session.

132
 Figure 114: Llandudno Pebble Beach

Figure 115: Wedding Anniversary 2008

Vaishnavi and Nivedita

showed us around The Imperial War
Museum and all of us joined for
dinner at the house of Mr. Sinha.
Along with Shaileshs and his
parents, all of us went to Newcastle

upon Tyne where we stayed

Mayank‟s house. We had a
wonderful time there including
playing billiards. The next day,
Ganesh, Deepa, Pankajam and I
went to Edinburgh visiting the
famous castle and”Dynamic Earth”.
We also went to Liverpool where
we visited The Hope University to attend a key note address by India‟s former
President, Abdul Kalam. On Father‟s Day, the children gave gifts to me and
Ganesh. The same evening, along with other friends, all of us enjoyed a movie,
“Dasavatharam”. Ganesh took us to the famous Manchester United Stadium and
their store. Ganesh gave two “reclining seats” to Pankajam for use during
meditation. We gave a silk sari for Deepa and a shirt for Ganesh on their 15th
wedding anniversary. We got back to Chennai by end of June.

133
Figure 116: Father's day celebration 2008 Figure 117: Autograph from Abdul Kalaam
Figure 118: Group photo 2010

134
 In July and August, Ganesh and family spent a four week holiday in USA.
They visited the houses of our relatives – Ramachandran, Venkat and Madhu.
Deepa‟s father arranged to sell off Ganesh‟s flat at Fairmont Gardens for 45 L.
In September, the financial crisis in US was reported. This also affected
Citibank, which was later bailed out by the US government. Kausik and family
spent a holiday in Manchester. Deepa‟s parents also join them for Diwali.

On May 2009, we get the good news that Vaishnavi has matured. To mark
this, Deepa‟s parents visit Kences with gold and silver jewellery along with
sweets, for Vaishnavi. The items included a coral necklace, gold ring, bangles,
diamond ring, silver flower basket, plate, glasses and a sari along with a makeup
set. We present Vaishnavi, a garnet with zircon necklace, earrings and bracelet.
Ganesh comes from Manchester to join us to visit Tiruppur and attend Master‟s
83rd Birthday on 24th July.
Figures 119 – 121: Vaishnavi’s gifts

135
 In the 5th Anniversary celebration of Upasana in September, Deepa and
her students performed a grand song and dance programme in Manchester.
Upasana is a non-profit UK based group formed in 1994 by Deepa and is a
cultural experiment in South Asian arts. It organizes a series of workshops and
classes to serve as a centre for excellence in Bharatanatyam. Upasana‟s activities
are funded from annual grants awarded by Government and various other charity
organisations.

In October 09, Vaishnavi joins us in Chennai to continue her UK

curriculum from India. We select a dress for Vaishnavi for Diwali. Vaishnavi
passes Piano Exam with distinction and wins the gold cup for coming first. We
celebrate this with a movie. In the month of December Ganesh and family, along
with Deepa‟s parents, thatha and Kausik‟s family left for Palghat for Nurani
Shasthapreethi where Nivedita‟s arangetram is conducted. Kshama‟s mother and
daughter Shrutha also joins them for the function. Vaishnavi and Nivedita also
perform a dance at Guruvayoor temple. Kausik goes to Palghat for an ayurvedic
treatment (puzhichal) for his hip problem. Vaishnavi joins them on return to
Manchester.

In the month of February 2010, Vaishnavi comes alone with Emirates

escort, back to Chennai and we meet her at the airport. On the same night
Deepa‟s father gets admitted to Apollo Hospital and undergoes a major operation
for a blood clot in the head and gets discharged after ten days. Ganesh gets his
UK citizenship, a milestone in his life. Vaishnavi who had gone to get her
citizenship gets caught in UK because of the ash cloud erupting from a
136
volcano in Iceland. She returns only in May to India. On 14th June, Kausik gets
a surgery done for a „slip-disc‟ in his back in Apollo Hospital, Chennai.

In June, we also got news from Deepa that she met with a car accident.
Although she is ok, their car was written off. On the 5th of July, Ganesh came
from Bangalore after attending 20 years celebration of IIM Alumni‟s 1990 batch.
Deepa and Nivedita direct from Manchester. On 5th July, Ganesh and Deepa
celebrate their wedding anniversary. All of us are invited by Kausik for a
celebration at Park Sheraton. We present and ARY golden Taj Mahal for them.
After a very relaxing holiday at Yelagiri, on July 16th Ganesh performs
Grihapravesam for his flat at Poes Garden.
Figure 122: Grihapravesam, Poes Garden

137
 Figure 123: Ganesh’s family, 2010

After conducting her two

student‟s arangetrams,
Deepa along with
Vaishnavi and Nivedita
perform in Trichur where
we join her. In December,
Deepa completes her MA
in South Asian Studies.
Her dissertation elucidated how the Indian
diaspora in UK engaged with Bharatanatyam
to explore and express their identity.
Figure 124: Deepa’s convocation 2010

Figure 125: Yelagiri 2010

138
 Table 6: C.V. Ramanathan Family
Names RLT DOB STAR GOTHRAM DOM

C V Ramanathan 25-1-1943 Puram Kausika 2-12-1970

Girija R W 7-9-1951 Visakam

Deepa Ganesh D 26-9-1972 BHARANI 5-7-1993

R Ganesh SIL 19-2-1967 MRIGASEESHAM HARITHA

Vaishnavi GDR 17-3-1996 AVITTAM

Nivedita GDR 15-4-1998 ANUSHAM

Kausik S 11-12-1976 Aayilyam Kausika 24-1-2003

Meenakshi DIL 27-12-1980 Puram

Sarvesh GS 25-2-2006 Uthradam

M.H.Gopalakrishnan FIL 8-4-1917 Hastam Bharadwaja 3-6-1942

139
 Section 12: Audco
Audco India Limited was a 50:50% joint venture between
Larsen & Toubro Limited and Audco Valves Ltd of UK. They had established a
modern factory at Manapakkam on the Mount-Poonamalee Road, Madras. The
main business was design, manufacture and supply of industrial valves for
process industries. They held technical collaborations with many international
valve companies. I reported for duty on 3rd May 1978 as Assistant Manager,
Purchase with Mr M R Gangolli, Materials Manager. Initially, I had my doubts
on assimilating into the L&T culture and my acceptance into the company. I was
using my scooter to attend the office. I was eligible to have a car as per company‟s
car scheme. I joined the Bharath Driving Institute at Nungambakkam and got
my driving license by first week of July. I was also eligible for a leased
accommodation and we moved to a two-bed room first floor flat at Kamdar
Nagar near Mahalingapuram on Ganesh Chaturthi, 5th September. The famous
playback singer S P Balasubramanian (SPB) and his sister Shailaja were staying
very close to our flat. I purchased a Dyanora TV, a sofa set and Atlas cycle for
Ganesh. I selected a second hand Ambassador Car (TMX 5477) in the month of
April 79 and started taking the car to the office with the assistance of a
temporary driver.

At the office, I settled down in one year and moved to a cabin.

I had six buyers and a secretary to assist me. My responsibilities included
finalization of purchase contracts and procurement of castings, forgings,

140
fasteners, packing etc for the manufacture of various sizes and types of valves. I
had to officially visit various locations like Coimbatore, Bombay, Ahmedabad,
and Bhavnagar. The office timing was 8-30 am to 5-30 pm on Mondays to
Fridays and 8-30 am to 1-00 pm on Saturdays, the factory was operating in two
shifts from 6-00am to 10-30 pm. I used to have breakfast at home and have
excellent buffet lunch at the company. I enjoyed the discipline and work culture
of the company. One day, I had a wonderful experience. While I was working
late in the evening, my Chief Executive, Mr R K Gupta, passed through my cabin
and on seeing me, came in and asked me, “Hope everything is fine at home?” I
said, “Yes.” He continued, “Why are you, then, at the office at 6-30 pm?” (He
expected everybody to leave the office by 5-30 pm) I had to explain that I was
collecting certain papers for my next day visit to Coimbatore!

I continued to be active at the Madras Branch of the Indian

Institute of Materials Management (IIMM) and in Nov 1980, I was elected as
Secretary. On 22nd May 1983, we perform “Grihapravesam” at our new HIG flat
at Rajamannar Salai, K K Nagar. On 12th July 1981, my brother R V S Mani,
was reported sick at Bombay and was admitted to Beach Candy Hospital at
Worli. As there was strike by workers at the factory, I could visit Bombay only
by 10th August and met him at the hospital, while he was discharged by 16th
August. In October 1981, I was promoted as Purchase Manager and we shifted
to another company leased first floor flat at 4th Avenue, Ashoknagar. The house
owner, Mr Vanchinathan, who was staying in the ground floor, had two sons,
Dhandu working at Dubai and Kumar staying with him along with a dog, which

141
was very friendly with Venka and Ganesh. In the month of Nov 1981, my boss
Mr Gangolli was transferred to Bangalore factory, while my colleague Mr
Chakravarthy took over from him. On 22nd May 1983, we performed
“Grihapravesam” at our new HIG flat at Rajamannar Salai, K K Nagar. At
Audco, I was eligible for leased flat for our stay (a 10% of salary was deducted
for using leased accommodation) We discussed whether we should continue to
stay in leased flat or move to our flat in K K Nagar. Considering the overall
savings, we finally moved to our flat on 28th August 1983 (address: SB-2, Selfin
Apartments, Rajamannar Salai, K K Nagar, and Chennai 600078). Our
neighbour at SA-2, was Mr Ramamurthy and his wife, who moved in from
Dubai. At a later date, this flat was occupied by Mr Vasudevan and
Vijayalakshmi with their two sons. Another family who was very close to us was
that of Mr D K Moorhty staying at SD-2, along with his elderly mother, wife
Saroja and two sons – Kannan and Sundar. His mother used to visit our house
very often to spend time with my mother. They used to attend all our family
functions.

At the office, my work in Purchase was well recognized by the

Management. In November 83, Chief Executive R K Gupta called me for a
meeting along with my immediate boss Mr K Surendra, in his cabin. I am told
that I was transferred to Production. This was unexpected. Asking for
clarifications I wondered if it was because the Management was not happy with
my work at Purchase. On the contrary, Mr Gupta clarified that, they were happy
with my work and particularly pleased with my ability to schedule and monitor

142
progress. In fact, they wanted to post an engineer to Production, who had less
experience in that area, so that new ideas of Production Management can be
thought of. I expressed my inexperience in the areas of Labour Management; they
assured me that they will support me in this particular area. On 3rd December
1983, I took over as Manager, Production to handle the entire production
activities of the company, both Plug and GGC valves. I was asked to shift to the
cabin inside the works, for better interaction and control. The work was very
challenging and my experience in Production Planning helped. I quickly
introduced systems to review daily production and to submit monthly production
report to management.

As part of L&T Group, Audco provided many perquisites to senior

managers, including leased accommodation, company car scheme with
driver/petrol allowances, telephone at residence, servant/curtain allowances,
reimbursement of medical expenses etc with yearly holiday at Audco Guest House
at Kodaikanal etc.. In fact, they even provided cash allowances towards
education through L&T Trust, which was utilized fully by Venkatesh and
Ganesh. I used to travel to many cities like Coimbatore, Cuddalore, Neyveli,
Bombay, Bangalore, Poona, Ahmedabad, Bhavnagar, New Delhi, Calcutta,
Durgapur, Ranchi, Bokaro etc., mainly to meet our suppliers at their factories. I
could travel by air or AC in train, stay at L&T well furnished Guest Houses and
use car during my tour. As such travel was made comfortable. My visits to
Coimbatore and Vellore were more frequent since we had two major suppliers of
Castings at these locations. As head of Purchase, I had to finalize rate contracts

143
 for supply of critical raw-materials and components. During our stay at K K
Nagar, I used to pool car with two of my Audco friends, Mr V V Krishnan and
Mr N Mahalingam, to attend the office.

On 4th January 1984, my uncle RSS expired at Bombay. He was in the hospital for a
week before his expiry, at his age of 70 years. Myself and Pankajam visited
Bombay to offer our condolences to my aunt and their family members, on the
10th day function. On 27th April 1984, Narayani Ammal (popularly called as
Ammami), step mother of my father, expired at Bombay, at her age of 87 years.
We had long association with her,
during our frequent visits to our
Ramanathapuram village. In October 84,
I attend the 2-week training programme
on Production Management at the
prestigious Administrative Staff College,
Hyderabad, sponsored by the company.
Figure 126: ASCI, Hyderabad 1984

On 31st October 1984, our Prime

Minister Smt Indira Gandhi was shot dead at her residence and there was state
morning. On 3rd March, my sister Laxmi‟s Seemantham was celebrated at
Nepanagar when Pankajam, my mother and I attended the same. However,
Laxmi delivered a still born baby at Vijaya Hospital, Madras.

144
 Figure 127: Audco Guest House in Kodai

Figure 128: Holiday in Kodai

We enjoyed our holiday in

Kodaikanal during the month of June 85.
On 1st February 86, my 50th birthday
was celebrated, with Ganapathi/Ayusha
homam in the morning and Bhgavathi
Seva in the evening, at home. On 2nd March 86, our flat at Vissanji Park,
Bombay, was sold. (Rather, right of stay was vacated) , My mother gave me a
part of the proceeds, which was issued in the name of Pankajam. Gopal‟s family
shifted to RCF flat in Chembur, after vacating the flat. With the amount
received, I booked a small plot in Porur in the name of Pankajam.

Audco Board had eight members, represented by four from L&T and
four from partnering US Company by name Invensys, who took over from BTR,
UK. At the Board meeting held in January 1986 at Madras, the foreign
Directors were not happy with the financial performance of Audco and they
wanted detailed analysis of groupwise profitability on each of the products. The

145
analysis revealed that GGC Group which represented 30% of the turnover was
operating in a loss and other product groups were contributing to the overall
profitability. L&T management was asked to review and take corrective actions
for GGC group. With the result, on 7th May 1986, I was re-designated as
Production Manager, GGC Valves, which turned to be a challenge for me. Over
the years, I made lot of changes which included cutting down the third shift
operations, closing down the component cell and reducing manpower, both
supervisory and workmen. I had a good team of supervisors, who supported my
activities on the shop floor. Audco celebrated silver jubilee on 21st January 1987
with special programmes and a dinner was organized at Hotel TAJ on 22nd
January, wherein silver jubilee mementos were distributed to senior staff
members. Later, workers were given a watch as mementos. Pankajam missed the
celebrations, as she was in Calcutta, during this period. Asvin‟s Upanayanam
was performed 0n 19th Feb 87 at Madras, while that of Shibu was on 4th March
87 at Calicut. On 30th March 87, Pankajam starts “Devi Bhagavatam” at home.

On 2nd October 1988, Pankajam and I left for Kasi Yatra. We completed
rituals at Allahabad, Sangamam (river), and reached Benares on 6th Oct and
stayed till 12th October completing various pujas and temple visits. Our stay was
with a sastrigal‟s family in Benares and was very comfortable. On 13th October,
Pankajam took upadesam for “japam” from the senior sastrigal. We completed
rituals at Gaya on 14th-15th and took a train to Calcutta (it was an ordeal to get
into the reserved compartment and we had difficult time in the train). We both
stayed with Venkatesh for a week and enjoyed the Durga Pooja celebrations in

146
Calcutta. We then visited Rameswaram on 27th and 28th October, to complete
the pilgrimage and conducted a final pooja at home.

Recognising my services, I was promoted as Deputy General

Manager (GGC Valves) at Audco India, on 1st June 1990. This was an
important turning point in my career. In order to operate as a profit centre,
Audco created a separate facility with building and equipment for each product
group. I moved to a new building, B block, with my staff. I had the full
responsibility to handle areas of sales coordination with L&T (valves division),
planning, materials, production, inspection and dispatch. It was an excellent
opportunity to work independently as a profit centre. On 31st March, I was
promoted and re-designated as Deputy General Manager (Manufacturing).

On 23rd May 94, Pank and self attend the wedding of Ramani (Kshama‟s
brother-in-law) at Trivandrum, when Manni anxiously informed about Kshama‟s
health. On 25th June, 1994, I retired from the services of Audco India Ltd, after
enjoying 16 years. As a gesture, Audco took me as a part-time Advisor
(Consultant) in materials management and productivity systems for one year from
1st July 94. My assignment covered all the three plants at Manapakkam,
Maramalainagar and Kancheepuram, which I used to visit on a weekly basis. I
used to collect data on inventory, analyse and submit monthly reports to
Management. I also assisted the Unit Heads of MM Nagar and Kancheepuram
in their improving overall productivity in their activities. On 30th June 96, my
special assignment at Audco came to an end and with it my wonderful
association with Audco India Ltd. (L&T Group). A grand send-off party
147
was arranged by my colleagues and staff members, in which Pankajam also
participated. In my total career span, I consider my work at Audco very
satisfying wherein I much enjoyed the L&T culture. I continue to cherish my
special memories in Audco.

148
 Section 13: Professional
I wanted to plan my retirement days well such that I keep
myself busy both physically and mentally. I realized that my “strengths” were in
two areas, Consultancy and Training. Along with a book shelf and computer
with a printer, I set up an office in one of the rooms at Kences flat. I attended a
2-week training programme in computers, to familiarize myself with the use of
computers for professional work in Word, Excel and Power Point. I also took the
services of a Chartered Accountant – Mr Venkateswaran, to help me in filing my
income-tax papers.

The first priority was on professional development and getting

contacts in the industry. Even before retirement, I was an active member of the
Indian Institute of Materials Management and continue to take part in the
various activities for the past 25 years. I was elected as the Branch Chairman in
the year 1982. I was Chairman for Executive Development Programmes and for
In-house Training for more than 10 years. I am actively associated with the
Consultancy Division, SCM Quiz and Branch News Letter. At the National
Level, I was Member of the Board of Studies for five years and National
Councillor representing Chennai Branch. I was the Chairman of the Technical
sessions for the National Conventions held at Chennai in 1994 and 2001 and was
the Coordinator for releasing two reports on the Benchmarking study on Best
Practices in Supply Chain Management. I was awarded the Fellow Membership
in 1994 and Distinguished Membership in 1997 and Best Faculty in 2006. After

149
attending a training organized by IIMM at Bombay and Bangalore, I became
one of the Certified Trainers of ITC, Geneva, for their Modular Learning System
in “International Purchasing & Supply Chain Management.
Figure 129: IIMM fellowship, 1994
Figure 130: Fellow Member 1994
Figure 131: Training in IIMM 1995

Figure 132: Lecturing 1996

150
Figure 133: Distinguished member award 1997 151
 I always had a dream to write a book and the first success was to co-
author an International Book on “Introduction to Materials Management”
which was released by IIMM President at Chennai in February 2007. I have
presented many technical papers to various national and international seminars.
Many of my technical articles and book reviews have been published in
professional magazines.
Figure 134: Book 2007

Figure 135; IIMM Book Release, 2007

Figure 136: Dubai training, 2002 Figure 137: ITC Geneva, 2002

152
Figure 138: IIMM Newsletter, 2007

153
 During my career, I had undergone various professional training
programmes including Total Quality Management (TQM), Enteprise Resource
Planning (ERP), Just-in-Time (JIT) Production, Business Process Re-engineering
(BPR), Total Productive Maintenance (TPM) and ISO 9000 Quality Systems.

I took up the following consultancy assignments in the areas of Materials

Management during the past twelve years:

Omnicast Pvt. Ltd., Cuddalore, 1995 -1996:

For improving their Foundry Operations, by visiting their Works
once a week.
Blue Star Ltd., Chennai, 2000 - 2001:
Inventory Management for Service Parts and Establishment of
National Parts Centre, along with two associates.
Capitol Industries,2002 -2006:
Contracted by their President Mr DK Moorthy to improve their
Operations at their two factories in Chennai, by visiting their units
four to six times a month.
Bonomi Belgium Ventiel Ltd., a Valve Unit, Coimbatore, 2002:
Director Mr Shyam Sunder (a colleague from Audco) contracted to
prepare a Procedure Manual on Materials Management System.
Assisted by Mr Kumar of L&T

154
 Chennai Petroleum Corporation Ltd, Chennai, 2002:
Prepare a Procedure Manual of Materials Management System as
a Consultant for IIMM, along with a colleague.
Kirloskar Electric Co Ltd., Bangalore, 2006,:
A Diagnostic Study on Material Planning and Procurement
Process prescribing Procedure Manuals for - Central Planning &
Control, Material Planning & Control and Production Planning
& Control. Assisted by Mr Venkatasubramanian,
Tamilnadu Newsprint & Papers Ltd, Pugalur, 2006:
Inventory Optimization of Consumables and Machinery Spares,
as a Consultant for IIMM, along with a colleague.
In fact, I really enjoyed working on consultancy assignments where I could
fully utilize my professional experience. The work involved travel to the Works
and client‟s office, holding several meetings, preparation of stagewise reports and
presentation of the reports to top management.
Figure 139: EDP Training at Dubai,2002

155
Figure 140: EDP Coimbatore, 2005

Figure 141: EDP Maxwell, 2006

156
 I was involved in educational activities, mainly for Institutions
conducting classes for MBA. I taught Operations Management and Supply
Chain Management to leading Institutions in Chennai including Loyola Institute
for Business Administration (LIBA), IFMR, ITM, ICFAI and Apollo Institute
of Management. I also conducted regular classes for IIMM for the Diploma and
Post Graduate Diploma in Materials Management (PGDMM). I served as a
Project Guide for many students of MBA in Materials Management and
PGDMM.

For the past 10 years, I was a Faculty Member for Public

programmes and In-house Training Programmes, for Engineering Industries,
covering various topics of Materials Management and Production Management.
Leading Training Institutions of Tube Products Ltd., Rane India, Management
Training Centre, Maxwell Training Centre, WinSquare Services, used my services
to cover four to six programmes per month, both at Chennai and Bangalore.

IMRMI, Mumbai are the Indian Representatives for APICS

(American Production & Control Society) of USA, which is a professional body,
who conducts examination for – Certified Production & Inventory Management
(CPIM), Certified Relationship Management (CRIM) and Certified Supply Chain
Professional(CSCP), in various centers around the world. I was requested to be
their Representative in Chennai, to facilitate students appearing for the above
examinations. In view of my experience, IMRMI enrolled me a Corporate Trainer
for Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) and I conducted training programmes
during the period 2006 to 2008, for HCL Technologies at Noida, General
157
Electric (Software Division) at Gurgaon, Hyderabad and Bangalore; as also for
ABB at their Works in Faridabad, Bangalore, Nasik and for Dupont at Chennai

As I had health problems, I reduced my professional activities in the year

2009 and practically stopped from January 2010. However, I am still having a
dream to write a book on “Lean Supply Chain” for which I have been collecting
notes and I hope to write the same in the next year.

R V RAMAKRISHNAN – SUMMARY OF CAREER

Legend

IHP Indian Hume Pipe Co Ltd

GB Giovanola-Binny Ltd

BEW Binny Engineering Works

Audco Audco India Ltd

Omnicast Omnicast Precision Castings

Capitol Capitol Industries

IIMM Indian Institute of Materials Management

MM Materials Management

158
 Table 7: R V Ramakrishnan- Summary of Career
NO YEAR MO FIRM LOCATION POSITION
1 1957 July IHP Coimbatore Factory Engineer
2 1958 Aug IHP Arakonam Factory Manager
3 1959 June IHP Raichur Factory Manager
4 1960 April IHP Koyna Works Erection Engineer
5 1962 Jan IHP Bhira Works Erection Manager
6 1962 July IHP H.O. - Bombay Planning & Progress Engineer
7 1964 Mar GB Cochin Planning & Progress Engineer
8 1970 July BEW Madras Planning Engineer
9 1975 Jan BEW Madras Supdt. - Materials
10 1978 May Audco Madras Asst Purchase Manager
11 1980 Nov IIMM Madras Branch Secretary
12 1981 Oct Audco Madras Purchase Manager
13 1982 Sept IIMM Madras Branch Chairman
14 1983 Sept IIMM Bombay National Council Member
15 1983 Dec Audco Madras Manager - Production
16 1986 May Audco Madras Production Manager - GGC
17 1990 June Audco Madras DGM – Gate Valves Manufacturing
18 1994 Mar Audco Madras Deputy General Manager – Manuf.
19 1994 June Audco Madras Retired from Service
20 1994 July Audco Madras Consultant - Materials
21 1994 Dec IIMM Bombay National Fellow Member
22 1996 Jan Omnicast Madras Consultant - Operations
23 1997 Nov IIMM Bombay National Distinguished Member
24 1998 Jan Capitol Madras Consultant - Operations
25 2000 Jan Madras Management & Training Consult.
26 2006 Oct IIMM Bombay National Best Faculty Award
27 2007 Feb IIMM Bombay Release of Book on MM
28 2010 Jan Madras Retired from professional activities

159
 Section 14: Post Retirement
Figure 142: Selfin Apts., 1995

In April 1995, I swapped my old Maruti Car

(TSI 2330) and bought a new Maruti 800cc AC car.
Vijayakumar, a new driver joined for duty and still continues to serve sincerely.
In July, I was unwell due to stomatch acidity and was admitted to Vijaya
Hospital. In January 1996, based on a stomach endoscopy which revealed
stomach acidity, I was advised diet control. On 10th Feb, my 60th Birthday
(Shashtiabdipoorthi) was celebrated, at Sringeri Mutt, Mylapore. This was well
attended by all relatives and friends including Manni from Bombay, Sundari,
Venkatraman and Rajee from Bangalore. On the previous day, we conducted
“Rudra Ekadasi” in the morning and
“Bhagavati Seva” at evening. Venkatesh,
Ganesh and Deepa participated. (After her
recent delivery in December, Sripriya could not
join.) Figure 143 & 144: Sashtiabdapoorthy

160
 On 12th April, we both shifted to Flat-2B, Block 8, and Kences Enclave
at T-Nagar and arranged for “Nava Graha Homam” in the month of May, when
Sripriya with Ruchika, Deepa with Vaishnavi, Kshama with Shrutha, joined us
for the function. At Kences, our neighbour is Mr Hashumall and his family – his
wife, his first son Ashok with his wife Madhuri, daughters Mona and Sonica; his
second son Pritam with his wife Neha, son Hitesh and daughter Urja. Kences is
having eight blocks of seven floors each to cover 125 flats. We have a well
structured Association with elected executive members including President, Vice
President, Secretary, Treasurer and eight block representatives. The daily
activities of the complex are being handled by an Office Manager.

As I used to have frequent stomatch acidity complaint, we decided to

consult Dr Siddique, for acupuncture treatment and as advised by him, stopped
taking all allopathy medicines. In the month of August, Pankajam completed
three weeks of training in Reiki treatment.

In June 99, we booked a two-bed room flat of Navin Housing, in

Trustpuram. In the month of September, myself, Pankajam, NVS Mani and
Lakshmi went on a 2-week pilgrimage visiting Haridwar, Kedarnath, Badrinath
via Delhi, which was arranged by Maruthi Travels. We fully enjoyed the
pilgrimage trip. In the month of August 2000, our flat at Selfin Apartments, KK
Nagar, was sold. A get-together party was arranged to celebrate Pankajam‟s
60th star birthday in October, 2000. Starting with 60th birthday of
Kittu/Padma at Madras, year 2001 was full of family get-togethers
161
including our visit to Bangalore to attend Rajesh‟s wedding (son of
Ramachandran from US). Pankajam‟s plot at Porur was sold for a good deal. In
April, Pankajam underwent acupuncture treatment at Vijaya Hospital for her ear
problem.

In January 2002, I took delivery of a new Maruti 800 AC car (TN09-U-

8789) and sold the old car to our Shivram. In the month of February, we both
attended the wedding of Dorai (son of D K Moorthy of Capitol) at Mumbai. We
performed the “velakku” pooja at home. I join the “Art of Living” classes at T-
Nagar. During the visit of Venka and family in December, Pankajam got a crack
in the toe and was on bandage for three weeks. In January 2006, Ganesh
organized a family get-together at home to celebrate my 70th birthday, when
many of our relatives in Chennai joined us.
Figure 145: 70th birthday party, 2006

162
 Figure 146-: 70th Birthday

In March, our neighbour Hashumall

expired due to blood cancer. We felt very sad
on getting the news. In February 2007,
Pankajam joined the “Seragem” thermal
therapy at Mount Road and Ganesh
contributed to buy the unit for practice at home. In September, I had high BP
(180/90) and started acupuncture treatment at Vijaya Hospital. In November, as
I was not keeping well, I cancelled our air trip to Mumbai to attend Priya‟s
wedding (Gopal‟s daughter). However the next day we took a morning flight and
participated in the function.. On return, we met Dr Subramanian, Cardiologist at
Apollo Hospital, who had asked for a master checkup and prescribed some
medicines to control BP and Cholosterol. I also had consultations with Dr
Balasubramanian, Gastreoentrologist of Apollo Clinic, who also asked for various
tests and prescribed medicines for control of duodenal ulcer and gallbladder
stones. In December, we went to Singapore for a change. Pankajam started on
“Sreedhareeyam” ayurvedic treatment for her eye problem.

In March 2008, I had laser surgery for cataract of right eye at Dr Agarwal
Clinic and after a gap of two weeks, underwent surgery for the left eye. In April,
Pankajam had her eye check up at Dr Agarwal Clinic for her cornea and cataract
problem and she was recommended not to undergo cataract surgery. In August, I
took delivery of new car, UVA model of Chevrolet, after selling the Maruti car.

163
 The year 2009 opened with the news about the financial fraud at Satyam
Computers, Hyderabad and Mr Barack Obama elected as the 44th president of
US. In July, I met Dr Bharathshankar who advised certain exercises for the
back hip and neck pain and later added exercises using the “tower‟ equipment.

As I had many health problems (including weight loss), I decided to

discontinue professional activities from January 2010. I also started acupuncture
treatment at Dr Wahab clinic and felt better. Knowing about health problems,
brother Gopal came from Mumbai for assistance in February. As I did not have
significant improvement in hip/neck pain, I decided to consult Dr Krishna Ram
in September, who also advised certain exercises. As I did not have much
improvement, I shifted to acupressure treatment of Dr Jayalakshmi from October.
As I had free time, I started writing my autobiography. One of my father‟s
cousins, V K Moorthy expired on 27th November, at an age of 87 years in
Mumbai. He was a very popular personality having been associated with Asthika
Samaj Temple, for over 55 years

Our driver Vijayakumar has been very sincere in his services to us for the past
fifteen years. He comes by cycle from his present house at West Mambalam. He
has been assisting us in errands like, paying electricity bills, couriering, posting
letters and money orders etc.

Post-retirement, we enjoyed our annual holidays at Venka and Ganesh‟s

places with their families in Bangkok, Singapore, Dubai and Manchester. We
continue with our daily meditation and Sunday visits to Ashram.

164
 Section 15: Master

Figure 147: Lalaji Maharaj Figure 148: Babuji Maharaj Figure 149: Chariji

Shri Ram Chandra Mission (SRCM) is a non-profit spiritual organization

with its world headquarters at Chennai in India and registered in the year 1945,
with centers in all countries of the world. Over the years, the Mission has grown
enormously and has more than five hundred centers in India and ninety countries
over all the continents. The Mission has more than 200,000 abhyasis practicing
the Sahaj Marg, meaning “natural path” is a system of practical training in
spirituality. The Babuji Memorial Ashram at Manapakkam in Chennai, South
India, is the world headquarters of the Mission. It receives many thousands of
visitors annually from around the world. The unique feature of Sahaj Marg is the
yogic transmission from the Master to the abhyasi. Through the transmission,
spiritual progress is not only accelerated, but it actually expands our own limited
capacity for growth. The Daily Practice of the abhyasi consists of a „morning
meditation‟ for one hour, „cleaning‟ in the evening for about thirty minutes and a

165
„prayer‟ before going to bed at night. (For more details log on to www.srcm.org)

Ganesh had come to Chennai on a holiday from Dubai during the month of
July 2002 and incidentally brought a book of Ram Chandra Mission (given to
him by his family friend Mr Pramod at Dubai) and gave to Pankajam to read and
to obtain more details about the Mission. On contacting the Mission office in
Manapakkam, she was advised to get in touch with one of their Preceptors, Mr
Varadan at T-Nagar. This prompted Pankajam to get to know more about the
activities of the Mission. She took the initiation to the Sahaj Marg system from
preceptor Varadan, on 5th November 2002, by having three sittings and
obtaining a temporary abhyasi pass from the Mission. This was followed by
Ganesh joining the Mission in January 2003, by taking his first sitting at Dubai
Centre. Pankajam attended the Bhandara at Hyderabad to celebrate the Babuji‟s
Birthday on 30th April 2003. This was her first experience in attending such a
grand function, where nearly 3,000 abhyasis come together for the 3-day
celebration. Pankajam also attends the Mission‟s camp at Calcutta during end of
December 2003, having stayed at the Ashram. During our visit to Mumbai in
February 2004, to attend the dance „arangetram‟ of Shrutha (daughter of
Sridhar/Kshama), we both visited the Ashram at Panvel (a suburb of Mumbai)
and she joined the morning satsang. Pankajam has been suggesting me to join
Sahaj Marg but I was not getting prepared.

However, I also joined Sahaj Marg and took my initial sitting on 7th
January 2005. I had the first darshan of Master Chariji during the satsang on the
Pongal Day (14th January) at Manapakkam. In April 2005, we both
166
attended the Babuji‟s birthday celebrations in Tiruppur (Tamil Nadu) on 30th
April, after satsang, Master read out a „declaration‟ nominating Brother Ajay
Bhattar of Calcutta, as his successor. This was an important event for the
Mission. We enjoyed the spiritual atmosphere at Tiruppur for 4 days from 29th
April to 1st May. On 8th June 05, self, Pankajam and Nirmala left for Singapore
on a holiday; however, we felt sorry that we would be missing Master‟s birthday
celebrations at Hyderabad on 24th July 05. During our stay at Singapore, we felt
like joining the celebrations and were lucky to get our Air Tickets changed to
Hyderabad. We took the morning flight from Singapore and reached Hyderabad
on 23rd July and went straight to the Ashram. We enjoyed the sitting given by
Master on 24 July – being his 78th Birthday. After joining the Mission, we have
moved away from we have come far away from religion, rituals and worship in
temples.

The Chennai Ashram had proposed to acquire 100 acres of land in

Sriperumbudur and to develop an Ashram and allocate plots to abhyasis. On the
14th October 05, we registered for a half-acre plot by paying an advance of Rs
2.00 lakhs. Due to heavy rains in Tamil Nadu, our Ashram was flooded and had
to be closed for four weeks during December 2005. During the month of May
2006, Pankajam along with Susheela enjoyed one week at Satkol Ashram (a hill
station) near Nainital in North India. On 21st July, self and Pankajam, left by
special train (arranged by Ashram) to Raipur, with 1,500 abhyasis. Master‟s 79th
birthday was well celebrated on 24 July 2006 at Raipur. We were eagerly
waiting for the 80th birthday celebrations of Master, when it was announced

167
that the venue will be Tiruppur. We felt happy that Ganesh could join us and we
had booked our rail tickets well in advance; we also booked the “Comfort Dorm”
(a special dormitory planned for stay of abhyasis on payment basis) – it had more
conveniences, like, sleeping got with mattresses, mosquito curtains, toilet
facilities etc. We had a comfortable stay and enjoyed the spiritual experience
during our three day stay – from 22nd to 25th July 2007

I thought of recording a special and memorable event. On 22nd August

2007, self, Pankajam along with Deepa and kids visited the Manapakkam
Ashram and got permission to meet Master at his cottage. Master met a group of
abhyasis and we were lucky to be in his company. Deepa and kids were
introduced to Master and he spoke with us for a while. Vaishnavi and Nivedita
sang a song, which was well appreciated by Master. Within few minutes Master
asked the company of abhyasis who had gathered there, to sit for Meditation and
to our surprise, asked Deepa to join the sitting and thus Deepa had the fortune of
getting her first sitting from Master himself. However, Deepa has not joined the
Mission till date; even though Master has put a seed in her heart.

We both have been regular in following the „sadhana‟ of Sahaj Marg,

namely the daily morning meditation, evening cleaning and night bed time prayer.
We attend the Sunday morning satsang at 9-00 am at the Ashram. We are lucky
to get a lift by van arranged by Ashram at 7-00 am at Vivek which is very close
to our house. After a good breakfast at the Ashram, we attend the satsang. We
return by the same van by 10-30am reaching home for lunch. We attended the
Wednesday satsang at Kodambakam Centre (provided by Brother Naidu
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Sir) and currently at Kailaimagal School in West Mambalam and fortnightly
individual sitting with preceptor – earlier with Br Sadasivam at West
Mambalam, later with Sr. Sowmya at Nungambakkam and now at Br Sivan‟s
house in Kodambakam. We were very lucky in not missing the Sunday satsang
during our holidays at Mission Centers at Singapore and Manchester. We could
even go for individual sittings while at Singapore and attend Wednesday sittings
while at Manchester. During our last visit to Singapore, we could also attend
Lalaji‟s birthday celebrations on 2 February 2008. At Singapore, we used to take
the bus to attend the Sunday satsang and while at Manchester, Ganesh used to
take us in his car. The Mission has been publishing lot of books and release
audio/video for improving the knowledge of the abhyasis and we are fortunate to
get these books for our study. Many memorable issues like the “Whispers” and
“He the Hookah” are commendable releases. Pankajam has been involved in the
activities of the Mission by translating Master‟s speeches to Tamil, for
publication and she has been enjoying this work, for the past three years.

In the year 2008, we attended the Lalji‟s birthday at Singapore Centre. We

really enjoyed the spiritual experience by listening to talks and spending the day
with our brothers and sisters. For the 81st birthday of our Master, we left for
Lucknow by the special train arranged by Ashram on 20 July 2008. We were at
the celebrations from 23rd to 25th. There was heavy thunder and rain in the early
morning of 24, being Master‟s birthday. Due to heavy rains, Manapakkam
ashram was flooded for the second time on 28th November, and was closed for
nearly four weeks. In the month of February 2009, Pankajam joined a group of

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fifty abhyasis to visit Natrampalli Ashram, by a special bus (I could not join in
view of commitments at IIMM) In June, Master announced that in future
Sunday satsang will be held at 7-30 am in all the centers in the world and
Brunch will be provided at 9am at Manapakkam ashram. In July, Pankajam,
Susheela, Ganesh and self attended Master‟s 83rd birthday celebrations at
Tiruppur. Susheela‟s husband Mani also joined Sahaj Marg in August.

Figure 150: Crest Meditation Hall

We both were lucky to join a

group of forty one abhyasis to
spend one week spiritual
sadhana at CREST (Centre for
Research, Education, and
Sadhana & Training) at
Bangalore during last week of
October. On return, I shared our experiences at Crest, with brothers and sisters
during the Wednesday satsang.

At Crest, we had a tight schedule with individual Meditation at 5 am,

satsang at 9 am, Technical sessions in the morning and afternoon, Cleaning at 6
pm, followed by one hour Golden Silence at Master‟s cottage, Video screening at
8 pm and Universal Prayer at 9 pm. We really enjoyed the spiritual atmosphere at
Crest. We were provided with good dormitory accommodation with excellent
breakfast, lunch and dinner.

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 Figure 151: Dining hall at Crest Figure 152: Dormitory at Crest

Figure 153: Crest 2009

In July 2010, Pankajam and Ganesh attended the Master‟s 84th Birthday
celebrations at Lucknow (I could not join due to health reasons). They joined
other abhyasis by flight. In August during our personal visit to Thrissur, we took
the opportunity of visiting SRCM Ashram for Sunday satsang. Of late, our
Master has not been maintaining good health and as such stopped visiting foreign
countries. Hence, he invited batches of abhyasis from US, Malaysia/Singapore
and UK, to Manapakkam and held week long seminars.

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 Epilogue
I recall enjoying my school and college days in the company of my parents,
brothers and sisters. However, the sudden demise of my father at his young age,
created a vacuum in our lives. The timely help and support from my uncle was an
encouragement to us. I appreciate the sacrifice of my elder brother who took over
the responsibility of educating and conducting the marriages of my brother and
two sisters. This makes me realize the values of our joint family systems.

Having enjoyed a happy family life, I feel happy of the achievements of my two
sons Venkatesh and Ganesh, both in their education and professional career.
After retirement, I felt fortunate in keeping myself busy with my professional
activities and enjoying the yearly foreign holidays with my family and the
pleasure of the company of my four granddaughters. I feel satisfied in
contributing to the Materials Management fraternity by sharing my knowledge
and experience to professionals through my training activities. During the last
five years, I am enjoying a peaceful life in spirituality and meditation. On
conclusion, quoting the message of
our revered Babuji Maharaj, Founder
of Sri Ram Chandra Mission
“The end of religion
is the beginning of spirituality;
The end of spirituality
is the beginning of reality and
the end of reality is the real bliss”
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