A Titan fades away
The news of my eldest brother’s sad demise on 20th April 2011 at 11:50 AM, left all of us gob snaked. His not being with us is a blow most terrible to bear. A Titan has passed away, answering the clarion call of the omnipotent, omniscient and omnipresent.
I venture to say a few words about him only because I happened to have joined the band of octogenarians for which I reached the magic age of 80.
The most amazing aspect is that he lived a married life with distinction for over 63 years. What trials and tribulations he had gone through in his early years of marriage, before he landed in a permanent job, perhaps Manni only knew them all. He weathered all the storm through sheer honesty, hardwork, self-confidence and self-improvement, which are worthy of emulation.
Though he was born in very affluent circumstances, in later years, when he grew, he had to shoulder heavy responsibilities as eldest son of the family. He bore the brunt along with my parents through thick and thin as their conscience-keeper. Later in life, he was blessed with much better days, but he didn’t change his lifestyle. He continued to be simple and self-dependent. Following the example of the unparellelled intellectual, Rajaji, he used to wash his own clothes till the end.
He was always, well-dressed impressively mostly in spotless white.
He was a great devotee of the great Sathya Sai Baba. He used to participate in the Bhajans in ‘Sundaram’ for many years. He was a repository of innumerable anecdotes on the miracles performed by the great Baba on his devout disciples, which he used to reel to his friends and family members in private conversations and informal gatherings.
He had high respect for his friends and he used to appreciate particular aspects of their specialities.
He always felt very bad when they departed. He had qualities of leadership and he would stand out in any functions or meetings. He was associated with RSS for many years and was a Mukhya Sikshak of Srirangam Shakha.
He participated in family functions with great zest and enthusiasm and spread light and mirth.
He had abiding faith in Hindu Dharma and his devotion to Lord Ranganathar of Srirangam was boundless. He was somewhat disappointed that he could not settle down in Srirangam in his last years.
He was a voracious reader of religious and other worthy materials – one may call him a bibliophile. He would participate in spiritual gatherings and meetings that would contribute to enrichment of knowledge.
He had cultivated high proficiency in English in which he received excellent groundings from his teachers like S/Shri K.N.Rengaswamy, S.K. Mathrubhutham, Kasturiranga Iyengar, Professors G.Varadachary, A.Rama Iyer and V.Saranathan. His writings were treats. It was a pleasure to read them punctuated with interesting anecdotes written in his own adorable, steady and inimitable handwriting in bold letters. I used to think that it reflected his character and thinking. How many students in the present day schools could answer satisfactorily the following question is a matter for conjecture. In 1940s, when high standard of English was followed in schools, a quotation from the then British Wartime Prime Minister Sir Winston Churchill was given in SSLC question paper asking for a brief expansion in a paragraph. The passage was: “Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few”. That was the standard then when my brother studied in school.
He had a great sense of humour which was reflected in his family and friends meets.
He loved his family members and did many things for them overtly and covertly, but always within the bounds of law and rules and regulations.
He was very hospitable and welcomed all with open arms.
Having dwelt on his general qualities of head and heart, I seek your indulgence to say a few things about how personally I benefitted immensely due to his involvement and guidance. His contributions in my applying for CSIR job from A.G’s office, in my getting relief before joining NAL, Bangalore, in joining CSIR Madras complex after selection, which was instrumental in my return to Chennai after an absence of about 11 years and in arranging for my meeting the Nobel-Laureate Dr. S. Chandrashekhar of USA….. On many other occasions, he had tendered useful tips and advice, which I shall always cherish.
He has cast his mortal coil and joined Lord Vishnu in Vaikuntam. We can no longer see him with our naked eyes, for which we now need spiritual perception. All of us who respect him must join hands and tread his path unitedly. That will be the best homage we can pay to his hallowed memory.
Let me conclude this note with a quotation from Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar:
His life was gentle,
and the elements
so mix’d in him that
Nature might stand up
and say to all the world
‘THIS WAS A MAN’
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