My Life Story Part 2

Move to Tiruchi and College Education:

We moved to Tiruchi in April 1955 to pursue my college education..For some time, my father had thought of admitting me into Sarafoji College, Tanjore. It was only at my mother!s insistence, we moved to Tiruchi. The previous year, my maternal grand-father had died of sudden heart-attack. He was a noted Criminal Lawyer and was called "Kodaiyidi Sharma" by his clients and admirers. He had just then returned from Court and while he was eating "Adai", he suffered a massive heart attack and died. My maternal grand-mother was looking for a tenant for the ground floor portion. My father went to Tiruchi and finalized the arrangement with her. The monthly rent was fixed at Rs 25/ by my grandmother. Being strict in money matters, she collected Rs 75/ from my father as three months deposit.. Thus,my parents moved into 24,Chinnakadai Street,with five children - me, Vasantha, Ramani, Chandru and Mythili.. I became close to my parents only in Tiruchi. Earlier, there were too many people in the joint family. While in Tiruchi, my parents were blessed with two more children - a son (Nandu) in 1958 and a girl(radha) in 1961. I also lost one of my sisters, Mythili, in 1957 due to small-pox epidemic in Tiruchi. In that epidemic, almost all the families in the street lost one or two children.

My father tried for admission into a College. Through some friends, we went to National College, Tiruchi. I was admitted into Third Group. The subjects were History,Economics and Logic. I belonged to the last batch of Intermediate students-(1955-57). In those days, there were three groups - First group consisting of Mathematics,Physics and Chemistry. Students aspiring to become engineers joined this group, Only students with very good marks in Mathematics were admitted into this Group. The Second Group, consisted of physical sciences. Students pursuing this group were eligible for admission into M..B.B.S. The third Group was reserved for just pass- candidates and these students were expected to become clerks either in AGS Office or Railways.
After admission and paying fees of Rs 41/, I was asked not to attend the College on the first day by my father. My maternal Periappa had some influence in St Joseph!s College and he arranged for an interview for me with Fr.. Erhart,a German and Principal of the College.I attend the interview. Fr Erhart asked me what I wanted and I told him that I wanted admission in the First Group. He immediately asked me whether I was aware of my total marks and more particularly in Mathematics. I told him confidently that past bad performance did not necessarily indicate future bad performance. He just laughed. I also showed him the article I had written for the School Magazine. After reading the article, he clearly told me that he would offer only Third Group and if I was interested, I should pay the fees within twenty-four hours.. I returned home to consult my father. He was more worried about refund of fees already paid to National College.It was in the corridors of St Joseph College, I first met Pasupathy. He did not reveal his marks to me, He however got admission into First Group. Later on I realised he had got the same marks as me, but as he was already a student of St Joseph High School, he got the preference. We became friends from that day. and close friends after two years. We used to go to together for College.
l took my studies seriously in the College. As I had seen how much my parents had struggled to set up family at Tiruchi, I became more responsible. When half-yearly results were announced, I had obtained 3rd rank out of 70 students. Throughout Intermediate, my College rank was either second or third. The first rank was always reserved for a Jesuit Priest, who was also a student along with us. My father used to keep the rank cards with him till I completed my College education.I was happy when I passed the Intermediate with the highest marks in the College, leaving the Jesuit Priest way behind. At College, I befriended Mr Rufus Charles. We became very close by the time the results were announced. We used to argue about Christianity and Hindu religions without either of us knowing much about both the religions. Mr Charles introduced me to Hindi Films. He used to take me to matinee shows at Gaiety Theater, which was showing only Hindi films. He funded the
cost and explained to me the meaning of words, as his second language was Hindi. I saw films like C.I.D,Pyassa,Mother India and Do Anken Bara Hath. I liked all the films and felt that Hindi films were better than Tamil films, which were loud. I felt very bad when Gaiety Theater was partially destroyed at the height of anti-Hindi agitation by students. I was convinced that one-language for the country was very necessary, particularly when job opportunities in Madras were limited.

We had bought a Radio after Intermediate. examination. I used to listen to Radio Commentaries on Cricket Matches.At this time,, I went to Madras to see a Test Cricket Match between India and West Indies at Corporation Stadium. My Chittappa was staying in Big Street, Triplicane and Mr Ramanathan, land-lord for my Chittappa, took me to the ground. In those days the Captain of West Indies Cricket Team was a white man. This west Indian Team was led by Geoff Alexander. In this math, Coolie Smith batted and bowled superbly. As an all-rounder,he was being compared to Gary Sobers. I kept on thinking about Coolie Smith on my return to Tiruchi. Within two weeks, Coolie Smith was killed in a motorcar accident in London in which the driver of the car was Sobers. There was a speculation among our college students that Sobers had killed Smith. Though I did not subscribe to this, I cried on hearing the news of Smith!s death.

In June 1957,I applied for obtain admission into B.A.Hons course (Economics) in St Joesph!s college. I also applied for B.Com Hons course in Loyola College, Madras.. I got admission in both the colleges. As I kenw the family condition and as I did not want to put pressure on my father, I chose to study in the same college for B.A.Hons (Economics). Only students with very high marks in Intermediate were admitted into Hons course. This was a three year course and the final examination by the University was the same as that for M.A.. We were allowed to get M.A. Degree by paying a fee of Rs 50 to the University after completing Hons Course. I did very well again in this course, securing either second or third rank.My friend Pasupathy would get 6th or 7th rank and Rufus Charles 20th rank.I also participated in the college debates in the Literary and Debating Society of the College which was headed by Pasupathy.When Russia sent a dog to the moon, both of us argued for and against this experiment. Our debates were very much appreciated by the College Principal. I used the college library extensively reading most of the works of 19th century English Prose.I passed the final examination with a very high second class, again securing the first position in the College and third position in the University.

While in Tiruchi, I had seen the suffering and troubles undergone by my parents to maintain and support the family. My father would get Rs 2000/ every year from agricultural lands. He would also borrow additional Rs 2,000/ every year to support the family. I used to accompany him whenever he went to sell the family silver and jewelery to repay these debts. We also visited the Sub-Registrar!s Office in Ayyampet every year to sell some agricultural land. Life was very difficult

My father was a gentle person with a great sense of humor.I do not remember any occasion on which he beat any one of his kids. He was absolutely free from jealousy and envy. Although he had nothing, he would never envy others who were better placed than him. He lived his life almost like a saint with only three dhoties and a couple of shirts. My mother was a tough person. She would never loose faith in God. Her never-say-die spirit pulled us through in times of adversity. Like all mothers, she wanted the best for her children. She was very hospitable. Sometimes, village friends of my father would come to meet him around 9 in the evening. My mother would immediately cook food for them. Sometimes, I resented her shouting at my father. Later on I realized she was only showing her frustration. Our grievance was my father never made an attempt to earn something for the children.. These experiences made me determined that I should do something for my parents. I also dreamt that I should build a house where my parents could live for a long time without any financial worries.

I remember one incident where I tried my hand at smoking.. I went to a movied called "Gulebhakavali" along with my friend Ammami Appalam Raju for the Matinee Show in Prabhat Talkies. He told me that I should start smoking as that is a sign of manliness. During the interval, I went to the balcony and lighted a cigarette. Coughing and puffing when I looked down I saw my father. He also saw me with a cigarette in my hand.I was scared and could not concentrate on the film after the interval. I quietly went home ,took early food and began to sleep. By the time my parents came home after the second show, they did not wake me up. The next day my father called me and told me that I should not smoke again as smoking was bad for health. Fortunately, he had not informed about what he saw to my mother.This created some responsibility in me - his trying to correct me without publicity. Had he told my mother, all my brothers and sisters would have come to know aboutwhat I did. I never touched cigarette again.

During this period, I also acted as an emissary for a lover boy. My friend Pasupathy fell in love with a girl called Pushpathurai Nirmala. She was fair, beautiful and had long hair.One day Pasupathy asked me to speak to my cousin sister Nirmala about his love for the other Nirmala. He requested me to express his love through my sister. Both the Nirmalas were good friends. After a lot of persuasion, my cousin agreed to speak to Puspathurai Nirmala. When the girl heard this, she was shocked. She reacted with the words "Who will marry this Karuppu Gundan. I want a Mapillai like Kesha Gopaldas". Gopaldas was a jeweller in the same street and all his children were tall, fair and good looking.When my cousin told me about what had happened, I did not have the courage to tell Pasupathy the exact words used by the girl. I simply told him that the girl was not interested. For my friend Pasupathy, all fair girls were beautiful. In his family, all were very dark. Eventually, he ended up marrying a fair girl and lived a happy life. When he died in January this year, I was shocked beyond words.

My maternal grand-mother died during this period. She was suffering from chest congestion. When I was listening to a radio commentary where Hanif Mohamed was nearing triple century, I was asked to go and fetch Dr Raghava Rao. When I came back with the doctor and when he was examining her, she died on the hands of the doctor. This was my first direct experience with death. My grand-mother used to stay in the ground floor with us most of the time, though she was supposed to stay in the first floor. She was alone and did not feel like cooking every-day. Most of the days, her lunch and dinner were with us.Ironically, just a day before her death an astrologer had predicted that she would live for another twelve years.I was convinced after this that no one can predit death. and an astrologer cannot predict his own death.
After the death, I went to Teppakulam Post Office and made phone calls to relatives. When I telephoned my eldest uncle in Tirunelveli, he asked me "what to do now". I replied that "the best thing for you to do is to catch any immediate transport and come here".He did not like my response and for a long time used to chide me quoting my words.While she was alive, my grand-mother also used me as a money-collector. My grand-father had lent some money to some small businessmen and my grand-mother used to ask me to go their houses and collect the dues. I had tough time collecting the dues. Perhaps, this experience helped me when I became a Banker and went to villages to collect over-due loans.My grand-mother's death affected my mother in a big way. She had to be treated medically for a year after the death. When she became normal. we all heaved a sign of relief.

Here, I must mention about the financial support given to us by our Chittappa (maternal). His name was R.V.Narayan. He paid my college fees for Inter-mediate as well as for Hons course.He encouraged me in a big way. In his memory, I have named my son as Narayan.
I used to see almost 20 films every quarter. Films and books were my pastime.. I remember two books which I had read duing this period that had a deep impact on me. They are "East of Eden" and "Wuthering Heights" by Miss Emily Bronte.