Kalakkadu Paati

                                                           KA  LAKAATTUPPAATTI (  8  )                                                   Sr. L.Krishna Iyer ,who was working in Vannarpet, Thirunelveli was a close relative of  Sri. ASK with whose availability nearby ,made it easy for us to proceed with Sankari's marriage which ultimately consummated to take place on 1st September 1967 by God's grace.I had invited all the members of the Staff ( Teaching and Non Teaching ) of the College to attend the marriage.Perhaps that was the first time a marriage  invitation was given for all the members.All were happy to attend. The College was running a private College bus from Thirunelveli Jn to Petai fo...

                            KALAKADU THOTHATHRI VADHYAR ( 16 )                                                K's death made KTV completely shaken and that was visible in his physical health and face. So was the case of KP too. Death had snatched K from her husband , children  , parents ,brothers and sister at her prime age of 33 ! on the  fateful 16th of June 1966 !To  die in the child stage or very old age will not be felt by a family unlike this sort of unfortunate untimely death.   Almost all of you would have seen only a KTV of  reduced size . but he was totally different as a figure tall and hefty with a frightening face that always made anybody bow ! It is not an exaggeration that when he walks on the street with unmatched fastness, people used to get up as a mark...

                                                      KALAKAATTUPPAATTI  (  7  )                                             As told earlier, Periya mama's marriage was celebrated grandly  in June 1964 at Shenkottai and  he returned with Mami to Calcutta for office work.  In the same ,year I had finished my MSc Degree course and joined as Lecturer in MDT Hindu      college  on July 1st.For the first two months, I was staying in the Sudhamalli village near Pettai , a part of Thirunelveli where the college was functioning.The house rent for the full long house of village type was just 10'rupees, which my colleague and myself shared . A poor mami was running a mess where we took our food..The village...

                                                         KALAKKAATTUPPAATI  (  6  )                                                  It should be admitted that the family responsibilities  of KP increased with the  efflux of time as is true in the case of any woman approaching the middle age say 40 years and  above, . From 40 to 60   women  have to  bring up their own children ,take care of the old people and to be busy in all the family matters including supporting their husbands. In this process, in most cases ,they fail to take care of their own health.KP was not an exc eption in this case. In 1952 to 1957she had a lot of health problems ,which led to appoint cooks for ...

                                         KALAKKAATTUPPAATTI  (  5  )                                 KP lived a life of a gnani, taking  good or bad very lighhtly as suggested in Bhgavadgitha, giving equal weight to both.As mentioned earlier, she gave full freedom to her daughters -in-law in decision making regarding matters on daily routines and will be talking to them as a friend. This is one factor for my wife Usha eagerly awaiting for the week ends in order to meet her Mother_-in-law.at Kalakad.Every Friday evening we  had stood on the bus-stops in season or out of season,with packages and the two children waiting for bus  to our native place. Absolutely no grumble from Usha in this respect.Complete cooperaion from her!.She used to start packings and  to spend some g...

                                                      KALAKKAATTUPPAATTI  (  4  )                                                     At  the time of  K's   marriage  in  1945 , I  was just  on the point of  recovery  from my  baalaarishtam .I should have been of four years when my real life started  with  proper exposure to the outside world .This  created  a sort of  fear in my mind  if I look at certain objects.  if not all. As I  wrote earlier, I was damn scared of seeing the river water. The bell sound of an elephant  use to frighten me. .Thirdly, there was  a person  living in South street , Kalak...

                                                                  KALAKK AATTUPPAATTI    (  3  )                                                             Once again I am registering my thankfulness to both Padmanabhapillai and our beloved Mother for seeing me to live upto this moment and allowing me to write these lines.Mother's daily routine begins at four o'clock in the morning..As was the practice in all villages in those days   she also used to clean the outside . area on the street with broomsticks,  splash cow dung solution  and to draw nice koalams  which would see that no insect enters the house easily. When all the h...

                                                     KAKAKAATTUPPAATTI  (  2  )"                                                                             As  told in the previous post, KP  was kind not only to us children but  very chaste words only escaped her mouth when talking to us or any one in the village for that matter.She was absolutely noncontroversial  and therefore was claiming equal respect from the society as KTV , in her own way and thereby  we were given credence  as children of so and so , so  and  so. A simple  obedience was always in her behaviour to KTV  and as a natural consequenc...

                                                    KALAKAATTUPPAATTI  ( 1 )                                                             Kalakaattuppaatti ( K P )  hails from  a respectable family of  Freedom fighter, Sri Gomathi Sankara Dheekshithar  who sacrificed  his entire life for  the Independence of India from the British rule.    K P  was born in the  year 1916  in the month of June as the first   daughter of  Dheekshithar  and Sankarippaatti .She was not given any formal  education  in any school though  she had enormous capacity to grasp and was highly intelligent. Those were days when women had no righ...