Saturday, May 03, 2014

Scootaappaaa

 
Our Grand Dad have seen 4 generation in his life time and he never called me nor my brother by our real name, always Pattu & Jillu respectively !! He also lived by his nick name as we also never called him with his name :D To his delight and will power till the last day he was driving "Scooter" and since he was a Father (appa) figure to the whole family and his name was coined as "Scootaappaaaa" by my First Cousin - Krithika Akka, I thank her for this as he lives and for ever will live in our heart and memory as Scootaappaaaa only !!
 
What all I could remember of him, I want to add here so that I can just keep a tab of his memories intact ( already I might have lost something but I will seek inputs from my family for amendment ) !!
 
 My first remembrance of him, is also my First B'day (that I could remember) in Gobi, I still remember the dress he bought for me (cream color stripe dress with horse in it) and then the gift for us never stopped, it kept flowing every year for "Diwali" in the form of dress, crackers, mangoes, watermelon, chips, ride with him to finance and badminton court in Scooter & the first ever TV, Telephone and Car experience that we all had in our life time is because of him !
 
During Bagyam chithi's wedding preparation we all have been taken to Kancheepuram and Madras for wedding purchase, we also happened to see Sankarachariyar during this trip !! He has  bought small little things that I asked for and made sure I'm well fed as he know I have a liking for food (which he also enjoys) and always ask me during any trip - Pattu enna vennum unnaku (what do you want Pattu ?), pattu panneer soda kudikaraya (Pattu do you want Paneer Soda ? - Happened in our trip to Palani, where he was the first one who gave us the chance to get in to a Tram - new experiences that you can't forget easily !!
 
As long as I can remember, he always started his day very early with the best news paper in my country " The Hindu " & I wouldn't have read if not for him ! I also can't remember a day where he didn't devote a time to "God" and one of the best trips I have had with him was also a spiritual trip with him and scootamma to "Tirupathy". He was a strong devote to God and he dedicated part of his time towards spiritual activity in home as well as outside !! His contribution in building temple in Kaveri river - Soleeswarar Temple and just recently in Old State Bank Colony were immense and I like him for what he has done to the society and not only for family !!
 
I also remember the best times I have had with him was when I was in Erode and my parent's were in Hyderabad for attending some important things, he bought me the "Scouts Name Batch - My First Ever Name Batch" which  I treasured for the same reason he had one from Bank with his name and he inspired to have mine from my young days !! I used to play basket ball and while I was doing a district level camp from colony (this was like our second home during our growing up days and all the holidays were spent here) and I was so enthused to get a calling for State Level camp and he was the one (along with Scootamma) who gave a suitcase, bed and all that I need for those month long camp & dropped me in the VOC park and he used to visit me as well during these times to make sure I'm all ok - it might be normal thing for him but he did that for me !!
 

Last time we could spend some time was in Hong Kong when he and Scootaamaa were invited to come to Hong Kong and China by Parthi Chitaappa & Bagyam Chithi. It was a great co-incidence that I was moving to a new house and I got his & scootamma's blessing along with Chitappa's mom as well in the house warming function ! I remember one incident in that trip, he was slightly not comfortable with the escalators and once he slightly fumbled and I thought he might fall and I was trying to hold him, he steadied himself in no time and said Pattu no worries - I'm alright, when I shared this with mom, she told he was always "Self Reliant & Never Complains/Moans" which I felt is true, as I never seen him say anything in negative form even though he had multiple health issues for many years. Also never gave reasons not to be physically active as well, he told me he played as a goalie in School level Football and later went on to play badminton for so many years even with knee problem - I admire him for that character of his, where he never succumbs to situational pressures that were thrown at him and I'm glad I got a chance to take a snap with him in Hong Kong ( that happened to be the last ) !!   


 
I believe he was one of the simplest person I have seen, and he lived modestly even though he was one of the graduates in his times from Loyola (BA) and then went on to work in State Bank of India (SBI) and he also opted out of promotions as he wanted to stay with family in Erode itself. His last day in SBI was his FIRST & LAST JOB (very rare these days) and that was my first ever "Employee Leaving Party" that I attended, whole branch was there and applauded his work and he was sent off very well !! He sowed the seeds then for his grand children to follow his foot steps and he inspired us all with his "Actions" than talks !! I have rarely seen him loose patience and almost always calm but loud & gregarious when ever the situation called for !! He took the family duty seriously and made sure he dealt with all family members same !!  I can't call any better than him as my "Grand Dad" as he has given all of us the BEST CHILDHOOD MEMORIES we have got and we speak about till date & for ever. All I can think of is this, I will definitely miss him for now I can't put lemon juice for him nor he will be my side to see his great grand children from my side but I wish he will be reborn soon and live with us all again but as per Buddha if someone can do the best he could and which he did his soul will attain the divinity - "May his Soul Rest in Peace"!!
 
 

Wednesday, April 02, 2014

Candid Photographer & Blogger Friend

I started following Amrit from his IIT days & he is one person who has shown me "You Can Achieve Everything if We Put Our Heart In To It", he has done it in style many couldn't do !! I like his openess, rarely I have seen a person that much open in India !! I'm a silent spectator of his work for long long time, I started reading his blog then came the Shittons, from being a nerd (IIT) to a long distance runner, mountaineer, corporate hulk (PWC) to now his final passion - Photography,  he is an inspiration to me in many ways !! I would say he is evolving to be one among the well known Candid Wedding Photographers in India and hopefully in Asia as well in future ! He doesn't know me that well, but I thought this post will help spread the words & so he can continue the passion for long time to come. Amrit - Wish You & Neelab Highly Successful Stint in the photography work that you guys want to pursue !! His professional work of Wedding Candid Photography can be found here, Shaadigrapher