And my conversation with mom continues.....
On her siblings.
They're nine in all - six sisters and three brothers - and they're named Chandramathykutty, Leela Kumari, Vilasinikutty, Indirakutty, Radhakrishnan, Balagopal, Sumangala, Krishna Kumar and Geetha, in their order of seniority. Radhakrishnan had passed into the mist of time when he was barely 11/2 years old, Geetha, when she was studying in class VIII and Leela kunjamma in Nov '11, at 74 - and I know that the last farewell had shaken her.
My mom has always been protective about her brothers and sisters and they accept her advice, as gospel, on personal aspects even to this day. What I've observed all these years is that she likes each one of them in equal measure and has never said anything ill about any of them because she's always pointed out mistakes, whosoever had committed them, without fear or favour. Since she's hard of hearing now, she rarely attends the telephone, and therefore, they make it a point to visit her frequently to have their share of conversation.
The grandchildren, too, have taken the cue from their parents on this score and hence, we've a continuous round of guests at our place and her thrill on seeing them is genuine, spontaneous!
On her first meeting with dad.
My dad's father had come across her father at a public meeting near Kottarakkara and was impressed with the latter's dedication and sincerity to work. He, himself, as a part of his social activities had brought about an ayurveda hospital, a post office and a market in his village by giving away his own land and their meeting spurred the idea of setting up a library. Therefore, as a follow up, he'd gone to visit my mom's father at Thiruvananthapuram.
During his wait in their sitting room, he'd noticed my mom leaving the house for her college and after discussing the details of setting up the library, he broached the topic of marriage between his son and the latter's daughter. My mom's father's reply was disarminglyly simple and direct:-
- she's too young and has just completed 17 yrs.
- she's studying and
- there's nothing to offer in the form of family wealth.
My dad's father was equally candid about not wanting anything but for the girl! He'd promised to return with his son, a naval sailor, who was expected on leave shortly. This had taken place in early November and by the end of that month, the father had fetched up again, accompanied by his son, who had by then seen quite a few girls and was getting to be tired of the rigmarole.
My dad seemed to have fallen for my mom at first sight. He was permitted to ask his queries to his would-be-wife, under the watchful eyes of the two fathers - it must have been a tough proposition and I can understand the tremendous pressure that my dad must have gone through, then!
"What is your main subject?" This was the starting conversational piece of my parents so many eons ago. My mom's candid first observation about dad, accompanied by a million volt smile of her's as she recapitulated that precious moment of her life, 'He was handsome but had thick, bushy eyebrows. Later, I'd got him to clip them'. She was also able to extract dad's permission to continue with her studies after marriage!
A quick recap of the events, thus far:-
- my dad's father sees my mom early Nov
- he brings his son to acquaint himself with his would-be-wife end Nov
- the date and time of the marriage is decided mid Dec
- Kuttappan Nair and Chandramathykutty get married on 16 Jan '54.
Tailpiece.
The saga continues as my mom gets nostalgic.
On her siblings.
They're nine in all - six sisters and three brothers - and they're named Chandramathykutty, Leela Kumari, Vilasinikutty, Indirakutty, Radhakrishnan, Balagopal, Sumangala, Krishna Kumar and Geetha, in their order of seniority. Radhakrishnan had passed into the mist of time when he was barely 11/2 years old, Geetha, when she was studying in class VIII and Leela kunjamma in Nov '11, at 74 - and I know that the last farewell had shaken her.
My mom has always been protective about her brothers and sisters and they accept her advice, as gospel, on personal aspects even to this day. What I've observed all these years is that she likes each one of them in equal measure and has never said anything ill about any of them because she's always pointed out mistakes, whosoever had committed them, without fear or favour. Since she's hard of hearing now, she rarely attends the telephone, and therefore, they make it a point to visit her frequently to have their share of conversation.
The grandchildren, too, have taken the cue from their parents on this score and hence, we've a continuous round of guests at our place and her thrill on seeing them is genuine, spontaneous!
On her first meeting with dad.
My dad's father had come across her father at a public meeting near Kottarakkara and was impressed with the latter's dedication and sincerity to work. He, himself, as a part of his social activities had brought about an ayurveda hospital, a post office and a market in his village by giving away his own land and their meeting spurred the idea of setting up a library. Therefore, as a follow up, he'd gone to visit my mom's father at Thiruvananthapuram.
During his wait in their sitting room, he'd noticed my mom leaving the house for her college and after discussing the details of setting up the library, he broached the topic of marriage between his son and the latter's daughter. My mom's father's reply was disarminglyly simple and direct:-
- she's too young and has just completed 17 yrs.
- she's studying and
- there's nothing to offer in the form of family wealth.
My dad's father was equally candid about not wanting anything but for the girl! He'd promised to return with his son, a naval sailor, who was expected on leave shortly. This had taken place in early November and by the end of that month, the father had fetched up again, accompanied by his son, who had by then seen quite a few girls and was getting to be tired of the rigmarole.
My dad seemed to have fallen for my mom at first sight. He was permitted to ask his queries to his would-be-wife, under the watchful eyes of the two fathers - it must have been a tough proposition and I can understand the tremendous pressure that my dad must have gone through, then!
"What is your main subject?" This was the starting conversational piece of my parents so many eons ago. My mom's candid first observation about dad, accompanied by a million volt smile of her's as she recapitulated that precious moment of her life, 'He was handsome but had thick, bushy eyebrows. Later, I'd got him to clip them'. She was also able to extract dad's permission to continue with her studies after marriage!
A quick recap of the events, thus far:-
- my dad's father sees my mom early Nov
- he brings his son to acquaint himself with his would-be-wife end Nov
- the date and time of the marriage is decided mid Dec
- Kuttappan Nair and Chandramathykutty get married on 16 Jan '54.
Tailpiece.
The saga continues as my mom gets nostalgic.
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