Happy 80th birthday Appa!!
We are so blessed by your presence on this important
milestone in your life.
You have witnessed a thousand new moons ..Your wisdom has
always guided our lives and will continue to do so ..Your kindness and love , your sense of humor , your commitment towards
your duties and courage of conviction
have been the guideposts of how we shoud lead our lives .You taught us
that money is important but not everything , to lead full lives whether in a small
flat or a big bunglow , to put family before anything else , to respect and
care for elders , to be compassionate with those younger than us and those who
are ignorant ,to be proud about our heritage and culture and country ..the list
is endless .
You were a trend setter for the family ..refusing to take
dowry or “see” a parade of girls when you got married , encouraging Amma to study
further even after we were born , bring us [Aparna and me ] up to believe we
were capable of just about anything and making us independent enough to choose our future careers and spouses . We
grew up in a home where we were loved and cherished and each of us were allowed
to have our own space and opinion and “agree to disagree” if required .We felt safe , accepted and competent at home .
You showered your grandchildren with infinite love and
acceptance , spoilt them with sweets , gifts and whatever they wanted to do ..sometimes
fighting with us to help them get their way !!They loved your jokes and pranks too ...
Professionally you achieved great heights …being ranked 21
in the All India services exam 1960, a top performing officer in the Indian
Railways who spearheaded computerization of Indian Railways in 1972[Chittaranjan]
..deputed to ISRO for 5-6 years[1975- 1981
]where you were the Assistant Project Director for India’s Satellite projects
[INSAT] and set up the Master Control Facility in Hassan .In this period were working with the likes of our former
president Abdul Kalam .Later you moved to Public sector for family reasons
[again takes courage to leave a glowing career for family] and retired as
Executive director @HMT in Bangalore .
You were passionate about reading and tennis /fitness and
later Sanskrit , Tirupugah and spirituality .You published several rare books
in Sanskrit the major one being “RamaAshtapati by Rama Kavi “ with Tamil and English Transliteration
and meanings ..this was converted from “Grantam script “
You also miraculously survived a major duodenal ulcer hemorrhage
twice in your life [at 30 and 55] and also pulled yourself out of a mid life
crisis ..depression at age 50 . Each time you bounced back with more zest for
life ..teaching us the most important lesson that in life tough times will come ,
we will make wrong choices and decisions ..What matters it is how you deal with it , learn from it and bounce back . You have now been ill for the past 5 years with chronic pain and
depression but you still manage to smile faintly for us .Thank you J
Some of the sayings you lived by are
“When the going gets tough ...the tough get going”
“Yogah Karmasu Kausalam”
[Whatever you do ..do well ]
Praying that
God keeps you healthy and happy and in his gracious care …
Akila
