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My History
Born on 06th March 1954 to SthanuSubramani(son of Yegnanaryanan and MuthuAmmaal) and RadhaAmmaal(Daughter of Sundaram
Iyer and LakshmiAmmaal), as great grandson of Sh.Narayana Jhatavallabhar, of Perambalam Street in Suchindrum, of erstwhile
Thiruvithankode Samasthanam(presently kanya Kumari Distt of Tamil Nadu,India),
Went to MEA school(later renamed as DTEA School) in Delhi, India
Graduated in Civil Engineering from Delhi College of Engineering, Kashmiri Gate, Delhi, India
Worked in DESEIN(ND)Pvt Ltd, New Delhi, India for five years, and
Thereafter worked and retired from NTPC, Engineering Office, NOIDA, U.P, India
Father
Father was born in 1919 at Suchindrum and studied in SMSM Middle School Suchindrum, then SLB High School Nagerkoil, Scott
Christain Intermediate college Nagerkoil, and Hindu Graduation college Paliankottai(Tirunelveli)
Father was second son in the family and had two Sisters younger to him by ten years
Father was groomed for pursuing higher education and earn for the family in view of marriage commitments of the girls
However, due to involvement in Independence movement he got rusticated from Scott Christian Graduation college
Even from the Hindu college, where he got admission later, he could not complete the final year of Graduation due to continuous
involvement in the public activities
With the Sisters growing to marriageable age, he discontinued studies and went to Madras(present day Chennai) and there
from to Delhi finally in 1945
In Delhi he worked with the then Government as Stenographer.
World war II had just ended and Delhi was doubling as the concentration camp for the prisoners of war.
Due to the presence of global population, Delhi suffered the Malaria epidemic and Father also became victim of the disease.
Then came finally, the Independence of India in 1947. Heavy work load was placed on Father due to the consequent partition
Later in the Independent India he was absorbed in the Ministry of Food and Agriculture
Mother
Mother was born as the first child of the family in 1928 at Srivaikundam, in Tirunelveli District of erstwhile Madras State
(presently Tamil Nadu)
Went to Maharaja's Girls High School(presently upgraded as Sanskrit college)in Tiruananthapuram
To help Grand Mother after the birth of another child in the family, Mother was asked to discontinue studies even after
successfull completion of 9th Standard, just one year short from Metriculation.
Mother had learnt carnatic music during school days and learnt Hindi through the Dakshin Bharti Hindi Pracharak Sabha
and scored consistent first division in Prathmic, and Madhayama levels of the language proficiency. Again due family constraints
could not continue to complete the higher levels like the Rashtra Bhasha, Praveen, Visharadh and Pracharak .
Mother learnt Crochet and Knitting during her vacation visits to her Aunt ( generally known as Ponnamma Aththai)at Krishnankoil(adjacent
to Nagerkoil)
My Childhood
Earliest I can remember is the Days of my 3-4 years of age spent in Karol Bagh, 14A Block. My parents had a single room
on the rear with an attached small Kitchen in the two storeyed house with a central passage-way leading from front to rear
verandah.On each side, there were a pair of rooms, followed by a regular kitchen and Toilet on one side and the small kitchenet
and a bathroom on the other. The front rooms on both sides open to the front verandah with a door-window combine. The rear
rooms open into the rear verandah and have a window opening to the rear courtyard. The kitchen and toilet/bathroom open into
courtyard. A typical building style of north-Indain joint family house-hold.
My younger Brother Raju fell sick in that house. I now repent that I was a bit cruel to him often bullying him ruthlessly
and probably that was the cause of his indisposition. I was a greedy and selfish kid those days. But Mother says I was very
caring and was always remembering my Sister who was left with the Grand-Parents at Trivandrum when Brother was born and the
Elders had advised Mother to leave behind Sister in their care as managing three kids together will be very difficult at Delhi.
I was attending a Montisseri School and was very studious as told by Mother. But I cannot remember being very smart. I
was a so so kid with curiosity naturally common for that age.
I remember Thangam Mami and Krishna Mama and their Son who was then attending engineering college down south and visited
parents once a year. Later he was killed along with wife and children in the Air India Kanishka disaster. It is very sad to
think of a close friend suffering such tragedy.
I remember Mother's Chithy popularly referred as Kanti chithy and Chithappa her husband who died of heart attack due to
overeating on the night before.
I remember Rukmani(fondly referred as Rukku by my Mother) and her Charterred Accountant husband Raman and their second
floor apartment(referred as Barsati or hideout during a sudden rain while sleeping on the roof top of the building generally
during summer). I also remember her Co-Sister fondly referred as Oarpadi.
I remember Father's Office colleage Sivaraman and one of their bed ridden child renderred immobile by partial permanent
damage to brain during birth.
Then after sometime we shifted to another house in 17A block in Karol Bagh.
I remember the neighbours Varadhachari who later became a lawyer in Madras High Court and Krishna Murthy.
I remember Aravamrutham and family, their sons Suresh, Ramesh and others. I sadly recollect the sad demise of the Aunty
in a kitchen stiove accident
I remember Dr.Rao, the only person in India then to be conferred a Doctorate in Library Science. Remember his sons Dhruvan
and Jayaraman. When he moved to Hyderabad to join a new University, we got some furniture like Study Table a Chiar, and Book
Shelf, and one another Saddle Table all for just Rupees Two(2) only.
I remember the Bengali family next door who received fresh fish regularly. At times the the fish seller used to bring
live fish and the family used to place it in a bucket and show it to the children.
I remember another house next door where they fancied to light a red bulb in their front verandah.
Then we had a regular mungfali wala(Roasted groundnut seller) who had a regular customer in me.
I enjoyed the Britannia Bon Bon Biscuits which were round in shape of small(2Cm diameter)size with BB embossed on.
I remember going to my primary school in Pusa Road. A batch of seven or eight children were escorted to and from school
by an old man called Karuvaipilai Thatha. I remember the tents in the school and the noisy recess during lunch hour.
When I fell sick and could not go with early morning batch, our household help Maid used to take me to school and bring
me back as the regular batch walked very fast along with Thatha.
I remember walking along the Ajmal Khan Road in the evening along with Father. We always walked up to the Confectionery
close to the end of bazaar and had some cookies.
Then one day when we were passing the footpath book seller in Arya Samaj Road, Father bought a very big book of Mother
Ghoose Tales, Riddles, and Poems.
Then my youngest Brother Hari was born at Trivandrum. I remember my school was closed for vacation and we all(Father,
Mother, Raju and me) went to Trivandrum.
I was very happy to see my sister again. We both children spend the Trivandrum days very nicely while waiting for Brother
Hari to be born. Raju was only about 4years old and was still treated as an infant. Since it was school session again, I was
also put in the same school(AaalaMoodu school) with Vijaya. I really enjoyed the school days playing with children and since
it was mostly raining in those months, I remember the dark interiors of the unlit class rooms partitioned with Oolai thatti(
Palm leaf sheets) The school resembled a Circus tent and now looking back I feel lucky that the tent purely made of wood material,
never caught fire. I remember the juicy weeds( Mashi Thandu) we used for wiping chalk marks on our writing slates. I used
ask my friends to get more and more of this weed and was very much thrilled to use it. Me and Sister used to walk to school
along with many of her friends. After school we spent time picking-up flowers(Hibiscus) and decorate the pooja room pictures
of Maa Saraswati, Lord Padmanabha, Lord Ganesha, Lord Murugan, Lord Guruvayurappan, Lord Hanuman, Lord Rama Pattabhishekam,
Baby Lord Krishna, young boy Lord Krishna with friends in a Boat, and and many i can recollect as a 5 year old.
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