Sunday, June 28, 2009

Happy Birthday, young man!

GrandFatherSon

Today is unique in the history of our family tree, at least the extent to which I know and consider. My grandfather (Shri S. Jcelebrates his 91st birthday. The first person that I know in my family to do so!

Like anyone belonging to the pre-independence era, he has been through a lot of hardships in stabilizing his family and bringing up his children. An immensely spiritual man, he has always believed that an unknown force always leads one to his or her destiny. That must have made him fearless, for I have never seen him afraid. He is a very rigid believer in consistency and regularity, not just in education, but also in games and fitness. When I was a child, ye used to say

"You have to play one hour everyday! Poet Bharati told 'Malai muzhudum vilaiyattu' (Play though the evening""

But he would allow the evening play no longer than that! He would call me back exactly after an hour, make my chant the evening prayers and get me started off with my homework. I honestly wish he had spent a bit more time staying with us (then he was at Trichy and would visit us only occasionally.) so I could have used a bit more of his regularity! :)

I have also noticed that he has been very balanced in digesting joy and sadness. Be it the death of his beloved and eldest son (who I hear was exceptional in college, before he died suddenly of unknown reasons) or the more recent convocation of my cousin Priya (who is the first Ph.D of our family and an early pupil of my grandfather), he always attributed it to God's will and took the feeling into heart in. Which explains why the young man is so young.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY Thatha! :)

2 comments:

Unknown said...

Dear all,
I fully endorse what Bhadri said and add further that the person who talks to him will experience positive vibes flowing through him. His blessings on the phone can inspire even the totally let down person. SKI is symbol of modesty and inspiration. I could learn the tricks of Share market through him and he has been my inspiration in many fronts. My Father in law and my Father are worth emulating as wise people on this Mother Earth. My only prayer to the Almighty is that he should not be bed ridden even for a day

Balaji Jagannathan said...

Hello,
Let us recount his life so far. It is easier for us to start from his marriage as we know very little about his pre marital life.
He had a telex operator's job with night and day shifts. He had not less than 10 mouths to feed and 8 brains to educate all through his prime age.
How much could he have been able to provided beyond food and education?
Still all his children and grand children today are well educated, well settled.
If I have to define him in one word, it cant be anything better than the word "sacrifice".
He epitomises, "Self sacrifice to achieve your ultimate goal".
The least we can do to him is to bestow him with all pride and happiness by simply being in frequent touch with him.
He needs no money, no gifts. He needs to remember his success by talking to us all.
So lets vow to just keep in touch with him frequently.

Balaji