When i reflect on the person achan was and how he became 'achan' i can't fail to mention velliachan. Our velliachan, our second father if i may call. He played a pivotal role in our family. If i've got it right veliachan was achan's mentor, brother and friend.
Whenever we returned from palakkad after our summer vacation the last hour spent in the railway station waiting for the train was always sad. But achan and veliachan would be busy discussing. We would evesdrop only to realise that veliachan is advising achan about saving for future, his responsibility towards family,about each of their children and a lot of fatherly stuff.
And achan used to follow his advise. Although they were cobrothers and didn't share a blood relation they bonded so well. I am sure they both always cherished and will cherish that relationship.
When we were in Kerala this time for achan's first anniversary veliachan was reminiscing on old times and said that the last thing achan had bought for him was a pair of leather footwear. he wore it only once, he wants to keep it for achan's memory.
We have so many sweet memories of our childhood, the time we spent in kerala, thanks to veliamma and veliachan.
veliachan used to work for United Breweries so beer bottles used to be stacked in the cupboards and every evening both of em spent hours with their drink, talking on the balcony.
our ooty trip is unforgetable. we woke up at 4 am and sat waiting for the car, only to know after a few hours that the car will not come. we ended up spending the day at home with the food n snacks packed for the picnic.
more later
Thursday, June 18, 2009
Monday, June 15, 2009
Small things
I remember...
Achan used to take us through the triveni road back home after school when he was in a good mood and bought us savouries which were my favourite. It was more like a reward when we'd been good.
Achan loved root vegetables like yam, sweet potato, they were his favourite!
I never knew achan's favourite colour. Although I think he liked brown quite a bit.
Achan idolised the BJP leaders Vajpayee and Advani.
Achan loved the malayalam actor Murali. I think somebody had mentioned that he looked like him and thats where the secret admiration came from. He was a fan of Mohanlal too.
He despised Shahrukh especially because his daughters were big fans of his :-)
He made fun of most mallu actresses saying they only knew how to cry.
Achan made fun of amma's gossipping friends and made us laugh although he would show a lot if interest when she spoke about them. I thought it was cute :-)
Achan loved his nephew one in particular although that favourite nephew never turned up even during the difficult time of the loss of achan.
Achan went out of his way forto help people...sometimes strangers and never expected anything in return.
I always observed that achan had many friends, some very close, some platonic. But the ones he loved most deeply most often let him down and those he had least expectations from came to his rescue in the difficult times.
His favourite person in the extended family was i think velliachan. he respected him, idolised him and unconditionally loved him.
Achan did not express some things to his loved ones. He had a long converstaion with one of my friends on my wedding day about each one of his children which I came to know of much later, after we lost him.
Achan had strong opinions about everything including cricket. He would argue and fight to prove his point on how we have patronised Tendulkar and have lost the sense of a team and it has become all about individual achievement.
Achan hated it when we spent too much money and time in putiing extensive pookkalam for onam. :-) He used to sometimes help us do the finishing touches so that we could have our breakfast together. sweet no?
Achan would always be stubborn about certain things, like the friends we made, visiting people or being courteous which seemed very conservative and unnecessary at that time. we wondered how does it matter if our friends hung out with boys,or if we visited somebody without a formal invitation or went out of line once in a while and despised him criticising us. But today when i look back at each incident, i realise my dad was right in every way.he said it for a reason. life experiences have taught me that he was always right. i hope i could pass on atleast some of those learnings to my children when i'll have them.
Achan used to take us through the triveni road back home after school when he was in a good mood and bought us savouries which were my favourite. It was more like a reward when we'd been good.
Achan loved root vegetables like yam, sweet potato, they were his favourite!
I never knew achan's favourite colour. Although I think he liked brown quite a bit.
Achan idolised the BJP leaders Vajpayee and Advani.
Achan loved the malayalam actor Murali. I think somebody had mentioned that he looked like him and thats where the secret admiration came from. He was a fan of Mohanlal too.
He despised Shahrukh especially because his daughters were big fans of his :-)
He made fun of most mallu actresses saying they only knew how to cry.
Achan made fun of amma's gossipping friends and made us laugh although he would show a lot if interest when she spoke about them. I thought it was cute :-)
Achan loved his nephew one in particular although that favourite nephew never turned up even during the difficult time of the loss of achan.
Achan went out of his way forto help people...sometimes strangers and never expected anything in return.
I always observed that achan had many friends, some very close, some platonic. But the ones he loved most deeply most often let him down and those he had least expectations from came to his rescue in the difficult times.
His favourite person in the extended family was i think velliachan. he respected him, idolised him and unconditionally loved him.
Achan did not express some things to his loved ones. He had a long converstaion with one of my friends on my wedding day about each one of his children which I came to know of much later, after we lost him.
Achan had strong opinions about everything including cricket. He would argue and fight to prove his point on how we have patronised Tendulkar and have lost the sense of a team and it has become all about individual achievement.
Achan hated it when we spent too much money and time in putiing extensive pookkalam for onam. :-) He used to sometimes help us do the finishing touches so that we could have our breakfast together. sweet no?
Achan would always be stubborn about certain things, like the friends we made, visiting people or being courteous which seemed very conservative and unnecessary at that time. we wondered how does it matter if our friends hung out with boys,or if we visited somebody without a formal invitation or went out of line once in a while and despised him criticising us. But today when i look back at each incident, i realise my dad was right in every way.he said it for a reason. life experiences have taught me that he was always right. i hope i could pass on atleast some of those learnings to my children when i'll have them.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)