THE ARCHIES

our friends

These were the people that fascinated us through out our teens,. that is when they came into our book stands.Harvey comics was a magical name.

A kingdom of fun,eats,wit ,goodness conquering evil.

Before these cartoon characters were introduced into our life,

we were blessed with long hours of freedom once after the school was out and vacations started.

The beginning of holidays were marked for celeberation.

some of us were taken to cartoon movies,some of us were given indoor games like Trade,Monopoly andChess.

Each chose what he or she wanted to. Girls were more for Pallaanguzhi and playing with stones,sozhi .evenings were more fun,because that meant we will be allowed to get out of the house.

Every game included good physical activity.Where ever we were children played the same game. one group versus other.

No dashing cars or heavy vehicles to be afraid of,except for occasional cycles. Motorbike was unheard of until mid sixties.

That was the way we were., until the advent of comics.

Archie,Casper,Wendy,Lotta,Richie Rich and their friends made us more occupied with our time. Whatever Internet is bringing us today

was long available to youngsters through these books.

We could look through the pages and go into the world filled with plenty of wonderful adventures..

Beginning of sixties saw Kalki magazine bringing out chithirakkathaikaL.

One I remember vividly was Vijayapuri veeran.The hero was a very tall person taller than a normal boy. He would need a cot of very long length to sleep in. He would walk thru forests with his long strides and carry the people he wanted to help on his shoulders.If I am wrong about any of this fact please let me know.

some of you who happen across this podt may wonder why all the glory write up of yesteryears,decades.

Because of the simple telephone call from my daughter to send some reading materials for our grandson to read and enjoy the habit of being with books rather than the computer games

which are a little strain on the eyes. and more preoccupation with scoring and scoring more.

Hope I can find some of the books we saved long back and send it through.

I do not know whether these books are available as new editions.Atleast these pictures I could gather from google. for that I could ask them to do the same.

OM-NI-POTENT

Goodthings do last in memories is
what our father used to say.How you refresh them,dust them and keep them in order is what matter most.
That way the city of Madhurai gave us the firm foundation that children need in their formative years. Our paternal grandparents lived in its suburb called Pazhanganatham.
our memorable holidays were spent in the company of our affectionate but firm grandfather and grandmother.
while our summer days took us to Chennai(then) Madras, our Christmas and september leave from school were spent in learning with our thatha,
a dear old Postmaster from Srivaikuntam, Thirunelveli.A strict disceplinarian who administered our young minds and health with kindness and care.
He made us read the english newspapers and recite math tables from 1 to 16 everyday.the evenings were devoted to long walks along the old paths.
He was very cautious of how we spent our times.

He will make us write on a paper about what we are going todo that day,including playing. and make us write down the time schedule.
evenings were reserved for prayers.

And all of us , cousins friends were told to be back home by 6pm.
when he will relax in his easychair his thin frame looking more thin on the stripes of the cloth.

Until the moment we try to overstay our evening playtime,
He will not scold or even look cross.
"kai kaalai alambindu vaango"

we will all remain silent. after we finish our snacks
he will ask how we spent our time. and the he will recall
his own childhood.
he will not be maudlin abt the past. He will not talk about losing his parents at the age of five and how he was in the care of his kind Aunt.




Just good facts of learning about good habits, health and education, respecting elders.
"periyavaa solRathukku maru pechu pesakkudaathu,"
this will his refrain.
we trusted him and will say "sari thaththaa." all the time.













After that,
'inthaa! yaaru angge ? unnaiththaane(this is for our paatti)
give the children some snacks."
THe most rebellious of our lot one cousin,
will approach him to say, that the others persuaded her to stay more time,. "ellaam enakku theriyum": will finish that.

he will sit with us thru the prayers and after making sure
everyone is listening, he will talk about the importance of keeping track of time and be punctual in all the matters.

Guess that has stayed with us more than anyother advices.

.

Amma's Family

87-I,Vellala street, a row of houses was built in 1930s.Bearing the #87, the I lettered house was a perfect place to locate his wife and children for Sri.k.Veeraraghavan from Keezhanatham village in thirunelveli didtrict, a science master in the MCTM School for boys.

Purasawalkam where the house and school were situated was particularly favoured for many reasons.1st ,it was near to both the railway stations Egmore and Central.

schools for the children.many banks and fund companies ,provision stores, clothes emporiums, temples were very closeby.And the wholesale markets of Paris (madras-Paris) was just a stone's throw away.

easy transport system of Hand rickshaws ,horse carts were very easy to get.,if you want to travel short distances.Medical help was available with Dr.Acharya and somemore specialists on Purasawalkam high road

.Trams were there for long distance engagements.General hospital was accessible to all citizens.Our thatha's sister and cheenimma's brothers lived close by. They always gathered to take part in any kind of family celeberations or difficult times

.sri.K.veeraraghavan's family was blessed with one girl and four boys. Mrs.Rukmani v.was a woman of achaaram and hardwork.there were no maids or errand boys to run their work. the boys were brought up to be able to assist in household work and the daughter was well versed in culinary skills before she married at the age of 14.She was attending a christian missionary school called The presentation convent.the eldest of boys was Ambi mama.He, Ramaswamy and gopu were studying in Mct.M school. Cheeni mama was still young.

Thats when thatha was afflicted with partial paralysis.Though it was a tough time they were able to put in their mind together and found a way to overcome the difficulties.Ambi mama had just finished his S.S.L.C and andAmbi mama offered to take up a job.For his skills and patience he could have become any noticeable personality.The whole responsibility of taking care of the whole family fell on the fragile shoulders of the small boy of 15.He took up a job of Keeping accounts for a Publisher in Broadway.

after two years the Parry&Co offered him a clerical post.He was just 17. Ramaswamy mama learnt short hand,typing and was taken into Postal department on the telegraph section. The younger gopu mama and cheeni mama were still in school.will follow up with their progress in the next post.

CHITHAPPA-2

Chithappaa used to come to visit on saturdays from Madurai which was just 12 miles away from our Thirumangalam.A green coloured willys Jeep on our front door meant ,our weekend stay with thatha and paatti in Pazhanganatham is being planned by both brothers.
The pazhanganatham house was adjacent to a paddy field. All sorts of insects used to flourish there.Chithapa's main jobs on weekends were to get rid of all the musquitoes and other pests.He will diligently make a bucketful of disinfectants mixed with water and pour it all over the place. we used to run around helping him
.I have never seen any of the three, our father,thatha or chithappa sitting idle. They will always find something to do around the house,cleaning up the attic,or digging the soil to plant or weed out the ground. Or they will be using a small toolbox of hammers and chisels and nails to hang out pictures,oiling and taking out the "thuru",cleaning the door hinges. They were good,talented quiet persons, never given for noise or loose talks.
A good set of model citizens all of them,always careful with financial matters never wasting money having sound knowledge of investing.They saved for their chidren,never thought of indulging their own whims and fancies.Of the two brothers Chithappa was the more outspoken.when Appa was known for his silent pidivatham,
Chithappa's pidivatham was vocal. that is what Delhi athai used to recollect of her brothers.Both of them did get their thoughts put into action.Well .... we were model children too!!!so it was no problem to them in motivating us.!!

CHITHAPPA---1

Thirukurungudi Srinivasa Rajagopalan was born as the last son of our madhurai thatha and paatti On 10th of september 1925.

Four years younger to your thatha he was a very dear brother. the love and respect that chithappa had for appa was very very visible. As was the vaathsalyam Appa had for his youngest brother.All of them were so close to each other.when both of them meet after a break of one or two months , it will be a continuous session of vethilai,pakku and arattai.

We will be sitting with them after dinner in the night.Thatha will be listening and chithappa will exchange notes with everyone around, whether it was cheenimma,or lakshmi athai or for that matter our Paatti. the women of the house will sit some distance away and the brothers will conduct the dharbar.

all the family matters that need to be settled will be discussed ,advices from all the members present will be considered and finally, chithappaa will address "narayana, enna seyyalaam?".

appa will get up to spit out his pugayilai out and come back and tell " seri, ithu thaan serinnu thonarathu rajagopala."

our paatti's face will just shine with pride when chiththappa's name was mentioned.

Thats how they planned a trip down south to Kanyakumari,thirunelveli,thiruchendur,sucheendram,guruvayoor and coimbatore where our other chithappa sundararajan was living.

Thatha ,paatti wanted to go to Srivaikuntam,&Azhvaar thirunagariso during our holidays in 1957 or 56.About 10 of us took a big car , all food and water for the trip packed neatly and put in the trunk along with us three,two mamas and me.

It was a big stationwagon , a very comfortable car with a very sensible,affable driver.His name was Mayandi.The first trip was to Thirunelveli and after visiting all the temples we went to Thirukkurungudi and stayed in Thatha's house.The village, the very inquisitive people, the temple and the river were totally engrossing.The second day we proceeded to Kanyakumari and Thiruchendur. the bath in Kanyakumari sea along with appa,amma,thatha and paatti was wonderful.

Again, the trip was made memorable with madhurai Paatti' telling us about her children's pranks and words, anecdotes,stories and Thatha's discipline.

Chithappa has always fascinated us, especially Ranga mama .Mama was a favourite with chithappa as murali mama was with Thatha. will continue with thoughts about him in the next post.

What is presumtion?
It is a thought,a predecision,a preconceived notion about something, someone.
We tend to create an aura around a person,place .It causes a hesitation or excitement according to the thoughts concerning that attitude.
if it is a bad presumption we do not want to go near that person or place. If it is a good thought we do want to communicate either thru thoughts or action or words. both symptoms are not healthy.right! ?? what makes you presume something?
do we ever go through analysing any feeling?sometimes I do. other times it is so easy to go on liking someone or (the extreme) hate someone., or worse still completely ignore the person.
we want to forget even that person's existence.do i think these are bad for the soul?. yes i do.Because of the simple reason ,, emotions tend to create a dovetailing effect on your life and reasoning ,rational thinking.
Negative thoughts go on corroding minds and make our interactions with the persons concerned , go through mood swings. And let me tell you that IS bad.
so next time when we start building up dams, and walls around us
so that the next person approaching us should not poke us and hurt us, let us know those same walls can stop the affections and love which want to sweep us off our feet.
we do not want to fall on our heads or backs (or twist or break ankles shins or anything else)!!!. or knees for that matter!
we can always hold on to best or good judgements. it will help us stand firm.
these thoughts are picked up from an article I read in Readers' digest some 30 years back,. they still sound good to me.

Golden summers of 1954 to 1964

Though our holidays and schooldays were always full of wonder
and filled with novelty of precious hours spent with Thatha and Paati,
the summer holidays of April and May had a way of filling us with excitement.
We will start planning way ahead in December.of taking care of our new clothes,books to read,places to visit and people to meet.
and ofcourse the train or Express we used to call,the mode which transported us from the routine to the dreamland of Madras.
our leisure hours will be filled with the talk of which train to take ,who is to sit near the window seat and who is to use the Holdall (the ultimate carpetbag) as the bed to sleep on during the night(train) time.
Paatti will assist us in planning about each step and ofcourse we shd promise her with good behaviour
.she will make us happy during the little bit tough times during examination times, reminding us that we are nearing the finish of school days and start of vacation.
the magic always used to inspire us and the final day will arrive as if ordered..the 31st of March.
Those were the times of APPLYING FOR the" leave concession form
', from the school, IN which we were studying at that time authorising Thatha to get the fare reduced to one third.
we will be thrilled beyond words when Thatha fills that form and get the tickets from the Railway station. the tickets will be kept very safely by Paatti in a small box.
We did not have a steel cupboard till the beginning of 1960s.The day of departure will be filled with activities filling up the one and only Trunk box,a steel one with our clothes, assisting and troubling Paatti with millions of questions, running ahead of time to the gate to see whether the Kudhirai vandi has come to fetch us to the station.
Paatti will prepare pooris and curd rice to be taken as night meals. a bronze water jug(kooja) will be filled with fresh water and there will be a little tumbler made for that kooja inside. the train which starts from Thirunelveli will arrive at our Thirumangalam railway station on time, by 6.10pm. we would have arrived at the station an hour before and would be waiting impatiently. ,,all the while asking Thatha innumerable questions which he will reply patiently, holding our hands.
The train used to stop only for 5 minutes in that station: during those hurried seconds thatha will find a place for us seat us in the crowded compartment safely,give instructions to Paatti and get down just on time to see us leave him for a month or two alone in the house. I still remember thatha's smiling face as he waved us off to all those trips. For our Happy times.

31st May,,,, wedding anniversay unakku ranga

Sunday

Ranga mama
It Is a great craziness to write about Rangamama in the past tense.But I have to put in something about him. I think he would have liked to know and be sure to appreciate words about him appearing as a blog
.but it is also a fact he is not here anymore.
someday I shall stop searching for him in the vast sea of people going by.
someday I will find the end to the puzzle that is plaguing my mind why things have to happen as they do.
ofcourse there are many good things about life that gives meanings to our existence.Many causes.
Ranga mama had a great sense of humour,sometimes whacky, but still bringing happiness to others. he valued what everyone thought about him. He valued honesty,friendship, respect to elders and care towards fellow humanbeings.
He was totally lost when Thatha passed away.but rallied around just te same.the one thing he cared utmost above evrything else was Divya.nothing could make him more happy than to know that she is progressing succesfully towards Masters in engineering
.That he wanted to be there for everyone was the burden he carried around.one thing that I knew and could not do much about was his worry towards amma.ranga ippavum yaaraiyaavathu kadichunduthaan iruppe!!Bless you.
posted by valli@ 3:32 PM

3 Comments:
At 14 February, 2006, Divya said...
couldnt agree more with u athai... love to read more abt appa...
At 24 March, 2006, srinath said...
Nice work. Listening and emotionalizing with what others speak is an unique quality. It is rare. Not being a sceptic, cynic or indifferent is again unique.He had these qualities. I dont think we will ever have answers to many phenomenons and these are such. Those that attempt answering or rationalizing why things happen usually want to help the cause or are simply lost.Acceptance and prayers are preferrable answers but usually easier to speak about.
At 25 March, 2006, aththuzhaai said...
dear babu,i am happy you can accept al this in this manner.children
are more blessed these days with correct attitudes.