Ramu Mama !!

Prelude : This posting can be construed as "On being Grateful - PART 2".

Dear All

Today I visited my maternal uncle who is fondly called by our family as Ramoo Mama. He met with an accident quite recently which got him into a situation of an unavoidable surgery in his back region and have reached home from hospital only couple of days back. I met him right in the hospital during last week end & it was time for a follow up visit.....!!

We (me and anoo) just spent 15 - 20 minutes at his home but it was a real quality time not just for him !! As I bade the Grand old man a bye, this toothless man (with lot of struggle) climbed up from the bed and literally limped holding a walking stick to see me off and to have a look at my new car (he knew that I got a car only now.....!! I have not been visiting him off late). He was all smiles and full of grace as I left his home.

Well, lemme hold my breath for a while and tell you a few facts about this wonderful man. This man failed in Tenth Standard (those days SSLC) as he could muster just single digit mark in English - but beware he was centum in mathematics in the same SSLC exams !!

With his elder brothers relatively settling down well, he reached Chennai fifty five years back with heart full of self pity and intensity to prove himself. Joined AVM chettiar's company and grew up steadily under the wings of graceful AVM chettiar - Had a rollicking career taking care of the distribution side of the old films of chettiar's days. The new generation of AVM (Mr.Saravanan) was magnanimous enough to allow my Mama to continue his services even after Chettiar's demise; I have visited his office at Whites Road couple of times when I was a kid - still remember his bubbling enthusiasm and roaring laughter..He lived like a king at his office and fondly introduces me to his staff members every time - who were so respectful to this man & never try to point out that they have been introduced to me already !!

Financially he was a great support for us during our tough times ...and I remember the feverish excitement with which I wait for him on the prior day of Deepavali - he always comes to our home with a big parcel of crackers (we are four children at our home) and a saree to his beloved sister (my amma). During those days, I almost took his big bundle of crackers & Ramu Mama for granted.....!!
He was the first close circle relative whom I remembered to own a scooter those days...and then later a car (Fiat - Brown colour). I remember mami used to prepare payasam on every sunday at their posh home at Ashok Nagar during early eighties and by all standards it was a rich family with divine grace fully with them.

Well, the wheel of time kept revolving and today he is a lone man in the same big house - letting out most part of it - giving him sufficient money to be self reliant. His wife is dead now and one of the son is not in chennai. The other son is in chennai and takes care of his father...but beyond a point, all of us have to embrace loneliness and suffer the consequences of such physical accidents all by ourselves, right ?

As I verbally assured Ramu mama at the time of leaving him - literally hugging him - that I will take him to Tambaram in my new car after he fully recovers from the accident - his toothless jaw opened up in delight. Yes, he longs for the visit to meet his two sisters at Tambaram - I could sense it. It was not that I was trying to flatter him when I gave this word to him - it was more a self re-assurance and a steel like commitment that I had inside within me - to do this little favour for this grand old man.

As i stared his smiling face from a distance - sitting in the car, I suddenly realized the reason why I was drawn towards this man today & why I carry so much affection for him all of a sudden !! It appears as if this man had unconsiously imprinted himself and his charecteristics upon me !!
In more than one ways, the way I dress up today (do I ?), the manner I have crafted my personality full of "asattu jokes" but constantly carrying an unpredictability about how I behave in a given situation, the simple things that make me emotional and grateful to little things, .... the way some times I annoy Anoo and Madhoo by being "uncultured" and "indignified" - well, the similarities are too many.

Ultimately its not that I am fond of not Ramu Mama....
Its just me that I am seeing in him.
In other words, may abe I am getting attracted towards any thing and every thing outside me - that reminds me about myself.....!!

Krishnaarpanam.....

Love // Suren