I'm struck by the fact that all of us are getting older day by day.
I wish to talk about two amazing roles that all of us have and cherish that we own them.
"Grandparents" or Großeltern" or "Thaatha-Paati" or "Appoopan-Ammooma" we call it.
When I quote these words, there is a drop of an emotional feeling within myself, don't you feel it?
I remember, being a kid, spending almost 30-40% of the time every week with my Grandparents in Nanganallur, it was a beautiful house "Premananth".
In fact, our WiFi connection at home was named by me as "Premananth" after a week long fight over this with my father (Like poles repel each other, so are we, we love each other and quarrel as much, don't mind it ;) )
Premananth is nothing but both, My Mom's and My Uncle's names put together - Prema+Ananth -> Sounds sweet, doesn't it?
Of course, I draw a lot of inspiration from both of them -
My Mom - the most social human being I've ever come across, if you think I'm so easy going, I have one more better person than me to show
Uncle Ananth - Being a sportsman and his love for driving cars - probably my idol of inspiration - now you get the connection between my interests right?
My Father - his strict way of life with time and passion for machines and nature - you realise why I love animals, machines and the "keep doing something" attitude.
My Sister Ammu, come on, we are known to be the toughest people when you let us alone and the most loveliest people when people are around us.
Aunt Raji - Fellow Scorpion, Runner, she's seen me grow up to where I am today, we've been a motivating face to each other when either of us take part in Running competitions
I wish to quote about what makes my Grandparents win a special place in my heart.
Every since the day I remember being a kid, these two people have been Idols in my life.
They were the best couple you can ever find, being so supportive between each other and also a big morale support to the family.
If you want to know the real meaning of Word-of-mouth, these people will be the pioneers of it.
Probably, in my entire family, the words "Kunjappa-Kunjammai" are quite familiar - My grandfather was the youngest of all his siblings and "Kunjappa" is the name for the "Youngest Chitappa (Uncle to be simple)". They were a big pillar to the family, taking care of most of their sibling's children, helping them get into better educational standards and setting up a great life ahead. When you see them in person, you would never feel it seeing their faces, they're so down to earth.
If my parents had the right in correctly parenting me, it was the same with my Grandparents too, they were alike for me. Being a very naughty kid, I recollect getting a lot of beatings and scoldings, I miss those now :(
My Grandfather used to depict an imaginary character, which was our major play toy "Echimi"
The conversations used to be "Echimi enga olinjindu irukka paaru, andha thunistand ku pinnadi irukaalo nu thonardhu " - "Find out where Echimi is hiding, I think she's behind the Cloth Stand" or, he used to fold his palms, face them downwards and ask us to open it, to find it was nothing and later say " Echimi took it and ran away". Such was the type of engagement we had, both me and Ammu, my sister, while visiting Nanganallur.
Othappa(Ramachandran is his name, Othappa for me and my sister, Chitappa in the family), my Granpa's elder brother stayed with us all through his life, he was also one of the important persons in life, for being a nice and a great person with whom you want to talk when you feel bored.
His imaginary depictions about life and boasting about them will fill your minds with enough thoughts, you would either laugh or simply atleast enjoy the conversation.
Stories such as The Russian President visiting his Sports shop back in Kerala to buy a Badminton cock and he offering him one extra, for being the Russian President.
You could always expect this kind of humour-filled-realistic stories while cutting a nice conversation with him. He used to craft us cricket-bats from the fallen coconut tree leaves, it was great fun to play on the streets with them. I don't think nobody does it today even.
Entering Nanganallur after a nice bus ride in 51N and walking all the way to Premananth, one can find my Uncle and Grandpa reading the newspaper, smell of nice Kaapi (read my previous article, if you want to know the speciality of this Kaapi), a busy Granny in the kitchen and my aunt Raji taking part in the house activities.
We had this funny dog Jimmy, a black and white Mongrel, which was with us for quite some time and I never recollect playing with him, probably because he had a cut-tail and would bark if someone touched him.
Typical morning routine was to walk around the streets and pluck flowers for that day's Pooja.
My grandfather always had a routine, until he passed away. He would spend two-three hours of his day for prayers in the morning and an hour in the evening to chant Vishnu Sahasranamam. His depiction of life was an interesting thing, which nobody would want to miss hearing.
And then, I recollect my Uncle putting up his savings to get home our first car, a Maruti Omni. For me even now, that was an amazing moment.
When uncle wasn't in town, my father would use it occasionally.
It's probably from my Grandparents and my mother, that I inherited the habit of socialising and making friends.
When my sister or my mother of me used to visit Nanganallur, we could expect our Grandfather at the Bus stop, waiting for us; such a nice gesture, isn't it ?
And then, they had to shift to Velachery, so my uncle Ananth wouldn't be so away from his work, "Wellington Plaza"; one of the buildings you wouldn't miss seeing, when you travel towards Central station.
And soon, we shifted to CIT Nagar, so I could get to my school very easily.
This made it very easy to commute to my Grandparents' with a direct bus M7 or 5G.
It's a big culture in our family to talk about bus routes, you should try to be in the situation when there is a conversation, interesting stuff guaranteed.
Now that I got older to start travelling alone, the ticket was 5Rs back then to Baby Nagar and a 200m walk would lead to this wonderful house where they moved.
It had everything you would need; a supermarket, a temple, nice neighbours, a saloon and every basic thing you would need in the vicinity.
Othappa's every day routine was to go down in the morning to pluck flowers and sit on the slope of our car park with his walking stick along and read the newspaper.
Almost every passer-by, I recollect, used to say hello to Othappa as they cross by our entrance; there was some nice charm in him.
One of the best thing about being there was to take part in interesting conversations - be it religion or politics or sports; it was always a great ambience.
There were days when I had to take my Granny (Me and my sister call her Ammamai) for errands, such as Bank or post office - she was the most comfortable person one could ever find.
Be it boarding a over crowded bus (Indian one, not the European type of crowd) or driving her in my car or train; she wouldn't have a problem.
The one reply she would give when somebody would ask her - Why should I worry, my grand son will take care of me <3
I recollect the first week after I started to drive my car. Everyone at home knew how passionate I was, since being a kid. My Dad and Uncle Ananth are the best drivers I've ever come across in life.
It was our bright white Hyundai Santro, I hadn't received my license yet, with my learners one in hand - I asked my granny if she would want to join me for a drive.
I took the car straight into Mambalam (You can never predict what kind of chaos it could be) and both of us had a wonderful time, I'm sure she enjoyed this little adventure.
She was even telling my Mom why she didn't mind - "For me it is important that he drives, if something happens and I'm hurt, it's okay. I trust my grandson"
If something works based on trust, I've seen it the best.
The best example I would ever quote - When Ammamai orders for Filter Kaapi from Parameswaran Coffee (To know about this Coffee, read my other blog where I've tried to fully describe it).
The conversation between her and the person who picks the call from Parameswaran Coffee, would look like this:
Her : Hello, is it Parameswaran coffee? This is from Thoomani Madom (Name of our house)
Coffee shop : Yes, tell me, how are you?
Her : I need coffee, 1 kg, in two packing for sending it to my son.
Coffee shop : Okay, You will receive it soon
Trust me, the next day, the coffee would arrive through someone or sometimes even by Courier.
The coffee shop wouldn't even bother if he would get his money.
It's his trust, which he has seen through so many years of selling coffee - he has the best customers.
My granny would write a cheque and post it the next day and sometimes she would even get a call to confirm that they received it.
Show me this kind of a relationship today. Very hard to find!
What if I tell you ? When I was less than 10, she took me for a wedding in Kerala, just me and her; in the train. I remember this vaguely! She took so much care of me, made sure I don't stay bored.
If I ever miss something today, it's just my granny. She's the best ever friend I've had in life.
Even now, the way my Mom and My granny co-ordinate between each other is something unique.
We lived earlier in CIT Nagar, hence our place was the meeting point for all our relatives/friends who pass by this area, since it was in the middle of the city and very convenient to access it.
This way, my grand parents used to come to our place, so all of us could meet together, rather than the relatives/friends making an additional visit.
Likewise, when we moved to Perambur (closer to the railway station), it became so, ones accessing the Airport would head to my Granny's place in Velachery (convenient to access the airport in comparison to Perambur), those accessing the Central railway station would head to my parent's place in Perambur.
My Mother co-ordinates all these so well over phone, now I realise how nice it is.
It was 2017, during the CTC Swimmathon, I was enrolled in the 3Km category and my granny was interested to come along with me.
At home, everybody encourages Sports and in taking up an active lifestyle.
She picked up a chair and watched me and all our friends swim the Openwaters in Ottiambakkam.
As I continue to write, I'm lost into thoughts and Nostalgic memories.
I'm happy to have had a great Inter-generational relationship.
Thoughts? Happy to hear if you would like to share!
P.S : I'm thankful to my Mom for all these photographs she sent me over phone. Film developed photographs are a rare sight today!
I wish to talk about two amazing roles that all of us have and cherish that we own them.
"Grandparents" or Großeltern" or "Thaatha-Paati" or "Appoopan-Ammooma" we call it.
When I quote these words, there is a drop of an emotional feeling within myself, don't you feel it?
 |
| Granny, the unique person, who wishes you on your birthday without looking it up on Facebook! Courtesy : Google |
In fact, our WiFi connection at home was named by me as "Premananth" after a week long fight over this with my father (Like poles repel each other, so are we, we love each other and quarrel as much, don't mind it ;) )
 |
| Dad and Me quarrel over a lot of things, lol. This was when he complained that I was too fast and he wanted to drive. Finally he was driving faster than me. Dad, come on ! 😅 |
 |
| Nostalgic times with Grandpa at Premananth, along with local friends. I'm the guy to his left |
My Mom - the most social human being I've ever come across, if you think I'm so easy going, I have one more better person than me to show
Uncle Ananth - Being a sportsman and his love for driving cars - probably my idol of inspiration - now you get the connection between my interests right?
My Father - his strict way of life with time and passion for machines and nature - you realise why I love animals, machines and the "keep doing something" attitude.
My Sister Ammu, come on, we are known to be the toughest people when you let us alone and the most loveliest people when people are around us.
Aunt Raji - Fellow Scorpion, Runner, she's seen me grow up to where I am today, we've been a motivating face to each other when either of us take part in Running competitions
I wish to quote about what makes my Grandparents win a special place in my heart.
Every since the day I remember being a kid, these two people have been Idols in my life.
They were the best couple you can ever find, being so supportive between each other and also a big morale support to the family.
If you want to know the real meaning of Word-of-mouth, these people will be the pioneers of it.
Probably, in my entire family, the words "Kunjappa-Kunjammai" are quite familiar - My grandfather was the youngest of all his siblings and "Kunjappa" is the name for the "Youngest Chitappa (Uncle to be simple)". They were a big pillar to the family, taking care of most of their sibling's children, helping them get into better educational standards and setting up a great life ahead. When you see them in person, you would never feel it seeing their faces, they're so down to earth.
If my parents had the right in correctly parenting me, it was the same with my Grandparents too, they were alike for me. Being a very naughty kid, I recollect getting a lot of beatings and scoldings, I miss those now :(
My Grandfather used to depict an imaginary character, which was our major play toy "Echimi"
The conversations used to be "Echimi enga olinjindu irukka paaru, andha thunistand ku pinnadi irukaalo nu thonardhu " - "Find out where Echimi is hiding, I think she's behind the Cloth Stand" or, he used to fold his palms, face them downwards and ask us to open it, to find it was nothing and later say " Echimi took it and ran away". Such was the type of engagement we had, both me and Ammu, my sister, while visiting Nanganallur.
Othappa(Ramachandran is his name, Othappa for me and my sister, Chitappa in the family), my Granpa's elder brother stayed with us all through his life, he was also one of the important persons in life, for being a nice and a great person with whom you want to talk when you feel bored.
His imaginary depictions about life and boasting about them will fill your minds with enough thoughts, you would either laugh or simply atleast enjoy the conversation.
Stories such as The Russian President visiting his Sports shop back in Kerala to buy a Badminton cock and he offering him one extra, for being the Russian President.
You could always expect this kind of humour-filled-realistic stories while cutting a nice conversation with him. He used to craft us cricket-bats from the fallen coconut tree leaves, it was great fun to play on the streets with them. I don't think nobody does it today even.
Entering Nanganallur after a nice bus ride in 51N and walking all the way to Premananth, one can find my Uncle and Grandpa reading the newspaper, smell of nice Kaapi (read my previous article, if you want to know the speciality of this Kaapi), a busy Granny in the kitchen and my aunt Raji taking part in the house activities.
We had this funny dog Jimmy, a black and white Mongrel, which was with us for quite some time and I never recollect playing with him, probably because he had a cut-tail and would bark if someone touched him.
 |
| Spending a wonderful time in "Premananth" with my Grandparents and Jimmy - 1990's |
My grandfather always had a routine, until he passed away. He would spend two-three hours of his day for prayers in the morning and an hour in the evening to chant Vishnu Sahasranamam. His depiction of life was an interesting thing, which nobody would want to miss hearing.
And then, I recollect my Uncle putting up his savings to get home our first car, a Maruti Omni. For me even now, that was an amazing moment.
When uncle wasn't in town, my father would use it occasionally.
It's probably from my Grandparents and my mother, that I inherited the habit of socialising and making friends.
When my sister or my mother of me used to visit Nanganallur, we could expect our Grandfather at the Bus stop, waiting for us; such a nice gesture, isn't it ?
And then, they had to shift to Velachery, so my uncle Ananth wouldn't be so away from his work, "Wellington Plaza"; one of the buildings you wouldn't miss seeing, when you travel towards Central station.
And soon, we shifted to CIT Nagar, so I could get to my school very easily.
This made it very easy to commute to my Grandparents' with a direct bus M7 or 5G.
It's a big culture in our family to talk about bus routes, you should try to be in the situation when there is a conversation, interesting stuff guaranteed.
Now that I got older to start travelling alone, the ticket was 5Rs back then to Baby Nagar and a 200m walk would lead to this wonderful house where they moved.
It had everything you would need; a supermarket, a temple, nice neighbours, a saloon and every basic thing you would need in the vicinity.
Othappa's every day routine was to go down in the morning to pluck flowers and sit on the slope of our car park with his walking stick along and read the newspaper.
Almost every passer-by, I recollect, used to say hello to Othappa as they cross by our entrance; there was some nice charm in him.
One of the best thing about being there was to take part in interesting conversations - be it religion or politics or sports; it was always a great ambience.
There were days when I had to take my Granny (Me and my sister call her Ammamai) for errands, such as Bank or post office - she was the most comfortable person one could ever find.
Be it boarding a over crowded bus (Indian one, not the European type of crowd) or driving her in my car or train; she wouldn't have a problem.
The one reply she would give when somebody would ask her - Why should I worry, my grand son will take care of me <3
I recollect the first week after I started to drive my car. Everyone at home knew how passionate I was, since being a kid. My Dad and Uncle Ananth are the best drivers I've ever come across in life.
It was our bright white Hyundai Santro, I hadn't received my license yet, with my learners one in hand - I asked my granny if she would want to join me for a drive.
I took the car straight into Mambalam (You can never predict what kind of chaos it could be) and both of us had a wonderful time, I'm sure she enjoyed this little adventure.
She was even telling my Mom why she didn't mind - "For me it is important that he drives, if something happens and I'm hurt, it's okay. I trust my grandson"
 |
| Am I not correct ? (Courtesy : Google) |
If something works based on trust, I've seen it the best.
The best example I would ever quote - When Ammamai orders for Filter Kaapi from Parameswaran Coffee (To know about this Coffee, read my other blog where I've tried to fully describe it).
The conversation between her and the person who picks the call from Parameswaran Coffee, would look like this:
Her : Hello, is it Parameswaran coffee? This is from Thoomani Madom (Name of our house)
Coffee shop : Yes, tell me, how are you?
Her : I need coffee, 1 kg, in two packing for sending it to my son.
Coffee shop : Okay, You will receive it soon
Trust me, the next day, the coffee would arrive through someone or sometimes even by Courier.
The coffee shop wouldn't even bother if he would get his money.
It's his trust, which he has seen through so many years of selling coffee - he has the best customers.
My granny would write a cheque and post it the next day and sometimes she would even get a call to confirm that they received it.
Show me this kind of a relationship today. Very hard to find!
 |
| Courtesy : Google (Why are Grandpa and Granny always together? Because they repaired broken things instead of throwing them away) |
What if I tell you ? When I was less than 10, she took me for a wedding in Kerala, just me and her; in the train. I remember this vaguely! She took so much care of me, made sure I don't stay bored.
If I ever miss something today, it's just my granny. She's the best ever friend I've had in life.
Even now, the way my Mom and My granny co-ordinate between each other is something unique.
We lived earlier in CIT Nagar, hence our place was the meeting point for all our relatives/friends who pass by this area, since it was in the middle of the city and very convenient to access it.
This way, my grand parents used to come to our place, so all of us could meet together, rather than the relatives/friends making an additional visit.
 |
| All of us together at Thoomani Madom with Thangakka (My Granny's mom) |
My Mother co-ordinates all these so well over phone, now I realise how nice it is.
It was 2017, during the CTC Swimmathon, I was enrolled in the 3Km category and my granny was interested to come along with me.
 |
| Cheering me at the 3Km Swimmathon. In pic along with Peter Van Geit, my Guru! |
She picked up a chair and watched me and all our friends swim the Openwaters in Ottiambakkam.
 |
| Granny finished the 3Km Pinkathon in Delhi, won a medal for completing and one medal for being the oldest person to have taken part. Age is just a number. In photo with Milind Soman (Model, Actor, Triathlete) and Aunt Raji |
I'm happy to have had a great Inter-generational relationship.
Thoughts? Happy to hear if you would like to share!
 |
| Granma in Singapore, 2017. Her first trip abroad! |
