என்னை படைத்த தெய்வங்கள்... Part 2

Ahem. First of all, I would like to thank my friends for their overwhelming response for my first ever blog. It was heartening to see the number of comments and scraps in orkut that I received in response to my first blog post. The comments were both encouraging and critical. Most of them I received were good suggestions but there was one guy who gave a valid complaint. I would request you guys to keep the feedback coming, as it provides me with valuable inputs. Thanks once again.

Okay. Now coming to my second post. As most of you know what my second blog is about. Yes. Its again about a person who had an equal role in bringing me into this world. Lol yes. Its about my dad. One question kept running in my mind when I was writing my first post. Why is that I gave my first preference to my mom and not my dad? May be because, I am from the country which gives 33% reservation for women in the senate or it is the custom in America to give women special treatment or its just "Ladies first" phenomenon. Lol. Lets forget about it. Many of them felt my previous post to be touching and heartfelt but I can assure you that this post is no where related to that.

Yunus Basha S.Y, the youngest son of Yousuf Sheriff, the then chairman of the Ranipet Municipality is not a struggler. He was just an ordinary boy, with ordinary thoughts but with an extra ordinary character. If you guys know me, then you already know my father. I am just a replica of his looks and character. He overstepped all the barriers that came throughout his school and college life. He completed his masters from New college, Chennai and joined CAH college as the lecturer for the department Corporate Secretaryship. He was no Gandhi or Buddha and he enjoyed his college life to the core as we guys did. He did what all a college guy can do but after marriage, the entry of my mom, he had to quit everything. That's the saddest thing that can happen to a man. Anyways jokes apart. I reckon most of you would be knowing Shivaji Ganesan's "Pasamalar" movie. I have not seen the movie but I have seen my dad showering all love to his pasamalar sister. If I know what exactly the movie is about, it's just because of my dad. My mom keeps advising me to be like my pasamalar dad as I have a younger sister too but I can never ever be compared to my dad. I dont think anyone can beat or even compete with him if it comes to the strong emotional attachments of siblings.

I have seen everyone envy at my dad's slaphappy or the carefree nature. What I envy at him is the number of people he knows in my native. I still remember, I was only 5 or 6 years old then and my dad used to take me out with his Bajaj Chetak Scooter 1989 model. It would just be a km ride but man, trust me there would be atleast a minimum of 20 people who would greet him on the way. And the way he greets them back with his one handed stylish salute and sometimes he joins both the hands to say vanakkam while driving. Well according to me, even our superstar's famous padayappa salute is a dead duck and just cannot be compared to my dad's. Lol. He is my superstar. Yes, every father is a superstar to his son. That's one primary thing I envy about my father.

Noone is perfect right? Yes my dad is no exception. His resentment is his weakness. In fact, his only weakness I would say. There has been a lot of times, because of his temper he strong-armed me and I being a tiddler hated him completely. That's one bad character he has, which I have too. My mom is lucky in one way. My dad is the most tidiest guy on earth. He gets up at 5 in the morning, starts weeping the house entirely and and housecleans everyday. I am 23 now and till date he never allowed me to do any work. I am a jack of no trade. I didn't know how to buy a vegetable, I didn't know how to pay the telephone bills, I didn't know anything until I came out of college.

He never refused to anything I asked him. There was an incident which agitated me very recently, which I would never forget throughout my life. I, being a MBA aspirant wanted to do my masters in NUS, Singapore. There are more than one reason for which I chose that B-School. It's not that easy getting into NUS but when I told my dad about my involvement, who knows sweet Fanny Adams about MBA, but knows it needs more than 20 lakhs, looked unruffled and said, "Oh appadiya da. Eppo venum kaasu. Sollu erpaadu pannidalaam. Aana oru 6 maasam aprom thaane venum? Athukkulla naan erpaadu paanidraen." I stuttered. I was no good son to my dad. Nor was I echt to him but how come he readily accepted my offer. That means he still has some credits with veracity to me. He doesn't have copious money to make me study in such an esteemed school and I am pretty sure that he wouldn't have earned that much in his entire lifetime. That one moment, made me realise how bad I was to him before and it made me think how I must be to him hereafter. I am terribly sorry for being an obstinate son to you dad. I owe you my life. I swear. You are really a star. A Superstar.

Update:- I forgot to mention one important thing in this post. All through this years, I have seen my mom taking a lecture to her students but I haven't got a single opportunity to listen to my dad's lecture. It's quite funny though. My curiosity peaked on when my mom told me some years back that my dad is capable of evaluating an answer paper in just 10 secs. I was like what on earth and come on how is this possible. I happened to see his corrected papers. No tick marks, no comments, nothing. Just the marks along the left column of the paper. Amazing isn't it? So this intensified my inquisitiveness to attend his lecture. Four more years for his retirement, so please guys wish me that I would sit in his class and listen to his valuable lecture (though its complete Greek and Latin to me) at least once in my lifetime.

P.S:- Its true that he'd never refused anything I asked him but there is one thing which I don't even dream, he'll accept in my life.

என்னை படைத்த தெய்வங்கள்... Part 1

'Eendra polithin peridhuvakum thanmahanai Saandroon enakketta thai'

"The mother who hears her son called "a wise man" will rejoice more than she did at his birth."

Well, as this happens to be my first ever blog post, something instigated me to write something about the person who brought me into this world. Most of you would not even know her if I won't tell you about her. But her story needs to be told. I would rather put this way, her struggle needs to be told. Yes, she was a struggler, a struggler who has struggled till this moment and still struggling.

She was the second of the three daughters born to Dr. Muthu Koya and Saliha Beevi. Her dad was a freedom fighter and a doctor in a very ordinary village in very remote India. She was three, when her dad kicked the bucket and her mom had nothing left except her three daughters, a house, a small hut and some 100 coconut trees. Just imagine, how much her mom would have suffered to grow up the three daughters. She had to make do on less income(from leasing the coconut trees and renting the other small hut), and thus somehow trying to make the ends meet. The entire credit goes to her mom who made her and the other daughters study even in the state of acute pain. Now coming back to her. Her village had only primary school after which one needed to go to nearby town for study. She left her family, stayed up in hostel, strived hard and finally achieved what she wanted. Yes. She was the topper of the school and her mom fostered her education by sending her to the college. I am floored when I think about this. People even now, in towns make a girl marry when she attains her puberty and gosh imagine some 35 years back and that too in a remote village, where an illiterate mother sends her daughter for higher studies. It startles me everytime.

She got a seat in a medical college but was forced to join science just because of her family's financial status. She completed her bachelors in maths, never gave up and did her masters in the same stream. She was able to secure a job of a lecturer in a govt. arts college and life became a little steady. She was the sole source of income for the family until her younger sister went to work. It was the most toughest task for her mom to make her three daughters get married. Again she was the last one to get married and this new guy, her hubby, was also a lecturer but from commerce stream. They were happily married and she gave birth to a prince and a princess. She tried everything possible to make her children well educated and self-dependant.

She started her doctorate studies in computational mathematics in 2000 and I must mention her struggles here. Well, I am just 22 and I find it extremely intractable to travel to my office which is just 14 kms away but she travelled all the way from my native to chennai which is almost 120kms by train and would return back home on the same day, three or four days a week to do her research. This is just one of her endeavors and I have no words to describe her effort to complete her research. It was 12th august 2008, when she was acclaimed the most prestigious Doctorate degree by the Madras University and I saw the pride, the joy, the feeling of accomplishment of her life's ambition in her face, holding the degree but it was filled with humility.

She beavered away for eight long years for this doctorate, she beavered away her entire life and now the whole world knows her as Dr. Humrosia Begum, my mother and my friend. I'm fortunate that I was born to someone like you mom. You are simply the best. You are the most humble and straightforward person I have ever met and I am very proud to say that you are my 'mother' and my everything. You might not be an important person to anybody else but your character and your life will always remain my guiding spirit.

குறிப்பு :- என் தாயை பற்றி என் தாய் மொழியில் கூற இயலாவில்லையே என்ற வருத்தம் என் மனதில் இருந்து கொண்டே தான் இருக்கிறது.

Comments are welcome. :)