It is hard to digest that Mr R .Narasimhan, Anna to most and Appa to Prasad Mukund and me is physically no more , and that I would have to pen a tribute to him. Nevertheless , I share a few thoughts as I can visualize a few high points of his life that I was so blessed to be part of! I was born in May 1976, when my parents were in Bhubaneshwar. Appa had been to Tirumala for darshan before I was born and that is why I was named Venkatesh officially, and Jagan at home. I feel blessed to have taken Appa to Tirumala 14 months before his death.

I have very faded memories of my days in Bhubaneshwar - I was told everyone in the vicinity used to play with me and that my two elder brothers were school going kids. My mother Rajeevi was a big pillar of support to Appa, right through his married life and raising three kids. Amma took lions’ share of responsibilities in bringing us up and making sure, we all had our upbringing with right values and re-inforcing, the need to come up in life through hard work and persistence.

My etched memories of Appa basically start from my early childhood days in Ashoknagar, Chennai. Appa was a strict disciplinarian and always used to ensure that all three of us brothers were sincere towards studies, did our homework properly and got good grades in school. Academic achievement was very high on his scheme of things, and we were brought up that way throughout our lives. I distinctly remember in those days, parents taking us out for a monthly outing for a movie followed by dinner at a favourite restaurant. In those days i.e. mid 80’s there weren’t so many good options as it is in today’s Chennai . The Udhayam Cinema Complex and initially Nathan’s Café and later the Woodlands Drive in restaurant was our favourite joints. Appa was particularly fond of ‘Rava Masala Dosai’ , followed with a strong cup of filter coffee and he would invariably order for that. During our Mumbai days (Bombay in those days), we lived in Ballard Estate. I used to often feel bad, that we didn’t have any neighbours or friends of my age group to play with. Appa was very keen that I should learn basic French and he taught me alongwith a group of officials , twice a week. He was very fond of French movies and would often take me along to Alliance Francais, where I could hardly make out much about the movie , as I was not conversant in French. We had many memorable trips to places like Goa, Matheran , Mahableshwar and Ajanta and Ellora caves during our Mumbai tenure. Another trip that we all enjoyed was a week in Vadodara (Baroda then) , to Amritha Athai’s place , where we enjoyed a lot of sight-seeing in and around Baroda and Ahmedabad. The visit to Anushakti Nagar and later to Juhu-Vile Parle house of Amritha Athai and Parthasarthy Athimber was our eagerly looked forward event every month. Those were the early days of VCR (Video Cassette Recorder) and I remember how eagerly we would, watch movies, sometimes multiple times and often repeat the dialogues. The films like ‘Nayagan’ , ‘Sindu – Bharavi’ , ‘Roja’ ‘Bombay’ ,‘Michael Madana Kamarajan‘ ,we watched multiple times and knew each scene by heart. Our annual trips to Chennai and those two to three weeks of holidays were really memorable, when we could meet all the kith and kin of our family. Appa was a family person , and to him his immediate family , especially his parents meant a lot , and I also was fortunate to be recipient of lot of affection from Thatha and Patti in Tiruvanmiyur and other relatives.

Appa was a voracious reader and he inculcated in me the habit of Newspaper and Magazine reading and especially looking at in-depth analysis of News (both National & International), that laid a strong foundation for my preparation for Civil Services Exam. I remember how I used to be very fond of the various magazines that we used to get at our home , and how FRONTLINE was very useful to get a detailed snapshot on the happenings around the globe. Appa and I were both very fond of cricket and have watched so many tournaments my memories starting back from Reliance World Cup of 1987 , upto IPL Seasons of 2020. It was his favourite sport and he loved to watch opening partnership of Sachin Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly , to flourish on the field. He was of course very fond ofthe 5-day Test Match cricket …the old school type .

We had a very nice stay and long innings in New Delhi. The change in culture from Bombay to Delhi , was completely different for me. It took me a few years to get adjusted to the Delhi way of life . Our regular trips to Sarojini Market and occasional trips to other monuments in Delhi , will always be remembered. I had the opportunity to see so many IAS/IPS officers in very close quarters in Bapu Dham , where we lived and that prompted me to take up BA(Hons) Economics. The culture of Civil Service examination preparation in Delhi, triggered me to seriously prepare for Civil Services. Appa was a constant source of inspiration and motivation. He readily agreed to pay upfront and encouraged me to join Vajiram & Ravi Civil Service training institute, Old Rajinder Nagar Delhi to prepare for IAS.

Appa retired in 1997 as Chief PMG, Maharastra in Mumbai after a glorious 34 years of service and settled in T Nagar Chennai. He was keenly observing my performance at every stage , and in those days used to write me personal Inland letters , motivating me to prepare in right earnest. He was also constantly in touch with his fellow officers in Indian Postal Service and got me very good accommodation in Delhi and I was further encouraged by Appas’ Junior colleague cum close friend Mr. Harikumaran Nair , who was gracious enough to permit me to stay with them in their Delhi house for preparation and personal interview.

In my first attempt I got IRAS and I wanted to try again and subsequently encouragement by my family including my elder brothers in USA , to appear again in 2000, to improve my rank was largely due to Appas’ gracious blessings. On May 16 2001, parents were in USA, when I got the happiest news of my life that I stood AIR ( All India Rank) 18th in the IAS exams. Appa was thrilled beyond words. After I got posted in 2002 my parents blessed me by visiting me in Cuddalore, Pollachi and Karur multiple times and were happy to see roles as on IAS officer. These memories will always be etched in my memory. Appa was so proud when he came to a official function at Karur , and heard me speak in fluent Tamil , he hugged me so tight that day!!! I was in tears. I knew I had made my Tamil-loving father really proud !! He was particularly happy that I spoke it flawlessly, despite never having studied Tamil officially. Appa also was very proud of my work in changing the face of Cooptex , that I had the opportunity to head as its Managing Director for 6 years.

Appa had deep interest in Tamil literature and culture. He would read those all-time classics like “Ponnyin Selvan” and “Sivakamiyin Sabatham” for days together, totally immersed in the lyrical and poetic beauty of the novels. Famous writer Kalki Krishnamurthy was his all-time favourite and till his last days , Appa was very fond of Kalki magazine. He also held Cho Ramasamy in high esteem , and loved Thuglaq and its articles. He would often mark some stories for me to read.

He was on ardent devotee of Lord Rama and used to chant Lord Rama’s name. He would urge me to read ‘Aditya Hridyam’ slokam and himself used to recite it often. He would attend Carnatic classical concerts and would often travel long distances to Mylapore, Alwarpet or R.A Puram to listen to good concerts. He instilled in me the deep seed of interest for listening to Carnatic Music.

Appa was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease in 2010 and his health went on fluctuating for several years, that affected his quality of life. Though a patient, he would be happy to meet DR A V Srinivasan , who treated him initially and then Dr Suresh Bapu of SIMS from 2015. It was a pity that Appa couldn’t attend to lot of cultural programmes or travel due to his immobility. He was keenly following the career of all our relations and whenever I would travel on camp he was very curious to know, what all I saw and narrate to him my experiences. Amma had to bear the major task of not just running the home , as it was becoming very difficult single-handedly to take care of Appa, until we got a caretaker for him. In 2017, We had the privilege to celebrate the 50th Wedding Anniversary of my parents in a simple well attended function at home. Similarly in April 2019. we had the good fortune of organising Appas’ Sathabishekam, (80th birthday), when he was mentally more alert and physically doing Ok , and enjoyed all the festivities, when he could meet all the family members.

From 2018, his health started deteriorating, he had to be operated twice for placement of shunt in his brain and subsequently ,he went through lot of health issues. He was maintaining fairly good health till May 2020, when a series of setbacks in his body, caused him lot of hardships. He lived his life very much according to his terms and conditions, but since December 2020 his health deteriorated rapidly needing hospitalization at Apollo in February 2021 and he could never recover back. In fact he went through lot of suffering , and anguish that , in the end I was praying that he should have a “peaceful exit” from this world. March 9th 2021 around 8 pm at night , he breathed his last , leaving us all in deep sorrow.

Appa will always be in my prayers and thoughts, as I would endeavor to live according to the principles that he strongly believed. I am sure, up above he must be smiling and very happy that I wrote this tribute for him.

Love you, appa
Jagan (T.N.Venkatesh)
20th May 2021