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On 27th night, I got a call from my sister-in-law Vijaya asking me what I was doing. I said nothing in particular and immediately she told me that Vanajakka was no more. I was shocked as we had visited her the previous day only at the Sundaram Foundation Hospital and though her condition was not all that good, we were hoping that she would come out of it.
I knew Vanajakka from my birth as she was my mother's cousin. She had come to Pollachi and Kanchipuram where my father was posted. After her marriage she visited us with her husband also. She was a very friendly person and a very hospitable one. After my marriage, she became very close to me.She had come to almost all the places that my husband was posted. We used to look forward to the annual vacations when she could come with her parents and daughters. Urmila's marriage was fixed when they were with us in Vadodara and I remember her telling me with happiness,'The relationship between Urmila and Ravi is the same as between you and Parthasarathy (mother's uncle's son). And the fact that she marries my best friend's son makes me happier'
She loved her profession and was very proud of it. She was a popular teacher was evident as right from Sholapur to Mumbai we chanced to meet at least one of her students of the past or the present who would talk highly of her. She was also a very conscenscious and hard-working teacher and worked hard to make her class excel in the exams.
Vanajakka was very affectionate to all her brothers, their families, her cousions and neighbours.In 1996 when my husband was hospitalised at Perambur hospital, she visited him regularly with food and on the day of his Angiogram,she was present on the dot at 9 A.M. with coffee and tiffin for me. Railway hospital was about 15kms from her house in Mandaiveli. Such unconditional love is very rare to come across.
Vanajakka was affectionate not only to relatives, but to everyone she came across. Her next door neighbours - lecturer Visalakshi and her sister Sita were very close to her as well as my mother in law. During their visit to our places, there would be at least one letter from them to Vanajakka (who would have, of course, been the first to write)..
Vanajakka was a very good correspondent, in the sense that she loved writing letters. She would bring at least 25 inland-letter covers with her when she arrived at our place and she would buy more later! She would be delighted when she got prompt replies and read them again and again till she knew the contents by heart. I myself have received over 200 letters from her. Reading her letters was a great experience as she would not omit any incident and I wouldn't feel that I was far away from Chennai. Once I received 3 letters in 2 days. Though I was generally prompt at replying, Vanajakka accused me of not replying fast. I wrote to her "Akka, you cannot expect me to write at your speed. You have written 3 letters in quick succession".
Vanajakka's sense of humour was amazing. She was one person who could drag any person, however reserved he/she might be, into conversation. I was also very reserved and she only made me come out of my shyness and talk freely with others. One example of her spontaneous pun is here. Once Akka and some of her school teachers had come to Bombay on a sight-seeing trip. Vanajakka and Mythili akka (a cousin of me and my husband) stayed with us while the others including the headmistress stayed in the K.V.I.C. guest accomodation. My huusband had made all the arrangements for their stay and their sight-seeing. So one of the teachers commented,'பம்பாய்ல வனஜா கை ஒங்கி இருக்கு', to which pat came akka's reply கை ஒண்ணும் ஓங்கல. தோ பாருங்க, கால்தான் வீங்கி இருக்கு. We all enjoyed the pun.
Vanajakka had a fund of anecdotes which she narrated very well. And she could relate anecdotes on her own mistakes. Every time we hear her anecdote about her shopping experience in Nepal made us laugh. She would say,' A lot of people had asked me to get Tiger balm from Nepal. And I went to the shop and asked the shop-keeper 'give me 10 time bombs'. Only after seeing the shock on his face, I realised my mistake' During every visit of hers, we would sit in the lawn and talk for at least an hour after dinner. She would narrate all the jovial incidents during her stay at Delhi and incidents in her school. The enthusiasm with which she narrated was amazing and it was infectious as all of us would listen with the same enthusiasm. I can never forget our trips to Pandurpur and Tuljapur (from Sholapur), Golgonda fort, Salar jung museum etc (from Secunderabad), Calcutta (from Chittaranjan), Chambal gardens and Agra (from Kota), Ajwa/Nimeta gardens and other places (from Vadodara) and many places in Mumbai.
Vanajakka was also a very good cook, like her mother. In Sholapur, Kota, Vadodara and other places, she used to make a variety of tasty dishes for us. I particularly remember her bisi bela bath and sweet potato poli.
She loved ner nephews and nieces very much and they in turn loved her. Harish, my son and Shyam (my brother-in-law Mr.Sampath's son, who is no more) used to enjoy their athai's company very much. During our visits to Madras, she used to take Harish to Rajeswari lending library in Mylapore and got him books regularly and used to take Harish and Shyam to the 'Kapali temple. If we visited Chennai in Jan/Feb, she would take Harish to theppam' (float festival in the temple tank) and ther (car) and Arubattu moovar festivals at Kapali temple. It was an unwritten rule that we would see atleast one Tamil movie (invariably the last show in Kapali or Kamadhenu talkies) and we would go at least twice to the beach during our visits to Madras.
Vanajakka's helping nature is legendary and was one thing that I admired a lot and which is very rare nowadays. She would never get tired of going ceaselessly to Thanga maligai or Nalli for others and get the 5% concession for them. She wouldn't mind spending for the auto for the trip. When questioned ,her answer would be,'பாவம், அவளால ஆட்டோக்கெல்லாம் செலவழிக்க முடியாது. ஏதோ கடவுள் புண்ணியத்தில என்னால முடியறது'. Once when she came to know that we purchased something from Thanga Maligai, she scolded me for not telling her in advance.
Vanajakka was keen to learn new things. She tried to solve crossword puzzles in The Hindu and in Tamil magazines.She tried her hand on Sudoku puzzles also. She was regularly watching the programme 'Sol Vilaiattu' on Makkal T.V and was a die-hard fan of it. Her devotion to Ramakrishna Matt made us regular visitors of Matt. Even at Rajkot, we visited the Rama Krishnamatt. Akka gave the photograph of the three Sanyasis and sanyasini, namely Ramakrishna Paramahamsa, Vivekananda and Sarada to every one of her nieces and nephews.
After we moved to Chennai, her letters to us got reduced. And till an year back,I used to get a call from her once in two days and I too spoke to her on alternate days. We visited her as often as possible and would take Tamil magazines for her to read. But gradually the frequency of her telephone calls reduced and the conversation also became shorter. She lost interest in everything and her world was reduced to her room ,her daughters Urmila and Radha, grand-daughter Srinidhi, Ravi,her son-in-law, Devi and Ellamma, her maids. She told me once 'why should I live when my body is not co-operating with my mind?' I could not control my tears at that time.
I really miss Vanajakka and her phone calls.
Amritha Parthasarathy, brother's wife
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