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Even for those who had a casual meeting with Vanaja, the impact of her personality was something to speak about. She was a happy person always joking and smiling despite the many hardships that she had to put through her life.
I had known her from 1954, when my father brought me from Pollachi to Madras to admit me in Loyola college hostel. That was the first time that I met periya mama and his family. Vanaja, Gopalan and Sampath were very friendly to me. Though I was in the hostel I was drawn to Vedachala Gardens during Sundays and holidays. My uncle Gopu was also living in the same colony and it was nice for me to spend all my time with them. My upanayanam was conducted in their house only.
I vividly remember the preparations that were made for Vanaja's wedding. She was the only female member in her family, full of boys. As she was the only girl child, her parents were doting all affection on her. Elaborate arrangements were made for her marriage and various purchase groups were formed to buy things for the marriage. It was a very joyous affair. Her husband Mr Jagannathan was working in Delhi as JAO in P&T Department,and that caused Vanaja to shift to Delhi from Chennai. There were quite a few people to see her off at Chennai Railway station. I was also one in that group.
When I wrote the IAS exam in 1962 I was called for an interview at Delhi. Vanaja was at Delhi. As my Delhi trip was the first ocassion for me to travel to a place in North India, i wrote to her about the selection and my proposed visit to Delhi. She happily called me over. At that time nobody thought of the tragedy that was to befall. Her husband who was admitted in the hospital for the treatment of cancer, passed away on the morning of the 12th February 1963. Her cousin Shri K Srinivasan who was called "Chinna Ramu" was working in Delhi as Deputy Secty and was looking after her. When Mr Jagannathan died, the two children Urmila and Radha were 2 years and 6 months old respectively.It was a tragedy beyond words. Though all the kith and kin were in Chennai , there was none to communicate the news of his death. My IAS interview was over by 4 pm and I wrote a post card to my grandfather Sri Seshadri to convey the sad news. Vanaja was already a teacher in Delhi and it was decided that she would resign that job and come over to Chennai to take up a teaching assignment there. In the meanwhile I was selected for Indian Postal Service and got a call for Foundational Training at Mussoorie( UP, those days).
We had settled down close to Vanaja's place in Vedhachala Gardens. I used to visit her frequently as she had joined Saradha Vidhyalaya in T Nagar as a teacher. Her father was of great moral support, as he was the local guardian for the kids. Both of them studied well and scored creditably in the school. Meantime Vanaja did well in her job and cultivated a good lot of friends. A classic example of her helping nature was when I was doing my B Sc Hons course in Chemistry, all the textbooks were costly and beyond my reach. Vanaja offered to talk to her neighbour Dr Sundaram who had done Ph D in Chemistry and joined BARC as a senior officer. He lent me his books, which were of great help for doing my course.
My sister Amritha married Vanaja's brother, Parthasarthy , strengthening our ties with their family. She was very fond of her school and when I was posted in Madras, wanted me to get some VIP's to attend functions as Chief Guests. I was always happy to oblige. Vanaja had also visited us in Bombay when she stayed with Amritha and Parthasarathy.
Her trials and tribulations gave her the will power and courage to fight out in life. Diseases, especially Diabetes, troubled her a lot.. She came close to Sri Ramakrishna Mission and attended their Bhajans and discourses. She has also inherited Bhakti from her mother and would go to temple quite often. She led a simple and unpretentious life, helping anyone and everyone who sought her assistance. She was much interested in good food. Her mother was a very good cook and she had inherited this trait from her. Both Vanaja and her mother were very hospitable and recieved people visiting them with a lot of affection.
She was confined to bed for quite sometime and her daughters looked after her very well until her end. She had spread happiness to so many families and this trait , I am sure will give peace to her soul. A word should be added here to speak of the fine manner in which her two daughters and son-in-law Ravi spared no pains in performing her last rites and ceremonies as per our religious custom.
Narasimhan (Kannan), paternal cousin's son
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