drdhanakarthakur: CHAPTER VIII MY ADOPTED TAMILIAN MOTHER -- DR. INDIRA RAMASWAMY

Chapter VIII

My Adopted Tamilian Mother --

DR. Indira Ramaswamy

The French Academy had sent me a list of successful candidates with its prospectus. I had a desire to make friends in distant southern states. So, I wrote to many persons. One reply was from Madurai. From the writings in English, you cannot deduce the sex of a person easily and it took me three years to know that the writer, S. Hansa, was a girl, having some fascination for me. Having known it, I started addressing her as sister and in 1983, I saw her at Madras. Her brother was happy to know that I was working for Medicine to be taught in Indian languages. He had already written a book on Physiology in Tamil.

One other ‘Andhraite’ science teacher was in long contact with me till I refused to write certain number of postcards to persons known to me with some sort of divine message and the benefits and dangers in case one did not comply with.

But a long lasting relationship with Raghuvir’s family had been through a letter from Bangalore. Raghuvir, son of an anatomist father and a gynaecologist mother, wrote to me that he was wheel-chaired. I thought he was polio-crippled and I assured him to be his best friend. He was of my age. Once he wrote to me about the love affairs of his doctor brother, Shyamsundar, with another doctor girl Shashi. The parents subsequently Okayed the marriage and he sent to me an invitation card. I was delighted to find the words chiranjivi and saubhagyakankshini, in a marriage card in English.

The marriage was to be solemnised in a kalyanmandapam. In those days I did not know that kalyan meant marriage and it was a marriage hall. I was impressed by the simplicity of a high family solemnising marriage in a temple, my own choice for minimising the unnecessary show and extravaganza. I could not attend their marriage but I wrote a nice congratulatory letter to them.

His brother replied to me through a long letter. The words were smeared on the pages by his tears, and he had conveyed to me that three days before the marriage, my friend had died. He was indeed having pseudohypertrophic muscular dystrophy. I replied to him that as per his desire, I would keep up relations with your family in the loving memory of Raghuvir.

Then started arriving the affectionate letters of his mother__ what I eat, read and whether I had a fan, etc. For a short period they were at Kathmandu being posted in a newly established Medical School. They invited me for a few days. I could not go due to my final MBBS examination.

Later on, when I planned a long tour of South, I informed her. She was very happy. She asked me to be at Madras station with a name flap on my dress and had also written the details to reach her residence __ 125, Chamier’s Road.

On reaching Madras, I rang her up. Madras had unprecedented rains the previous night and, therefore, she came after sometime and we met on the platform of the railway station. It was ecstatic.

Showing me the big displays of cinema posters on the Anna Salai, she asked whether those were in English at Patna also. I said, “Unfortunately, yes, sometimes.”

After some days in Madras, an old pracharak of the Sangh Shivaramji said to me, “While you are in T. N., plead against English in English.” I replied, “I’ll in better English.” One young worker remarked, “Tamilians say, that all the Indian languages are the daughters of Tamil and so we say that Hindi is also one of its daughters, so, do not have hatred for Hindi.”

My Tamilian mother looked after me for a week. Before my going to the ASI’s conference venue at Hotel Taj Coromandal, she used to arrange my tiffin. At noon, I used to return for lunch and then in the evening, I would go out for sightseeing. On the first night, for supper she somehow cooked north Indian food and asked me how that was. I told her that I had come there to relish south Indian dishes.

Then onwards, mother and my bhabhi, Dr. Shashi prepared new dishes everyday, including cashew-nut kheer. Mother showed me the place of worship in the house. Shoes and chappals (slippers) were not allowed in the room. I used a commode latrine for the first time in my life. Mother was attending the Upanishad classes those days.

Uncle, Dr. R. Ramaswamy, though a renowned anatomist was having deep interest in Indian music. He was planning to set-up a music laboratory. C.V. Raman, the Nobel laureate, had done much work on Indian music, which is based on Mathematics.

At Darbhanga, once a clerk had shown reluctance in typing my paper. Hence, I had joined a typing institute. I typed my first letter to this Tamilian mother dedicating my art of typing to her.

Mother always remembered me. She blessed us when we got married in 1989.