My Jeeves - Velayudham

The year was 1975. I was 25 years old and was in a cozy job in my favourite city Chennai. Weekends were packed with activities with friends. I was enjoying my life as a bachelor.

One day as I was about leave my office I received a call to see the head of my unit – The Geneal Manager. He was casual but soon he came to the point. He was contemplating to transfer me to one of our Branches in a remote place in Bengal called Disergarh. This was a border town between Bengal and Bihar.  It was an attractive offer – a chauffeur driven car, a semi furnished accommodation in Asansol which was the closest town to Disergarh and 30% increase in salary as outstation allowance. I decided to accept the offer on one major point which attracted me – I would be close to the customer and would be the first point of contact. I was looking for such an opportunity. Also having grown up in Neyveli an industrial town I had not special affinity for Chennai then.

I settled down in my new assignment in September 1975. Soon I picked up some South Indian friends at the nearby Indian Iron and Steel Company, Burnpur. The Bengali families in my block were very friendly and often I received wonderful food from them. But running a house was not my cup of tea. I had difficulty in adjusting to the local food. Cleaning the house, washing the clothes etc was a nightmare to me. I did try a few local helpers but lack of local language  as always a problem.

My Parents in down South in Thanjavur were aware of my problems. They promised to send me a good helper from down South after training him. Then I got the news about Velayudham ready for Asansol. I picked him up at Howrah station and brought him to Asansol.

Velayudham tall and lanky was 21 years of age. He was basically from Kerala but could speak both Malayalam and Tamil fluently. He had worked over 5 years in Nagapattinam a coastal town in Tamil Nadu and hence had the fluency over Tamil. Soon he settled down to his work. He kept the house clean, washed my clothes, pressed them beautifully and above all gave me homely food which I missed so much in Asansol. Later I learn that he had learnt all that cooking from my mother in Thanjavur. He wold grind the ingredients for Idli and Dosa every week and most of the days I would have ot dosas for breakfast. 

His fame soon spread among the Tamil bachelors in Burnpur and I began a great entertainer serving delicious south Indian food in the week ends. Soon Majumders my upstaits neighbours who helped me a lot in Asansol wanted Velayudhams services for a day as they had special guests in their house. He served the entire gathering with delicious masala dosai. In about 3 months time I found him picking up Bengali and conversing with all the locals. He was one of the sought after customer at the provision store opposite my apartments run by the Dutta brothers. He was getting requests on almost weekly basis for making Dosas in someone’s house. I did not mind him making some extra bugs as he was fully taking care of my needs. One day as I was standing in my  balcony I saw a fancy car driving slowly and parking in front of my apartment. Soon I noticed that the visitor was to my house. A well dressed person introduced himself politely as one from a well known family and asked me if I could spare the services of Velayudham for 3 days for a family wedding in their house. Fortunately I was going on a long tour around the same time and I readily agreed. Later Velayudham told me that they provided him with a modern kitchen and all the assistants he wanted and made dosas and iddlis for the guests for 2 full days.

I got married on 17^th May 1978. My wife told me politely but firmly that she was not interested in having a male cook at the apartment. She was keen to take care of the house all by herself. So before I went to Chennai for my wedding I told Velayudham that I may not require his services. My mother wanted him back in Thanjavur and so I asked him to get back to Thanjavur. I was totally surprised by his answer. He told me in no uncertain terms –“ Sir, I do not have any relatives down South. I lost my Parents early and I lost touch with my only brother some years back. Also I have suffered a lot in my childhood. Only now I am seeing some money. This place has lots of money and I just don’t want to leave this place”. I gave into his wish.

 Soon he landed up as a chief cook in one of the restaurants in Burnpur. He would visit me at least once a month. I could make out that he was making good money as he looked prosperous. He had great confidence in him. One day he told me that he got married to a local Bengali girl. He never brought the bride despite my wife requesting him a couple of times.

As the years rolled by my contact with him slowed down. One day he landed at my apartment and told me that he has a great news for me. He then told me the setting up of his own hotel in the Burnpur market. I was so happy that I was partly responsible for promoting an entrepreneur. The last time I met Velayudham was in late 1983 when I left Asansol. By then he was a prosperous hotel owner. Maybe he has a chain of hotels now. I really do not know .

ratnakarpaul@gmail.com

Masinagudi Photos

     MASINAGUDI PHOTOS

When my daughter planned the holiday for us in the summer of 2013 to Masinagudi I was not very keen. I was thinking of other places on my list. I have heard about Masinagudi many times. In the early seventies father worked for HPF, Ootacamund and the family had been to Masinagudi couple of times. Somehow I missed those visits as I was in college in Chennai. Hence I thought it would not be bad idea to visit the place which I missed in the seventies.

We looked at the various options for our stay and finally zeroed on "The Wild at Northern Hay".We drove down from Chennai and after spending a day at Bangalore drove to Masinagudi through Mysore and Gundulpet. We then had to drive down to Singara post about 6 kms from Masinagudi. We had to leave our car at Singara Post as the road from Singara post to "The Wild" was through coffee plantations and not suited for cars. We were picked up in a jeep and drove through coffee plantations -  roads only fit for a jeep . At one point we had to cross a stream with running water.  I was amazed at the place and the surroundings. Well done up and good food. We were glad that we stayed at the "Wild".    

On the second day of our stay we reluctantly agreed for a trip through the games sanctuary in the jeep. We were promised some wild life. We were also told that we might see a tiger. All my earlier ventures like these have resulted in nothing. I was therefore not very enthusiastic. After nearly 45 minutes of drive all we could see was an elephant with a calf , some spotted deer and a few sambhars.
 
When we were approaching an open space suddenly I heard my wife's whisper "Tiger". When I looked in the direction I was stunned to see a full grown tiger majestically walking in our direction . Just then our grand daughter started speaking and hearing her voice the Tiger froze. It then suddenly took a turn to the right and started sprinting. My daughter was able to take a quick shot with her camera at that moment.

I am attaching a few pictures (including the tiger sighting) with this post. It was one of the most memorable holidays in my life.

 

THANJAVUR GRANDPARENTS

 

 

 

 

Please see the attached photograph. At the extreme left is mum and on the extreme right is Periappa. You can see the grandparents in the middle. This photograph was taken probably by papa. The year must be early fifties (anywhere between 1952 to 1956) Periappa was working abroad at that time and this was taken during one of his visits to Thanjavur. I remember him many times travelling alone to Thanjavur (without Periamma).

 

Thatha and Pattima ( as we used to call them) would always take us to "Pandithar Thottam" on our visits to Thanjavur. This was taken at the "Pandithar Thottam". As far as I can remember it was not a fenced area but there used to be a thatched shed (you can see it partially on the right side background) where we would sit and have some eats (taken from home). You can also see Thatha's Ford car (at the left side background).

 

Thatha was one of the persons I admired most in life. He had an impeccable record in his Government job and retired as Deputy Collector. Soon after his retirement the Pudukottai Maharajah appointed him as his Estate officer to look after all his properties. The princely states those days enjoyed many benefits which were later totally abolished by Indira Gandhi. One of the benefit was each Maharajah had his own registration number in the car. Thatha's car given by the Maharajah had the number like this " Maharajah of Pudukottai 5 " . The background color of the number plate was in red and the letters in Golden color". He served him for couple of years and then settled into a quiet life in Thanjavur even selling his own car. His wardrobe had couple of white dhoties and white cotton slacks. He also had a white starched pant which he would wear sometimes. He also had a white canvas shoes which he would wear whenever he wore the pant. He would personally apply white Blanco on the shoes and would maintain it spotlessly white. Ramola once presented him with a blue checked shirt which he started wearing quite often.

 

Thatha would wake up every day at 4 in the morning and lying in bed would sing many Tamil Keerthanis. The first one would invariably be "Varumayya Pothagaray". He would then kneel with his palms folded in a prayerful position and  pray for a long time. I know all this because I used to share the room with him whenever he visited Neyveli. Then he would spend an hour or so reading the Bible. He would have his breakfast exactly at 8 in the morning and proceed to read the newspaper. He would spend more time reading the "Letters to the editor".

 

I admired him most for his simple life. Prayerful life. Always giving. Nothing for himself. He lived on his Travelling allowance, saved money for both his son's education abroad. He gave away all his properties to his sons at an early stage. HIS TRUST IN GOD WAS JUST AMAZING. All the blessings we have is because of his prayers.

 

Pattima was an ideal wife to his. I have never seen even once any argument between them. She managed every aspect of the household. Whatever we wished to have she bought and gave us. I remember all her stories which she would tell us every night after dinner sitting in the Thanjavur verandah.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

My Father's 1947 Model Renault Car

 

While going through old family pictures I came across this interesting photo taken probably in the year 1955. Father was serving as Municipal Engineer at Karaikudi at that time. This photo was taken at CECRI (Central Electro Chemical Research Institue, Karaikudi. The institute under CSIR was established at Karaikudi in the year 1953.)

 

 

In the picture from left to right is Ms. Sharada Menon, a family friend who was working as a Scientist at CECRI, my elder brother Roop sitting on the hood of the car, my mother and then my dad. One can spot my face between my brother Roop and my mother. My younger sister Cynthia can be partly seen leaning on my father.

The interesting aspect of this photo is the car. As a young boy my father has briefed me about how he bought this car. It is a 1947 Renault car bought in the year 1950 from TVS Madurai. Those days my father paid Rs.4000/- for this car when it was almost in brand new condition having been fully redone at TVS. The first owner was “Veena” Balachander a famous exponent on Veena. So when this photo was taken it was an eight year old car.

I remember father telling me that when it was fairly new he had once touched even 70 mph in that car (which was a great feat those days). Father served as Municipal Engineer at Chittor (Andhra) in the early fifties before his posting to Karaikudi. He told me of an incident during the days he was in Chittor. One day he was returning late in the night in this Renault car with the family when he was suddenly stopped at a Check post which he had not seen earlier. Lot of dacoities used to happen those days and so he was worried that it might probably be a dacoit gang trying to stop him at a fake check post. He stopped the car at a distance and told the persons at the Check post that only one person could come near the car to inspect. He also warned them that if they all try to come near the car he would just race ahead without stopping. After a while one guy slowly walked towards the car inspected it and then father just accelerated and left the place. Probably they were genuine persons. He was telling me of this incident to impress on me the pickup of the Renault.

Those days Grandfather used to have a Ford car. Whenever we go on a holiday to our native town Thanjavur we would have two cars. I would make sure that I get into Renault all the time even if it would mean displeasing the Parents at times.  I remember going on a picnic in two cars. My sisters got into Grandfather’s car and myself and my brother Roop got into our Renault. Renault would always beat the Ford. Unfortunately that particular day since we did not see the Ford for quite some time we stopped at a place and waited for that car.  Suddenly the Ford zipped past. I could never forgive my father that day for allowing the Ford to beat us.

The Renault had bucket seats in the front with floor shift gear. The car did not have flashers as indicators. The indicator was an arrow placed on the pillar between the front and back door on either side of the car. At a flick of the button one could see the lighted arrow popping out . The horn control was not on the steering as we now have on the modern cars. It used to be a lever attached to the left side of the steering. The wiper motor was placed under the dashboard, strangely on the left side corner. The switch was on the motor and so in case of rain the driver would have to take the help of the front seat passenger to switch on the wiper.

The Renault was my father’s favourite car. He used to adore the car. We have had some interesting experiences with this car in the later years. When we moved to  Neyveli in 1957we used to drive regularly to Thanjavur to visit our Grandparents. It would take approximately 4 hours to cover the distance of 130 kms. Roads were very bad and almost in every trip we would have at least one flat tire.  I remember in one such trip my father experienced problem with the Brakes and so we had a night halt at Kumbakonam ! On another occasion my father had applied for long leave and had planned to drive with the family to Bangalore.  The car engine developed serious problem a week before the trip and my father spent his entire leave at Neyveli repairing the car. The engine was completely dismantled  and then assembled.  

My father later took a fascination for American cars and switched over to a six cylinder Studebaker Champion in the year 1962. The Renault was sold to a family friend in Neyveli for Rs.1800/-. It served the family well for 12 long years.

 

My Father's love for cars

My father loved cars and loved meddling with them every week. I remember the cars he had – 1947  Renault, 1947  Studebaker Champion and later to a 1956 Studebaker Champion. Although he was a civil Engineer he had an exceptional talent for automobile engineering. He had great skill in tuning engines and loved spending hours in tuning engines.

As a teenagers he would call me and my brother to help him when he starts working on the car. He taught us so many things about cars and I am glad I was fortunate to have had such a wonderful father.

I remember the day he decided to overhaul the engine of the 1947  Renault in our house garage at Neyveli. He took the help of a local mechanic to help him pull out the engine and then it was completely ripped open. As a teenager I learnt how a car engine worked.  We had practical training on almost all parts of the car engine- engine block, piston, piston rings,   engine valves, how the cooling system works and so on. The car was consuming lot of oil and he explained in detail why he had to change the piston and the piston rings. He made couple of trips to Chennai (then Madras) to get the parts. I remember helping him clean the engine block and also in grinding the engine valves. After a month of working he completed the job facing many challenges on the way. For example getting the engine gasket was a great challenge.  The engine had a light metal head which posed great challenge during the final assembly. Finally one expert advised him on how it had to be tightened uniformly to solve the problem. It worked.

All our visits to home town Thanjavur or Chennai (my mother’s hometown) was by car and many of such trips would turn out to be adventurous.  I remember on one trip to Thanjavur from Neyveli (a distance of about 130 kms) we had to break the journey at a friend’s house at Kumbakonam as the car’s brakes failed. In certain trips we have had two flat tires. In those days new tires were difficult to get and one had to rely mostly on retreaded tires. Retreaded tires would look like new tires but sometimes the retreaded part would just peel off. I remember a journey in our 1947 model Studebaker Champion during a cyclone and ours was the only car on the road.  At Lower Anicut the fan belt snapped and we were helpless as all the shops were closed. The local PWD engineer helped us by requesting the local automobile shop to open and soon we were on our way. On another trip the mechanical fuel pump started giving trouble and we had to stop every 10 kilo meters to cool the pump.

As I grew up and had a family of my own  I started using the car for all our family vacations. As a family we have driven to many places on our vacations and made trips as far as Goa and back. Today with our modern cars we just zip by covering distances of over 300 kms in less than 5 hours.  I do not remember to have had any breakdown in any of our trips. When I was telling my son of the several adventures we have had in our road trips in our father’s cars this is what he had to say “Yes we never have breakdowns nowadays not even a flat tire but you have had so much of fun and adventure”. Probably he is right.

Early days of Neyveli

When I was 7 years old and while spending the summer vacation at Grand Parent’s house in Thanjavur my mother made the announcement at the dining table- “We are moving to Neyveli”. My father a civil engineer   had earlier served as Municipal Engineer at various locations in Tamil Nadu. Transfers were frequent and I was just thinking about the new school I would be going to in Neyveli.

When we moved into Neyveli in April 1957 to a small house with Asbestos roof in the Mandarakuppam colony it was a different experience for me .As a young boy I had earlier seen towns like Cuddalore, Dindigul and Karaikudi with my father’s frequent transfers.  Neyveli was  different . It was just a village but with clean and neat new houses.  The nearest towns were Cuddalore to the east and Vridhachallam to the West. The Project was in the initial stages. Only the Pilot Quarry  to determine the area and quantity of  lignite to be mined had been completed. There were about  30 Engineers for the Project who lived in those asbestos roof houses. Shortly thereafter, new spacious houses were built  on the Northern side of the Cuddalore-Vridhachallam Main Road. It was called the Mandarakuppam officer’s colony. Soon we moved into a two bedroom house in the new Officer’s colony with ample garden space. I spent some of my wonderful childhood days at this colony. Every week a new family would move in. We would extend whatever help we could to settle them in their new house. More families would mean more friends. There were plenty of open grounds and we had ample space to play.  Exploring new areas was one of my favourite past time. I remember the days we have ran back home after spotting snakes.

              

Author with his brother and sisters in front of the house in Neyveli (1957)

The project in the initial stage was managed my Mr. G. Srinivasan who was designated as the General Superintendent, affectionately referred to as “GS”. His movements could be visible to anyone in town as he moved about in his spotlessly clean red coloured jeep with cream coloured wheels. He knew every family in town and was a father figure.  He would even know the children’s names. He lived in a large bungalow on the northern side of the colony. The first CMD, Mr. T.M.S. Mani then operated from Chennai. I remember the day when Mr. Srinivasan took all the families to Grand Anicut (near Trichy) for a picnic.

As the officer’s colony started growing, more families moved in. We had new friends. The Ladies club was inaugurated. The Men’s club was formed and Tennis courts were laid. The NLC Management opened the first Cooperative Stores. It used to be a meeting ground for many families in the evening. Before the store was opened, there were only two reliable stores at Neyveli on the Main Road.

Everything I saw around was new. New houses, new jeeps, new lorries, sophisticated mining machineries. Neyveli was growing day by day. By late fifties work started full scale on the Thermal Power station and Mine I which was supposed to feed the Thermal station with lignite. Travelling to Chennai used to be a nightmare for some of the families who had roots in Chennai (then Madras). There were no good train connections or bus facilities. Whenever a Project lorry left for Chennai to collect materials a few families would hop on to the lorry which would have temporary tarpaulin cover and a few benches for people to be seated. I remember making such a trip in the lorry with my family to attend a wedding in Chennai.

Lignite mining had its own problem. The water under lignite had to be pumped out before mining the lignite as otherwise the mine could get flooded overnight. Before large scale mining started the water pressure was high in Neyveli and surrounding areas that one could see lot of Artesian wells. The wells surrounded by green paddy fields was a treat to the sight. These wells were favourite picnic spots for the families. On weekends we would pack our evening snacks drive down to these lovely spots and play in the water.

One day father took us to a spot close to the new Thermal station which was under construction. Bull Dozers were razing down Cashew forests. He then said that the site was being prepared for the new Township to build more houses. I asked a very honest but logical question. “Why are they building it so far away from our colony?” His reply shook me. He said the officers’ colony would disappear as it was only a temporary colony. He said the colony was sitting on lignite mining area and would disappear the day they start mining that area. But he said it might take some 50 years.

I could not believe what he said. How can anyone destroy my beautiful little town? The drive back home that evening was painful to me. I could not come to terms with what my father had said.

The new township grew rapidly. New schools came up and also the first High School. My elder sister was in the first batch of SSLC students to pass out from the N.L.C. High school in the year 1960. The High School was then not eligible as an Examination centre and she had to travel with all her classmates to the nearby Kurinjipadi School to write her final exam.

In the year 1963 my father became the Township Administrator of Neyveli Township. We left our little colony and moved into township. I passed out from the High School in the year 1966 and then went to College in Chennai. Although father served in Neyveli until 1978 my visits to Neyveli were less frequent as I began my career. But on every trip to Neyveli I would go down to Mandarakuppam Officer’s colony and spend time looking at the lanes and roads where as a young boy I had spent such wonderful time with my friends.

Recently I was driving down to Pondicherry with an old friend who had grown up with me at Neyveli. We decided to spend some time at Neyveli and see the houses we had lived as young school boys. On our way out from Neyveli township I insisted on my friend to drive through the old Mandarakuppam colony. I wish I had not made that request. The colony looked abandoned. Most of the houses had been broken down. The house we lived in was found demolished. Indeed what my father had said had come true in exactly the same years he had predicted – 50 years!

The house the author lived in now lies demolished

 I returned with mixed feeling. I remembered all the wonderful days of my early childhood at Neyveli. My school, the play grounds, the picnics , the Deepavali celebrations that all families would jointly celebrate , the trip Mr. Srinivasan arranged for the colony to Kallanai and the wonderful friends . Looking back, those were some of the most precious moments of my life.

ratnakarpaul@gmail.com

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