MY FATHER..A PROFILE

WHAT IS MY EARLIEST REMEMBRANCE OF MY FATHER WHO PASSED AWAY IN 1983 AT THE RIPE AGE OF NINETY-FOUR? Well, I don't know. He was a handsome man of the orthodox type..A bright namam on his forehead and a tuft which was lush in his younger days became wisps of hair as he neared eighty or so. We ,papa, my younger brother and myself used to play with his tuft , twisting and knotting as we pleased. And he would enjoy it.I remember two things : going with him to the Congress Exhibition and Park fair, which were annual affairs where he would buy some toys. Once he took me to a Cricket match when I was about ten years; may be less. There are two things I remember about that visit. To quote my dad: "A tall handsome man in blue turban: ( Maharaja of Patiala)
"bald man" --Wazir Ali and hefty Mohd.Nissar.
Ours was a big family and at dinner we always sat together, on the floor while the cook on Raghavan would serve us..Father liked good food but was careful about the quanity he ate which was one of the reasons for his longevity.We were a happy family.
Life is not always a bowl of cherries as I had imagined. My sister of 18 years
fell ill due to weak heart condition and passed away --in 1941. This left my parents totally wrecked and this tragedy was followed in 1946 by my elder brother Sundar who was brought to Madras from Poona where he was an Ordinance Officer. He died due to pneumonia complications. Both my father and mother were heart broken. Father almost stopped doing court work and our house which was filled with laughter suddenly was immersed in gloom from which it took all of us much time to recover..
(shall continue)

On Smoking

Smoking has been with me for over many years.. not that I smoke now. It appeared to be the mod and manly thing to do. I had an uncle, a maverick type who smoked Gold Flake which after State Express was said to be a high class smoke. I got a smack from my mother for trying to imitate him with a sweet shaped like a cigarette.. that was when I was about seven years old.After joining college I had many opportunties to smoke which I did not let go. Pocket money was not enough for me to make a regular habit of it but I got to do 'it' now and then...Later,while working for Indian Airlines which involved erratic working hours and with enough money on hand, I began smoking on a regular basis. It was not the done thing to smoke in the presence of elders and relatives...but my mother knew that I was indulging in this habit..even after marriage. I told my wife that if she tried to tell me not to smoke I will smoke more..she kept off after I told her 'when even my mother could not stop me she should not even try'.
My smoking habit somehow has became a subject of discountenance among all acquaintances ..anathema to smoke expressed by some.. all this made my son to look disapprovingly of my habit..and when he tried to smoke his first cigarette he felt choked and had decided not go near a cigarette, come what may. That was how I unconsciously dissuaded my son from taking up this deadly habit. I call it deadly because when I saw an Xray of my lung and the doctor drew my attention to the dark patches I got chastened. Now, I had a GM who was a smoker himself and offered me cigarettes when ever I had gone to him. One day he announced that he had stopped smoking and I took it up as a challenge and told him that I too would do the same. I did. The craving was there for three days and then I GOT OVER THIS HABIT..Well, the GM in question went back to smoking while I got out of it.