Saroja Siddharth: My memories of my Father in Law

We went back to India after 5 yrs in the U.S. Veena was a 6 months old baby & a Royal welcome awaited us at Madras airport. I really got stage-Fright peeping out of the plane's window to see a throng of people-Mylaporeans, Thachaikaddans, & Kothambodians-a boisterous crowd gathered there to give us the hearty welcome.There stood a silent man with piercing eyes under glasses.That was Papa

We were put up in the upstairs room in Chandrika.Papa had residual hemiplegia & a stiff gait.But he climbed the 20 steps upstairs to see his 1st grandchild Veena.He wanted to play with her & do Baby talk.He'll do it several times every day.

On that first evening he told me about the misunderstanding in the family that prevented my mother-in-law seeing her parents for 15 years.He felt that was not right & he wanted me to know about this.He was a straight forward man & his views were clear.

He had a lot of humor & could laugh at some absurdties.We watched Woody Allen's Movie-'Take the Money & Run'. Parents usually like to boast about the great achievments of their children .In this movie Woody is a loser & has many misadventures His parents wore disguises like false nose,goggles to narrate all these.This is a really funny scene & papa went on laughing with tears rolling down his cheeks. He had a great sense of humor and was full of jokes

I have seen him watching 3 Stooges, Planet of the Apes , MASH, Monty Python with Amrita, Ajay, Veena & Meera. He used to seriously discuss with the children the plot etc.

Papa was the only remaining son for his parents after they lost their another son & daughter in their teen years.He was amazed at the closeness & affection my dad shared with his 6 brothers. He had great affection for my side of the family. After my 5 months in India I wanted to fly back to Canada via Moscow by Aerofloat. Papa was a Nehruvian & Socialist in heart & had great admiration for Russia in the 50's But when it came to fly by Aerofloat it could be done,especially with me carrying Veena in that plane.He said Aerofloat was nothing but a cardboard crate with an Engine.There went my dreams of seeing Moscow,Kremilin & Lenin's Tomb.Those were the wishes of people in India in the 60's. Papa's great love was eating different types of food. He used to tell me how to make Dum Aloo, Rogan Josh using a lot of Ghee.Such Hi cholesterol meals took a toll on his arteries & he had his 1st stoke at 39 yrs.

I've heard from others that Papa had an intellectual arrogance & some abrasiveness in his talk.But the Papa I knew was affectinate caring & funny.He disliked large company.He opened up in small groups when you can see the intellectual depth, arguements & views. If I had more time in those days I could have learnt a lot from him.