A beautiful Life, A beautiful Mind, A Handsome Man!!!

 Master story Teller!

For many years in my childhood my Papa told me a story each night before I went to sleep. He told me all the Panchatantra stories, Akbar-Birbal stories, Mythological stories, movie stories and in the end he made up his own stories. Both of us loved murder mysteries. We saw action thriller English movies together and had loads of fun. He was an absolute movie buff and watched a movie almost every weekend.

He had a great skill of making up stories and a unique style of writing. When he wrote the biography of his own father “IT HAPPENED,” there was lot of opposition because it was his take on my grandfather’s life and also he had mentioned a lot of people who were relatives and friends who might have not liked it. But he did not care. He told me it felt cathartic.

His second book was a collection of short stories and poems titled “HYDERABAD JERSEY TALES.” The stories were humorous, free flowing and fantastic. Anything could happen in his stories, the twists and turns were unbelievable, but that was Papa.

Long back he had written a murder mystery titled “A CHAIN OF COINCIDENCE,” it was a fascinating tale where three different lives get intertwined due to a murder and then confusion and chaos ensues. Beautifully written. Alas! This manuscript got lost at some point in time. I have a good mind to recreate this story with whatever I remember. He has already penned three short stories titled, E-CAR, CHANDRA and U-T-30.

Humor hangs on the tip of his nose!

Papa had this habit of pulling people’s legs. He was very naughty. Once he came to know what the other person was sensitive about, he would joke precisely on that issue, thus angering them. Then he would have a good laugh. I would be so furious. “Why do you hurt people?” I would demand. He would go on laughing infuriating me further.

Many years back, my brother Sai who was 6 years old, was crying, he wanted to go to the movie Sholay. Papa lifted him and took him to the main road and showed him a big poster of the film. The poster had flames in it (Sholay means flames). He said, “The movie got burnt, see for yourself”. Sai got convinced and stopped crying.

When I was in 9^th grade, I had lost three months of classes as I had gone to New Delhi to perform at the inaugural ceremony of ASIAD 82. When I returned, Half yearly exams were staring at me in a weeks’ time. There was no time to copy notes, understand and then prepare for the exams. I discussed my problem with Papa. He gave me an idea. He said, “Why don’t you read out your notes and record it in a cassette. Keep listening to it through the night. It will get into your subconscious, next day you will be able to recollect and do your exam well. I believed him and did exactly what he suggested, but did miserably in the exams. This experiment failed. I was so annoyed with his idea and guess what, he was laughing at me.

Loved to engage with children!

He loved children. Apart from telling stories he would play games with them which included caroms, table tennis, shuttle badminton, cards, monopoly, Chinese checker and what not. I remember the long afternoons during summer vacation when we would all play caroms or cards or any board game for hours and hours. Children adored him. All my cousins fondly remember the many hours he spent playing fun games with them.

Experimenting in the! Kitchen!

He loved good food and insisted that every meal be properly made. He wanted the table laid well, the food displayed and served properly. Whenever my mother was out on some work and he and I got an opportunity, he would try experimenting a new dish in the kitchen. I would sincerely help him and we would come up with some concoction of his wild ideas and in the process the kitchen would become a messy disaster. Then when Amma came back and saw the kitchen’s condition in horror, she would be angry with us, we would retreat to our room and once again he would smile naughtily.

A beautiful Life!

He studied in New-Delhi and Hyderabad, worked in Jamshedpur in the TATAS, when the entrepreneurial bug bit him he returned to Hyderabad and started a company, when that failed he went to the middle east to earn his buck. He ended his innings as a scientist in Birla Planetorium and a member of the Pollution Control Board. He married his love, loved his children. Was through and through a family man. So loved by his siblings, cousins, relatives and friends. Travelled many times to the USA where his beloved son lives. Loved electronic gadgets, loved to drive his car. In the last decade of his life he turned a writer and published two books, celebrated his 50^th marriage anniversary and his 80^thbirthday.

A Beautiful Mind!

Papa was broad minded and a progressive thinker. He strongly believed that women must be empowered and given the freedom to choose their life partner and their career. He thought a lot about vibrations and made the VIBRATION THEORY. According to that our thoughts create powerful vibrations which spread around us. These vibrations can be felt and experienced. He was very curious about what happens after death. Where does the atma go? Way back in the 80’s he got together with Prof Srinivasan and his good friend Ramana and they did a procedure where in you contact ghosts and ask them questions.

Well now Papa solved the mystery of death!

A Handsome Man!

He had a golden, shiny, bright complexion, big paw like soft hands, beautiful feet. He had a medium height and was in the mold of Guru Dutt- a hero of the yester years. He had large bulging eyes, broad forehead, straight nose and a charming smile. I salute him. Will miss him.

-Dr.Lalita Anand