Life, My favourite teacher!! - 2

Manu always knew what he wanted. If at all he didn’t, he would turn to my parents but like I said, rarely. Somehow, neither of us had the fascination for science. He graduated with a Bachelor of Business Administration degree from Loyola College, Chennai. He was a gold medallist. Not that we expected anything less. He was a state level Squash player and a Hurdles champion in college too. Given all this, he had a natural inclination to Sports Management. My parents were always, not just happy but proud of his choices.

He scored a 690 on 800 in his Graduate Management Admission Test and secured admission into Isenberg School of Management, which is under the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. His tuition fee has been waivered as he had an excellent academic and sport record. Being the sports secretary of the college also gave away his leadership qualities.

Exactly 63 days from today, Manu will be leaving for his masters and the last thing he wants is to be reminded of it. The thought of leaving my parents, leaving me, was very painful for him though he never chose to express it. I am 19 years old now and every second that I have spent with him in our house is memorable. I had just completed my second year end semester exams for B.Com in M.O.P Vaishnav, Chennai. I had a month before college reopened and I decided to spend as much time as possible with Manu. He was in his room, starring out of his window with his right hand clutched to bars. He was lost in his thoughts, I could see, because he didn’t see me coming. I crawled across his bed and almost jumped on him ,

“Bhah!!!!”

He was startled for a second .

“Very funny lil bratty sis, what keeps you home during your vacation?”

“You!! Isn’t it obvious?? I just have 63 days left to jump behind you like this and be sure as hell that I’m not prepared to waste even a minute”

“Ah , is that all you’ll miss?” he asked, pretending not to be upset because I reminded him of something he didn’t want me to. When I am a little over expressive, he never tries to snub me. Even at the cost of listening to something he doesn’t want to hear. He never takes his frustration out at times like these because he understands that I am going to miss him as much as he will.

“Also my pocket money and my pizza Fridays and my movie dates and my birthday presents and ....” I went on and on till he interrupted to say,

“Maithu!! I have pampered you way too much and you are going to have to live life the hard way for a few years, that is ,if you think living without all this is going to be hard on you”

“Don’t start off now.... We both know what we will miss...Take me to Janavie Athai’s house. I want to talk to Adi anna about a few things. And you also promised to buy those bed spreads I asked for. The one with Chip n Dale on it. Mithra can also come with us. She’s here for her vacations. But I doubt if Adi anna will come. He’s busy these days you know. I had to literally fix an appointment with him today. So let us not waste his time.. Hurry up.. “

“You hero-worship him don’t you?? Exaggerating so much about him being busy. I doubt if he himself knew that he was so busy.. And yeah I’ll take you shopping today. Call up Mithra to find out if she is coming. In that case I’ll take the car..”

“On it... Hello .. hey Mithra , I ....... “

Manu always had this small feeling inside him that I liked Adi Anna more than I like him because I keep talking to Manu about doing CA like Aditya. I have fancied the thought of becoming an All India rank holder just like him. But Manu is Manu to me. No one can ever replace him. He knows that too but sometimes I end up giving him that thought because of the way I behave.

Mithra was coming with us for shopping. I was a little disappointed because I have always loved the bike rides with Manu. He had a grey Apache with him. Just like any other guy, his bike was his biggest asset. In twenty minutes we were ready to leave.

Life, My Favourite Teacher!! - 1

We are a family of four and they were my first world. When it extends to the first circle, we were 18 of us. Very closely knit, my family. The closeness does have a significance because not all families are like ours, today, and we do have a reason to be proud. This also calls for my introduction to every member constituting it. My name is  Maitreyi.

My father Mr.Srivatsan, son of Mr.Soundarajan and late Mrs.Kalyani Soundrajan, (a.k.a my beloved paternal thaathaa and paati) was more than a perfect father. He is Joint Commissioner, Income Tax, Chennai . My paati passed away when I was 7 years old  but Thaathaa was always there to fill the space for us. I have sometimes wondered how our father was such a perfect father. I realised soon that he had seen someone of the sort all his life.  Thaatha always led by example.

My father’s elder sister, Janavi athai, was another inspiration for anyone who wishes to be a bold woman, yet retaining the virtues of womanhood. She was married to one Mr.Narayanan, a man who spits intelligence. He was a professor at IIT Madras, teaching complicated things about aerospace technology which I would never understand. My Athai was a professor too. She taught Psychology at Madras Christian College. They had 2 children. The elder one was a boy, Aditya, a Chartered Accountant, started a year back at Ernerst and Young and his sister Mithra, doing her 3^rd year engineering at IIT Kharagpur. It would be a mistake not to mention that Aditya anna was my inspiration in my decision to pursue C.A. He was an All India Rank holder.

My mother, Soundarya Srivatsan, daughter of Mr.Narasimhan and Mrs.Mythili Narasimhan, is our family doctor, not by profession, but she cures all our problems at home. She has a literature background and knows 6 different languages ( Tamil, Hindi, Malayalam, French, German and Arabic) excluding English, well enough to be a poet in each. She owns a website where she translates journals and patents online.

She was born and brought up in Delhi, where my grandparents live. This geographical distance never quite gave me an opportunity to be very close to my maternal grandparents, though I visit them during vacation. They are so used to the place and Appapa’s ( grand-father) business never let him come down too often. Now that Kannan mama ( my mother's brother, B.com, MBA, FMS Delhi) has taken over, my grandparents have been visiting us once every three months. Ramya Athai, Kannan mama’s love (wife) is a doctor. They were in a relationship for 6 years before they got married. Appapa did not oppose because they are family friends and most importantly, they are Iyengars. Appapa is a fanatic when it came to Vaishanavism. He always felt it was a sin to give up on birth right. He had unswerving devotion to his culture inspite of living long years in a city like Delhi. It is one of the things that added to his pride besides his children and business, and now of-course his grand-children.

Prasana, the 10 year old, youngest member of our family, kannan mama’s son is the cutest kid I have ever seen in this world. He is in his class 5, studying in Delhi Public School and his attitude is so adorable. Whenever we have a family re-union in any place other than Delhi, he hates it, primarily because there is no one of his age in our family, but he gets all the attention in the world.

Jayanthi Perima (my mother’s elder sister) is a Computer Science graduate but chose to be a home-maker. May be Perippa (Mr.Ragunath, Vice President, Intel, Banglore) thought he is making enough money for the four of them. Perima preferred to live for her daughters, Shravanthi and Samskrithi. Shravanthi is the elder, finished her masters in Electrical Engineering and now works for Siemens, Georgia. They are looking out for an alliance to get her married. She is the prettiest among my cousins and looks a lot like Ragu perippa. Sams is doing her final year Journalism in Indian Institute of Journalism and New Media, Banglore. Though Shravs has taken up perippa completely in her looks and mannerism, Samskrithi is his pet. She is a spoilt brat. Shravs is a million times more responsible and well mannered. Sams is always on the border of impertinence which perima keeps a check on.

Sam gets on Akhil’s nerves often for her attitude exhibition. Akhil... my elder brother. I call him Manu. I would have never known what ‘A’ , no, ‘The Guy’ is if not for Manu. Polite, fun-loving, intelligent yet respectful. He is so dedicated in whatever he does. Spends so much time with the family and gives them all the love and attention each one wants, without compromising on his duties. As for me, it is my privilege – I am the only one with the rights to irritate him. My mother always blames me blindly when it comes to a fight between us saying,
 " How can you even think of fighting with someone like my son ;) ".
But she was right.  I am his only sweet-heart who makes him lose his patience. He is my idol. Not a single minute has passed without my hero-worshipping Manu. In my mind , ofcourse. 

He is that sweet son every mother would wish to have, that heir-apparent every father would be proud of, that big brother a sister would never want to miss and that holy husband a girl would yearn for. He is everything to me. His presence has taught me everything I have ever learnt and his temporary absence will teach me something more. Something that is going to be too hard for me. Something I need to learn. Something very obvious.