An ancient banyan tree of Mosur family falls

From: swaminathan ramamurthy <swamynathan55@yahoo.com>
Subject: A requiem for my periyamma
To: "g sudhakar kaduveti" <sxganapa@hotmail.com>, "kaduveti vidhya" <gvidhya_6@yahoo.com>
Cc: "chandrasekar wiiprowallah" <chandrasekar.swami@wipro.com>, "Gayathri Bharatwaj" <gayubharat@yahoo.com>
Date: Thursday, 5 March, 2009, 7:56 PM

An ancient banyan tree of Mosur family falls   But its strength will remain for years in the close relationship of the kith and kin that descended from it. My beloved and most revered Bala Periyamma is no more. Tears are not enough and even words won't do to describe the noble qualities we saw in her _ patience, tolerance, showing poise in love and affection to one and all of her descendants.   The courage and conviction with which she withstood all her trials and tribulations may not be known to the present generatrion but they certainly need to be told to the next generation so that they realise that it is very rare to find a person of that stature and pristine purity and glory for generations in India or elsewhere.   An embodiment of silence but stern views, an affable person in all situations, unlikely to get provoked that easily, winning the praise of almost all who will come in contact with her. But she always would put forth her viewpoint in all clarity and with no ambiquity so that there is no ill-feeling in any one. It is difficult to dislike her or her decisions.   She became great and famous not because of the number of children she brought to earth but because she was able to raise them to become  good persons who in turn brought up accomplished children, and also hold them together for years and until she shed her mortal coils. (Please remember the void that was there in my periyappa's life after the first marriage failed. She mended the situation at the earliest and in the best possible manner. Accepted a stoic and spartan existence in a village of little comfort of those days and lived there for over three score years.)   Only a person like Mr LAV Raghavan, my eldest athimber, will be able to recount today vividly the circumstances in  which she toiled but flourished with a great finish.The unexpected departure of her husband did not demoralise her, nor did the demise of two sons years back ( the first (Mr Ekambaram) in spite of a heart surgery and the second  (Mr MKB ) was a sudden one) shatter her much and for long. The resilience you see is unbelievable and unparalleled in any family.   To us in the Gopalapuram family, she was Bala Periyamma. I loved her very much because I liked her approach and attitude to people of whatever worth or importance in life. And she liked me also ,equally in great measure, as I was in attendance for all family functions.I had gone to see her in late October and will miss her hereafter.   Always stunned I was (in the wake of circumstances in our family that led to its disintegration in recent times) how the Kaduveti people were able to hold on to their original properties for decades and also raise the children to fruition and also brought to us stories of success of the Mosur family scions abroad. I am not stating this out of any jealousy but out of sheer astonishment and perhaps dismay that it is not being replicated in several other households. It was possible due to her best wishes and blessings. The beginnings are always small but the achievements need to be great. that requires determination, total commitment and sheer hard work and above all sweet will. The sweet will is what I saw in abundance in my Periyamma. May her soul rest in pace.   In grief,