An ancient banyan tree of North Arcot family has vanished.

On Thu, 21/1/10, swaminathan ramamurthy <swamynathan55@yahoo.com> wrote:

From: swaminathan ramamurthy <swamynathan55@yahoo.com>
Subject: How i miss my mama.
To: "vsgopal2 gopal2" <gopal53@gmail.com>
Cc: "chandrasekar wiiprowallah" <chandrasekar.swami@wipro.com>, "Gayathri Bharatwaj" <gayubharat@yahoo.com>
Date: Thursday, 21 January, 2010, 18:57

Dear Raja and Gopal, An ancient banyan tree of North Arcot family has vanished. My humble salutations to that noble soul VS (Sundaraja mama, as he was known to us. /Sorry I am deliberately misspelling his name V. Soundarajan). I am very sorry that though we were planning to meet him some time ago we did not set apart any time for that. It will be a permanent bloton us  for having missed that opportunity.The remorse will linger for ever. But your father's strength _ he was everything to your Athai (Pattu Periyamma, herself a victim of several catastrophes and personal disasters in her young years like the passing away of her husband, and son Chandru) and the three sons <Raja<Nagarajan< Gopal<_ will remain for years and years in the close relationship of the kith and kin that have descended from him, and bind each one as no other glue can. Your beloved and most revered father and my mama  is no more. Tears are not enough and even words won't do to describe the noble qualities in Him _ patience, tolerance, showing poise in love and affection  to one and all of the relatives. Always ready to help those in need of his assistance. Remarkable memory of small details decades old. A remarkable quality I found in him in my young days was the way he put up with the eccentricities of my father.I cannot avoid mentioning that here.He was a silent admirer of my father and my eldest uncle Munuswamy of the famous Annamalai University. The courage and conviction with which he withstood all his trials and tribulations may be known only partly to the present generatrion, but they certainly need to be told to the future  generations so that they realise that it is very rare to find a person of that stature and pristine purity and glory for generations. But your children who interacted with him know very much how they loved each other. Memories will last their life time, I am certain. 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 him, he always would put forth his viewpoint in all clarity so that there is no ill-feeling in any one. It is difficult to dislike him or his decisions. Your closeness to him in undeniable. He was immensely spiritual but his religiosity was limited when it came to the question of display. In fact, when you were living abroad with your family we all were praying that you should get back and be with him on his last day on Earth. God has been kind to you and us in this regard.. He never became great and famous during his association with the Gemini Lab  but he brought to earth two good persons who in turn have brought credit to the family, and also held the members together for years and until he waited to shed his mortal coils in Uttarayana. He accepted a stoic and spartan existence, a rare quality to find these days. He never had big ambitions and lofty aims to lead a luxurious living. Pomp and grandeur were not in his dictionary. Only a person like you  and Raja will be able to recount today vividly the circumstances in which he toiled but flourished with a great finish. He was a guide and philosopher to Vijaya and Revathi _  an accepted and always acceptable father (inlaw). The resilience you will see is unbelievable and unparalleled in any family. You will have his best wishes and blessings to you and your family members. 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 your father. A father is irreplaceable in life but, as men, we are mortal. Our heartfelt condolences to everyone in your family. I miss my mama....... May his soul rest in peace. In grief, R.swaminathan.