DR. MUNISWAMY NAIDU
SMT. LAKSHMIKANTAM
This space was started by Dr. Muniswamy Naidu's granddaughter, Geeta Kakade, in the hope that the descendants of Dr. Muniswamy Naidu and Smt. Lakshmikantam would have a source for our family history.
The author wishes to thank all her relatives who contributed to making this blog what it is today and it is her sincere hope that family members will contribute with more photographs and stories.
This is a virtual record for all our present families and future generations to have permanent access to. The effort that has gone into this space, is a work of love and respect for our grandparents and parents.
This blog is dedicated to my mother, Smt. Sushila Naidu, third daughter, and fifth child of Dr. Muniswamy Naidu and Smt Lakshmikantham. Mummy always kept memories of her parents, grandparents, and relatives alive with the stories she told us children.
On a visit to India in 2008-9, all the cousins I met agreed that it was time to put the stories down as our memories were growing weaker and the past would soon fade altogether if not kept in a cyber vault for all to share and take pride in.
The above pictures are copies of the ones hanging in the house of my first cousin, SM Gajendra Naidu. The bright red tikkas are to honor those deceased and mark our Hindu heritage.
On a trip to India in December 2009, I looked up my oldest living cousin, Saroja Akka. She was a fount of stories and help with the details of Trichinopoly. Words cannot describe how exciting it was to see her old photographs and hear stories of the family history from Akka. Her oldest daughter, Latha and her family helped immensely by having me over and welcoming me to spend all the time I needed with Akka.
Stories about the great grandparents from my mother, Sushila:
Smt. Lakshmikantam (my Grandmother) was an only child. Her father was Postmaster in Pondicherry. He was the first Indian man to replace his dhoti with trousers...the first time he wore them, everyone in the village came out to stare at him!
Great Grandmother's name was Krishnaveni. I can't recall Great Grandfather's name.
When Grandmother married Grandfather, their son in law invited Lakshmikantam's parents to come and live with them as she was an only child and they were bereft without her. All the grandchildren benefited from the special attention and love of their grandparents.
Mummy said as a child she generally used to be very nervous and easily frightened.
One night her grandfather asked her what the matter was. She said she was frightened
there was something in the tree outside the house...he picked up a lantern, took her hand and told her, "Let's go outside." Trembling, she went with him. He shone the lantern on every branch of the tree and said, "See, there's nothing here!"
After that she realized there was nothing to fear but fear itself.
As Grandmother Lakshmikantam was sickly, her mother ruled the kitchen and the servants and saw to the running of the household and the care of the children.
Great Grandmother had these stories to tell her granddaughters:
In her days when a woman was in labor, a rope would be strung from the main beam of the house and the mother to be would be told to pull on the rope to help her 'bear down' for delivery. Right after delivery, the mother's stomach would be bound tightly with an old saree so it would quickly get flat again. For 40 days the woman was considered 'unclean' and stayed apart from the other family members, if there was room in the house for the custom to be followed.
Babies were put into 'cradles' made by a saree being hung from the beams. This kept them off the floor and out of the reach of snakes and rats.
Marriages were arranged as soon as the girl attained puberty. In some cases even after the marriage she stayed with her parents for a year or so (if she was very young at puberty) till she was considered ready to assume her marital duties.
Great grandmother was a strong lady and she survived her son-in-law by three years.
She died in 1950 at the age of 85 so she was born in 1865.
Grandfather died at the age of 75/76 in 1947 so he was born in 1872. His mother-in-law was only 7 years older than him!
(I wish I knew the name of my maternal grandfather and paternal grandparents.)
Dr. Muniswamy Naidu's early childhood history.
Grandfather, Muniswamy Naidu grew up in Burma with his three brothers and one sister.
He was very angry with his father for living with a Burmese lady. When his father decided to give up his mistress and return to his wife and children, the family decided the only way to be rid of the mistress' hold would be to return to India.
Great grandfather developed boils on the voyage home and died as soon as the ship landed in India. This was put down to the mistress casting black magic spells on him.
Hell, indeed, hath no fury like a woman scorned!.
It was left to Grandfather, Muniswamy Naidu, to take responsibility for his mother and siblings. He was an LMP (Licensed Medical Practitioner), as those were the days no Indian got into medical school. He got the position of Dr. in the British Railway Hospital in Trichinopoly and bought a huge house next door. The stately building is now the Occidental Bank.
Dr. Muniswamy Naidu sent his first brother to England for further education. On his way back contracted an illness. Suspecting smallpox and fearing contagion, he was thrown overboard alive by the crew! (source Saroja Akka).
His second brother contracted Sprue, an infection of the lungs, after returning from England and died.
His son, Dr. Madangopal, was raised in Trichy and sent to England for his education. He now lives in England and is a retired Harley Street specialist.
Dr. Muniswamy Naidu's only sister was married to Annapanadi Ethirajulu Naidu of Binny & Co. Madras. She was his second wife.
Madangopal in his teens with his young cousins, Bhaskar and Damu.
Grandfather, Dr. Muniswamy Naidu was a handsome man and a very good doctor.
Grandmother, Smt. Lakshmikantam,according to my mother was a beautiful lady. Her complexion was neither fair nor dark...she was, my mother always said, lemon colored and her skin always glowed.
As soon as grandfather's foot crossed the threshold, he would say, "Lakshmikantam!" and she would leave whatever she was doing and hurry to meet him.
Grandmother worried about her handsome husband and the British nurses. When he was late, she would send on of the children to the hospital..."Go see if he's talking to those nurses!' she would urge.
Dr. Muniswamy Naidu and Smt. Lakshmikantam had five children...
Bhashyam, Leelavathi,Shakuntala,Muthukrishnan and Sushila.
Their family name was Sadanala so the initials were SM followed by the first name.
Sadanala was also the family gothram.
Bhashyam married Krishnaveni of Cuddalore.
They had one son, Damodharan, born posthumously as Bhashyam Uncle died suddenly a year after marriage. His bride was only 16 and when Grandfather and Grandmother asked her if she would like to go back to her parents' house she said No! I will live in my husband's house, which was with them. What a tragedy.
Leelavathi was married at 17 to SN Naidu in 1923. SN Uncle was only 19 years old and he agreed to live with his in-laws and complete his degree in chemistry. Mummy always said SN Uncle was very, very intelligent. Uncle and Aunty lived upstairs in the Trichy house and this is how she got the name UP Aunty. I didn't realize how that name came about till I learned on this last visit that she lived upstairs!
Their first son, Jairam died at 11 months, the next, a daughter, Premalatha at 10 months old. The next child a son, Bhaskar, lived till he was 7, when he died of double pneumonia. How much suffering for Uncle and Aunty to go through.
When UP aunty got pregnant next, the elders advised her to 'sell' the child to her sister-in-law Kittu (Kit Aunty), as she, Leelavathi was fated not to have any living children. So Saroja Akka, was 'sold' to Kit Aunty for four annas.
As Kit Aunty lived in the same house, there was no real 'separation' involved for Akka who remembers following Kit Aunty around till she was ten or eleven.
Whatever they did worked, because Saroja Akka is alive and well at 73.
SN Uncle passed away after a heart attack on 22nd March, 1977 and Up Aunty followed him on August 22nd, 1977. She died of high blood pressure and anemia. Aunty refused to eat after Uncle died and went downhill rapidly.
They were married for 54 years.
Shakuntala was the only one of Dr. Muniswamy Naidu's and Smt. Lakshmikantam's family to complete her BA, a rare feat for a woman in those days. She married VB Naidu, an engineer, of Mysore, where they lived. We called her Mysore Aunty.
They had nine children: Jaygopal, Vasantha, Ramu, Mano, Jyothi, Babu, Sheela, Asha and Usha.
Unfortunately Vasantha Akka and Asha are deceased.
I remember Mysore Aunty as beautiful, very intelligent, a great reader and a woman who faced everything in life with extraordinary courage and dignity. She had such a sweet smile.
The next child was Muthukrishna, who married his first cousin, Saraswathi, daughter of Ethirajulu Naidu, Madras.
Mummy always said how rich their family was and that their house in Madras was very big. As children they always went there for their holidays. It seems Great Uncle Ethirajulu would ask each of his two wives what they wanted for lunch and whatever theys aid would be brought from themarket and prepared by the cook.
Mummy and Sarsu Aunty were not only cousins but good friends from when they were children to when Aunty passed away.
Muthu Uncle and Sarsu Aunty had four children : Gajendra, Renuka, Shoba and Gayathri.
SARSU AUNTY IN HER PARENT'S HOME
MUTHU UNCLE AND SARSU AUNTY
MUTHU UNCLE, SARSU AUNTY and GAJA ANNA
Sushila, my mother was the youngest. She was called 'Baby' by everybody and 'Hilu' by her parents. Later she became Baby Attha (Baby Aunty) to her many neices and nephews.
Her mother passed away when she was eighteen.
When she was 24, which was considered old in those days, at Mysore Aunty's urging she finally agreed to a match with my father, who was then a Captain in the British Army.
Mummy and Daddy had seven children: Mohan, Amba, Rani, Nandu, Karna, Geeta and Hari.
The first three are deceased.
This then was the family of Dr. Muniswamy Naidu and Smt. Lakshmikantam.
Stories of growing up in Trichnopoly, as told by Mummy:
Trichnopoly, as it was called in those days (now Trichurapalli) is in Tamil Nadu, in the south of India.
Grandfather Muniswamy Naidu was a doctor in the British Railway and the house was right next door to the hospital.
I saw the house when I was sixteen. It had been a grand mansion, with huge pillars and big portico. I didn't go inside but Mummy described the large rooms built in British style.
It was so hot in Trichy that all the verandahs had khus khus mats called tatties hung. There was a man, Ramu, who's job it was to sprinkle water on the tatties and move them with the aid of a string tied to them. When his hand got tired he would tie the string to his toe and keep moving it. This caused a gentle, fragrant breeze to flow through the house. When the air stopped, it was common knowledge Ramu had fallen asleep at his task and a shout of 'Ramu!' would get the motion going again.
Who needed electricity?
Mummy said also on the verandah was a tailor busy sewing for the family.
Petticoats and blouses for the ladies not to mention undergarments and for the men, shirts and trousers, pyjamas and jubbas/kurtas.
Dr. Muniswamy Naidu's family was at the forefront of fashion!
Grandfather was so particular about clothes, he would do regular wardrobe inspections when he would open the cupboards, check the state of the clothes and insist anything worn or faded should be discarded.
Mummy said tiny Chinese men would come to Trichy bent over under the weight of the enormous bundles on their backs. They would have beautiful sarees of silk and georgette, some of them with the most intricate embroidery. They would sell their wares and make the long trek back to China to return the next year with their goods.
The tailor shared the verandah with the goldsmith...at one time there was so much jewellry to be made he sat there all day making beautiful jewellry for the women in the family.
Each of the three daughters had their wedding jewellry made and put away for when they would be married. In addition to this was the jewellry they wore everyday. Patterns were copied from the jewellry of relatives who came visiting.
As for the kitchen, the food was cooked on firewood that was delivered by a bullock cart each month and unloaded by the driver. Grandfather and Grandmother liked to eat royally at every meal so the kitchen was always a bustle of activity.
When the children were very small, the Governor of Trichnopoly called on Grandfather.
His request: There were only British children in the English schools. Would Dr. Naidu set an example and send his children to the schools, so that other Indians would follow?
Grandfather agreed and though Grandmother objected and said the boys could go but the girls should stay home and learn the skills necessary to be good wives, Grandfather said they were to go to school too.
So off they went happily and learned the three R's and the famous first prayer i was taught, "Now I lay Me down to sleep," and "Our Father" My mother's favorite song was Que Sera, Sera.
Anyway all three girls learned to read, write and speak English fluently and were referred to as 'convent educated' later on in life. It was a high accolade indeed in those days.
Grandfather was a practical man. Though he had a great deal of money, he insisted the children go to school by a different method of transport each day. So one day they went in the horse and carriage, one day in the Ford car, and one day in the bullock cart.
Grandfather's reasoning? No matter whom they married they would be able to adjust to their husband's standard of living.
Mummy went to school till sixth standard and then on her mother's insistence dropped out and started learning kitchen skills from her grandmother and how to knit, crochet and supervise the servants...all the arts a girl in those days had to know.
Mummy said she wasn't doing too well in school anyway so she didn't mind dropping out.
She increased her basic school learning by reading and loved books.
In those days, Grandfather and Grandmother insisted on the girls following the 'gosha' system in the household...they were not to come out in front of men who visited or their brother's friends. This rule didn't apply to male relatives.
There was an outer room built apart from the house. Any female in the household who had her period would go and live in this room for two days. Meals would be delivered there.
On the third day after a headbath she would be allowed to come back and re-join the family.
This was followed in most Hindu households of the time.
During her period a girl/woman could not enter the prayer room or the kitchen as she was considered 'unclean'.
Holidays were grand and fun when Mummy was a young girl.
Grandfather had a railway pass for the family, as he worked in the British Railway, and Grandmother loved travelling so as soon as the school holidays started they would be off to Madras and Cuddalore. Mummy loved the sea and being able to play with Sarsu Aunty on vacations. She inherited her mother's love of travel.
Mummy's favorite fruit was mango. She said in her parents home there was a room for mangoes. In the mango season, mangoes would come from all over and be put into this room to ripen. The children were allowed to have one mango a day with lunch as more than one was `heating' to the body. One wasn't enough for Mummy, especially when the tantalizing smell of ripening mangoes wafted through the house day in and day out.
She was terrified of getting caught going to the mango room so she would asked her brother Muthu to get her a mango. He would agree as long as she agreed to get one 'muttikai' from him. A muttikai was a knuckle on the top of her head and though her brother's knocks made the tears stream down her face, she still felt it was worth it to enable her to eat those extra mangoes!!!
Mummy said she was the most obedient of all the children. She was terribly skinny as a child and her grandmother said she had to eat 'sotakai" which was a bitter plant. Though it was terrible to swallow Mummy had the juice of the plant for forty days to enable her to put on some weight.
She said when she was naughty her mother would pinch her thighs or pull her ears.
Her father didn't hit the children as one look from him was enough to reduce them to tears.
The boys were definitely treated differently. They were both spoiled. Grandfather, scarred by the death of his brothers abroad, did not want his sons to go abroad for higher education.
He didn't even insist they work. He felt he had enough property for his sons to live on and didn't want to lose them as he had lost his brothers.
Mummy often said that when Grandfather was angry he would shout, "Intan, Intan, Intan!" which really stood for "Vintan, Vintan, Vintan!" It meant, "I hear you!"
The words were enough to get the children to behave.
When Mummy was eighteen Grandmother passed away. She had been ailing for the past few years with heavy bleeding every month making her very anemic. She refused to have a hysterectomy as in those days most people were terrified of hospitals and operations.
As she was dying and each child went in to talk with her, one of the relatives asked, " What do you want to say to Baby?"
Grandmother said, "Baby is very intelligent and she will make a success of her life."
The burden of losing her mother at eighteen weighed heavily on Mummy. SN Uncle, in an effort to take her mind off her mother's passing, drew three designs on tapestry and asked her to embroider the pictures. One was Lord Krishna, the other was a lion, and the third I forget. Mummy said it helped her.
Grandfather withdrew after Grandmother's death.
As her grandmother got weaker, Mummy took over more and more of the kitchen duties perfecting her cooking skills.
All the offers that came for her didn't work. Grandfather wanted a Balija Naidu. Most often than not the hosroscopes didn't match. Finally when Mysore Aunty came home for a visit she urged Mummy to meet the young Captain who had answered the advertisement her father had put in The Hindu. Army life, her older sister told Mummy, was interesting and exciting. Grandfather gave in and agreed to let the young Captain meet his third daughter, though he was a Golla. The Gollas were on the last step of the Naidu caste ladder while the Balijas were at the top but grandfather had realized by then that caste wasn't the only thing that mattered in a marriage. What very few people understand is that the Gollas were traditionally cowherders, the same caste as Lord Krishna and they came down to the South with Lord Krishna and settled there. In Krishnagiri, where my father was from there is a Krishna temple with an idol installed thousands of years ago. When I told my sambandhi we are from Lord Krishna's tribe she was thrilled to hear the story as she is a great Krishna devotee.
If anyone wants to look down on us then that means they look down on Lord Krishna himself too.
Mummy and Daddy met in Trichnopoly. Daddy had a week's leave. They were married three days later in Jubilee Hall, Madras. Two days later they left for Quetta, the first station they were to live in as a couple. Accompanying them was an old lady who had served the family for a number of years. Tayaramma was to be cook and Mummy's companion.
Grandfather unfortunately incurred many gambling debts in his later years as he was fond of going to the races. He lost the four cottages behind the main house and then eventually the main house itself. He had to move into a smaller house in Trichy, where he lived out his last days.
Mummy always said, "The Chettiar got everything!" The Chettiar was the money lender.
Towards the end of his life Grandfather had Parkinsons'.
He passed away on May 11th 1947, between the age of 73 and 76.
Great Grandmother survived him by three years. She died in 1950 at the age of 85. Of Great Grandfather's passing, I have no record yet.
Mummy's dowry of silver plates, glasses and dishes, went with her in a red velvet lined box. The outside was leather with metal studs.
This was called 'Sitadaanam' or dowry chest.
When you lifted the lid of the suitcase there was a red tray that was three inches high that could be lifted out.
Mummy's trousseau of sarees and matching blouse and her collection of jewellry went with her. Her favorite cousin and sister-in-law had packed six of the best sarees from her own trousseau as she said Mummy would need them as a young Army bride and she could return them on her next visit home.
Dr. Muniswamy and Smt Lakshmikantam's grandchildren and great grandchildren.
Bhashyam Uncle and Kit Aunty had one son, Damodharan.
Damu Anna married Nirmala d/o Major and Mrs Kannaiah Naidu of Bangalore.
They have three children: Udaya (Singapore), Uma (Madras)and Balaji (Madras).
Kit Aunty and Nirmala Akka live with Balaji in Madras. Kit Aunty is in her nineties.
Damu Anna passed away after a heart attack in Sept. 2006 at the age of 75.
Leelavathi (Up Aunty) and SN Uncle's daughter is Saroja Akka (Sarojini Naidu) who grew up in the Trichy house.
Saroja Akka married S. Krishnamurthy, an engineer in 1960.
They settled in Bangalore.
They have four children. The first three children and their families, Akka and Murthy Bawa live in Bangalore:
1.Jayprakash (Chitty) m Shashikala.
Their children: Rohit and Rachel.
2. S. Swarnalatha m N.V. Hussain
Their children N. Bittu and N. Oshin.
3. S. Ruparekha m K.N. Jagdish.
Their chidren: Raksha and Varsha
4. Raju m Mala
They live in Australia.
Shakuntala,(Mysore Aunty) the second daughter and third child married V Balakrishna Naidu of Mysor.
They had nine children:
1. Jaygopal m. Kokila. (Australia)
They have two sons.
2. Vasantha (D)m. Sudarshan (D)
They have two chidren: Dr. Madan
Nalini
Both children are married.
3. Ramachandar (Ramu Anna) m Pammi
They have one daughter
4. Mano m
They have two daughters.
5. Jyothi m. Nagendar (Hyderabad)
They have two children: Geetha m Sudhakar (S. Carolina)
Son...
6. Babu m Brundha
They have two children.
Giri is recently married
Smita
7. Sheela m Dr. Muniappan
They have one daughter Brundha, married and living in Boston.
8. Asha (D) m Col. Natrajan
They have two children, a daughter and a son...
Kavitha m Lakshmanan
They have two children: Aditya and Kerthi.
Lt. Cdr Vishnu Prasad m Pratima
9. Usha, a teacher who lives in Mysore.
Her husband was a scoundrel and she left him.
4. S.M Muthukrishna, the second son and fourth child married Saraswathi, daughter of Annapanadi Ethirajulu Naidu of Binny & Co of Madras (his first cousin).
Their children were:
1. S.M. Gajendran m S. Jayanthi of Tirupathi.
They have one daughter: S.G. Dhanya Bharathi
2. Renuka m Mohan
They have three children.
Vinitha, Sunil and Vinod.
(I will enter the spouses later...having a memory problem).
3. Shobha
Two sons: Pretish and Karthik.
Pretish m. Suma.
4. Gayathri m. G.Jaychand.
They have two daughters, Archana and Akshata.
SMT. LAKSHMIKANTAM
This space was started by Dr. Muniswamy Naidu's granddaughter, Geeta Kakade, in the hope that the descendants of Dr. Muniswamy Naidu and Smt. Lakshmikantam would have a source for our family history.
The author wishes to thank all her relatives who contributed to making this blog what it is today and it is her sincere hope that family members will contribute with more photographs and stories.
This is a virtual record for all our present families and future generations to have permanent access to. The effort that has gone into this space, is a work of love and respect for our grandparents and parents.
This blog is dedicated to my mother, Smt. Sushila Naidu, third daughter, and fifth child of Dr. Muniswamy Naidu and Smt Lakshmikantham. Mummy always kept memories of her parents, grandparents, and relatives alive with the stories she told us children.
On a visit to India in 2008-9, all the cousins I met agreed that it was time to put the stories down as our memories were growing weaker and the past would soon fade altogether if not kept in a cyber vault for all to share and take pride in.
The above pictures are copies of the ones hanging in the house of my first cousin, SM Gajendra Naidu. The bright red tikkas are to honor those deceased and mark our Hindu heritage.
On a trip to India in December 2009, I looked up my oldest living cousin, Saroja Akka. She was a fount of stories and help with the details of Trichinopoly. Words cannot describe how exciting it was to see her old photographs and hear stories of the family history from Akka. Her oldest daughter, Latha and her family helped immensely by having me over and welcoming me to spend all the time I needed with Akka.
Stories about the great grandparents from my mother, Sushila:
Smt. Lakshmikantam (my Grandmother) was an only child. Her father was Postmaster in Pondicherry. He was the first Indian man to replace his dhoti with trousers...the first time he wore them, everyone in the village came out to stare at him!
Great Grandmother's name was Krishnaveni. I can't recall Great Grandfather's name.
When Grandmother married Grandfather, their son in law invited Lakshmikantam's parents to come and live with them as she was an only child and they were bereft without her. All the grandchildren benefited from the special attention and love of their grandparents.
Mummy said as a child she generally used to be very nervous and easily frightened.
One night her grandfather asked her what the matter was. She said she was frightened
there was something in the tree outside the house...he picked up a lantern, took her hand and told her, "Let's go outside." Trembling, she went with him. He shone the lantern on every branch of the tree and said, "See, there's nothing here!"
After that she realized there was nothing to fear but fear itself.
As Grandmother Lakshmikantam was sickly, her mother ruled the kitchen and the servants and saw to the running of the household and the care of the children.
Great Grandmother had these stories to tell her granddaughters:
In her days when a woman was in labor, a rope would be strung from the main beam of the house and the mother to be would be told to pull on the rope to help her 'bear down' for delivery. Right after delivery, the mother's stomach would be bound tightly with an old saree so it would quickly get flat again. For 40 days the woman was considered 'unclean' and stayed apart from the other family members, if there was room in the house for the custom to be followed.
Babies were put into 'cradles' made by a saree being hung from the beams. This kept them off the floor and out of the reach of snakes and rats.
Marriages were arranged as soon as the girl attained puberty. In some cases even after the marriage she stayed with her parents for a year or so (if she was very young at puberty) till she was considered ready to assume her marital duties.
Great grandmother was a strong lady and she survived her son-in-law by three years.
She died in 1950 at the age of 85 so she was born in 1865.
Grandfather died at the age of 75/76 in 1947 so he was born in 1872. His mother-in-law was only 7 years older than him!
(I wish I knew the name of my maternal grandfather and paternal grandparents.)
Dr. Muniswamy Naidu's early childhood history.
Grandfather, Muniswamy Naidu grew up in Burma with his three brothers and one sister.
He was very angry with his father for living with a Burmese lady. When his father decided to give up his mistress and return to his wife and children, the family decided the only way to be rid of the mistress' hold would be to return to India.
Great grandfather developed boils on the voyage home and died as soon as the ship landed in India. This was put down to the mistress casting black magic spells on him.
Hell, indeed, hath no fury like a woman scorned!.
It was left to Grandfather, Muniswamy Naidu, to take responsibility for his mother and siblings. He was an LMP (Licensed Medical Practitioner), as those were the days no Indian got into medical school. He got the position of Dr. in the British Railway Hospital in Trichinopoly and bought a huge house next door. The stately building is now the Occidental Bank.
Dr. Muniswamy Naidu sent his first brother to England for further education. On his way back contracted an illness. Suspecting smallpox and fearing contagion, he was thrown overboard alive by the crew! (source Saroja Akka).
His second brother contracted Sprue, an infection of the lungs, after returning from England and died.
His son, Dr. Madangopal, was raised in Trichy and sent to England for his education. He now lives in England and is a retired Harley Street specialist.
Dr. Muniswamy Naidu's only sister was married to Annapanadi Ethirajulu Naidu of Binny & Co. Madras. She was his second wife.
Madangopal in his teens with his young cousins, Bhaskar and Damu.
Grandfather, Dr. Muniswamy Naidu was a handsome man and a very good doctor.
Grandmother, Smt. Lakshmikantam,according to my mother was a beautiful lady. Her complexion was neither fair nor dark...she was, my mother always said, lemon colored and her skin always glowed.
As soon as grandfather's foot crossed the threshold, he would say, "Lakshmikantam!" and she would leave whatever she was doing and hurry to meet him.
Grandmother worried about her handsome husband and the British nurses. When he was late, she would send on of the children to the hospital..."Go see if he's talking to those nurses!' she would urge.
Dr. Muniswamy Naidu and Smt. Lakshmikantam had five children...
Bhashyam, Leelavathi,Shakuntala,Muthukrishnan and Sushila.
Their family name was Sadanala so the initials were SM followed by the first name.
Sadanala was also the family gothram.
Bhashyam married Krishnaveni of Cuddalore.
They had one son, Damodharan, born posthumously as Bhashyam Uncle died suddenly a year after marriage. His bride was only 16 and when Grandfather and Grandmother asked her if she would like to go back to her parents' house she said No! I will live in my husband's house, which was with them. What a tragedy.
Leelavathi was married at 17 to SN Naidu in 1923. SN Uncle was only 19 years old and he agreed to live with his in-laws and complete his degree in chemistry. Mummy always said SN Uncle was very, very intelligent. Uncle and Aunty lived upstairs in the Trichy house and this is how she got the name UP Aunty. I didn't realize how that name came about till I learned on this last visit that she lived upstairs!
Their first son, Jairam died at 11 months, the next, a daughter, Premalatha at 10 months old. The next child a son, Bhaskar, lived till he was 7, when he died of double pneumonia. How much suffering for Uncle and Aunty to go through.
When UP aunty got pregnant next, the elders advised her to 'sell' the child to her sister-in-law Kittu (Kit Aunty), as she, Leelavathi was fated not to have any living children. So Saroja Akka, was 'sold' to Kit Aunty for four annas.
As Kit Aunty lived in the same house, there was no real 'separation' involved for Akka who remembers following Kit Aunty around till she was ten or eleven.
Whatever they did worked, because Saroja Akka is alive and well at 73.
SN Uncle passed away after a heart attack on 22nd March, 1977 and Up Aunty followed him on August 22nd, 1977. She died of high blood pressure and anemia. Aunty refused to eat after Uncle died and went downhill rapidly.
They were married for 54 years.
Shakuntala was the only one of Dr. Muniswamy Naidu's and Smt. Lakshmikantam's family to complete her BA, a rare feat for a woman in those days. She married VB Naidu, an engineer, of Mysore, where they lived. We called her Mysore Aunty.
They had nine children: Jaygopal, Vasantha, Ramu, Mano, Jyothi, Babu, Sheela, Asha and Usha.
Unfortunately Vasantha Akka and Asha are deceased.
I remember Mysore Aunty as beautiful, very intelligent, a great reader and a woman who faced everything in life with extraordinary courage and dignity. She had such a sweet smile.
The next child was Muthukrishna, who married his first cousin, Saraswathi, daughter of Ethirajulu Naidu, Madras.
Mummy always said how rich their family was and that their house in Madras was very big. As children they always went there for their holidays. It seems Great Uncle Ethirajulu would ask each of his two wives what they wanted for lunch and whatever theys aid would be brought from themarket and prepared by the cook.
Mummy and Sarsu Aunty were not only cousins but good friends from when they were children to when Aunty passed away.
Muthu Uncle and Sarsu Aunty had four children : Gajendra, Renuka, Shoba and Gayathri.
SARSU AUNTY IN HER PARENT'S HOME
MUTHU UNCLE AND SARSU AUNTY
MUTHU UNCLE, SARSU AUNTY and GAJA ANNA
Sushila, my mother was the youngest. She was called 'Baby' by everybody and 'Hilu' by her parents. Later she became Baby Attha (Baby Aunty) to her many neices and nephews.
Her mother passed away when she was eighteen.
When she was 24, which was considered old in those days, at Mysore Aunty's urging she finally agreed to a match with my father, who was then a Captain in the British Army.
Mummy and Daddy had seven children: Mohan, Amba, Rani, Nandu, Karna, Geeta and Hari.
The first three are deceased.
This then was the family of Dr. Muniswamy Naidu and Smt. Lakshmikantam.
Stories of growing up in Trichnopoly, as told by Mummy:
Trichnopoly, as it was called in those days (now Trichurapalli) is in Tamil Nadu, in the south of India.
Grandfather Muniswamy Naidu was a doctor in the British Railway and the house was right next door to the hospital.
I saw the house when I was sixteen. It had been a grand mansion, with huge pillars and big portico. I didn't go inside but Mummy described the large rooms built in British style.
It was so hot in Trichy that all the verandahs had khus khus mats called tatties hung. There was a man, Ramu, who's job it was to sprinkle water on the tatties and move them with the aid of a string tied to them. When his hand got tired he would tie the string to his toe and keep moving it. This caused a gentle, fragrant breeze to flow through the house. When the air stopped, it was common knowledge Ramu had fallen asleep at his task and a shout of 'Ramu!' would get the motion going again.
Who needed electricity?
Mummy said also on the verandah was a tailor busy sewing for the family.
Petticoats and blouses for the ladies not to mention undergarments and for the men, shirts and trousers, pyjamas and jubbas/kurtas.
Dr. Muniswamy Naidu's family was at the forefront of fashion!
Grandfather was so particular about clothes, he would do regular wardrobe inspections when he would open the cupboards, check the state of the clothes and insist anything worn or faded should be discarded.
Mummy said tiny Chinese men would come to Trichy bent over under the weight of the enormous bundles on their backs. They would have beautiful sarees of silk and georgette, some of them with the most intricate embroidery. They would sell their wares and make the long trek back to China to return the next year with their goods.
The tailor shared the verandah with the goldsmith...at one time there was so much jewellry to be made he sat there all day making beautiful jewellry for the women in the family.
Each of the three daughters had their wedding jewellry made and put away for when they would be married. In addition to this was the jewellry they wore everyday. Patterns were copied from the jewellry of relatives who came visiting.
As for the kitchen, the food was cooked on firewood that was delivered by a bullock cart each month and unloaded by the driver. Grandfather and Grandmother liked to eat royally at every meal so the kitchen was always a bustle of activity.
When the children were very small, the Governor of Trichnopoly called on Grandfather.
His request: There were only British children in the English schools. Would Dr. Naidu set an example and send his children to the schools, so that other Indians would follow?
Grandfather agreed and though Grandmother objected and said the boys could go but the girls should stay home and learn the skills necessary to be good wives, Grandfather said they were to go to school too.
So off they went happily and learned the three R's and the famous first prayer i was taught, "Now I lay Me down to sleep," and "Our Father" My mother's favorite song was Que Sera, Sera.
Anyway all three girls learned to read, write and speak English fluently and were referred to as 'convent educated' later on in life. It was a high accolade indeed in those days.
Grandfather was a practical man. Though he had a great deal of money, he insisted the children go to school by a different method of transport each day. So one day they went in the horse and carriage, one day in the Ford car, and one day in the bullock cart.
Grandfather's reasoning? No matter whom they married they would be able to adjust to their husband's standard of living.
Mummy went to school till sixth standard and then on her mother's insistence dropped out and started learning kitchen skills from her grandmother and how to knit, crochet and supervise the servants...all the arts a girl in those days had to know.
Mummy said she wasn't doing too well in school anyway so she didn't mind dropping out.
She increased her basic school learning by reading and loved books.
In those days, Grandfather and Grandmother insisted on the girls following the 'gosha' system in the household...they were not to come out in front of men who visited or their brother's friends. This rule didn't apply to male relatives.
There was an outer room built apart from the house. Any female in the household who had her period would go and live in this room for two days. Meals would be delivered there.
On the third day after a headbath she would be allowed to come back and re-join the family.
This was followed in most Hindu households of the time.
During her period a girl/woman could not enter the prayer room or the kitchen as she was considered 'unclean'.
Holidays were grand and fun when Mummy was a young girl.
Grandfather had a railway pass for the family, as he worked in the British Railway, and Grandmother loved travelling so as soon as the school holidays started they would be off to Madras and Cuddalore. Mummy loved the sea and being able to play with Sarsu Aunty on vacations. She inherited her mother's love of travel.
Mummy's favorite fruit was mango. She said in her parents home there was a room for mangoes. In the mango season, mangoes would come from all over and be put into this room to ripen. The children were allowed to have one mango a day with lunch as more than one was `heating' to the body. One wasn't enough for Mummy, especially when the tantalizing smell of ripening mangoes wafted through the house day in and day out.
She was terrified of getting caught going to the mango room so she would asked her brother Muthu to get her a mango. He would agree as long as she agreed to get one 'muttikai' from him. A muttikai was a knuckle on the top of her head and though her brother's knocks made the tears stream down her face, she still felt it was worth it to enable her to eat those extra mangoes!!!
Mummy said she was the most obedient of all the children. She was terribly skinny as a child and her grandmother said she had to eat 'sotakai" which was a bitter plant. Though it was terrible to swallow Mummy had the juice of the plant for forty days to enable her to put on some weight.
She said when she was naughty her mother would pinch her thighs or pull her ears.
Her father didn't hit the children as one look from him was enough to reduce them to tears.
The boys were definitely treated differently. They were both spoiled. Grandfather, scarred by the death of his brothers abroad, did not want his sons to go abroad for higher education.
He didn't even insist they work. He felt he had enough property for his sons to live on and didn't want to lose them as he had lost his brothers.
Mummy often said that when Grandfather was angry he would shout, "Intan, Intan, Intan!" which really stood for "Vintan, Vintan, Vintan!" It meant, "I hear you!"
The words were enough to get the children to behave.
When Mummy was eighteen Grandmother passed away. She had been ailing for the past few years with heavy bleeding every month making her very anemic. She refused to have a hysterectomy as in those days most people were terrified of hospitals and operations.
As she was dying and each child went in to talk with her, one of the relatives asked, " What do you want to say to Baby?"
Grandmother said, "Baby is very intelligent and she will make a success of her life."
The burden of losing her mother at eighteen weighed heavily on Mummy. SN Uncle, in an effort to take her mind off her mother's passing, drew three designs on tapestry and asked her to embroider the pictures. One was Lord Krishna, the other was a lion, and the third I forget. Mummy said it helped her.
Grandfather withdrew after Grandmother's death.
As her grandmother got weaker, Mummy took over more and more of the kitchen duties perfecting her cooking skills.
All the offers that came for her didn't work. Grandfather wanted a Balija Naidu. Most often than not the hosroscopes didn't match. Finally when Mysore Aunty came home for a visit she urged Mummy to meet the young Captain who had answered the advertisement her father had put in The Hindu. Army life, her older sister told Mummy, was interesting and exciting. Grandfather gave in and agreed to let the young Captain meet his third daughter, though he was a Golla. The Gollas were on the last step of the Naidu caste ladder while the Balijas were at the top but grandfather had realized by then that caste wasn't the only thing that mattered in a marriage. What very few people understand is that the Gollas were traditionally cowherders, the same caste as Lord Krishna and they came down to the South with Lord Krishna and settled there. In Krishnagiri, where my father was from there is a Krishna temple with an idol installed thousands of years ago. When I told my sambandhi we are from Lord Krishna's tribe she was thrilled to hear the story as she is a great Krishna devotee.
If anyone wants to look down on us then that means they look down on Lord Krishna himself too.
Mummy and Daddy met in Trichnopoly. Daddy had a week's leave. They were married three days later in Jubilee Hall, Madras. Two days later they left for Quetta, the first station they were to live in as a couple. Accompanying them was an old lady who had served the family for a number of years. Tayaramma was to be cook and Mummy's companion.
Grandfather unfortunately incurred many gambling debts in his later years as he was fond of going to the races. He lost the four cottages behind the main house and then eventually the main house itself. He had to move into a smaller house in Trichy, where he lived out his last days.
Mummy always said, "The Chettiar got everything!" The Chettiar was the money lender.
Towards the end of his life Grandfather had Parkinsons'.
He passed away on May 11th 1947, between the age of 73 and 76.
Great Grandmother survived him by three years. She died in 1950 at the age of 85. Of Great Grandfather's passing, I have no record yet.
Mummy's dowry of silver plates, glasses and dishes, went with her in a red velvet lined box. The outside was leather with metal studs.
This was called 'Sitadaanam' or dowry chest.
When you lifted the lid of the suitcase there was a red tray that was three inches high that could be lifted out.
Mummy's trousseau of sarees and matching blouse and her collection of jewellry went with her. Her favorite cousin and sister-in-law had packed six of the best sarees from her own trousseau as she said Mummy would need them as a young Army bride and she could return them on her next visit home.
Dr. Muniswamy and Smt Lakshmikantam's grandchildren and great grandchildren.
Bhashyam Uncle and Kit Aunty had one son, Damodharan.
Damu Anna married Nirmala d/o Major and Mrs Kannaiah Naidu of Bangalore.
They have three children: Udaya (Singapore), Uma (Madras)and Balaji (Madras).
Kit Aunty and Nirmala Akka live with Balaji in Madras. Kit Aunty is in her nineties.
Damu Anna passed away after a heart attack in Sept. 2006 at the age of 75.
Leelavathi (Up Aunty) and SN Uncle's daughter is Saroja Akka (Sarojini Naidu) who grew up in the Trichy house.
Saroja Akka married S. Krishnamurthy, an engineer in 1960.
They settled in Bangalore.
They have four children. The first three children and their families, Akka and Murthy Bawa live in Bangalore:
1.Jayprakash (Chitty) m Shashikala.
Their children: Rohit and Rachel.
2. S. Swarnalatha m N.V. Hussain
Their children N. Bittu and N. Oshin.
3. S. Ruparekha m K.N. Jagdish.
Their chidren: Raksha and Varsha
4. Raju m Mala
They live in Australia.
Shakuntala,(Mysore Aunty) the second daughter and third child married V Balakrishna Naidu of Mysor.
They had nine children:
1. Jaygopal m. Kokila. (Australia)
They have two sons.
2. Vasantha (D)m. Sudarshan (D)
They have two chidren: Dr. Madan
Nalini
Both children are married.
3. Ramachandar (Ramu Anna) m Pammi
They have one daughter
4. Mano m
They have two daughters.
5. Jyothi m. Nagendar (Hyderabad)
They have two children: Geetha m Sudhakar (S. Carolina)
Son...
6. Babu m Brundha
They have two children.
Giri is recently married
Smita
7. Sheela m Dr. Muniappan
They have one daughter Brundha, married and living in Boston.
8. Asha (D) m Col. Natrajan
They have two children, a daughter and a son...
Kavitha m Lakshmanan
They have two children: Aditya and Kerthi.
Lt. Cdr Vishnu Prasad m Pratima
9. Usha, a teacher who lives in Mysore.
Her husband was a scoundrel and she left him.
4. S.M Muthukrishna, the second son and fourth child married Saraswathi, daughter of Annapanadi Ethirajulu Naidu of Binny & Co of Madras (his first cousin).
Their children were:
1. S.M. Gajendran m S. Jayanthi of Tirupathi.
They have one daughter: S.G. Dhanya Bharathi
2. Renuka m Mohan
They have three children.
Vinitha, Sunil and Vinod.
(I will enter the spouses later...having a memory problem).
3. Shobha
Two sons: Pretish and Karthik.
Pretish m. Suma.
4. Gayathri m. G.Jaychand.
They have two daughters, Archana and Akshata.
Great Job. Keep going.
ReplyDeleteBob
Hi Aunt,
ReplyDeleteWhat a great idea to keep the family history alive on a blog!
Tanu
Hi Aunt,
ReplyDeleteGreat idea to have the family history on a blog.
Tanu