Meenu Paati
Have I become ruthless? Or have I become a yogi? I don't know. I didn't feel like crying when my grand father died, when my grand mother died and now when Meenu patti has died. I love them a lot though, they had a lot affection towards me. I have always felt that they will always remain in our memories in this janma. I have always been able to console myself, thinking so.
I am a fan of Meenu Paati, beyond being her grand son. I have had the opportunity of being with her in the same street in Sathyamangalam, Agraharam for four years. This post is dedicated to her, a post about what I understood about her.
She was a motherly and affectionate person:
We moved in to Sathyamangalam, Agraharam, Bhimar street when our ancestral house was still under construction and unsuitable for cooking and living. Paati was kind enough to extend help to us for few months. People of those days, kind of, welcomed these kind of opportunities. They would get angry if we hesitated to take their help. They will make you feel that it was your birth right to ask and get help from them. We felt little bad about disturbing Meenu paati, but she kept reassuring that it was her pleasure. This is something, we need to admire and appreciate, if not be able to do similar hospitality due to lack of time in the modern era.
She was a well known karnatic vocal musician and a good harmoniumist. She didn't make it a point to collect fees from everyone. All she cared about was to spread the art form and if possible enable people make a living out of the art form. Few have used the skill they acquired from her music lessons and started teaching music themselves. She was a proud teacher for them.
She was able to command people by her affection and stature gained through good deeds to participate and make contributions to various events in the agraharam and temples.
She had better understanding of life:
The hardships she faced in life had made her understand the nature of this worldly life very much. She always used to tell, "How many houses do you want for stay? Can you stay in more than one house? Then why run after wealth?." This somehow makes great sense to me after serving 6+ years in IT industry and having seen people literally die out without any mental peace to get an onsite opportunity and earn a lot of money. I suspected myself, if this mindset was, the unreachable-grape-will-sour effect. I asked myself if I would accept an onsite opportunity if given. I might agree in a rare event, but definitely I will not go behind it. So I don't think it is any unreachable-grape-will-sour effect. My heart beats for India. Nothing about India will make me hate her. She is my mother. Any dislikes about her can only be temporary (few minutes thats all). She always had a soft corner towards poor and financially struggling people.
She can be strict as well as be highly adjustable:
Born in the family of purohits, she had the perfect knowledge about the customs and rituals. She had the required knowledge to guide the proceedings of any procession in the temple or any family function/ceremony. She had been one of the most sought after motherly figure for such ceremonies. Having lived amidst such strict customs, she was able to adjust to the don't-care, city environment also easily. It was very common in our house in Thindal, Erode for any womenfolk of nearby houses to come to our kitchen. We were initially afraid, if Meenu paati would feel uncomfortable, but she assured, "Chitra, I have found out that love is more important. In Coimbatore, they make food with onion and garlic. How can I not accept when they give it with so much of love? The neighboring kid likes me so much that I didn't feel like inquiring his caste." Such was her maturity level. She reminds me of the paati in Jeyakanthan's "Yuga Sandhi."
She could have been a rockstar:
Had she got a supportive environment, she had all that was needed to become a great Karnatic vocal musician of her age. She had been requested to sing in solo concerts many a times in her life, but due to the conservative nature of majority of families those days, she was never able to pursue her interests, she had to oblige the family elder's words. No one to be blamed in particular, but had the situations been better then, we would have got an asset to Karnatic music. She had been telling for quite sometime now that, "Many people would ask God to not give next birth to them. I'd like to differ from them. I need a next janma. I should once again be born in a family where I could learn Karnatic music and where I could perform in stage and where I could sing soulfully without caring about anything or anyone." So the next time we see a kid singing soulful music, he/she could be Meenu paati's incarnation.
I request the almighty to give peace to her soul.
I am a fan of Meenu Paati, beyond being her grand son. I have had the opportunity of being with her in the same street in Sathyamangalam, Agraharam for four years. This post is dedicated to her, a post about what I understood about her.
She was a motherly and affectionate person:
We moved in to Sathyamangalam, Agraharam, Bhimar street when our ancestral house was still under construction and unsuitable for cooking and living. Paati was kind enough to extend help to us for few months. People of those days, kind of, welcomed these kind of opportunities. They would get angry if we hesitated to take their help. They will make you feel that it was your birth right to ask and get help from them. We felt little bad about disturbing Meenu paati, but she kept reassuring that it was her pleasure. This is something, we need to admire and appreciate, if not be able to do similar hospitality due to lack of time in the modern era.
She was a well known karnatic vocal musician and a good harmoniumist. She didn't make it a point to collect fees from everyone. All she cared about was to spread the art form and if possible enable people make a living out of the art form. Few have used the skill they acquired from her music lessons and started teaching music themselves. She was a proud teacher for them.
She was able to command people by her affection and stature gained through good deeds to participate and make contributions to various events in the agraharam and temples.
She had better understanding of life:
The hardships she faced in life had made her understand the nature of this worldly life very much. She always used to tell, "How many houses do you want for stay? Can you stay in more than one house? Then why run after wealth?." This somehow makes great sense to me after serving 6+ years in IT industry and having seen people literally die out without any mental peace to get an onsite opportunity and earn a lot of money. I suspected myself, if this mindset was, the unreachable-grape-will-sour effect. I asked myself if I would accept an onsite opportunity if given. I might agree in a rare event, but definitely I will not go behind it. So I don't think it is any unreachable-grape-will-sour effect. My heart beats for India. Nothing about India will make me hate her. She is my mother. Any dislikes about her can only be temporary (few minutes thats all). She always had a soft corner towards poor and financially struggling people.
She can be strict as well as be highly adjustable:
Born in the family of purohits, she had the perfect knowledge about the customs and rituals. She had the required knowledge to guide the proceedings of any procession in the temple or any family function/ceremony. She had been one of the most sought after motherly figure for such ceremonies. Having lived amidst such strict customs, she was able to adjust to the don't-care, city environment also easily. It was very common in our house in Thindal, Erode for any womenfolk of nearby houses to come to our kitchen. We were initially afraid, if Meenu paati would feel uncomfortable, but she assured, "Chitra, I have found out that love is more important. In Coimbatore, they make food with onion and garlic. How can I not accept when they give it with so much of love? The neighboring kid likes me so much that I didn't feel like inquiring his caste." Such was her maturity level. She reminds me of the paati in Jeyakanthan's "Yuga Sandhi."
She could have been a rockstar:
Had she got a supportive environment, she had all that was needed to become a great Karnatic vocal musician of her age. She had been requested to sing in solo concerts many a times in her life, but due to the conservative nature of majority of families those days, she was never able to pursue her interests, she had to oblige the family elder's words. No one to be blamed in particular, but had the situations been better then, we would have got an asset to Karnatic music. She had been telling for quite sometime now that, "Many people would ask God to not give next birth to them. I'd like to differ from them. I need a next janma. I should once again be born in a family where I could learn Karnatic music and where I could perform in stage and where I could sing soulfully without caring about anything or anyone." So the next time we see a kid singing soulful music, he/she could be Meenu paati's incarnation.
I request the almighty to give peace to her soul.
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