Recently at the centenary celebration, my uncle went to the bar association where my grandfather served as the president of the bar association in town of Rajahmundry, India to have his portrait installed. For this occasion, my father wrote a biographical essay for our global family diaspora, especially aimed at the grandchildren. The essay was very well received with lots of back and forth communications.
Rather than share the entire biographical essay which is of course quite specific, I thought I would extract five headlines that would be interesting to share in general.
1. Great Grandfather
We learned that my great grandfather recited poetry at the court of the Maharaja of Pithapuram, which is now in the state of Andhra Pradesh, India.
It turns out that poets did not make a lot of money even then!
2. Grandfather
I have my grandfather's name. Although he aspired to get a law degree, he ended up majoring in Philosophy earning a gold medal.
However, he had to sell his gold medal to get his family started.
3. First break
Although he practiced civil law, his first break as a lawyer came a a public defender in a murder case. A wife was accused of murdering her husband. With some persistence and luck, my grandfather proved that the brother of the deceased was guilty rather than the wife.
He became a celebrity in town and cases started coming his way. (I am not doing justice to my Dad's narration of this case in his essay!)
4. Generous host
My grandfather maintained a rather large mansion and as was the norm of that time hosted many visitors to town and cultural activities in the house. One of the recurring features was Vedic Chanting, which as we know are 3,000+ year old ancient Indian poetry.
The house is now a hospital.
5. Alzheimer's Disease
My grandfather passed away from Alzheimer's disease. But in the 1970s, it was misdiagnosed as Parkinsons.
He passed away with his family around him.
Rather than share the entire biographical essay which is of course quite specific, I thought I would extract five headlines that would be interesting to share in general.
1. Great Grandfather
We learned that my great grandfather recited poetry at the court of the Maharaja of Pithapuram, which is now in the state of Andhra Pradesh, India.
It turns out that poets did not make a lot of money even then!
2. Grandfather
I have my grandfather's name. Although he aspired to get a law degree, he ended up majoring in Philosophy earning a gold medal.
However, he had to sell his gold medal to get his family started.
3. First break
Although he practiced civil law, his first break as a lawyer came a a public defender in a murder case. A wife was accused of murdering her husband. With some persistence and luck, my grandfather proved that the brother of the deceased was guilty rather than the wife.
He became a celebrity in town and cases started coming his way. (I am not doing justice to my Dad's narration of this case in his essay!)
4. Generous host
My grandfather maintained a rather large mansion and as was the norm of that time hosted many visitors to town and cultural activities in the house. One of the recurring features was Vedic Chanting, which as we know are 3,000+ year old ancient Indian poetry.
The house is now a hospital.
5. Alzheimer's Disease
My grandfather passed away from Alzheimer's disease. But in the 1970s, it was misdiagnosed as Parkinsons.
He passed away with his family around him.
 |
| That is me in the back row in my mom's arms |
12 comments:
From Poetry to Pensions and
From Parkinson's to ALZH
This is impressive and moving. Thank you for sharing
You have such a cool family and I love the photo of little you!
Thanks for sharing - Very interesting!
The story of philosophy in a nutshell:
Although he aspired to get a law degree, he ended up majoring in Philosophy earning a gold medal.
However, he had to sell his gold medal to get his family started.
This also explains your interest in Alzheimer’s Disease.
Fascinating family history….
I now can understand how you are what you are. A scholarly heritage.
Such an intimate portrait of a intriguing human. Thanks for sharing this.
BTW, just came across this essay and thought it a good compliment to your grandfather’s story – the choice between the contemplative life (philosophy) and practical life (law) from an Indian perspective:
"Writing weakens the intellect, or so claimed Socrates. Despite this, two new books set out to rehabilitate classical philosophy
https://caravanmagazine.in/literature/reading-plato-interpreters
Very nice to know the scholarly heritage.
Such a rich story and history. I see where you get your writing skills. And what an adorable little one were. Thanks for sharing!
Amazing heritage. Deep roots and binding - now spread across the world. Beautiful family picture.
Inspiring and touching. Loved the picture of you in your Mom's arms and the entire family. Thanks for sharing.
Post a Comment