A number of moons in the past, Rajus from modern day Andhra Pradesh moved to a modest town in the vicinity of Madurai. Nestled concerning the Sanjeevi hills and the Western Ghats, this city was named Rajapalayam soon after its early settlers. The Raja family cultivated the prosperous, fertile land and the land as well as the persons prospered. Into a person these kinds of Raja relatives was born a boy, the youngest of four brothers. He was named Vivekananda following the renowed philosopher and teacher.
When he arrived at the age of 10 he was packed off to a boarding university in Yercaud. It was below that he fulfilled and nurtured a lifelong friendship with my father, Ravi Damodaran. Monfort General public College was an all boys school operate by monks who didn’t think in sparing the rod and spoiling the boys. Vivek was in charge of the tuckery and my father typically joked that all the yummy treats that were parceled to him ended up in Vivek uncle’s tummy.
Back again then his mothers and fathers experienced a charming cottage in Yercaud. Soon after he completed university, Vivek ended up pursuing a healthcare diploma in Stanley Medical School. All around the very same time, my grandmother had moved to Chennai, a calendar year immediately after my grandfather passed absent. My father was researching economics in Madras Christian College. It was only organic for Vivek’s mother to request my grandmother to be his nearby guardian.
Vivek utilised to accompany my grandma as she went from home to residence begging people to get a gasoline connection when she initial opened Tremendous Flame. Vivek’s mother handed away a couple decades later on and in a way my grandma crammed that void in his lifetime. He often experienced the biggest regard for her and produced it a point to look her up every time he arrived to Chennai.
Soon after his specialization in ophtamology, he made a decision to serve people in rural regions who would normally not have access to professional medical services. He opened an eye clinic in Krishnankoil, shut to Rajapalayam and conducted many cost-free surgeries and addressed numerous clients for absolutely free. He committed his life to his do the job and by no means married. Anytime we asked him why he manufactured that determination, he would say it was his heart affliction that prevented him from setting up a family. If just about anything he experienced a massive coronary heart and all of his brothers’ young children match in there.
I can try to remember him from quite much back again in my childhood. He was often dressed in a spotless white shirt and pant, a smile hardly ever also far from his facial area. His glowing eyes, comprehensive of mischief and waiting to tell us some joke or recount some humorous anecdote from the past. He usually introduced us a round, purple tin of Cadbury’s chocolate almonds. Two of his brothers lived in Chennai and any time any of his nieces or nephews acquired married, he would be there. Currently being incredibly rigorous with his food plan, he wouldn’t try to eat the abundant food stuff served at the marriage ceremony feast. My mom used to make basic phulkas for him and a straightforward carrot side dish. He would constantly ask her politely and my mom would happily oblige.
I keep in mind traveling to Vivek uncle’s farm with my household when I was most likely a teenager. He lived a simple daily life and ate whatever easy food the caretaker cooked for him. Idlis, dosas, and sambar had been a staple at his position. A person morning he took us to his hospital. We stepped within and felt like we had been in a sterile surroundings. All the things was spotless and shiny. A person girl with a clear rag proceeded to wipe down a bench after we obtained up and walked absent! There had been taps at each entrance and people experienced to clean their toes prior to they entered the clinic.
Back in the farm was this adorable puppy, Ruby, and uncle’s cleaniless experienced in some way rubbed off on her. Her fur was white with out a speck of the orange clayey soil, even while she lived outdoor. Uncle’s farm too had faucets put startegically near every entrance. Ruby knew how to force the faucet up with her snout to get a drink of h2o. I suspect she had frequent baths as well when her fur got too muddy!
Various yrs later, Dr. Vivek experienced to give up his surgical observe given that he was acquiring also outdated. He saw this as an option to get a board of doctors and trustees to handle his eye medical center. At first, he frequented the medical center and helped out as desired. But as time went by, he began to withdraw and trusted the more youthful medical doctors to keep on what he had when helmed.
My dad was a peaceful person of even quieter habits. He didn’t have many mates and even amongst the few pals he had, lots of came and went like the tides of the ocean. The only continual was Vivek uncle. And I grew up witnessing this particular bond that my dad shared with Vivek uncle. So what makes a excellent friend? Just becoming present via thick and slim. Through it all. The grief, the pleasure, the betrayals, and the triumps.
In March 2019, I was in Chennai for my dad’s 70th birthday and Vivek uncle was there much too. He experienced just undergone coronary heart medical procedures and we could see the bandage as a result of his mild cotton shirt. He brought a big birthday cake for Papa which he reduce whilst we all sang delighted birthday. Uncle, playful as usual, took a little bit of cake and smeared it on Papa’s face.
My mom and dad and brother frequented Vivek uncle after a lot more at the farm. I had remaining Chennai and India by then and wasn’t confident if I’ll at any time get to journey to Rajapalayam in my quick hurried visits again to India every single couple of years. But in 2020, the stars aligned, and all of us, such as my brother (who was dwelling in Sweden then) managed to make a stop by to Rajapalayam. We used a couple of times with uncle and it made me so happy. Uncle experienced been asking me to visit him for several years and I had at last produced it.
I’m not guaranteed if as children we don’t notic certain items or if our powers of observation get sharper as we get older, but there was a thing about uncle that I experienced under no circumstances found just before. And it was his compassion and generosity and the way he cared for absolutely everyone, from the gardner to the cook who well prepared his meals. Ahead of he sat down to try to eat he produced absolutely sure that the driver who accompanied us from Chennai was fed and presented refreshments. He took the time to inquire about his family members and their whereabouts.
When his cook dinner showed up with a swollen jaw, he carefully chided her for not obtaining her enamel examined by the dentist he experienced suggested. And of course, he took superb treatment of us and manufactured confident we had the most effective food items and most comfortable sleeping preparations.
I don’t forget going to satisfy him in his brother’s put one particular time and he informed us to pick up some cake for his nephew’s wife whose birthday it was. We took the cake and all of us sang happy birthday for her. Later on, she advised us that she by no means employed to celebrate her birthday. These kinds of a compact gesture it was but I’m certain it designed her feel cherished and cherished.
Immediately after the pandemic struck, we fulfilled uncle a pair of times in Chennai whenever he arrived to meet up with his cardiologist. Uncle also applied to email us images or compose to us just about every the moment in a while. Soon after a when his health practitioner recommended him not to travel but we usually kept in touch more than cellphone phone calls or e-mail. Papa’s demise was a shock to him and he dropped various other near mates close to the similar time.
Each and every time I spoke to him he would request me to be cheerful generally and to just take superior care of my overall health. I don’t know if I’ll ever encounter yet another pure soul like him. Just staying all around him or chatting to him promptly elevated my spirits. In his later on many years, he was drawn to spirituality and he utilised to have energetic discussions with my mother about subjects of fascination to both of them.
I wrote an e-mail to him about or week or so before he handed and there was no reaction. He ordinarily responded to my emails in a pair of days. When I spoke to my mom I questioned her if she experienced spoken to Vivek uncle. She advised me she’d contact him. But when he didn’t repsond to her textual content or phone calls, I realized some thing was off. I questioned my mother to contact his cardiologist who also took place to be her doctor. When she acquired him on the telephone, he explained he had long gone to go to Dr. Vivek and that he was Ok. A pair of days afterwards he known as my mother and advised her that Dr. Vivek experienced passed absent.
Right after my dad handed absent, he had been contacting almost each individual week to test on my mother and to offer you phrases of encouragement as she tackled all the formalities that come with losing a spouse. Again he was frequent, benevolent existence in our life. even in the midst of his failing well being and his personal grief. These types of souls are in truth exceptional and we had been all blessed to have know him for all our lives. I’m certain he’ll obtain heaven spotlessly clean and inviting now that he’s reunited with all his household and pals.