My elder brother A R Narayanan

Birth and education of brother A R Narayanan

I am not sure whether he was born at Cherukunnu, mother's maternal grand parents' place or Arangotukara, our own native place. He had most of the qualities of father like short temper, rage and to some extent vindictiveness. He was a fighter against social injustices. His elder brother's used to tell him not to take up the fight too far. After completion of primary education in our village (in our uncle A R Krishnan's school) he went to Trichy in Tamilnad for higher education. My eldest sister Lakshmi Srinivasan's family was there and my eldest 2 brothers were also there with sister for studies. Brother Narayanan joined E R High School and completed his S S L C  there. Since he was the boldest in our family father wanted him to be a doctor. Father wanted to send him to London for medical studies. He had already an engineer son, the eldest brother late A R Raman. Brother Narayanan after school went to Madras for college education. I think my eldest brother Raman was there for his engineering studies at that time at Madras. Brother Narayanan joined the Jain's college or Pachaiappa's college for studies. I am not sure of the college. I have to confirm and correct. As he was interested in social work, he was spending his spare time to attend to the social activity in some slums there. Eldest brother tried to dissuade him and father also tried to dissuade him without any success. It was a disappointment for father as he had a hope of one of his son becoming a doctor was shattered.

Services of brother Narayanan

If I remember correctly, brother went before completion of college studies to Bombay where the 2 eldest brothers were already staying. He was staying in the house of brother Krishnan. He joined them and got a job in a Foreign Pharmaceutical company which was making Aspro or Anacin. I do not remember the company name. There he had some problem on some issue of injustice and quit the job. Then he joined another MNC engineering Co. Here too he had to fight for social justice and had to quit.  He got a job in LIC as a typist. In those days LIC used to give one increment extra for typing job and people used to prefer to be typists instead the post of assistants for the one increment. He got involved in trade union activity in LIC and was a very active and a militant leader of All India Insurance Employees' Association (AIIEA) which was supposed to be a wing of the then unified Communist Party of India (CPI). He became the Bombay unit secretary or Joint secretary. He was the most active member and activist of the union at that time and will go to any extent for the cause of the union's issue. Those days managements of all institutions including LIC wanted to discourage trade unionism and used to award punishments whenever they get chance. LIC got lots of chances to punish brother as he was extreme and several of his increments were cut from salary and was getting a very low salary. But due to his sincerity for the cause many of the officers had sympathy and respect for him. Due to his influence he was able to help me in getting a job in LIC as I had passed the written test of LIC for the posts of Assistant and typist. Though I was learning typewriting and shorthand for more than 2 years I could not type proficiently and without mistakes. I got the job of assistant which was a blessing for me in the later years. In the beginning there was an increment extra for typist post, which I could not get, later it was changed into an one time amount of Rs 10 / 15. Conversion from typist to assistant was almost impossible up to 20 years of service. Since I was appointed  as assistant I had no problem of conversion.

Differences in Union

Though my brother Narayanan was sincere to the core, he was considered as an extremist in the union and some of those who are shallow but could impress the general employees came to higher posts than my brother. He got disillusioned by this and not only left the union activities but also was like an anti unionist. He concentrated in his career and got conversion to assistant's side and got promotions and became an officer in an important department of LIC at the time of his retirement. Even now he has some respect in LIC.

Marriage of brother Narayanan 

He married Smt Rugmini from a neighboring village from ours known as Kadangode near to a town Erumapetti.. Since he was a union leader at that time both brother and wife were treated by the LIC employees very highly with lot of respect. They have 3 children 2 daughters Rama (Rema) and Geetha and 1 son Sridhar. Rama is an MCA graduate from Symbiosis, Pune one of the most prestigious institutions in IT technology education. She is married to R Ravichander who was at the time of marriage in Germany and later went to USA.  Both Rema and her husband are in New Jersey,  USA. Sridhar is also a MCA from the same institution where his sister Rema completed her education. He was also in USA for some time but came back to Mumbai, India and is with his parents now. The third child Geetha is a graduate and is married and settled in a nearby flat of her own in Andheri near to sea shore. All the three have children. Sister in- law is house wife. Brother and sister-in-law had been to USA many times in the past when their eldest daughter and son were in USA.

Housing Society activity

He had a vision of forming a housing colony of LIC employees. Once he came out of the union he had ample opportunity and time for other work and he floated the Ramya Jeevan Co-operative Society Ltd. There were several members registered with his society for house. Bombay is a place of flats, but brother wanted a house or at least duplex bungalow instead of flats for members. He finalized and bought land for the membership existing at that time. But there were several hurdles and the project was getting inordinately delayed. Therefore many members withdrew their membership. When he finalized the land purchase the price was low in the area. During the delay some development took place in the area. A good Christian hospital established in the area with a convent school and the Sathya Sai Baba trust established an ashram of Sathya Sai Baba very near to the place. Then some of the ministers and high officials started settling down in the area and the cost of the area shot up very high. Since many members resigned, the Society had excess land and they disposed off the extra land to the developers. With the proceeds of the sales he arranged independent bungalow for each of the remaining members of the society. The total contribution of each member might have been only like nominal amounts for which they got an independent house with some compound. Each of the remaining members got a property worth several lakhs. For this housing project he had undergone tensions and nightmares. Once some of the neighbors tried to encroach by trying to establish a religious institution in the land and he got it evicted the same. As is the case with Indians some of the people who take benefits from somebody or institution will try do maximum harms to the person who gave the benefit or facility, he had also to suffer such problems.

Before starting this housing society, he was a member in a society at Mulund another suburb of Bombay. His salary was less and his loan entitlement was less. I had not completed 5 years of service to become member. This society also took some time and in the meant time brother started his own society. He then took his share of money invested in Mulund society and transferred the fat booked there to my name. He suggested to me to join his society. Since I had already one flat booked at Mulund society and was not having much money for the property there I declined the offer though he said that he will help me to some extent financially. He now disposed off his independent house and bought a modern flat for the money and has shifted to there one year back. I have visited once before occupation and once after occupation of the flat. He is now fairly well off and his children are settled down as mentioned above. I am very much grateful to him for the helps he had given me.

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My eldest brother late A R Raman

My eldest brother late A R Raman was born at Cherukunnu at my grand mother's (mother of my mother) house as was the custom of those days. Normally in our community the practice of naming is such that the eldest son will be having the same name of his father's father (grand father). My eldest brother was the most intelligent and humane person of our family. He had two phase of life. One very aggressive and mischievous period up to his going to college studies. After that he was a totally different person. He was very gentle, wise and advising us, his younger siblings about the life and how to adjust. In his childhood be was very mischievous and was careless about studies. Father was a person who wanted all his sons to study as much as possible. Father was prepared to spend any amount on the sons who study. In fact he likes all children who study well. He used to have one poor boy always with him at the place of his business and meet all the needs of the boy as long as he wants to study without failing. He will provide the food, dress, books and fees and also send some money to the family of the boy as a compensation for the loss to the family of the earnings of the boy under him. So he was very particular of the education of his 1st son late A R Raman.  Father was not worried about the 2nd son (A R Krishnan) as he was studious student passing with fairly good marks in all examinations.

Brother's education

Father used to request the class teachers and Head Masters of the schools where his children were studying that they should take special attention and report periodically as to how the children are in their studies. My eldest brother did not write the S S L C examination in the year when he should have. Brother went to the school as usual and just climbed down into the school well and sat there. When after lunch children wanted draw water from the well they noticed brother in the well and reported to the H M. The H M brought out brother and in turn informed father who was in a far away place, Parvathipuram a town in Andhra Pradesh near to the border of Orissa. Father temporarily closed his business and came home to make brother write the S S L C examination. After passing the same brother informed father that he is not interested in further studies and would join some service. My eldest brother in law late R Srinivasan was in police department in Tamilnad and he arranged a job in police department for brother.In the meantime the 2nd brother competed his S S L C and joined college and passed the exam. On seeing this eldest brother might have felt bad and informed father that he is interested in further studies, if allowed. Father was very happy. After this incident the brother was a different person. His mischief element was completely gone and became a wise person. His younger brother was studying in St Joseph college, Trichy, Tamilnad (at that time Madras province) for arts. Those days arts and science were the popular college subjects. Eldest brother joined the same college for science.  Both brothers passed the degree course with good marks. After B Sc eldest brother went for engineering course. In those days there were not many technical education institutions in South. Just at that time at Madras (present Chennai) in Chromepet  a college with the name of M I T (Madras Institute of Technology) styled on the MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) was started. Brother got admission in the same. Since it was new and fees cannot be high the authorities were struggling to meet both ends. The students will go to their respective places during the vacations and collect donations from all and sundry to help the authorities to maintain the college. He graduated from that Institute. On completion he went to Bombay (Mumbai) where his younger brother A R Krishnan had secured a job in a Government Department. Brother Krishnan had Government quarters. My brother was the first engineer in and around our village in Kerala. Thereafter many from the village became engineers and some of them used to tell me when we meet that my brother was the inspiration and encouragement for their engineering career.

Eldest brother's services - jobs

Eldest brother got job in Premier Automobiles Limited (PAL) as quality control engineer. He was promised a car, promotion and salary jump after completion of 3 years. But nothing of this was kept up by the company. So he left and joined the Motor Cycle company in Chennai who were making the bullet brand motor bikes. Shortly there after he got a job in Heavy Engineering Corporation  (HEC), Ranchi. In this employment he had opportunities to go to Moscow for further training as HEC was having USSR collaboration. He did not avail of the opportunity. In HEC my brother Raman founded a new section HMBP (Heavy Machine Building Plant). A sign plate with his name as the founder is still there in the HMBP.

Marriage of brother

In the meantime he got married to A A Rajam (daughter of late Sri & Smt Akhileswara Iyer) of Kalpathy Gramam in Palakkad. At the time of marriage the family was staying in Nurani another Gramam of Palakkad. Brother was in Premier Automobiles Limited, Bombay at that time and both went to Mumbai and were with the 2nd brother who had not married. After a year or so brother got a job in Madras (now Chennai) in a company manufacturing Royal Enfield motor bike. After 1 year there he got a job in Heavy Engineering Corporation (HEC), a Public Sector Company at Ranchi. Brother has accommodated my last 2 brothers A R Venkatachalam and A R Sarvajith during their college eduction at Ranchi. After death of eldest brother, as per the practice a job was offered by HEC to his wife but she did not want to serve and instead suggested to give the job to the youngest brother Sarvajith and he got a job there in the accounts department. Brother had 2 children eldest one a boy Ramesh Raman and next one a girl Seetha Raman Vijayan. Both of them are married and settled around Mumbai and have 1 son each. Sister-in-law is with the son Ramesh at Dombivli, an outskirts town to Bombay. 

Terminal illness of brother 

While working in HEC, brother Raman had brain tumor and was operated at Madras General Hospital. The doctor had informed father and other brother attending brother Raman that the tumor is malignant and will recur. After that he went to Ranchi. Within 1 year of the operation at Madras, the tumor again started and the brother neglected it telling that he has no escape. After the first operation he was buying and reading available literature on brain tumors. In those days the treatments were primitive and chances of survival was very less. Again he was taken to Madras General Hospital and the doctor who had already indicated this possibility suggested that there is no treatment available for this stage anywhere and the only thing can be done is to take the patient home and arrange for a home nurse. By that time brother was already in coma state. However father and all others thought to take a chance of treatment at Bombay and taken him to Bombay. He was immediately admitted in Bombay hospital which was the most reputed hospital at Bombay at that time. He was there for about 2 days and passed away before even investigations could be done. By that time I was also at Bombay employed and was helping other 2 brothers in attending to   brother Raman in Bombay Hospital. Sister-in-law and children came to Bombay where her parents and brothers were staying. She joined their family which was near to the place where we were staying at Bombay.  

Chakkali Madham

Chakkali Madham is the name of my ancestral home in the twin villages of Arangotukara (Arangode)/Ezhumangad. I do not know when the house was built and by whom. But my grandfather (father's father) was there and my father and his brother and sister were borne in that hose. That much I know. When my father and his brother grown up and had children, they thought of separating and portioning the properties they had as at that  time. The Chakkali Madham the original ancestral home went to my uncle (father's elder brother) Late A R Krishnan. A portion on the west side of the property a  vacant, land with 3 -4 mango trees and 4 - 5 jack fruit trees and 2 palm trees and few other trees were given to my father as his share.

The entrance to the property would have been facing South if a house was built there. Probably my father did not want a house facing South and he was in a position to buy another property. So he bought a compund of about 61 cents across the vacant land with a pathway in between the newly bought property and the vacant land received by him as ancestral property share. The house in the acquired place was an old thatched house in disrepair. He renovated and expanded the house to be identical to his ancestral home facing East though the entrance to the property is facing North. The new house (renovated one) was called as the Chakkali Puthan Madham to distinguish it from the original ancestral property known as the Chakkali Madham.

My uncle (father's elder brother) married to a lady, Ponnammal from one of the Palakkad gramams (villages) by name Thathamangalam (Rishinadamangalam). They had 3 sons Late A K Ramaswamy, A K Narayanan, A K Venkatachalam and 5 daughters Late A K Lakshmi (peria echumu to distinguish from my sister A R Lakshmi Srinivasan - chinna echumu). Peria means elder or big and chinna means younger or small and echumu is the pet version of Lakshmi. Their other 4 daughters are A K Anghichi Sundaram, late A K Seetha Gopalakrishnan' Late A K Janaki Raghavan and Smt Rajam Mani.

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Chakkali Puthan Madham

Chakkali Puthan Madham is the family name of my family house in the twin village of Arangotukara (Arangode)/Ezhumangad. It is a branch of the original ancestral home  known as the Chakkali Madham . On partition of the ancestral property my uncle elder brother of my father got the original home the Chakkali Madham. A portion of the compound was given as his share to my father. That portion was utilized by father t cultivate ginger (inchi in Malayalam) and the compund was known as the Inchi Kollai (Ginger land). Father did not build a house in that  property. He bought a compound with an old house just across the the path way on the Southern side of the Inchi Kollai. He renovated the old house almost identical to that of the ancestral house. Since it is the new addition, this house was named as the Chakkali Puthan Madham to distinguish it from the Chakkali Madham.

Father and mother shifted to the new house with their 3 children at that time. This house was bought and renovated immediately on birth of the 3rd child of our parents, A R Krishnan. My late uncle, father's elder brother's name is also A R Krishnan. This anomaly is due to the fact that the grandparents name will be given to the grand children. Hence mostly there will be more than one person with the same name in the families of Iyer community.  Hence the age of Chakkali Puthan Madham was the age of my elder brother lat A R Krishnan.

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My Grand parents - late A R Raman and late Lakshmi Ammal

My grand parents from father's side. Grand father - father;s father was late A R Raman. Grand mother - father's mother was late Lakshmi Ammal Rama Iyer. I have not much knowledge about them. I have not seen them. Grand father was the administrator of a very rich land lord. He died when his third child, my father late A R Ramaswamy Iyer was a small kid, leaving the family to fend for themselves in poverty.

According to my knowledge they had 3 children. Eldest son was Late A R Krishnan (my uncle - father's brother). 2nd son was my father late A R Ramaswamy Iyer. There was one daughter.



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My parents - Late A R Ramaswamy Iyer & Late C S Seetha Ammal

My parents were Late A R Ramaswamy Iyer and C S Seetha Ammal.

My father late A R Ramaswamy Iyer (full name - Arangotukara Rama Iyer Ramaswamy Iyer)

My father's birth place was Ezhumangad/Arangotukara. His father's name was Late A R Raman. My parents were in the ancestral home Chakkali Madham. Grand father died when father was very young. father and his elder brother the 2 sons of grandfather had to go for labor when they were very young as their father died when they were very young and the burden of maintaining the family fell on their shoulders.  

His brother being elder he went for employment in a big landlord's house, Nareri Mana as a cook. My father joined him as his assistant. But the landlord used him to be the bodyguard or companion to his son who had to go to Thrissur for studying in school. Since father has nothing else to do during the school time, he also attended the classes up to 3rd standard. 

Since father was ambitious and wanted to raise his family's financial standard, he went to the then Penang. He had to return as he had Malaria fever. After treatment he went to 2 place called Aranhtangi and Thiruthurapoondi in Tamilnad and used to sell Tea in the Railway platform. Since his income was very limited as there used to be only one or 2 trains during the whole day, he gave the right of the trade on the platform to his assistant. He then went to Bhimilipatnam in Andra Pradesh. His brother joined him and after sometime he left the hotel to his brother and went to Parvathipuram a border town between Andra and Orissa. Though the town was very small in the forest area, it was a big center for trade of spices and people used to visit. He had a good business and started earning money. He repaired the ancestral house bought an old house next to the ancestral one and renewed and expanded the one. He also bought a plot for his sister and built a house identical to that of his brother's and his. My father had 7 sons and 4 daughters.For the daughters he gave education up top the primary school level as our village school was a primary school. when the eldest sister was studying and later became upper primary school and the other 3 daughters could study up to 7th standard. In those days girls were not sent to schools normally . For his sons he did not have any limit for studies except that they should not fail or they should decide that the education is enough. But only the 2 eldest brothers and the youngest brother completed graduation. The eldest brother became an engineer. All others have passed S S L C and some attended some classes in colleges but did not complete any degree course. The last brother also completed graduation. I have also completed only S S L C as I was not bright or interested in academic qualifications.

He died after a brief illness of about a week related to the old age.  He died at the Christian Mission Hospital the best hospital at that time in the nearest town center Thrissur from our village Arnagotukara.

 My mother Late C S Seetha Ammal (full name - Chenagad Subramanya Iyer Seetha Ammal)

My mother was a very mild and decent lady who used to take trouble to avoid trouble for others. She is personification of patience and tolerance. She was a quiet and capable lady. She being mild and tolerant others in the joint family created problems by others. Her father was from Chengad a village in Ottapalam Taluk very near to the Ottapalam town in Palakkad District. Her mother was from Cherukunnu, near to Kannur Town in Kannur District. My father was busy making money for the family to be lifted up from poverty. The money saved by father used to be sent partly by money orders and major portion he used to be carrying with him when he come personally to the family. Mother used protect the same and use diligently. She had brought up 1 children almost single handedly as father used to be outside till the last 2 years of my school studies. Thereafter father came and settled down in our home. Father had bought some landed properties for cultivation of paddy, vegetables, fruits plants and trees etc. She used to mange the whole properties till he came and settled down. In those days ladies of upper caste never used to go outside their houses except to go to their relatives. 

She died of blood cancer. She was under treatment for about 1 month intermittently for blood cancer. 

Parents had 11 children

Late A R Lakshmi Srinivasan

Late A R Raman

Late A R Krishnan

Late A R Subramanian

Sri A R Narayanan

Sri A R Ramanathan

Smt A R Parvathy Parameswaran

Smt A R Sarada Krishnan

Smt A R Rugmini Anantha Narayanan

Sri A R Venkatachalam

Sri A R Sarvajith

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