We matter, we like to think!

We brag, exert our authority, struggle for the course we think is right, and our ego. We fight for our rights and continue to do so. Sometimes we cling on to our convictions till breath leaves us. We do it because we think it is the right thing to do. It is our dharma to act so, and failing to impart our life lessons is sacrilegious. The law of Nature must be upheld at all account, and it is our God-given duty to do so. 

In that process, we break many hearts, we shed many a tear, invoke misery in others. We, however, feel no remorse because we know we did the right thing. Sometimes it kind to be unkind. Being the elder one with greater power acceded by hierarchy means leading others is a given thing. Pandering to the need of the majority and garnering popular votes are just not acceptable. There is a divine decree to uphold, or is there?

Now that twilight has passed, and Sun had set you, all is left are memories of you - anger, dislikes, idiosyncrasies and memory of strict stares. In a way, we miss you as we reminisce the good times and the not so pleasant instances you spent with us in the last few years. Oh, how those twilight years took away your hawkish eyesight, your robust physique, your hearty health, your confidence and your independence. 

That is the story of mankind, is it not? We appear wet, helpless, vulnerable, dependant and garner attention. Our cry creates joy to the ones around us. Then we manifest our reason for being, live in the harvest of our investment, clamour in that joy and follow the path of decline. We end up in a state of bliss to the pains of existence. This time the others are crying. They wail, we are in a state of joy, we like to think.

That it is. Our presence is marked with a single lighting of ‘vilakku’ to honour our death anniversary, to celebrate our footprint in the history of time. We like to think that our existence mattered. In grander schemes of things in the gargantuan Universe, we perceive our presence and our action or inaction do make a difference.

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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Do we really know everything?

Usually, I do not give too much importance to things that are spiritual in nature. I just simply join the bandwagon to keep people, especially my loved ones, happy. Like when I, the first born to my father, was summoned to perform certain rights on the first anniversary of his death, I just obliged. I knew it would make my mother happy to see my father 'sent off' to the ethereal world in a proper manner. It does not matter that my parents towards the tail end of his life, could not stand each other but that is another story for another day.

The purpose of the prayers on the day of first death anniversary is to remind the soul of departed that he is not forgotten here on Earth. By invoking the forces of Nature, appeasing the feminine forces and cajoling the spirits of the ancestors, it is hoped that the deceased will keep a cursory eye on the wellbeing of the living.

Do these things really happen or is it just another mumbo jumbo set up to put the element of fear of the unknown? The guilt of not doing certain rituals could literally frustrate one when something does not go his way. Are our ancestors so vengeful that they would harm us if they are not feted? 

As I was faithfully doing the rituals and reciting mantras as directed, I noticed sporadic unprovoked movements of paraphernalia on the dais. At first thought, I attributed it to wind movement or the blowing of air from the air-conditioners.

When all the formalities were over, the priests sat down to give a pep talk to the attendees on the significance and meanings to all the seemingly pointless gestures that were involved during the exercise. Much to everybody's surprise, he asked the audience whether anyone noticed the sudden movements seen around the photograph of the deceased. In unison, everyone nodded in the affirmative. In his experience, he had noticed such unprovoked movements in most of the ceremonies he conducted. In his understanding, it is nothing more than the sign of the soul being in attendance in the ceremony as he was summoned! Really?

Through the rituals, the living hopes the family ancestors of the same bloodline act as the guardian angels who would keep vigil on the downlines. Or maybe just to give a peace of mind to the living, not the dead!

https://asok22.wixsite.com/real-lesson 

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https://www.facebook.com/groups/riflerangeboy/!

Down memory lane, again!

Good evening, ladies and gentlemen. We are all gathered here today to commemorate the union of 2 love-birds of the 70s , of my uncle and auntie, Dato and Datin M S Murthi. What better way to re-live the past then to go through some old photos. Memories and experiences stay longer in our memory bank than our material gains in life. Let us all go back in time now and later come back to the future!

The ballad of Dato and Datin starts with the story of a young girl who grew up in Bukit Mertajam. This is probably one of the earliest images of Datin. Unless of course, the organizers decide to conveniently sneak out the photo which was mandatory those days, a photo of a half naked 6month- old lying on the belly! This is a family shot of in Penang Hills.

The next picture carries a story. Out of the blue, when they were staying in Kulim, apparently when Amachee was away with some work, Tata (Datin’s father) decided to get her dressed, comb her hair, placing a ribbon on her hair and decided to immortalize his handiwork on this black and white photo in a studio.

And the young girl has transformed into a beautiful swan, not that she was an ugly duckling before. For the youngsters amongst our audience, the big contraption on top of the cupboard is called a Short-Wave radio which could put pick up any signal from any part of the world, probably beyond our solar system. And the device beside it is a gramophone record player where the vinyl discs were played. These devices have come a long way since those days to our current mobile MP3 players. Not everybody walks around with a camera those days to capture the Kodak moment like now when even a small child owns a phone-camera like a Japanese tourist, clicking away and deleting as they please. In those days, a camera was rare commodity and was hard to come by. So, when a camera is available, like in a wedding, everyone will get the maximum out of it- looking their best, posing at their best angle! This photo was taken in 1963; Attei poses in a saree in private, wearing it for the first time. 

And another photo with the extended family… Seated at the extreme right is Pati who lived to a ripe age 2 years short of a century.

Datin did her initial studies in Convent Bukit Mertajam and she went on to Malacca High School. She became a KLite when she graduated from Lembah Pantai. After teaching in many schools and earning a reputation as a fierce teacher, she joined Dato’s law practice and the rest is history. Today, I think Mama will be handicapped without Atteh by his side.

Dato M.S. Murthi started his schooling in so many schools that he can easily make it to Guiness Book of World Records for the number of schools attended by a person. This snap shot was taken in 1955 in Ramakrishna Tamil School in Penang where Mama was a Standard 6 student. The master in the centre is Mr Manickam Mudaliar, a disciplinarian who used to walk around with a cane! Most of his later schools have all closed down like Lutheran School and Guru Nanak School.

Here, the groundwork for his legal battle is laid here. Mama was the Secretary of his school Debating Society. 2 people in this photo became lawyers – 1 is Mama and the other person in this picture was the last Chief Justice of Malaysia, Tun Abdul Hamid.

Here Marathon Man MS Murthi is seen running comfortably during college days while looking sharp and posing for the camera. Apparently, his friends were mocking him and telling him that he could not finish the race.The race took him from college to Damansara Estate, Bangsar Estate and Lake Gardens and back. Just to prove a point to his friends, being the determined man that he is, he not only completed the race but also clinched the 11th position in a group of 80, just missing the medal by a single position!

1970- A year after May 13, 1969. Under close police supervision, University Malaya convocation was carried out. Those days, the convocation ceremony was televised live on TV Malaysia. Mama‘s mission impossible was finally achieved i.e. graduating for University, not being on TV!

Then came the engagement…

And the preparations for the big day came….

And the big day itself,  As you can all see that there is colour in their lives now, of Mr & Mrs M.S. Murthi. In the next few slides, we can see the happy couple posing with the equally excited friends and relatives.

Being a strict disciplinarian himself, the Army suited him just fine. Here, he manages to catch a glimpse of action in the jungle.

With his dedication, Captain M.S. Murthi becomes Major M.S. Murthi.

After marriage, life becomes complete with an addition to the family. Here, the proud parents are celebrating Nalina’s 1^st birthday in Seremban. As Mama adores little children, what more if it is his own flesh and blood? I remember once, Nalina missed her school bus. When the school bus stopped in front of his Klang home, nobody got down. Mama panicked! He jumped into his Volvo (so did I) zoomed past traffic lights and T-junctions looking for Nalina.  He spotted her about a mile from her school walking back home. He dumped the car at the side of the road and ran across to the other side and hugged her loving daughter!

Another important event in the life of Mama and Attei is the Admission to the Bar (of the non-alcoholic type). I remember hearing a funny incident when he attended his ceremonial College dinner. The College was expecting Samantha to be a girl, and then there he was Samantha Murthi, a mustachioed He-Man!

Another event to remember, Nalina’s ear piercing ceremony.

On 9.9.1999, the Murthi family witnessed the Royal Wedding of the family. 9th September is also Datin’s birthday.

And the love birds of the 70s assume the role of Tata and Pati and they seem to enjoy it very much!

We, the nephews, nieces and relatives wish the couple good health and many more happy years ahead!
N.B. Million thanks to Gunalan Adithya and N. Suganthi for those excellent slides!

Congratulations & Celebrations!*

Parents’ 50th Wedding anniversary and Amma’s 70th surprise birthday party (Powerpoint presentation)

Good evening, ladies and gentlemen!

Mr & Mrs Shamuganathan
1960

Just in case you are wondering what this function is all about, we are gathered today to share the joy of celebrating my parents' 50th wedding anniversary, and at the same time to my mother’s surprise 70th birthday party. Firstly, I am so happy that many friends from near and far (as far as Belgium) have obliged to partake in this meaningful event. Thanks to Anneka and David for joining us. Once they heard of this function, they immediately changed their plans to visit Cambodia, paid the fines for changing their ticket and decided to join us in this surprise function. Many words of thanks to Dato M.S. Murthi who was equally if not more excited than all of us in making this function a reality. To hold a surprise function like this is no easy feat, one has to do many things under cover and in this aspect, my two sisters (Sheila and Latha) and her family members have made use of their artistic skill of conman ship to perfection. All the while, until my parents entered the hall, she was under the impression that she was attending a simple dinner at a posh place but did not suspect such a big function. In this process, Latha and Sheila managed to convince my mother to buy a new saree, stitch her blouse, groom herself for the occasion and bring her to the function. The last part would not have been difficult, as Amma likes going out. I sure that with her inquisitive instincts, I am sure my sisters would have bluffed all the way to get her here. If only Amma were given the opportunity, she would have been a lawyer like her brother! This morning we actually thought that our cover had been blown open when Appa's old buddy Mr David Morris actually sent a bouquet of flowers to my parents. Mr Morris is Appa's colleague in Mercantile Bank. They not only shares the same birth date but the same birth year too -22nd June 1938!

On my part, I managed to sneak out some old photographs during my last visit to Penang. And here we are…

Beach St, Penang.

Many years ago when my son was just a toddler, after seeing me enjoy many old Black and White Tamil and English movies in my spare time, he asked me, “Appa, when you were growing up, was everything around was in black and white?” Not understanding his question, I asked him, “What do you mean?” He said, “I see that in those old movies that you watch, the trees, the hill, the peoples’ clothes and all are black and white, did they not colour around you?” Smiling, I told him that they did not have the technology. Probably, if he were to ask the same question today, I would reply, “Things in life are neither black nor white but rather in shades of grey!”

At 18 years

This is how Penang used to look when my parents grew up in the pre-Merdeka days when you could buy things for half a cent, going to Prai then meant a sampan across the channel and politicians were honest. You can why they use to call it a true paradise, with a peaceful esplanade with no hawkers and Batu Ferringhi with no hotels and apartments.

Appa's office (L)
 Son! Look they have colour 

Mr Munusamy’s first born son, Shamuganathan was born on 22nd June 1938 in Butterworth. He grew up in a family of 16 in Sg Pinang, Penang to a fine young man. 16 seem to be a significant number to my father as at the age of 16, due to parental pressure, he started his employment as a peon in then Mercantile Bank in Beach Street, Penang. Day in and day out, he went to work at the same premises till he retired at the age of 56, after 30 years of working in the same place with hardly any medical leave. By the time he retired, the owner of the bank was HSBC.

A 9 year old Amma

Rada Mani Devi was born as the third daughter to Mr and Mrs S.M. Muthu. Just for record, nobody actually knows when my mother’s birthday is. As you know, people those days give very little importance to these things. If you follow their respective I.C. (Identity Card), you will notice that my mother and my maternal uncle (her biological brother) were born just 2 months apart! Somehow through logical deduction, backdating and correlating to somebody’s funeral and probably Christmas, it was finally calculated to 27th December 1940.

Amma & best friend, Malathi

Just like when my cousin Ganesh organised a surprise birthday for his mother (Auntie Indra), no doubt she was surprised with the arrangement, he was equally surprised when his mother said, "But I am 71!"
Amma grew up in many houses around Penang and Ipoh with her 3 other siblings – Saroja, Indra and Murthi. At the age of 16, her supporting pillar, her mother succumbed to breast cancer and she and her siblings had to fend for themselves.

Amma , nephew & nieceA

Appa and friends: Life in a young newly independent nation of Malaya. Notice how simple play things were those days: bare feed children in the background fooling around a broken tricyle! If only some important agreement were signed before this photo shot, this phto would have been a classic!

Unlike the 1970 

Love Story, this one

stood the test of time

Soon after this, I suppose, she must have met this dashing young man from Sungai Pinang and love must blossomed. The person instrumental in their union was their mutual friend, Veeramani has unfortunately passed on.

At Amma's mum's house in B'worth

The love story blossomed to a matrimonial knot on 27th August 1960.

The Big Day 27.8.1960

Just married. Note the picture of Marilyn Munroe 

or Jayne Mansfield in the background.

Soon after marriage, they moved in to a new neighbourhood to bring up their newborn child (that's me!) in Brown Gardens in Gelugor in around 1964. And many fond memories were still linger...like this birthday party celebration in 1967.

In keeping with Penang’s boria spirit, here you can have two children in the same birthday party with the same outfit. Girls, how would you feel if you are the birthday girl and your friend turns up with the very same dress!

Or will you still like him or try to subtly strangle him like seen in this picture?

Rifle Range Flats

                                


The other boy (Gobi) and I went to the same secondary school and later lost touch. Thanks to Facebook, I managed to chat with him.

Between 1970 and 1982, Rifle Range Flats was home to all of us and holds many pleasant childhood memories to me and my sisters. Personally, we hated the place but it helped us to be tough, kiasu and keep our priorities intact.

Latha's 3rd birthday

These are the views that we use to see, day in day out!
In 1972, we celebrated Latha’s 3rd birthday. Seen here in the centre with her colourful cake baked in our new oven! Guess the cake must have looked so pretty that everybody decided to pose in front of it before cutting!

(1974, on a moonlit night?) Since digital photography had not been developed in 70s, each time you wanted immortalize your good looks in print, you run to your friendly photo studio. Kok Wah studio in Jalan Dato Kramat was particularly popular.

Happy families of mid 70s

During long school holidays, like a pilgrimage, Auntie Indra's family (both Shans) would congregate in Rifle Range and they would all sardine pack themselves into this tiny one room bedroom flat. Everyone would be chit-chatting till the wee hours of the morning. The youngsters would be busy their pranks! The end of the visit would be marked with the mandatory crying and the general tone would be sombre for the next few days.

1990

Here Amma is seen posing with her beloved sister, Indra at the compound of their beloved brother's mansion in Klang in the 1990s.In 1990, the first wedding in the family happened. After 3 decades of married life, my parents had a new role to play- Paati (grandma). Here seen with grandchildren... As the clan gets bigger and bigger...

Amma, Divya, Tania.

With Ashvirni and Agshay

Chagani's 16th day ceremony

Now we are left with the next generation of people of the Sham clan. These are the people who would hold the reign of the fort and probably organise surprise parties like these in the future (hint, hint).

In the pre-Independence era when the main mean of transportation was by sea, E&O Hotel, which was an exclusive hotel frequented by ruling aristocrats, played an important role in disseminating information to the community. Once a month when the ship from England had docked at the Penang Pier, its flag would be hoist at full mast announcing that their supplies are stocked to the brim and it is party time at the E&O. In the same vein, we, the children of Mr & Mrs Shamuganathan would like to wish our parents a very happy golden anniversary and a happy 70th birthday wishes to Amma. Thank you for all the things that you have done for us. No one could have done it better.

My brother in law, Chandra, and my sisters have organised an array of musical extravaganza for your listening and visual pleasure. Hope everyone has a good and we return with only fond memories.

Thank you...