Wednesday, September 30, 2020

RAMAL RAMANATHAN'S 95th BIRTHDAY

Wedding Studio Photo
Appa's 90th Birthday Ayushhomam at Coimbatore: 2006
Wedding Photo
Photos clicked on Birthday at Coimbatore
Special Cake arranged by grandson Sidharth
My mother Ramal's birthday was to have been  celebrated quietly on 29-9-2020 at Coimbatore without fuss or fanfare. The day began with the three of us greeting mother and receiving her asirvadams. Due to Covid pandemic conditions the question of going out for a long drive or picnic or eating out in a restaurant was ruled out. We had to be satisfied with planning a subdued celebration at home. Shobha prepared a nice home cooked meal with Avial, Sambar, Appalams and Sakkarai Pongal to celebrate her special day - special in the sense that her date of birth and nakshatram date coincided and fell on the same day. This rare occurrence happens once in 19 years and at 95 this was one such year. Meanwhile at Chennai Meenakshi and Sidharth arranged a special cake cutting ceremony accompanied by blowing of candles and singing of Happy Birthday. And actually consuming large chunks of the yummylicious cake.
The day however was far from quiet and turned out to be unexpectedly eventful & momentous. The family WhatsApp groups were clogged with messages of greetings and memorable collage of photos from archives posted by various members. A surprise courier parcel arrived on 29th morning - a beautiful bouquet of roses with a greeting card from Sambamoorthy Anna & Janaki Manni. A most poignant happening of the day was a telephone call from my 97 year old Rasu Chittappa (G.Hariharan) the Patriarch of the KRGanapathy IyerFly to my 95 year old mother Matriarch of JudgeRamakrishnaIyerFly. The two exchanged news & pleasantries for close to 20 minutes.Later there was an emotional phone call from younger sister 93 year old Lalitha who lives in Delhi. A pre recorded video message from 88 year old brother Rajamoney mama reminiscing about the childhood days. Then there were telephone calls from Meenakshi & Sidhu and multiple calls from nephews and nieces - many living across India and some living abroad. These included Sambamoorthy, Natarajan, Lakshmi from Mumbai, Chuppu - Mala from Delhi, Dr.Jaya & Narendran, Vichu-Anirvin-Viji from Bangaluru, Bala from Chicago and Lakshmi from California. Raji Chennai and Ranjana from Boston also called and had extensive chats. Apart from this there were around 40 pre recorded video greetings received from close family members from across the country as well as from around the globe. All these video greetings are posted below.Mother was agog with surprise and excitement while watching the videos. She asked how did all these people know it was my birthday ?(I had kept the advance planning of the videos a closely guarded secret) Also received recorded audio message from Moorthy Mama,Kamala Mami who have sung a Happy Birthday song. Regrettably I am unable to upload audio messages in this blog.  It was indeed a roller coaster day for my mother. The wishes and greetings kept pouring in and it was simply overwhelming. At the end of the day mother was a wee bit tired but deliriously happy. Thank you family for having joined hands to make this perhaps the most memorable and unforgettable birthday of my mother's life by expressing your bountiful love and unbounded affection. We are part of an astonishing and incredible family and you only need to watch these amazing videos to understand the close affinity, the depth of emotion & affection, the astonishing ethos which has kept us all closely attached & networked in this 21st century. If anything with technological progress the family bonds are today stronger than ever before.
Below are posted the pre recorded video greeting that had been sent in advance and played out to mother on her birthday. The videos are not posted in any special sequence though I have attempted 
some kind of orderliness.
Videos: 1-7: GRTWhatsappIyers: 
1.Bhavana-Rohit-Mira-Nandita
2.Meenakshi - Sidharth
3.Niru-Shekhar-Nishe-Yash
4-7.Sekhar,Anu,Uttara,Megha
Videos: 8-16;39-40: KRGanapthyIyerFamily
8.Rasu Chittappa (G.Hariharan) Aluva
9.Vivek-Jayashree-Kavya Houston
10.Jaya-Narendra-Radhakrishnan-Prathima-Krithika, Bangaluru
11.Dinesh-Priya-Avilash-Avyuktha, Bangalore
12.Ranjana Boston
13.Manju - Chennai
14.Ramu - Saradha Malmpuzha
15.Vinod-Priya-Akshada -Arjun Mumbai
16.Jayaram-Aswathy-Kannan-Malavika chennai
39.Usha Palakkad
40.Shanthi-Kumar Chennai
Videos:16-38: JudgeRamakrishnaIyerFamily
17.Ramanan-Sujatha-Gaurav-Disha  Delhi
18.Raji Muthu Chennai
19.Jaya-Gopal Chennai
20.Raji - Solo Chennai
21.Raman Dubai
22.Rajamoney-Rajam Chennai
23.Natarajan-Mohana Mumbai
24.Gowri-Mohan from Tea Gardens in the East
25.Janaki  Mumbai
26.Narayanan - Mumbai
27.Sambamoorthy-Janaki-Pushkala Mumbai
28.Lakshmi - Ram Mumbai
29.Thambi-Subha USA
30.Viji - Venky Mumbai
31.Chuppu - Delhi
32.Chuppu - Narayanan Delhi
33.Gowri - Tea Gardens
34.Lalitha Delhi
35.Samban-Vasantha Chennai
36-37.Raju-Kala Chennai
38.Appu-Girija Chennai

                                         
                                


 




Acknowledgements:
Text/Voice Message Received: 
KRGanapathyIyerFamily: Sethu Bangalore, Shobha Balakrishnan Bangalore, Vicha-Viji-Anirvin Bangalore, Shivaraj Austin (Texas)
JudgeRamakrishnaIyerFamily: Bala Chicago, Swarna Chicago, Moorthy -Kamalam Chennai, Chinna Samban - Chennai, Krishna Sridhar Mumbai, Narayanaswamy Chennai,Priya  & Sanjeev Namboodiri Pune, Rashma Anand Mumbai,Vinoo Shwetha USA, Raja Delhi

14 comments:

  1. I could see from the nice write up how closely knit your family including the extended one is and the great bonding among members. May God bless your mother with good health, contentment and happiness.
    But for the current restrictions, the occasion would have been celebrated in a big manner as you are wont to.

    ReplyDelete
  2. So much joy in being able to wish our beloved Rama Chithi on her 95th and Ramu thanks to you to be able to see and hear all of this wonderful family . All my love !

    ReplyDelete
  3. Ramu,
    You have described the events and the celebrations of Rama Chitti's 95th birthday very well as well as brought out her feelings much better. You have compiled the videoclips also very well. Thank you.
    Pranams to Rama Chitti and regards to you all
    Sambamoorthy Janaki

    ReplyDelete
  4. So heartwarming to read and hear the loving birthday wishes to dear Rama chithi.
    Ramu you have paid a beautiful tribute to chithi
    by asking us all to speak to her thru video on her special day and taken her down memory lane. Her blessings will always be there. And the photos you posted, too precious.

    ReplyDelete
  5. வார்த்தைகளே இல்லாத வடிவம்..
    அளவுகோளே இல்லாத அன்பு..
    சுயநலமே இல்லாத இதயம்..
    அவள் தான் அம்மா..

    Ramu / Shoba,
    You have done what indeed is a labour of love.Brilliant
    Love and fondest of regards
    - Janaki / Narayanan

    ReplyDelete
  6. வார்த்தைகளே இல்லாத வடிவம்..
    அளவுகோளே இல்லாத அன்பு..
    சுயநலமே இல்லாத இதயம்..
    அவள் தான் அம்மா..

    Ramu / Shoba,
    You have done what indeed is a labour of love.Brilliant
    Love and fondest of regards
    - Janaki / Narayanan

    ReplyDelete
  7. Lalitha Ramakrishnan says: Dear Ramu, So happy to see all the family members wishing Ramal on her birthday. Ramal holds a special place in my heart; she is the nearest to me in age. Thank you.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Dear Ramu Shobha, What a wonderful way to celebrate dear Ramva Chithi's special birthday. You made it very memorable for her by including all the people dear to her.
    Thank you both for sharing the videos with us. The day was made special for all of us too.
    Ramu's introduction is sparkling.
    God bless you all.
    Raji Muthu

    ReplyDelete
  9. Ramu, fantastic blog with all the birthday wishes in video form from the entire KRG family and JRK family. Enjoyed reading your wonderful write up and watching the affectionate wishes from one and all. Even though none of us could be present physically to celebrate dear Rama Chithi's 95th birthday, your blog gave the beautiful feeling as if the entire Parivaar was there to celebrate the great occasion. And also gave an opportunity to see so many of our relatives on either side, especially dear Rasu Chithappa. Kudos to you, Shobha Manni and dear Guhan for making Chithi's birthday celebrations a memorable event.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Hi RK, long time no update. Hope alls well.

    ReplyDelete
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RAMAL RAMANATHAN'S 95th BIRTHDAY

Wedding Studio Photo Appa's 90th Birthday Ayushhomam at Coimbatore: 2006 Wedding Photo Photos clicked on Birthday at Coimbatore Special ...