As grandchildren of grandparents who left their motherland more than a hundred years ago in search of better prospects in an alien land, I belong to the community of Thamizhians who, despite being distant from India in many ways, still hold her very close to our hearts.
There are many Malaysian Indians who died without ever having set foot on the land where their roots began. My father was one of them... I am sure in his heart (though he had never said it out) he must have felt an emptiness for not having visited his "mother india", of which he always spoke with great pride and affection, as though his soul had never really left the land...
I still remember how, sitting beside him - a little girl no more than 10 - I would hear in awe of his many stories about India, of the great men of India whom he came to know of through hearsay perhaps, but of which he spoke with such enthusiasm and passion that you would almost believe that he was there...living among them. And no, my father was not a man who exaggerated, he was a man of his words who lived in the most truthful way he knew how to. The connection he felt with India was not a show. It was genuine. It was that connection which made him heed the call of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose and join INA (Indian National Army) in the 1940s with the desire to serve India in anyway that he could. Each time, at the mention of INA and Netaji, his face would lit with a pride I rarely saw in him at other times. The patriotic songs he sang, the stories he told, the names of great people that were always on his lips...
Indeed, what a wonderful childhood I had...
Being the youngest had its advantages :). While my brothers and sister were too pre-occupied with their studies, I often had my father all to myself - the man and his innate loyalty to his motherland. I wonder now if there was ever a time when he placed his hand of my head and passed it all onto me...:) He must have when I wasn't watching...:) How else could I explain the many instances when we publicly displayed and defended our favouritism for India - like in the 1980s when I (and my siblings) literally jumped with joy whenever Prakash Padukone (yeap that's right, that would be Deepika Padukone's dad allright - sighhhh...isn't it sad how great achievers grow old to become "someone's dad or mom" :) ) defeated Misbun Sidek, Malaysia's top badminton player at that time.
Errrr..traitors you think? :) Nahhh...we loved (and still love) Malaysia all the same - just that we have a bit more love for the land where our roots began :) It's an unexplainable yearning you know (especially so in my case)...an unquenchable desire to lap up as much of India whenever I could :) Like it's some kind of long-lost connection that is crying out to be rekindled. Must be the unexplainable reason why we still refer to ourselves as Indians first, Malaysians second...:)
There are many Malaysian Indians who died without ever having set foot on the land where their roots began. My father was one of them... I am sure in his heart (though he had never said it out) he must have felt an emptiness for not having visited his "mother india", of which he always spoke with great pride and affection, as though his soul had never really left the land...
I still remember how, sitting beside him - a little girl no more than 10 - I would hear in awe of his many stories about India, of the great men of India whom he came to know of through hearsay perhaps, but of which he spoke with such enthusiasm and passion that you would almost believe that he was there...living among them. And no, my father was not a man who exaggerated, he was a man of his words who lived in the most truthful way he knew how to. The connection he felt with India was not a show. It was genuine. It was that connection which made him heed the call of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose and join INA (Indian National Army) in the 1940s with the desire to serve India in anyway that he could. Each time, at the mention of INA and Netaji, his face would lit with a pride I rarely saw in him at other times. The patriotic songs he sang, the stories he told, the names of great people that were always on his lips...
Indeed, what a wonderful childhood I had...
Being the youngest had its advantages :). While my brothers and sister were too pre-occupied with their studies, I often had my father all to myself - the man and his innate loyalty to his motherland. I wonder now if there was ever a time when he placed his hand of my head and passed it all onto me...:) He must have when I wasn't watching...:) How else could I explain the many instances when we publicly displayed and defended our favouritism for India - like in the 1980s when I (and my siblings) literally jumped with joy whenever Prakash Padukone (yeap that's right, that would be Deepika Padukone's dad allright - sighhhh...isn't it sad how great achievers grow old to become "someone's dad or mom" :) ) defeated Misbun Sidek, Malaysia's top badminton player at that time.
Errrr..traitors you think? :) Nahhh...we loved (and still love) Malaysia all the same - just that we have a bit more love for the land where our roots began :) It's an unexplainable yearning you know (especially so in my case)...an unquenchable desire to lap up as much of India whenever I could :) Like it's some kind of long-lost connection that is crying out to be rekindled. Must be the unexplainable reason why we still refer to ourselves as Indians first, Malaysians second...:)
One such mark my father imprinted in me was my love for Perunthalaivar Kamaraj - a love that never really stopped growing. I am one who goes around telling people that I have no regrets in life - but in reality. there is one...that I had not lived during this man's era to have touched his feet and seen in person a LIVING GOD...
For the uninitiated (those living outside India, that is)...
Kamaraj Kumarasami, better known as K. Kamaraj (15 July 1903 – 2 October 1975) was an Indian politician widely considered to be the only kingmaker in Indian politics, and known for his honesty, integrity and simplicity. He was involved in the Indian independence movement and was a close ally of Jawaharlal Nehru, the first Prime Minister of India.
(Paragraph above taken from wikipedia)
I am moved whenever I watch the scene below. Vaazhnthaa ippadi vaazhanum...:)
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