A humble tribute

              A humble tribute to a great Soul

I am writing this post in memory of my first cousin Renuka alias Bala who was snatched by the cruel hands of death from us all on May 21, 2020.

For those who do not know  who Bala was She was my first cousin, eldest daughter of my father's sister Rajalakshmi. Our families were closely linked right from the days when we were neighbors in pre-partition days in Karachi. Though I was born in Karachi, in 1944  we landed up in Mumbai as refugees during the partition. The two families with some  other handful of South Indians ended up in Dombivli, a distant suburb of Mumbai. We continued to be neighbors. In 1958 we moved to Sion, my father having purchased a flat there. As luck would have it my Athai's family also landed up close to Sion, in the then Koliwada now known as GTB Nagar, continuing to be close by.

I am writing below a short narration about her life. I was very close to her and used to admire her courage. After the sudden demise of her husband, she succe,ssfully brought up her children as a single mother balancing her working and domestic life with the support of her Parents who were fortunately staying nearby. 

My earliest memory goes back to the days we were staying in Dombivli and I was commuting to Matunga by local train to go to school. My elder brother Babu was also in the same school but he was in  morning shift and I, being in the primary section was in the afternoon session from  12 Noon to 6 P M.  This was in the year 1953-54 and i must have been around 9 years old.  The train travel was for about an hour and I was at such young age was not used to travel alone . She used to escort me to my school because she was in the same timings as I but in a different school
 

We used to meet at the station and holding her hand I used  to board the train in the ladies compartment and travel with all the girls to Matunga. She used to take utmost care of me and used to share with me whatever they bought ,snacks(like Sholapur Chivda) or fruits like Chikku, orange etc. the girls used to buy during the journey.

The whole journey was very enjoyable. I used to to look up to her as an elder sister.  Later on when she passed her secondary education she got trained in Shorthand and typewriting. She got a job in our Grand father's office. She turned out to be very good at her job as in everything she did. My grandfather was very proud of her achievements.

After some years of experience she got selected in the Western Railway as a stenographer.  This is when she met her Future husband Mr Soundara Rajan, a Central Railway employee and a likeable young man. Soon she was married and settled down to her own family life. The couple applied for and were allotted their own housing board flat not far from her parents in Sardar Nagar (GTB Nagar) formerly Koliwada. She had three lovely children. Kannan the eldest was a studious young boy. The middle one Jaya was an adorable young girl. The youngest was Malli a very intelligent young boy.

After a decade of happy married life tragedy struck the family and Bala lost her husband who expired suddenly. Bala showed exemplary courage in taking the shock in her stride and brought up the kids as a single mother with the support of her parents. She rose in the ranks in her job and soon was an officer with the Western Railway.

Kannan became a Chartered Accountant and has his own firm of practice. Jaya got married and settled down in her life. Malli passed out and joined his brother in the Chartered Accountants firm He is a Certified Financial Planner and consultant catering to Mutual funds and other investments of his clients. Kannan was married to the lovely and mild mannered Gita. He had adorable children in the form of Priya and Rohan.

Bala retired from the Railways and joined the Brahmakumaris. She bought another house in Mount Abu where the Brahmakumaris had their head quarters. Malli also followed his mother and joined the Brahmakumaris. Bala also took up her passion and learnt and practiced Carnatic music. She was an active teacher and had many of her disciples. Kannan also leant music and started  giving stage performances. Malli, not to be left behind learnt The Mridangam as a hobby. Jaya learnt Bharata Natyam.

Years passed by when tragedy stuck the family once again. Jaya Bala's daughter was snatched away by the Cruel Cancer. As is her habit she took this massive shock in her stride and shifted base to her daughter's house to support her son-in-law Ramesh in running the house and bringing up Jaya's young children.

She was a role model for me and I used to admire her. She was a likeable soul and encouraged us in forming a cousins group. The group used to have social get toghethers which we all enjoyed so much. She was the seniormost cousin.I cannot believe she is no more.I will be missing her terribly and wanted to honor her memory by writing this Eulogy in the form of a blog.

 I am posting below some photographs from various stages in her life.

I hope you all like what I have written and will give me a feed back on my writing.

The earliest Photo I could lay my hands on!!

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With her sister Jagada(in the Middle) and my wife Bhagi)

Marriage

 

 

 

With her cousin and my wife Bhagirathi

Happy family!!!

Brahmakumaris at Mount Abu!!

Lighting the lamp at the last cousin's meet

All the lady Cousins!!

Full Contented and successful Life!!

 

She was easily approachable to anyone and went out of the way to help  people in need. May her soul rest in Peace!!