Seconds into minutes
Minutes into hours
Hours into days
Days into months
Months into years and
Years into a lifetime.
Yet we can never know the life until it is over! On this day i.e., 13th June 2024, I will be celebrating father’s birthday and parents’ marriage day! My father, though held high and powerful positions, was a low key man. He feels shy of celebrating his birthday or marriage day. When asked as to why he does not celebrate his birthday, he used to refer to a Telugu movie song – Jeevanatarangalu (1973) (roughly translated as ‘the Waves of Life’) sung by Smt. P. Susheela written by Dr. C. Narayana Reddy.
Birthday is a festival for all!
But how many know why they are born?
It is also true that my father’s humility and down to the earth attitude prevented him from celebrating even his marriage day! My mother used to make very tasty ‘Payasam’ quietly, without letting my father know that it is a part of celebration of their marriage anniversary. As children, we never understood that undercurrent. How in the hell can we understand when our sole aim of life was gulping the Payasam?
When you look at the above marriage invitation closely, it can be observed that the invitation is extended by M/s V.M. Narsimlu and Kishtanna – elder’s brothers of Dr. Subramanyam who was the father of the bride Ms. Shanta Devi and my maternal grandfather.
Another thing that can be observed is that my parents were married in the Telugu Year named SHUBHAKRUTA – corresponding Christian year is 1962. There are 60 years in Telugu calendar system. At the end of 60th year, they repeat. This is the 36th year of the Telugu year cycle.
My father was born on 13th June, 1941, which was a Friday. At the time of his birth the kingdom of ‘Hyderabad Deccan’ was ruled by the Nizams. The official language of this kingdom was ‘Arabic’. Thus my father knew lots of Arabic.
My father was a lucky man. He got the most beautiful woman in the world in Ms. Shanta Devi as his bride. Sometime during 2019-2020 I had asked my father over a cup of tea, as to why he did not invite me to attend his marriage. Had he done so, I could have seen both the bride and the groom in their wedding dresses and ate the wedding Payasam! I am sure you both would be celebrating your anniversary up in heaven. Enjoy yourself sir.
About the Author
Dr. K. Raja Gopal Reddy is a seasoned internationally qualified Insurance professional.
What you are reading here, may not answer all the questions we have, but has the absolute power of asking unsettling questions which increase the interest in the strange world, and show the contradictory wonders lying just below the surface of the commonest things of life. Look at this disturbing but beautiful thought of Friedrich Nietzsche “God is dead. God remains dead. And we have killed him”.
Dr. Reddy can be reached at: raja66gopal@gmail.com
