Paiyan- The Boy

On the 92nd birth anniversary of my father late Shri S. Balachandran I A & A S which falls on August 17th, two days after Indian Independene Day, I re-post snippets from his extraordinary life which I had penned earlier:

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?Hindu mythology describes the birth of Lord Shiva and Parvati’s first born, Ganesha, as an extraordinary quirk of fate. The birth of ‘Paiyan’ the first born son of Seshaeir and his second wife Rajammal was not any less an oddity.

The Seshaier family legend passed down a couple of generations begins with Seshaier, the affluent landowner and businessman in Cuddalore, who was held in high esteem in several villages and who owned the first ‘motor car’ in that region. His wife Mahalakshmi’s beauty and kindness were as famed as the philanthropic endeavours of this extraordinary couple. Dressed in silks and with gold ornaments enhancing her beatific appearance, indeed she looked like the consort of Lord Vishnu himself.

Despite the affluence and the love that the couple received from people all around, they continued to live in sorrow as they were not blessed with progeny. It is believed that this couple visited a saint in an Ashram, who is supposed to have queried whether they would choose wealth or progeny, if given a boon. Mahalakshmi, who believed they had enough wealth, opted for the latter. Patience wore out when a few years slithered by without a child and Mahalakshmi came to a decision. She asked her husband to marry another woman who would bear children. Deeply attached to the honourable woman, Seshaier refused. Mahalakshmi fought, beseeched, cried and finally won. She found a bride in the young and demure Rajammal, who was considered a huge burden by her step mother. She was gladly shoved into the lifelong status of being the second fiddle. Sheshaier and Rajammal’s first born was a daughter who was named after the Goddess of Learning, Saraswathi. Back in the early 1900s, in traditional Hindu Brahmin families, a son was considered to be the torchbearer of the family legacy. So when ‘Paiyan’ or ‘The Boy’ was born, their joy knew no bounds. Several days of celebrations followed the birth of Paiyan. And when he cut his first tooth and was fed the first morsel of rice from a silver bowl, the grand ceremony was attended by family and friends from far and near.

Paiyan grew happily, pampered by Mahalakshmi, who took on the sole responsibility of his upbringing, showering him with immeasurable love. As fate would have it, Seshaier’s fortunes overturned. His ship exporting peanuts sunk, and he had to dig into the family coffers as well as proceeds from the sale of huge tracts of lands he owned to feed his ?large family of three adults and nine children. Not used to working, Seshaier took up job intermittently; but soon the wealth dwindled and the family found itself shifting to Nasik where Seshaier, who had joined the Indian army was posted.

It was in the local Marathi school, where Paiyan, named Balasubramaniam at birth, received a new name and an identity. The class teacher found Balasubramaniam too tedious to pronounce and she quickly changed the name in the attendance register to Balachandran, the name of Lord Ganesha, the popular God worshipped by Maharashtrians. And Saraswathi, the older sister became Sarayu Bala.

Balachandran was quick to pick up Marathi and was soon obtaining the first rank among the students of all sections. And he was quite proud about it. Studying in the same standard and in a different section, Sarayu was not any less brilliant and she scored almost similar marks, sometimes, usurping his first place. Paiyan used to go home and fight with his older sister when she scored better marks!

Not used to working under any authority and having been his own master, Seshaier could not continue to work and the family finally shifted to the south. As the family was plummeting deeper and deeper into poverty, their only hope was the first son, Paiyan, who was growing up to be a first ranker and a gold medallist in every educational institution he joined. His medals now came to fund the survival needs of the family.

Paiyan took tuitions for other students of his class so that he could hit two birds with one stone. Not only was he studying for himself as they could not afford to buy books, he could also earn some money for his family. Before relocating southwards, in Nasik, Paiyan was shifted to another Gujarati medium school due to lack of resources for his education. ?After overcoming the language barrier, he managed to top the class once again.

The rigours of everyday life for Paiyan were punishing.?During his school final examination, he had to get up at 4 am in the morning, walk miles to visit his mother at hospital where she was delivering her last daughter, taking food and medicines for her. He then walked for miles to borrow a watch from a good family friend and finally reached the venue of the examination. Despite the stressful ambience at home, when he wrote his math examination, his pride and confidence overtook caution. Out of ten questions, students had to choose any five. Paiyan did all the ten and concluded with a remark, ‘Examine any five’! Such was his confidence! As luck would have it, he had made an error in one of the sums, which was counted and he lost centum in math for the first time in his life! But he had done very well in?S S L C.

The family relocated to the south and Paiyan was late for admission to college. He ?had aspired to be an engineer and wanted to take up science. However, other than economics, Annamalai University had closed its admission to all other courses. That was how Balachandran became a gold medallist in BA Economics.

If there is one regret young Balu had during his youth, it was not the poverty, but the fact that he had been a silent spectator when his older sister Sarayu was married off while young and died due to childbirth. He had protested vehemently when the family arranged childbirth by a midwife at home. When the situation became complicated, he persuaded the family to take his sister to a hospital. And that was the last time he saw his sister alive.

Balu, though brilliant, was a very kind and empathetic boy who strongly believed in equal respect and the right to access to resources for all. He strongly advocated education of girls and persuaded his sisters to complete at least school education and take up diplomas. ?He believed that education and honesty were the values that lay a strong foundation for progress of a family, state or a nation. Despite several hurdles and sufferings, Shri. S. Balachandran I A & A S rose to be one of the most esteemed bureaucrats who contributed the best he could for the nation.?And he established a priceless legacy for his family as well as his juniors to follow in the civil services.

On this day of 19th January, when my father passed on in 1996, I translate one of the chapters of ‘Oru Sagaptham Thodargirathu’ ‘ The Era Continues’, which I wrote during the first thirteen days of his demise. I pay my obeisance to the remarkable man who I was fortunate to have as my father!

?Appa, I miss you!