"PEOPLE "..YOU WOULD NEVER FORGET...

[Nichiro]

Hello Friends,

Every one in his or her life time, comes across some very interesting people who leave a lasting impression on them.
Such people might be anybody like Friends, strangers,conmen or anybody.

Something that they did, spoke or act ..left a lasting impression on you. It might be good, bad or ugly.

For example, I have in my kitty some interesting personalities who have left some utterly hilarious impression on me.
I invite friends to share such INTERESTING PEOPLE with all of us.

[Nichiro]

When I was transfered to Bangalore, I was introduced to a potbellied young man of 30 something called Venkatesh.
He was a Telugu Brahmin from poojari family of a well to do clan.
He was supposed to be my assistant in Marketing a swiss product.
(Only later I came to know that he was transfered to this job straight from his temple at Gandhinagar)

I had reached the office at 9.30 sharp. After the introduction was over, he occupied a seat opposite of mine in the hall.

After about five minutes, he asked me,
"Sir, would you like to join me for Breakfast?"
I was surprised since we are supposed to finish such things in the morning before we leave for office.
I declined but added,
"If you want to have, please go ahead"

He bent down and produced a steel tiffin carrier of largish size.
He opened it and out came about ten Idlies of king size and about four or five dosais.
No need to say that there was chutney and sambar along with it.
We had a kitchen in our office. He settled down there and took about 45 minutes to finish his breakfast.
I asked him if he had breakfast daily at this time or early.
"Sir, I have my breakfast at 9 Am daily.

Lunch time was at sharp 1 pm.
I asked him if there were any hotels nearby.
"Yes sir, come I will take you there."
He took me near Lavanya theatre and we settled in a hotel .

"Plate meals or Unlimited?" He asked me.
I said Plate meals for me.
"I will have unlimited" He said,
I said "Go ahead",
and got us two meals.

I completed my meal in ten minutes.
But Venkatesh got himself rice four times(Really huge quantities) with liberal helpings of Palaya and rasam , sambar etc.
He said that,
"One must never hurry in taking food. He must relish his food at every morsel"

He took about 45 minutes for this process.
I had never seen anybody eating so much rice so far.
I thought this was the limit.

I thought he would not be able to eat anything any more.
He asked me "Don't you want Mosara?"
He pointed at my plate,
I asked what was that?
Curd sir"
I declined."I don't like outside curds.
He just helped himself to my curd katora.
"Don't waste it sir, they will throw this in garbage ."
I was really surprised at this man's actions.

He had the last helping of rice with curd and finally I thought that he had enough.
But he was made of stranger stuff.

I heard him say,
"Don't you want any sweet sir?"
I said "No I can't take anymore"
He asked me if he can order for himself,
I said go ahead.
He had his fill of sweet and then said ok sir Meals over,
"I thank lord Ganesha for the meals he has provided to day"
He declared with his hands folded and eyes closed.

We got up and came to the cashier table to pay, he got two Bananas which come with meals.
One for me and one for himself.
I said, I can't take anything.

"He asked me, "Sir don't return it sir, I will eat if you don't."
Saying he finished off the Bananas.

Then we returned to the office, It was about 2.15 pm.

At about 4.30 , he asked me, sir
"Do you care for some evening refreshments?"
I said "No"
Ok sir, I need to take some thing at about 5 pm."
Saying so, he sent the office boy to the hotel for Dosai.

This day, In my life, I will never forget.

Nor will I forget SR(sappadu Raman or SR) I had named him so.
There are some more hilarious and ugly incidents about SR which I will post later.
Then there is one Murali the master con man who conned me of many a meals....but that will come later on.

[nirosha sen]

:lol: I must say, yours is by far the most entertaining thread, I had come across, Pa!!

SR would make a wonderful character in a movie, if any movie denizens were to take a peek!! :wink:

[NM]

to a potbellied young man of 30 something
That reminds me someone in Melbourne Pa! :lol: :lol: :lol:
Anyway Nichiro, had a good laugh reading yr post :lol: :lol: tho' I know it's not nice to laugh at others :( :( This is certainly different from your "sad" tales!! :D :D

[Badri]

to a potbellied young man of 30 something
That reminds me someone in Melbourne Pa! :lol: :lol: :lol:


Ahem! I will have you know it is only my Avatar who is pot-bellied. I am no more Obelix, NM, than you are a woodpecker!!! :lol:

[pavalamani pragasam]

:lol: :lol: :lol:

[NM]

Ahem! I will have you know it is only my Avatar who is pot-bellied. I am no more Obelix, NM, than you are a woodpecker!!! :lol:Thambi, kOchikaathe kanna!! :lol: :lol:

[Nichiro]

Dear friends,
If small rib tickling and nudging is over, can I request all of you to post your own experiences here please?

How about asking PP madam to write about her MIL? :wink: :lol:

[pavalamani pragasam]

:poke:

[Roshan]

After JG's and Shekhar's combined roasting I can see PP madam posting some emotions these days 8)

Keep it up mam !! :)

Sorry for the digression Nichiro.. but I couldnt avoid that !! :oops: :cry:

[nirosha sen]

okay - here's my unforgettable person to this day - She was a Chinese elderly lady who was the Methodist pastor's wife. Both of them ran a small Chinese medium kindy a long time ago, right next to their church. I was the sole Indian child, shy, retreating and recessive.

Her name was Moksi Leong. She was especially kind to me compared to all the other kids. I suppose I was the lost sheep that needed extra vigilant tending to because I looked different.

I remember one fine day, when I trudged my way to school and got wet in a heavy downpour. Afraid to take shelter anywhere, I valiantly braved the bad weather and driving rain to make it to the door-step of the Kindy. Wet and apprehensive to enter the class, I dawdled. I huddled close to the warmth of the wall next to Moksi Leong's room, not realising that she had spotted me. Shivering with both the cold and fear, I inched my way into her room when she beckoned me. I dripped rain water in a small puddle when she assessed my state.

In Chinese, she told me to remove my dress and hand it to her. While I waited in my undies, she made me dry up in a big fluffy towel and gave me a round seater to sink into. Scolding me for daring to continue my journey to school in this bad weather, she ironed my dress. Soon I had a nice, dry dress to wear and she sent me back into my class-room, explaining my predicament to the class teacher.

At the end of that year's Christmas pageant, I was chosen to be an angel with my very own halo and wings. It was largely thanks to Moksi Leong's selection.

To this very day, I remember Moksi Leong and her act of kindness to me and reaching across racial barriers to befriend me. Years later, I happened to go back to see her but she was no more there. By now, she must have passed away too, but I shan't forget her sweet smile ever!! :D

[NM]

I feel I have to have to write this down.....

Phaik Sim was a tall Chinese girl, whom I got to know when I was at the uni in the UK. She was a year senior to me and in a totally different field - she was doing accounting and I was doing chemistry.

We got to know each other in a Malaysian students meeting and became really good friends and what's more, we found out we actually came from the same small town and studied in the same school!!!!!. She was such a fine person - quiet, very humble, never loses her temper, soft spoken, helpful, level-headed and religious, while I was a short-tempered girl, very talkative, impulsive and a happy-go-lucky kind of a person. I always admired her qualities and always told myself I should try to have at least some of her qualities, especially the 'temper' part!! It never worked.

After her 3rd year, she shifted to London to continue with her Certified Accounting course. After my finals, we went for a short holiday together. I lost my temper a few times, sadly with her!! Even then, she forgived me and kept telling me life is short and we have to make the most of it. And the very first thing I should do was to control my temper.

I tried..seriously....I came back to malaysia, started work and always remembered her advises. 4 years after I came back, I received a call - Phaik Sim was back and wanted to see me. When I saw her, I realised she was very thin and didn't look at all healthy. I worried for her health. She did not tell me anything, except that she was happy with my achievements (in work as well as my life).

2 months after our meeting, I had a call asking me to visit her. I really tried but did not make it due to some other matters at home. A week later, she was taken to China for a treatment and 3 weeks after that, I received news that she died in China!! Her sister told me she had leukemia and some blood disorder.

Oh! How I cried that day! If only I had known! Or at least, if I had tried to see her when she called, I would at least have had the chance say thank you and good bye to her!

Now, after 10 years, the pain is still there (I am crying as I write this down :cry: :cry: ) but I will never forget this very good friend of mine who has taught so many things in life!! GOD bless Phaik Sim's soul!!

[Badri]

:poke:

Omigosh! What a retort!!

On a serious note, thanks Niro and NM. Those were such heart warming tales. NM, thanks for facing up to all that grief and still posting your tale. What a lesson!!

On a similar vein, I knew this guy who was a colleague of my boss. Both my boss and this guy would travel all over the world with work. I had always noticed this guy carrying a largish suitcase with him wherever he went. I was intrigued and asked my boss about it. He didnt know either, but promised to ask his colleague the next time an opportunity presented itself.

And when he did, what a lesson it was to all of us! What he had in that suitcase was a portable dialyser kit. He suffered from a kidney abnormality right from young age, and would go back to his hotel room to do a self-dialysis!!

And not once did he complain, despite his hectic travelling schedules! When we both learned of this, we promised each other to remind ourselves of him the next time one of us complained about anything!!!

[NM]

Thanks Badri! When we see other people suffering much more than we do and still bear it with a smile, our own misery becomes very insignificant!

[Nichiro]

Hello Friends,
Such heart warming tales of the chinese teacher of Nirosha and NM's friend.
This proves there are noteworthy people all around us . It is just that we keep their memories to ourselves only.
Such people like SR, Teacher,Phaik Sim and the kidney patient make this fabric called LIFE.
Please continue friends.

Nichiro :?:

[nirosha sen]

Am eagerly awaiting Pava's contribution, Pa!! She normally has something heartwarming and witty to share as witnessed from the Stories section!

Let's hear it, Pava!! :D

[Badri]

Pava's on a vacation pa! Out visiting her sons and daughter-in-laws!

One of the luxuries of aging gracefully, I think!

[Nichiro]

Dear friends,
From today, I will remain a dormant member only.
Nichiro

[Anoushka]

[tscii:5b38e48caf]I can write about loads of people here but I want to start with someone very very special to me.

I want to share about this wonderful lady who I have met only a few times and who I have learnt to love.

Let us call her Valli. Valli must be in her late sixties now, but she looked like a 75 year old about 8 years ago when I last saw her.

She was not educated, and like most girls in her village, she was married off at a very young age. And before she realised, she had two boys and her husband passed away when she was carrying her third son.

I do not know if she had a happy married life and if she went out travelling with her husband, etc but after her husband’s death she never left the house for nearly the next two decades. Her father-in-law took care of her and the children till he was alive. He never let her step out of the house.

When I met her, her children had grown up and the last son was getting married! The only city that she had been to other than her own town (which is Tirunelveli) was Bombay, because two of her sons lived there.

For a woman who had never left the house for two decades and had little influence of media, she was a very broad minded woman. The last son got married to a girl of his choice and she did not argue or fight about it. She accepted her third daughter-in-law just the way she had accepted the other two.

The last daughter-in-law, let us call her Sunitha, was a girl who lived in cities all her life. It was interesting to watch the mother-in-law - daughter-in-law pair bond with each other. Valli who had never lived in cities told Suni that she could wear anything that she wanted, including jeans. She sent Suni and her son off to Kutralam on a picnic and asked Suni to take a second set of clothes so that she could have a good time in the water fall! To Suni's great embarrassment Valli even offered to wash Suni's clothes (Suni refused to let her do so)! The short time that Valli and Suni spent together was probably one of the best times that Valli had in her life! Suni would sneak in snacks for Valli which she normally did not get to eat and Valli would get “uthiri malli poo” and tie it up for Suni because the “mallipoo” in the shops were not good enough for Suni according to Valli.

When Suni ran into problems with her husband later on in life she ran to Valli instead of going to her own mother. Valli listened to the whole story patiently and told her son that if anything was wrong it was his problem and that he should apologise to Suni! Such was the greatness of this woman.

I have lost touch with that family but I think about Valli from time to time and I hope and pray that God keeps Valli happy wherever she is![/tscii:5b38e48caf]