Tatha Tatha - Thindi Potha... You made the breakfasts so much Tastier...

Tatha , Tatha ... Thindi Potha :) We made so much fun !! He enjoyed every moment with his grandchildren.
Our working mothers used to prepare Uppittu / Upma , which was easy to cook for they had to cope up with the many homely chores , we children would complain it as a "Concrete Mix", who on earth had introduced upittu as a breakfast ??!! :(
We would cry to eat Upittu , now it was the duty of Tatha to convince us to eat.
Our Tatha had the duty to not only make us eat but also help our mothers , hence he would add sugar and curd to the uppittu which would become more tasty  and would easily get into our stomach..
Evenings we would pester him to buy some bread & biscuits for us.Tatha's favorite was Benne Biscuit, Rusk, Aloo Bun.

Akki Rotti was our Tatha's favourite , he generally loved sweets more than spicy foods. Chapathi was not as much liked by him because he disliked chewing too much ... He used to help our Grandma(Ajji) prepare the Vattu Shavvigey , which requires lots of patience and labour for not just preparing but also cleaning for the same.The combination of my Tatha and Ajji's cooking and helping each other to prepare Obbattu (Kayi / Bele Holigey)  and Sakkare Acchu during Shankaranthi were the tastiest and softest.

When an option was given to my Tatha to himself prepare a dish , he would prepare Sajjigey/kesari bath , this dish is my favorite too!He also loved Jamun , Rava Unde and Pedhas.Even though he was diabetic for more than 15 years , he used to not care a bit!The only thing he was scared was my Grandmother watching him... It was the ardent duty of my grandma to give him tablets on time and help him be under control.

Tatha - the enigmatic personality (ALWAYS HAPPY & SATISFIED)

My Tatha was a cheerful and easy-going personality.His love to remain PEACEFUL and HAPPY rooted from his CONTENTMENT.

His ever loving devotion to GOD! He loved doing pooja but had very less conditions for doing the same.
He used to systematically get up early morning around 4 am , drink hot lemon water - he used say it purifies the blood. Then , by 5 am he would go for a walk around his layout and pluck as many flowers as he could. He would arrange every flower very meticulously on the edge of the photo frames in the pooja room.
He loved to have photos of Gods and Godess all around the house , but if it would not be possible - he would never complain.

His requirements were very less - he just loved watching TV always..One might wonder , if he loved God why not read books? He did not confine himself to reading , he loved to be contemporary. He would enjoy eating Pizzas, chocolates and bread just like us!

My tatha never advised anyone on anything , he was very practical. He hardly liked to say something of his own. He used to give his opinions in terms of kannada proverbs. He disliked talking about some-one else's mistakes

He never had regard for anything too much in his life , he just took friends if they themselves came to meet him.

For almost thirty years that I saw my thatha, had no earnings or savings of his own.He was dependent on his children and my grandma.But , he never allowed any of the factors to disturb his PEACE!

Dhairyam Sarvatra Sadhanam

My Tatha's favourite motto was "Dhairyam Sarvatra Sadhanam", it means to be courageous always in every situation then one could achieve any task at hand.

Myself being a freaky girl - used to be tensed so much for my academic examinations that I hardly had the courage to leave home for writing my exams. I used to telephone my grandpa , I would request him to tell me some words of courage and he would tell me to first read the question paper slowly , write down all that I know and then answer the ones which I know less. Before ending the conversation , he would tell Dhairyam Sarvatra Sadhanam.
This used to be the normalcy from my eight standard onwards till my engineering days.Some days , I would forget to call him but very sincerely i would get the call from my tatha wishing me for my exams.
After my marriage when I took to do my masters degree then too I would call him but I had become selfish in my own pursuits even then he would call me most lovingly - wishing me for new year , wishing me on my birthday , my anniversary ! He too used to understand this, he would jokingly pull my leg - he would say , where would you see me now... your husband is your priority now!
There is no bounds for his love towards his grandchildren, it  is only his blessings that we are able to live in peace and happiness..

My Grandfather , My Guide & Philosopher

It's six months that Tatha has left us, some sort of pain cringes me as I write the date with the new year.
I know that Life is just a journey , for all of us. . we are here only for a while, but the lasting impact that we make on our near and dear ones remains in their hearts forever.

My Grandpa , we called him Tatha. His full name was Hunasadakatte Suryanarayna bhat KrishnaMurthy (H S KrishnaMurthy). He was from Shimoga , he used to say Brahamanara Beedi , was the street where they lived as young children.

Not dwelling too much into the past , he used to be very practical and just mention a few lines from his childhood. His smiling face and ever positive spirit is the first that comes to me when I think of him. When I asked him what was his occupation - he used to say so confidently there is not one job that is left undone by him.From being a government bus conductor , an electrician , a shop-keeper - he had put his hands into many ! The best part of being a shop-keeper was that he used to be more sympathetic than required such that it would be a more loss & no profit :)
Such was his empathy towards all.

When he was in his mid-50s, his eldest daughter my mother gave birth to a baby girl & that's me..from then on he spent most of his precious time in child-keeping. The eldest being me , then my younger sisters Pooja & Shreya.Of them all, I had the fortune of being served a lot from my grandpa but let me confess - there is nothing that I have done for him, there is nothing that I could do too.