What can you write about a person who passed away at the ripe old age of 96 without any particular achievement to be remembered by a layperson who had no contact with him? A person whom some people love to hate and some hate not to love?
He is my father. We call him chachen.
With an LMP degree from Stanley Medical School in Madras- one of the prestigious medical schools in the country-, he started his career as a doctor in a village in Kerala in the thirties where he met my mother. It continued with the Salvation Army hospital service, as an army captain in the British Army in the Second World War and then in the end, at the time of his official retirement at the age 58 as the chief medical officer in a tea estate in the Nilgris. In between he found time to take his MBBS degree from the Lake Medical College in Calcutta in 1953. The word retirement was not in his dictionary and he continued working till the age of 93.Even after that he continued updating his knowledge with latest medical books till his eyes started failing a few months before his demise.
He was a workaholic and when there was an interesting medical case, we in the family saw a little of him. He had no interest in creating wealth; but enjoyed a good life- Good food, clothes and a life style fit for a king but with no wealth of a king. It was with him in my childhood that I had the first taste of the good red wine, which was of course meant for medicinal purposes and sausages. He enjoyed good company and could down a few drinks without any apparent ill effect.
It was impossible to win an argument with him. He thought he is always right. Even when he knew he was wrong he refused to accept it. This led to several skirmishes between us, one, a few weeks before his demise. He had a phenomenal memory and it was impossible to bluff with him.
He was not a religious person in the normal way. He read the Bible and prayed every day but he took a cynical view of the organized churches. It was therefore an irony that for his funeral two Orthodox bishops and several priests were present.
In the later years he realized that material wealth is needed for financial independence and for a life style he enjoyed .This led to his taking a cynical view of his life and of his and his wife’s relatives who he thought were the reason for his lack of material wealth. He could not grow out of this and this anger consumed him. If there was one fault, which you can pinpoint, it was this.
The loss of his only grandson and long illness of his wife left deep scars in his mind but he refused to show them outwardly. But I think these events made him more cynical.
He, in his own words “ploughed a lonely furrow”, stepped on a few toes and left this world without leaving any material wealth (the bank balance he had would not have been sufficient for his last rites). But he left a rich legacy of uprightness and decency which does not exist in great quantity in this world.
He is my father. We call him chachen.
With an LMP degree from Stanley Medical School in Madras- one of the prestigious medical schools in the country-, he started his career as a doctor in a village in Kerala in the thirties where he met my mother. It continued with the Salvation Army hospital service, as an army captain in the British Army in the Second World War and then in the end, at the time of his official retirement at the age 58 as the chief medical officer in a tea estate in the Nilgris. In between he found time to take his MBBS degree from the Lake Medical College in Calcutta in 1953. The word retirement was not in his dictionary and he continued working till the age of 93.Even after that he continued updating his knowledge with latest medical books till his eyes started failing a few months before his demise.
He was a workaholic and when there was an interesting medical case, we in the family saw a little of him. He had no interest in creating wealth; but enjoyed a good life- Good food, clothes and a life style fit for a king but with no wealth of a king. It was with him in my childhood that I had the first taste of the good red wine, which was of course meant for medicinal purposes and sausages. He enjoyed good company and could down a few drinks without any apparent ill effect.
It was impossible to win an argument with him. He thought he is always right. Even when he knew he was wrong he refused to accept it. This led to several skirmishes between us, one, a few weeks before his demise. He had a phenomenal memory and it was impossible to bluff with him.
He was not a religious person in the normal way. He read the Bible and prayed every day but he took a cynical view of the organized churches. It was therefore an irony that for his funeral two Orthodox bishops and several priests were present.
In the later years he realized that material wealth is needed for financial independence and for a life style he enjoyed .This led to his taking a cynical view of his life and of his and his wife’s relatives who he thought were the reason for his lack of material wealth. He could not grow out of this and this anger consumed him. If there was one fault, which you can pinpoint, it was this.
The loss of his only grandson and long illness of his wife left deep scars in his mind but he refused to show them outwardly. But I think these events made him more cynical.
He, in his own words “ploughed a lonely furrow”, stepped on a few toes and left this world without leaving any material wealth (the bank balance he had would not have been sufficient for his last rites). But he left a rich legacy of uprightness and decency which does not exist in great quantity in this world.
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