(B-!025)-THE EBULLIENT COUSIN SISTERS OF KOLLAM-A FLASH BACK

When one talks about Badettu family, the role of Vasudeva Doddappa, the eldest son of Narnappaya, in steering his younger brothers through the early formative years in Kerala cannot be forgotten. He was the major help for Narnappaya in starting hotel business in Kollam and Alleppey and nurturing them for a number of years, assuring adequate fund generation for the sustenance of the families and households in Padubidri, Kollam and Alleppey. While he was engaged in looking after the welfare of the whole of Badettu family as an able aide of Narnappaya, he did not neglect his own family. His first wife had a premature death leaving behind a son who became over the years a well recognized chartered accountant commanding wide respect. Subsequently after a few years, he married Tulsi Akkaya and raised family consisting of six female and one male off springs.

As Kollam house was the focal point during early days of Badettu family's venture in Kerala, all children from the second generation members used to congregate there often, especially during school holidays. Besides, the family of Vasudeva there were children from Padmanabha family and Gopalakrishna family at Kollam. With the Ashramam ground nearby, which was an abandoned World War II air port, offering a vast area for playing, Kollam was the epicenter of activities as far as third generation children were concerned. All said the Ashramam area was one of the most beautiful areas in Kollam, serene, quiet, cool, scenic thoroughly enjoyable. The Krishna Bhavan was located about 2.5 km from Ashramam and  walking to the hotel was exciting because of the thought of preparations like Poori-masala, Masala Dosa, Sugiyan, Valsan, Alu Bonda, sweets, Badam Kheer etc, though getting into the hotel was a tough task.  Vasudeva Doddappa, being a strict disciplinarian, did not want children to eat hotel foods, insisting that they should eat only home cooked foods so that their health is not affected! Of course walking back was some what burdensome with a full stomach after eating at the hotel!

Vasudeva Doddappa  had a nice house near Ashramam and it was a pleasure for the kids to sit on the veranda outside the kitchen and chat with Tulsi Akka. Those days there was no gas stove but wood fired hearths which generated lot of smoke necessitating frequent blowing of air through a small pipe piece. That means who ever was cooking had to stay in front of the hearth to ensure food is cooked rightly without getting burned! Her six daughters, Vasanthi, Radha, Jayalakshmi ( Bangaru), Haripriya (Apri), Saraswathi (Chachu) and Sunita were always available to help her out with various day to day chores. These six daughters rightly known as "Kollam sisters" were always considered more mature with leadership qualities and they established their own equation with more aggressive cousins in the other two households. Boys always respected Vasanthi and Radha, the two elder ones and used to obey them without any question asked! One of the memories which still linger around is the sweet "Bublimas" fruit tree near the well in the front of the house which used to give plenty of fruits red juicy vescicles and to lay one's hands on a fruit during the visit was indeed a pleasure. Sethuram, the eldest among the children was very senior and no one took any liberty with him.

If the adult phase of the lives of Kollam sisters is recalled, it evokes only good sentiments and pride as every one of them were married off in a manner befitting the status of Badettu family. Vasanthi is presently in Kollam with her versatile husband L. N . Potty who is a teacher, social wizard, musician, politician, religious, community service expert all rolled into one. Their children are all well off settled in UAE and Bangalore. Radha is in Kottarakara (lost her husband the amiable Sundar Bhava recently), living with her wise son while daughters and grand daughters are settled well in different places. Bangaru lives in Malankuli near Uchila and her husband is a pioneering teacher with lot of reputation for his unusual talents in motivating his students. Apri is in Attingal, Kerala situated between Kollam and Trivandrum and her husband is another highly talented and versatile personality, known for his special ability for building up institutions. His Pittman Institute at Attingal managed by him produced many skilled office executives while he himself once even served as a Syndicate member of Kerala University. As for Chachu she married Narayanan of Kottarakara, a bank officer and is living in Trivandrum. Sunita, the last daughter, was married to Krishnamurthy, then working in Reserve Bank of India ( since diseased some time back and is currently settled down in Trivandrum. One of the common features of these sisters is that their children and grand children have all done extremely well, spread around the world. 

Vasudeva Doddappa got a son after the birth of six girls in a row and was named Narayana, to commemorate the name of Badettu Narnappaya and is currently living in the ancestral house in Kollam happily with his son and daughter, both engineers by profession. Incidentally the name Vasudeva was given to him to commemorate his grand father by the same name. Tulsi Akka passed away in her own house after a brief illness looked after well by her son. Those who were familiar with Vasudeva Doddappa can reminiscence old days when visiting his old house, which of course has been renovated. Seeing Narayan and watching his mannerism one will be reminded of the old charm of Vasudeva Doddappa.but will be missing is the laughter, giggles and shrill voices of the Kollam sisters!

Imagine how lucky were those living in Kollam being able to interact with their cousins frequently (about 15 in number) , almost on a daily basis and only such constant contacts and joint participation in ceremonies, poojas and other family functions can create kinship and bonding. In contrast many members of Badettu family to day whether belonging to 3rd, 4th or 5th generation do not have any idea about those living far and wide and participation in the functions of different members at different times is becoming more and more infrequent and rare. The March 20, 2012 meeting at Udipi was supposed to have generated a feeling of oneness among the diverse members separated by long distances. Unless a couple of youngsters take lead in setting a platform for constant future interaction, the 6th and later generations may never be able to trace their origin to that stalwart Narnappaya who started this family building project long long back! Some of us might be wondering who were our great grandfathers, from where they hailed, the relatives of grandfathers and grand mothers etc as there are no proper documents regarding these details. At least let us in the third generation do some thing to record our history in a proper way. 

Answer to Quiz of last issue

Sreepathi Rao, the spouse of Chummi (Seemanthini or Seema)), (daughter of Subbraya Doddappa), now settled down in Bailur in Udipi retired as Income Tax Commissioner, his last posting being at Bangalore. An upright officer (unlike many of the present breed of officers of doubtful integrity, he earned great reputation for his integrity and transparency during his tenure with income tax agency.

Quiz for the next issue

What is the Mumbai connection of Badettu family?

V.H.POTTY
http://vhpotty.blogspot.com/
http://foodtechupdates.blogspot.com

(B-1021) A SAINTLY FATHER, STERN MOTHER AND PRODIGAL SON!

Badettu family is blessed with some geniuses though they might not have become world famous. Here is a narration of the evolving of a genius whom many of us do not recognize easily. Without mentioning his name for the time being, a brief critique will be in order.

Recalling the period when the third generation descendants of BadettuNarnappaya were growing mainly in Alleppey and Kollam, the three Rams were the most prominent as they were senior to others at least by a decade. But they were relatively docile compared to many juniors who had lot of energy, enthusiasm and mischievousness oozing all over. Those are the days when the growing kids had no inhibition about anything though they were punished severely for any wrong doing. Using the cane was a standard practice and many of them would recall those days, not with any regret but with lot of admiration for their parents for correcting them and making good citizens later in life.

There is a specific instance of a youngster in one of the second generation families who was literally a prodigal with enormous self confidence and courage to do what ever he felt was correct. This family was not financially as sound as others and with cash flow into the family coffers severely constrained, carrying out day to activities was itself a burden. In such an environment studying to become a graduate or engineer or any professional was unthinkable. It used to be the norms those days that the children of hoteliers must eventually take over the business from their parents. It is remarkable that under such circumstances some of the third generation kids in Badettu family got educated becoming chartered accountants, professors, scientists, engineers etc. One of the reasons could have been the fact that there were too many off springs in the family and the business as it existed those days was not big enough to accommodate all of them!

Speaking about this youngster being focused in this Blog, he had a saintly father with an infectious and benign smile on his face who could never loose his temper while his mother was a stern matron with determination written all over her face to make up for the soft spoken father. As they were not able to have sufficient surplus funds to give higher education to all their children, only those who showed promise received adequate support for higher education. In spite of such financial constraints this family produced a chemical engineer and a chartered accountant who brought name and fame to Badettu family.  Unfortunately one among them did not have any inclination to go through the traditional education system, always looking for doing some thing different.

Even before he could become a fully responsible adult he left his home seeking fortunes else where doing things different on his own way. With his casual training in family restaurant services in hotels locally, he first approached one of the most reputed and well established hotels in madras where he spent some years as an accountant proving his mettle unequivocally but left there because of his perceived feeling that his merit and ability were not recognized by the management. It was then that he saw an opportunity for serving the country when Chinese aggression was at its peak and appeals to youngsters from the government for recruits to join Air Force. With no hesitation and a dreamy face he joined the Air Force, got trained for aircraft servicing as a ground service technical personnel, did meritorious work and left the Air Force later to lead a civilian life. Remarkably he was picked up by Air India, the Flagship of Indian civil aviation sector, to become a senior service engineer eventually retiring from service later. He is an inspiration to other youngsters who cannot attain high educational qualification due to fund constraints.

Interestingly this person is a versatile specimen of humanity having high spiritual knowledge, well versed in palm reading, horoscope interpretation and religious discourses and Hindu philosophy. Though he was involved in a ghastly car accident in which the car was a total wreck, crippling him for an year, he regained his physical health in no time through sheer will power and determination. Such an accident would have persuaded any ordinary mortal not to drive an automobile any more but this person drives his car even to day with no fear or inhibition, covering hundreds of kilometers every month, visiting more than 4000 temples in different parts of the country during the last several years. He is blessed with a son who can be described only as a genius of great capabilities, excelling his father in many walks of life. His daughter is also well settled with her husband possessing a versatile personality with multifaceted abilities including cooking and electronic wizardry. This is how God blesses those who pursue a life style like this person has followed during the last 5 decades.

Who is this gentleman? If you have not guessed correctly, here is the answer. The prodigal son is none other than Mr Mohan of Kollam, the saintly father was late Padmanabh (son of BadettuNarnappaya), the stern mother Lakshmi. He has settled down in Trivandrum after retiring from Air India. As he is a prolific traveler and a jovial social extrovert, members of Badettu family can see him one day or the other when he knocks on the door!

Answer to the Quiz of last issue

Dr Pangal Sheshagiri Rao was the reputed dental surgeon, practicing for more than 5 decades in Madras who married Vishala of Badettu family (Venkatramana branch). He is presently settled down in Paniyur near Uchila (UdipiTaluk) about to complete years soon with good health and peaceful life.

Quiz for the current issue

Who was the one and only skin specialist of repute and who was one of the son-in-laws in Badettu family?

V.H.POTTY
http://vhpotty.blogspot.com/
http://foodtechupdates.blogspot.com

(B-1018) THE THREE RAMS OF KOLLAM-THOSE GOOD OLD DAYS!

Kollam was the focal point of major activities of Badettu family till the time of Vasudeva, the eldest son of Narnappaya. Of course the shift to Alleppey started a lilltle bit earlier with Vasudeva's health failing due to daiabetes and other ailments. Till his death in 1966 Vasudeva was literally the kingpin controlling the family related matters as Narnappaya was getting aged and not involved in business. The Sri Krishna Bhavan Hotel at Chinnakada, Kollam was doing good business till the labor problem started telling on its profitability and the focus then started shifting to Alleppey. While Vasudeva was literally an uncrowned king in Kollam, he had a house in the Ahramam area, a good one by the then standards and all third generation members used to visit the house regularly. It was more like a family head quarters outside Padubidri.

Most famous third generation descendants and associates of Badettu family were three Rams, Sethuram, Jayaram and Raghuram. Sethuram was the eldest son of Vasudeva, Jayaram was the second son of Kande Kridhnanna (son-in-law of Narnappaya) and Raguram was related to Radhakka (wife of Narnappaya). These three youngsters were studying in Kollam staying in Vasudeva's house, also helping in hotel business. They were so close to each other that they were literally inseparable. No one would say that they were belonging to different families because of their unity and day to day to activities. Interestingly Sethuram was the most handsome with light colored skin and an ever smiling face on his shoulders. Jayaram was a fantastically hilarious young man capable of cutting incessant jokes without any sign of laughter on his face. Raghuram was some what more serious but very intelligent young man. During the years they spent together at Kollam, their behavior and unity could have been the envy of any one.

In one of the incidences narrated by Dr P Vedavyasa Rao, currently the senior most living member in Badettu family who was a shishya of these "three musketeers", fun and frolic were the hall marks of their day to day life. The house in ahramam area in Kollam was about two kilometers from the center of the town and walking was the only mode of transportation available then. For those who lived in that area, it was a sight to see the three Rams walking across the big Maidan to reach their house after the hotel is closed, joking and laughing all the time! Like to day's youngsters they also had the habit of cracking jokes at others, irrespective of the gender and making fun of people who behave in different ways. Of course for other younger boys like Govinda, Mohana, Subba, Ambi and others growing up in Kollam, the three Rams were role models.

It is a tribute to the God-minded Rams that they all were adequately educated to reach good positions in their life. Sethuram became a senior Official under government of India while Jayaram joined Air India to retire eventually as a senior executive in erstwhile Bombay. Interestingly Sethuram and Jayaram even stayed a while together at an apartment in Kings Circle though Sethuram shifted to Bangalore for leading a retired life later. His five children, all males, are in Bangalore to day leading their own lives. Jayaram was able to buy his own apartment in Koliwada near Sion where many youngsters seeking fortune in the fertile land of opportunity, were able to find temporary refuge and hospitality. Ratnakka, his amiable wife was joyfully cooking delicious food for all these "guests" in a house which was made up of just two small rooms! Jayaram's children, four in number, all males are settled down in Mumbai, Dubai and United States, blessed as they are giving support to their mother. Raghuram, being an industrious person, was able to enter India Railways, retiring at Chennai, the erstwhile Madras.

For those who were close to the Rams, their time was some thing cherished and remembered and it is unlikely that such a time will ever be possible under the modern fast moving living style of to day. This is not to say that the youngsters from the fourth, fifth and subsequent generations are in any way inferior to the three Rams but the environment they are living is totally different. God bless all.

Answer to last Quiz

Rishab is a fifth generation youngster born to Nagin ( grand son of Pangal Srinivasa Rao and Badettu Venkatrao) and Anu, settled at Chennai who has a passion for western music and he is going to be graduating in music from a reputed music academy in Russia. Hopefully another Beethoven in making.

Quiz for this Issue

Who is the first female IIM management graduate among the Badettu family descendants?


V.H.POTTY
http://vhpotty.blogspot.com/
http://foodtechupdates.blogspot.com

   

(B-1013) BADETTU LAKSMI AMMA-A TREASURE HOUSE OF PATIENCE AND SERENITY

Many members of Badettu family must have seen the gracious photo of Lakshmi Amma flashed across the Facebook recently by his eldest son Govinda. How serene and composed she looks in this unique photo! It is a fact that she is the most active 2nd generation members at present though at her advanced age she has some minor health problems. During the recent meeting at Udupi an attempt was made to persuade her to attend but the efforts did not bear fruit because of her reluctance to undertake long journey, that too in this hot summer from Chintamani to Udupi. Same applied to Padmavati of Admar who finds it difficult to move around without physical help, besides being frail in health. 

It was the brain wave of Badettu Narnappaya to have an alliance with the family of Adiga Subbraya Bhat, father of Laksmi Amma after knowing them well through business association. Besides Subbraya Bhat was closely connected to the Eashwara Temple at Padubidri, his house being part of the Temple Complex with the front "ankana" leading to the Temple pradakshina area. Both Padmanabha (Paddanaya to many), one of the twin sons of Narnappaya and Laksmi Amma must have been a pretty couple in their younger days with the latter oozing "lakshana" all over! Who can forget the unforgettable and infective "laughing" of Paddanaya who should have been a part of Guinness Book for his record of never losing his temper! The couple had a set of "navaratnas" as children with each one excelling the other in self priming and achieving success in life in spite of hardships during childhood. The difference between a "Ratna" and the off springs of this couple is that while the former reflects light from its outer surface, the navaratnas radiate brightness (goodness) from inside. 

What Lakshmi Amma has undergone in real life can be an unparalleled story rarely encountered in real life any where in the world. Among the six sons of Badettu Narnappaya, Paddanna was the most modest and unassuming with no brashness or ego and probably this trait made Laksmi Amma a solid house wife -cum-strict mother, assuming the house hold responsibility with considerable determination and patience. She had to face severe tests in her life in carrying her family on her shoulders because of financial difficulties following disintegration of the partnership hotel business at Kollam and subsequent losses incurred in independeny business ventures. How she was able to educate her children against these odds is a story worth writing in gold. Without exception all her children were graduates and above and they served as managers, engineers, chartered accountants, air force technician and other lucrative jobs. It is tribute to her sagacity and wisdom that she shook of the early loss of one of her brightest sons due to a road accident, untimely loss of her first daughter-in-law recently and similar shocks with considerable aplomb. 

One of the bright spots in her life was the constant support she received from her own brothers and cousins but for whom the story would not have been as rosy as to day. All members of Badettu family must salute this admirable lady and pray for her good health and continued presence among us for years to come.      

Quiz of this issue

Is there any hotelier among the present members of Badettu Family and if so who is the person and where is his operational area? 

Answer to Quiz of the last issue

No there is no marine engineer in Badettu family so far. One can only hope that one of the fifth generation members will become a marine engineer.

V.H.POTTY

http://vhpotty.blogspot.com/http://foodtechupdates.blogspot.com

(B-1008)NARNAPPAYA AND HIS ILLUSTRIOUS SONS-THE UNCONQUERED HEROES

Badettu Narnappaya, a man of few words but with a steel mind, besides being a workaholic found enough time to raise a family of six sons and two daughters. While his daughters were given in marriage at very early age his sons associated with him in all his activities helping him to build business and properties. when he breathed his last in 1973 at Badettu House at Padubidri his sons were basically settled down at Kollam and Alappuzha with their families. None of the members of this second generation Badettuans is living to day.

His first son Vasudeva, fifth son Padmanabha and sixth son Gopalakrishna were supposed to have been looking after the Hotel at Kollam, his second son Subbaraya, third son Venkataramana and fourth son Ananthrama took up the responsibility of managing Alappuzha business. Over a period of time the hotel business both in Kollam and Alappuzha were wound up after the demise of the second generation stalwarts and to day there is only one tiny restaurant working in Alappuzha run by a third generation Badettuan of venkataramana lineage. It is amazing that the modern trend of educating their children to become professionals did did catch up with Badettu family also and there are many engineers, doctors, scientists, chartered accountants, teachers, MBAs, among the third and fourth generation Badettuans occupying high positions presently as well as in the past.

Two daughters of Narnappaya, married into reputed families lived well for years and their children and grand children also were well educated to become good professionals. Their second generation families are scattered across many places in the South like Bangalore, Mysore, Kaladi, Hyderabad etc. Looking back it was not a good idea for the Badettu family as a whole not to have cultivated close relationship resulting in lack of firm linkages among them. 

Answer to last quiz:    

The first engineer who graduated in engineering was Mr V Jagadisan, son of Late Venkataramana of Alleppey. He completed his BE in Electrical engineering from the then Regional Engineering College, Suratkal and retired from National Textile Corporation establishment at Kollam a few years ago. Only other engineer in the third generation is Mr Krishnan, a chemical engineer who retired from Binani company a few years ago. In the fourth generation there are about a dozen engineers all working in good positions with private sector companies located in India as well as abroad.

Quiz for this issue:

Who was the first MBA in Badettu family?  

V.H.POTTY
http://vhpotty.blogspot.com/
http://foodtechupdates.blogspot.com