Ramani Chittappa

Ramani,: My dad’s 3^rd brother and my most favourite chittappa. His first job was in Bangalore in the last sixties and ever since, he has made the city his own while the other brothers were in one way or the other are tied to Madras.

Ramani is short at 5’5” – Gavaskar height- a long and puffed up face, fair “Brahmin” complexion, bushel of a mustache but neatly trimmed, dark eyes, and he was always groomed. He would shop at Ulsoor market in the mornings for the day’s vegetables in his white vesti and a full-sleeve shirt nicely rolled up to the elbows in the mid-70s. There is always a sartorial elegance about the man.

He was writing accounts in a petrol bunk; so low was his start in B’lore and he has worked his way inch by inch. First he commuted on a bicycle to work, 5 years later came the luna, then another decent interval for a Bajaj scooter in my growing years from 1975 to 1983 before finally accomplishing the car.

Ramani is a sunshine personality, talk elaborately to make his point and test the listener’s patience. But the smile and affability more than compensated. He was the brightest spark of my growing years. I would be taken to Bangalore for the annual two months vacations and he was always gracious enough to take us – his eldest brother’s offsprings- either to a hotel or a movie. It was during the one such vacation he got married to Sundari in 1975 and his affections transferred now to this wife.

Looking back, he had a room for himself that hung a huge portrait of Ganesha on wall and he was finicky laying out the cotton beds in tender care for the night especially after his wedding. We would love to lie down there but he would have none of it; he was newly married.

Ramani worked for Aviation Travels and he was making a pile handling accounts of Singapore Airlines and Lufthansa. He has purchased a lot of plots in Bangalore and his wife had a suspicious streak about her; they never shared any such news with other members of the family for fear of envy and “evil eye”. They did not have any issue till the 7^th year of marriage and by which time both the couple had exhausted the gods and astrologers.

I loved him heart and soul as only a little boy of seven would. My father had no time or energy for me while Ramani looked a debonair and savvy uncle. His wife also went to work and she would give me written assignments from my school textbooks and be thrilled on finding that I had indeed completed all of them. She looked a doll and maybe, I was half in love with her too.

First my grandmother died followed by grandfather a year later. 5 years on and my father passed over. A relation in which my father spoke to him almost on a weekly basis even in those days of stiff STD rates, it surprised me that he made no effort to maintain relations with the family. I was appalled to see him placid when informed that dad had cancer and had only a few months to survive. Slowly we drifted to such an extent that I stopped bothering to call or visit them even on chance Bangalore visits.

He is too busy with his two kids and he is another of those typical North Arcot men who can’t see beyond his family.  

Post Script (2017): Everyone going to Bangalore just stopped halting at his residence even if they had to engage a hotel for an overnight stay. The couple had earned a bad reputation for hospitality. He met with an accident in 1993 when he fell off a scooter trying to avoid a stray dog-maybe the mind got affected and his speeches longer!

            He has grown richer over the years, both his son and daughter married and in the USA. Chittappa and Chitti visited me last month at Besant Nagar and at once my heart was filled with warmth. He observed tragically: Earlier Bangalore was the corporate office and now it is not even a branch office.

Verdict: Rajas

Lessons to be learnt:  A regular Johnny and no real passions or hobbies. Ramani can be a reliable neighbour and a colleague.