Seethalakshmi Sankara Aiyar

My maternal g.mother, Sitalakshmi, got married at the age of 5 and my g.father was then 10 yrs. old. She joined him when he left for Burma for a Govt. job. After that they moved to quite a few places, mostly in the North.It was really a cultural shock to her.When she first went to Lahore they stayed with Mr. and Mrs. C.S.Iyer [brother of Sir. C.V.Raman]. She was shocked to see Mrs. Iyer sitting very close to a person wearing pyjamas and wondered how she could do such a thing. Mrs. Iyer read her thoughts and assured her that it was only a woman and that the Panjabi women wore salwars which resembled pyjamas! Poor patti! She was that ignorant! When Thatha was posted in Allahabad they had Motilal Nehru as their neighbour and Patti always used to say that she learnt to move in a fashionable circle only by attending parties in their house.She was a very dynamic person. She had attended only a 'thinnai pallikoodam' say 3rd or 4th class but later learnt to read, write and converse in English.She used to knit very well and she published knitting books in Tamil [concocted a language for it in Tamil] and the proceeds of it was given for charity.She used to play badminton very well that too wearing her 9 yds. saree! Most of the time she wore the traditional 9 yds. except when she attended official dinners at the Viceroy's house.She was a good social worker and has worked with people like Aruna Asaf Ali.She continued to do her social work in Trichy too after they settled down there and with some of her friends started the Thiruchi Seva Sangam, a home for destitute women.She met with many tragedies in her life but put up a very brave front. She lived up to the ripe age of 89 and passed away just 9 days after my g.son Karthik was born. I believe she said that now that her 'ellu peran' [g-g-grandson] was born she would go straight to heaven! Patti was very stirct but at the same time a loving person. We do miss her on special occasions!