T. Fenn Walter

My Father Fenn Walter

My father was a ruthless man. There was no freedom of speech when he was present. My mother had no fight to express her views nor did any one else. When he had to punish, the punishment was the same at any time. He will drag me to a room and close the doors, unbuckle his leather belt and beat me black and blue until I almost looked like a zebra with stripes all over my body.

When I was about 6 or 7 years old I remember the first beating I got from him. He beat the shit out of me. I was brought up all alone and I did not know the difference between calling my sister in singular. Once when my sister was in Nagercoil during some holiday, she did something which provoked me while we were playing. In my anger, as we were playing, I told “Poo Dee”. Actually she had done something wrong but she ran crying to my daddy and complained that I have treated her in a disrespectful manner and there came my father who pulled me out from the drawing room of my grandfathers house and dragged me to the adjacent bedroom closed the door and beat the shit out of me.. I repeat .. beat the shit out of me. My grand parents applied coconut oil and other medicines for about a fortnight till I recovered. From then on the sight of my father was a terrifying and horrifying and scary sight for me.

This whipping with his belt was only the beginning of things to come.

In due course I saw my father murder my mother and drive me away from home and bring a lady who was a bootlegger and prostitute into the house. I had known my fathers’ dastardly behaviour for long I had seen my father disapproving any sort of suggestions or discussions my mother brought up. My mother salima had no freedom of expression. I had witnessed the slave like life my mother underwent. I had seen the interaction between husband and wife in other families in sharp contrast with the lack of interaction between my father and mother from the day I gained my senses. My father was a tyrant and a person of the lowest sort. In short my father was a perfect example of how a man or husband ought not be..

But he was a teacher of all sorts. By seeing how he treated my mother I learnt how I should love my wife. By seeing how he oppressed my mother I learnt how I should allow my wife to express herself freely. By the way he made my mother work I learnt that I should I should give a day off for my wife and thus after my marriage every Sunday or Saturday used to be a day off for my wife. In the like order by seeing his behavior I learnt what I should not do.. He was a great teacher.

He was a very proud and arrogant man also. It is told that just a few months after marriage, when my mother was pregnant Fenn walter landed up in jail. He was arrested for some communist party activity which he did when he was working as a Guard in the southern railway. My mother was totally broken hearted. My Grand father Mr Fredrick Nehemiah was a District Munsiff in Nagercoil and my grandfathers brother in law Mr Devasahayam was an Inspector General of Police for South India. At that time he was a very powerful man. There was only one Inspector General for the combined states of Karnataka, Andhra, Tamilnadu and Kerala. You can imagine how powerful he should have been. Seeing my mothers distress, my grandfather with the help of his brother in law took efforts to get Fenn walter released but Fenn walter was a very proud and arrogant man. He did not accept the help from my mothers side and refused to come out of jail. I don’t remember how many days he left my mother in distress and was in jail but my mother has told me that life was miserable and she could not have survived but for the support she received from her parents Mr Fredrick Nehemiah and Mrs Grace Sundarabai Fredrick

Ill fate struck me when I completed my B.A Economics in MCC. During this time my father almost did not pay any attention to my mother .From the beginning my mother had no powers to question my dad in whatever he did and now matters went from bad to worse .He will come very late and he will not pay much attention to any one of us i.e. me my sister and my mother .He developed sexual relationships with the servant maid Sakunthala ,which was witnessed by me and my sister Malathy. On Sundays he will not attend church. He was an atheist and spoke ill of Jesus Christ and God. My mother after much pleading was allowed to attend church .She would attend church every Sunday and I and my sister will accompany her. This was a man who was very fond of coconut trees and other fruit trees and hunting. My mother had a love towards crotons and other flower plants. He will take me to the Agrihorticultural society near the US Embassy and to various nurseries in Padappai and purchase coconut saplings and other fruit trees and I had to carry these along with him in the bus and then by cycle rickshaw or in our cycle which was parked at the railway cycle stand. It was a tedious job. After coming home I along with my dad and sister had to dig pits 4by 4 to plant these saplings. It was our every day chore to water these trees and plants. Mummy will also join us in watering the plants .Being a boy most of the work was done by me. There was no motor and we had to draw water from the well and carry the water in buckets and pour it to the plants and trees. He would come late in the night and say that we have not watered the trees properly and he would ask us to draw water from the well and water the trees once again. I remember waking up from the sleep and drawing water at 11 o’clock and 12 o’ clock in the night on some days. When all other boys were playing, I had to toil in the garden or go out to the shop to get what was needed for our family. My father said that we had to water these trees as it was a great investment for us and will be useful when we grew up. I was always wondering that he should have been a fool to spend so much on these trees and torture us so much to get a few coconuts which could have been purchased from the shop at a fraction of the amount spent. Some times the yield was so much that we had coconuts in abundance and there was no one to purchase the same and we used to give it to all relatives and friends and thereafter sell the coconuts for a very small amount. What ever it is this man will not allow us to live in peace .It was he and his trees which were most important in this world. On holidays he took off to hunting along with Egbert paul Uncle or Ganiappa Uncle or with both and I had to go with them to do all the menial chores like carrying the gun and bags. From Tambaram we used to cycle all the way to Padappai, Manimangalam, mannivakkam ,Medavakkam,Chingleput etc. All these were good hunting grounds for pigions, Cucoos & Water birds . According to my father Communism was the best philosophy and all the owning class should be hanged .Only the workers should rule the country. He would be talking about this philosophy to every one irrespective of whether he listens to him or not. It is told that once he was arrested for protesting and taking part in agitations as a communist. At that time the Inspector General of south India comprising of Andhra Pradesh,Tamilnadu,Karnataka and Kerala was Mr Devasahayam who was my thathas brother in law and my thatha had moved an application through his Brother in law for my dads release .It appears that when Thatha went to meet him in the jail and spoke to him about the release my dad has refused to come out of the jail. My thatha had tried to take him out since my sister was a few months old child and my mother and this baby were all alone in the house. Such was the irresponsible attitude of my father .For him the family was nothing compared to his communist philosophy. If he had been wedded to his philosophy why should he get wedded to my mother??. My father was a guard in the railways at the time of his marriage and thereafter he did Law in Belgaum University and became a Lawyer. He practiced under Barrister Row and then after some years started his own practice. He conducted cases for workers only and his office was filled with a group of workers at all times. Most of the cases were done at a low cost and hence every one crowded to his office .This was actually an unhealthy practice but he did not care about what happened to others. He would not settle cases and was actually bent upon fighting cases till the end. Several cases were fought from appeal to appeal and then lost after 10 or 15 years and the workers lost heavily. In these cases though the management advocates were fair enough to offer a fair settlement he would not accept and then everything was lost when the case was lost.

To those who pay pittance he will give his heart and soul and make his juniors also run like mad dogs but will not care for clients who pay reasonably well .According to me clients should pay well for good services and should not be given the liberty to keep filing unreasonable cases just because there is a mad lawyer to file cases free of cost or for a low cost. My thinking did not match with his philosophy and hence I was also a capitalist in his view. He always told that I had capitalist thoughts. The workers normally took advantage of his leaning towards communist philosophy and even if they were capable of paying, came out with some cock and bull story of poverty and inability to pay because of a large family and children and these fellows ..I will go to the extent of calling them scums of the society .. will be so demanding and complain about juniors not representing their cases properly as if they knew and understood what was being represented. Later on after 2 to 3 years of hard work and winning the case they will disappear without paying a single paisa as fees . These were the scums he was fighting for. Had he cared for his family he would have made us into great personalities and we would also have lived in comfort. His juniors had cars whereas he will not purchase a car .The reason was, others will equate him to a capitalist. As if all who owned cars are capitalists. He was crocked in other ways also. In the 80’s there were no flush toilets in the houses .Toilets were built in one corner of the house .The toilet consisted of a tiled room with a ventilation of one feet between the wall and the roof. There was a brick wall of one feet height at one end of the room and we had to sit on the wall and dislodge the stools on the other side .This was where every one in the house had to shit and the stools were just lying there drying up and emanating bad smell. Every day in the morning a scavenger will come with a bucket and a ladle and pick up the stools and wash the toilet with water.(see picture) Even when I was in my Thathas house we had a flush type European closet. In the rented house we had an Indian flush closet but in this house we did not have a flush toilet. I, my sister and my mother had been pleading for a flush toilet for years together but my father refused to build one since according to him he had ot spend huge sums of money to install the flush closet and to build the septic tank 6 feet by 12 feet by 5 feet. Though he will not build the septic tank which is a basic necessity, my father at the height of idiocy and ego went to construct a fish tank 15 ft by 12 ft in length and breadth and 15 ft deep. A septic tank will not cost even one third of the cost of this mammoth fish tank. You will laugh your head out if I tell you the reason. Ther was one Mr Hubert who was the assistant headmaster of Corley high School. His house was in the main road (i.e. MES road).One day my dad had seen some pit being dug in his house and one Dads friends had told him that Hubert master was going to build a big fish tank.Almost all of my Dads friends were idiots who will give some story and walk off .Never have they spoken sense. On hearing this my Dad came home and said that he should build a fish tank before any one in MES road builds one and especially before Hubert master could build one. And so with this rotten ego he started investing on this massive fish tank. This massive brick structure of the tank was completed and then there was some funds shortage and in order to complete the construction he started doing the plastering work by himself .Not only did he do it but forced me to carry cement and sand and mix the same and also forced me to do plastering work . The cement will flow past the handle of the trowel (Koluru in Tamil) and reach our palms and the cement will eat in to the skin and flesh of our palms. The next day we had to cover these wounds with plaster and dressing and go to work again because for him his fish tank should be completed. The tank was completed in such fashion. As we did not have a pumping motor we had to draw water and pour it into this massive tank. We had a large metal drum placed near the well .We first drew water from the well which was about 25 to 30 feet deep, filled it up and siphoned the water using a plastic tube. Once the siphon started functioning we tried to keep the water flowing by drawing water at great speed from the well and filling up the drum and maintain a steady level. This cruelty fell upon me .My sister and mother also will draw some water but they could not go on for long .Of course my father also joined in drawing water. Because the plastering was not done professionally the tank developed leaks and with such pressure on all sides the water will seep out fast and we had to fill it up and maintain the level every day. This sort of cruelty would not have happened to any child in this world. With one third of this cost he could have built a flush toilet and had a pump installed to water the garden also but he would not do it since he was confident that this fool of an ass (I am meaning me only) is there to do any work which he commands me to do. We lived without a flush toilet and a water pump for many years thereafter and only in 1979 or so he set up a flush toilet. I my mother, my sister and many other relatives advised him to first build the toilet and install the pump but he would not listen. To him he was the world and every other thing was immaterial. He will not accept good advice from any one but he will readily accept bad advice from all. My father used to make full use of Sundays. After sending me and my mother and sister to the church he will have a nice time with Sakunthala. One day my sister had to stay back at home as she was sick and when she went to the kitchen to get water she had seen Fenn walter getting into the same bathroom with Sakunthala. She revealed this doubt to me and the next Sunday I made it appear as if I was sick and I hid in the kitchen. I too saw Fenn Walter and Sakunthala entering the same bathroom. When we all went to the church they got together in the bedroom and at other times it was the bath room. My fathers relationship with the servant maid Sakunthala was made known to my mother by my sister. My mother spoke to Fenn walter and pleaded to him not to let her down. He said that he had no relationship with Sakuntahala and that he will not let my mother down. Now that this scoundrel Fenn Walter had come to know that my mother knows about the illegal clandestine relationship his wrath became more and more on us and my mother. From then on he will come very late to the house .He will not speak much to my mother. He will irritate her and make her cry often. With continuous crying she developed wheezing .It developed into Bronchitis. In order to cure this Walter brought a person calling him a doctor and he gave three capsules to be taken each day at various times. On taking these tablets my mother used to gasp fro breath and choke .She refused to take these capsules but walter appeared along with the said doctor on the next day and the doctor said that this was a very good medicine and that the wheezing will first increase and then start decreasing and will be gone completely. Though my mother was not convinced by this and refused to take the capsules my father forced her to consume the same and after a few months she died. One day she became very serious and in the meanwhile my Thatha and Thathi had a vision as if something was wrong with my mother and they suddenly came to our house without even dropping a letter. They stayed for 4 days and were about to leave on the 5th day.The doctors appointment was obtained on this 5th day only so they cancelled their tickets and booked tickets for the next day. We took her to the Hospital at Tambaram Sanatorium .After checking my mother the doctor said that she should be admitted immediately. We waited in the car for some time ,about 30 to 40 minutes while walter went round getting the formalities in place and filling up the forms for admitting her . After the foramalities we took her to the bed .In fact she walked by herself from the car to the bed and she sat on the bed and attempted to lean over buteven before her head hit the pillow she was dead and collapsed on to the bed. We were all shocked. As fate would have it I lost my mother . We brought her home and performed her last rites and cremated her in the Tambaram CSI Church cemetery which is on the way to Kishkinta.I am fully convinced that Fen Walter murdered my mother by feeding her with poison through the so called doctor. He was a fake and not a doctor. In short my father was a perfect example of what a man ought not to be. My grand parents were totally shaken by my mothers death. My Grandfather was so heart broken that he did not go out for his routine daily walks and became weak. My grand parents stayed back in our house to take care of my father myself and my sister. My father started looking for a groom for my sister shortly after my mothers death and the first groom which he finalized was an advocate. We all went to the grooms’ house to see the groom .This was in total contravention of the normal process. It was our custom that the groom came to the brides’ house. This groom told my father that he has to first look after the marriage arrangements of his sisters before he could marry and that it would take atleast 6 months to 1 year to get married. I am sure that he told this because he did not get the expected Dowry. All that my father could give as dowry was the 50,000 or so which he had managed to get from a workers settlement which he finalized in some company and the coconut grove which my grandfather had given to him as dowry at the time of his marriage and all the jewels of my mother which my grand father had given her at the time of her marriage. I knew that walter had received several such 50,000’s and lakhs out of various settlements but we did not know where it all went. The second groom was a teacher who was shorter than my sister by a few inches . My sister accepted because of the pressure exerted by my father but then before finalizing my grand parents took courage and told walter that my sister was not interested in the marriage. He got so wild that he shouted at my grand parents and went to the extent of saying that they need not be in our house and that they can go back to Nagercoil. They were so humiliated by this walter who was not worth the dust in their shoes. Some how we persuaded our grand parents to stay for some time but since walter was not behaving well with them they went back to Nagercoil after some days. A few days after they had gone walter came to me and said “you remember one perseus who had come to our house on one occasion. Salima had once told that we can marry your sister to him. Can you find out if he is interested” I immediately spoke to my grand parents in Nagercoil and shortly thereafter arrangements were made for the meeting of the bride and groom and though Perseus was of dark complexion my sister consented for the marriage as he was tall and had a good physique. Before my sisters marriage I got news that walter is staying in Pallavaram . After my grand parents went back to Nagercoil, on many days walter did not come home in the night but would come home in the morning .He would shamelessly travel in the cycle rickshaw for every one in MES road to see him coming in the morning. He will stay at home for some time and go to office. One day I checked his bag and found freshly cooked hot lunch in a Tiffin box. This confirmed that walter was having some affair and on one day in the night I and one of my friends went to Pallavaram station, followed walter and traced where he was staying. There we saw two ladies who looked like ladies sweeping the road. One of them looked like a barrel .She resembled an elephant and had the face of a man. We came back silently. I had not told about this to any one but planned to break walters legs or kill him on some day. I was waiting for my sisters marriage to get over. In the mean while my sisters marriage took place and my sister went to Nagercoil to live along with her husband A few weeks after my sisters marriage on one day Ganiappa uncle called me and asked me whether walter was coming home regularly .when I hesitated to answer he told me that he is living with another lady. I told him that I knew it. The next day he and Nagarajan uncle (Doctor Ravi’ father) went to my fathers office and requested him to give my share of my mothers property and also to give some money to him . He was so infuriated that he asked them to get out. The next day he had taken one Mathi who was a terminated employee from Best and Crompton company to the house of Ganiappa uncle and Nagarajan uncle and has pointed out to them and has made it appear as if he is showing the house to some rowdy so as to make them to think that they will be attacked any time .This was nothing but an illegal threat to them simply because they supported me. Shortly thereafter walter sent a notice to my grand father Mr Fredrick Nehemiah , Ganiappa uncle and Nagarajan uncle stating that they had threatened him and that because of their acts he was suffering from insomnia and that he intended to initiate appropriate legal proceedings against them. In the said notice he had made several dirty allegations against all of them and particularly against my Grand father. This caused severe mental strain on my grand parents . Thereafter my grandparents with the help of thathas brother in law ,retired IG Devasahayam attempted to fix up a meeting with walter but he declined to come and discuss. Thereafter on one day in the morning walter came to the house with about 200 persons (later on I came to know that they were all union members from Dunlop and Best & Crompton) who surrounded the house. One bastard by name Matthews held me pinned to my seat and after some time walter walked in along with this fat lady whom I saw in the pallavaram house and started checking all the rooms as if I have sold the treasures of the house. The union members tried to persuade me to stay in the house but I did not agree but I was unable to move out as I was held captive. Along with me one of my friends who happened to be with me in the house by name Miller also was held captive. On knowing this Millers mother came and made a great hue and cry and on seeing the commotion a crowd gathered and in the melee miller and I walked out of the house. I was out of the house but had only the Pant and T shirt I was wearing. Hearing all this walters brother, i.e. my periyappa Mr Stanley Dhas rushed from Avadi. He took stock of the situation and told my thatha and thathi who were in Ganiappa uncles house that he will go and speak to walter and try to get my books and clothes .At that time I was doing my M.A .Economics in Pachaiyappas house . Why I had to leave MCC and go to Pachaiyappas is yet another story which I will write later. Periyappa went to our house and asked the gate to be opened but was refused by walter and hence from the road itself fhe has asked walter to give my dress and books but walter has rejected his request. Periyappa came back, a broken man. I prepared to discontinue my studies and go to Nagercoil but periyappa insisted that I stay with him and complete my MA .I stayed in his house and completed my MA and went back to Nagercoil. After going to Nagercoil I filed a case against walter claiming my share of my mothers property .The case was ordered ex-parte since walter nor his advocate appeared for the hearing. Walter as cranky as he was, instead of filing a petition to set aside the ex-parte order filed a complaint against the advocate. The advocate got wild and he and the others decided not to appear in this case . In Nagercoil ,I got employed as a teacher in Kanyakumari public school ,with the helpof my grandparents and worked as teacher in the primary school for one year . Therafter since the principal of the school asked me to deposit my original certificates I left the school and with great difficulty joined Scott Christian College as lecturer in the department of Economics. One day Mr Justin one of the juniors of walter came to my grand parents house and told me that walter had realized his mistakes and had decided to make the wish of my mother to make me an advocate come true and wanted me to join law and become an advocate and be with him . I also thought that instead of hopping from job to job it was better to become an advocate ,using this opportunity. Walter had sent some money to enroll as advocate and I ,with the help of some of my friends in nagercoil joined JSS Law College in Mysore .Thereafter I came to Madras and joined walter and practiced as a labour law practictioner by filing authorization forms instead of vakalat in the labour courts. I passed BL and started practicing as an advocate. After some months of practice I got to know the trick of the trade and by Gods grace became one of the stars in the labour courts and High Courts . After coming over to Madras and starting to practice as a junior to FennWalter I planned my first trip to Nagercoil to meet my loving Thatha and thathi in April. Just two days before I was about to leave for Nagercoil I received a Telegram stating that my Thatha Mr Fredrick. G. Nehemiah had died. I immediately rushed to Nagercoil. While I was at my Thathas house I received my own letter that I was coming to Nagercoil to see my Thatha and Thathi. It was a great shock to me that I could not be by the side of my Thatha at the time of his death. Just 2 days before I could come over to Nagercoil for the summer vacation he died .I had to cancel my ticket and pre-pone my journey. Through out his life he was a teetotaler and did not possess any bad or harmful habits. He prayed every day .Family prayer in the morning and in the night was a routine. He was hale and healthy till the end except for being weakened and shaken by the shock of my mothers death. He was the embodiment of love and affection and he is my role model. Atlast my role model was no more .I felt very sad and I can’t express my broken heart in words. On getting down at Nagercoil bus stand I got an auto and went to my Thathas house .John Maama was at the gate ,waiting for my appearance.he caught hold of me and told me not to cry or make any comments as my Thathi would get upset. Of course I also knew that. There I saw my Thatha been laid on his bed resting in peace. His days were over, his sufferings were over. I had a glimpse of him for some time and then moved out to the garden. I started pondering over his life and death and I felt comfortable that he died peacefully without suffering from any sickness, disability or health problems except that he made use of his walking stick for a few years before his death. My greatest feeling was about my Thathi Mrs Grace Sundarabai Fredrick . How was she going to live alone in such a huge house and who was going to take care of her. I would attribute the death of my mother and my grandfather to my father only

My father is a perfect example of what a man ought not be and my Grand Father Mr Fredrick Nehemiah is a perfect example of what a man ought to be

Ill fate struck me when I completed my B.A Economics in MCC. During this time my father almost did not pay any attention to my mother .From the beginning my mother had no powers to question my dad in whatever he did and now matters went from bad to worse .He will come very late and he will not pay much attention to any one of us i.e. me my sister and my mother .He developed sexual relationships with the servant maid Sakunthala ,which was witnessed by me and my sister Malathy. On Sundays he will not attend church. He was an atheist and spoke ill of Jesus Christ and God. My mother after much pleading was allowed to attend church .She would attend church every Sunday and I and my sister will accompany her. This was a man who was very fond of coconut trees and other fruit trees and hunting. My mother had a love towards crotons and other flower plants. He will take me to the Agrihorticultural society near the US Embassy and to various nurseries in Padappai and purchase coconut saplings and other fruit trees and I had to carry these along with him in the bus and then by cycle rickshaw or in our cycle which was parked at the railway cycle stand. It was a tedious job. After coming home I along with my dad and sister had to dig pits 4by 4 to plant these saplings. It was our every day chore to water these trees and plants. Mummy will also join us in watering the plants .Being a boy most of the work was done by me. There was no motor and we had to draw water from the well and carry the water in buckets and pour it to the plants and trees. He would come late in the night and say that we have not watered the trees properly and he would ask us to draw water from the well and water the trees once again. I remember waking up from the sleep and drawing water at 11 o’clock and 12 o’ clock in the night on some days. When all other boys were playing, I had to toil in the garden or go out to the shop to get what was needed for our family. My father said that we had to water these trees as it was a great investment for us and will be useful when we grew up. I was always wondering that he should have been a fool to spend so much on these trees and torture us so much to get a few coconuts which could have been purchased from the shop at a fraction of the amount spent. Some times the yield was so much that we had coconuts in abundance and there was no one to purchase the same and we used to give it to all relatives and friends and thereafter sell the coconuts for a very small amount. What ever it is this man will not allow us to live in peace .It was he and his trees which were most important in this world. On holidays he took off to hunting along with Egbert paul Uncle or Ganiappa Uncle or with both and I had to go with them to do all the menial chores like carrying the gun and bags. From Tambaram we used to cycle all the way to Padappai, Manimangalam, mannivakkam ,Medavakkam,Chingleput etc. All these were good hunting grounds for pigions, Cucoos & Water birds . According to my father Communism was the best philosophy and all the owning class should be hanged .Only the workers should rule the country. He would be talking about this philosophy to every one irrespective of whether he listens to him or not. It is told that once he was arrested for protesting and taking part in agitations as a communist. At that time the Inspector General of south India comprising of Andhra Pradesh,Tamilnadu,Karnataka and Kerala was Mr Devasahayam who was my thathas brother in law and my thatha had moved an application through his Brother in law for my dads release .It appears that when Thatha went to meet him in the jail and spoke to him about the release my dad has refused to come out of the jail. My thatha had tried to take him out since my sister was a few months old child and my mother and this baby were all alone in the house. Such was the irresponsible attitude of my father .For him the family was nothing compared to his communist philosophy. If he had been wedded to his philosophy why should he get wedded to my mother??. My father was a guard in the railways at the time of his marriage and thereafter he did Law in Belgaum University and became a Lawyer. He practiced under Barrister Row and then after some years started his own practice. He conducted cases for workers only and his office was filled with a group of workers at all times. Most of the cases were done at a low cost and hence every one crowded to his office .This was actually an unhealthy practice but he did not care about what happened to others. He would not settle cases and was actually bent upon fighting cases till the end. Several cases were fought from appeal to appeal and then lost after 10 or 15 years and the workers lost heavily. In these cases though the management advocates were fair enough to offer a fair settlement he would not accept and then everything was lost when the case was lost.

To those who pay pittance he will give his heart and soul and make his juniors also run like mad dogs but will not care for clients who pay reasonably well .According to me clients should pay well for good services and should not be given the liberty to keep filing unreasonable cases just because there is a mad lawyer to file cases free of cost or for a low cost. My thinking did not match with his philosophy and hence I was also a capitalist in his view. He always told that I had capitalist thoughts. The workers normally took advantage of his leaning towards communist philosophy and even if they were capable of paying, came out with some cock and bull story of poverty and inability to pay because of a large family and children and these fellows ..I will go to the extent of calling them scums of the society .. will be so demanding and complain about juniors not representing their cases properly as if they knew and understood what was being represented. Later on after 2 to 3 years of hard work and winning the case they will disappear without paying a single paisa as fees . These were the scums he was fighting for. Had he cared for his family he would have made us into great personalities and we would also have lived in comfort. His juniors had cars whereas he will not purchase a car .The reason was, others will equate him to a capitalist. As if all who owned cars are capitalists. He was crocked in other ways also. In the 80’s there were no flush toilets in the houses .Toilets were built in one corner of the house .The toilet consisted of a tiled room with a ventilation of one feet between the wall and the roof. There was a brick wall of one feet height at one end of the room and we had to sit on the wall and dislodge the stools on the other side .This was where every one in the house had to shit and the stools were just lying there drying up and emanating bad smell. Every day in the morning a scavenger will come with a bucket and a ladle and pick up the stools and wash the toilet with water.(see picture) Even when I was in my Thathas house we had a flush type European closet. In the rented house we had an Indian flush closet but in this house we did not have a flush toilet. I, my sister and my mother had been pleading for a flush toilet for years together but my father refused to build one since according to him he had ot spend huge sums of money to install the flush closet and to build the septic tank 6 feet by 12 feet by 5 feet. Though he will not build the septic tank which is a basic necessity, my father at the height of idiocy and ego went to construct a fish tank 15 ft by 12 ft in length and breadth and 15 ft deep. A septic tank will not cost even one third of the cost of this mammoth fish tank. You will laugh your head out if I tell you the reason. Ther was one Mr Hubert who was the assistant headmaster of Corley high School. His house was in the main road (i.e. MES road).One day my dad had seen some pit being dug in his house and one Dads friends had told him that Hubert master was going to build a big fish tank.Almost all of my Dads friends were idiots who will give some story and walk off .Never have they spoken sense. On hearing this my Dad came home and said that he should build a fish tank before any one in MES road builds one and especially before Hubert master could build one. And so with this rotten ego he started investing on this massive fish tank. This massive brick structure of the tank was completed and then there was some funds shortage and in order to complete the construction he started doing the plastering work by himself .Not only did he do it but forced me to carry cement and sand and mix the same and also forced me to do plastering work . The cement will flow past the handle of the trowel (Koluru in Tamil) and reach our palms and the cement will eat in to the skin and flesh of our palms. The next day we had to cover these wounds with plaster and dressing and go to work again because for him his fish tank should be completed. The tank was completed in such fashion. As we did not have a pumping motor we had to draw water and pour it into this massive tank. We had a large metal drum placed near the well .We first drew water from the well which was about 25 to 30 feet deep, filled it up and siphoned the water using a plastic tube. Once the siphon started functioning we tried to keep the water flowing by drawing water at great speed from the well and filling up the drum and maintain a steady level. This cruelty fell upon me .My sister and mother also will draw some water but they could not go on for long .Of course my father also joined in drawing water. Because the plastering was not done professionally the tank developed leaks and with such pressure on all sides the water will seep out fast and we had to fill it up and maintain the level every day. This sort of cruelty would not have happened to any child in this world. With one third of this cost he could have built a flush toilet and had a pump installed to water the garden also but he would not do it since he was confident that this fool of an ass (I am meaning me only) is there to do any work which he commands me to do. We lived without a flush toilet and a water pump for many years thereafter and only in 1979 or so he set up a flush toilet. I my mother, my sister and many other relatives advised him to first build the toilet and install the pump but he would not listen. To him he was the world and every other thing was immaterial. He will not accept good advice from any one but he will readily accept bad advice from all. My father used to make full use of Sundays. After sending me and my mother and sister to the church he will have a nice time with Sakunthala. One day my sister had to stay back at home as she was sick and when she went to the kitchen to get water she had seen Fenn walter getting into the same bathroom with Sakunthala. She revealed this doubt to me and the next Sunday I made it appear as if I was sick and I hid in the kitchen. I too saw Fenn Walter and Sakunthala entering the same bathroom. When we all went to the church they got together in the bedroom and at other times it was the bath room. My fathers relationship with the servant maid Sakunthala was made known to my mother by my sister. My mother spoke to Fenn walter and pleaded to him not to let her down. He said that he had no relationship with Sakuntahala and that he will not let my mother down. Now that this scoundrel Fenn Walter had come to know that my mother knows about the illegal clandestine relationship his wrath became more and more on us and my mother. From then on he will come very late to the house .He will not speak much to my mother. He will irritate her and make her cry often. With continuous crying she developed wheezing .It developed into Bronchitis. In order to cure this Walter brought a person calling him a doctor and he gave three capsules to be taken each day at various times. On taking these tablets my mother used to gasp fro breath and choke .She refused to take these capsules but walter appeared along with the said doctor on the next day and the doctor said that this was a very good medicine and that the wheezing will first increase and then start decreasing and will be gone completely. Though my mother was not convinced by this and refused to take the capsules my father forced her to consume the same and after a few months she died. One day she became very serious and in the meanwhile my Thatha and Thathi had a vision as if something was wrong with my mother and they suddenly came to our house without even dropping a letter. They stayed for 4 days and were about to leave on the 5th day.The doctors appointment was obtained on this 5th day only so they cancelled their tickets and booked tickets for the next day. We took her to the Hospital at Tambaram Sanatorium .After checking my mother the doctor said that she should be admitted immediately. We waited in the car for some time ,about 30 to 40 minutes while walter went round getting the formalities in place and filling up the forms for admitting her . After the foramalities we took her to the bed .In fact she walked by herself from the car to the bed and she sat on the bed and attempted to lean over buteven before her head hit the pillow she was dead and collapsed on to the bed. We were all shocked. As fate would have it I lost my mother . We brought her home and performed her last rites and cremated her in the Tambaram CSI Church cemetery which is on the way to Kishkinta.I am fully convinced that Fen Walter murdered my mother by feeding her with poison through the so called doctor. He was a fake and not a doctor. In short my father was a perfect example of what a man ought not to be. My grand parents were totally shaken by my mothers death. My Grandfather was so heart broken that he did not go out for his routine daily walks and became weak. My grand parents stayed back in our house to take care of my father myself and my sister. My father started looking for a groom for my sister shortly after my mothers death and the first groom which he finalized was an advocate. We all went to the grooms’ house to see the groom .This was in total contravention of the normal process. It was our custom that the groom came to the brides’ house. This groom told my father that he has to first look after the marriage arrangements of his sisters before he could marry and that it would take atleast 6 months to 1 year to get married. I am sure that he told this because he did not get the expected Dowry. All that my father could give as dowry was the 50,000 or so which he had managed to get from a workers settlement which he finalized in some company and the coconut grove which my grandfather had given to him as dowry at the time of his marriage and all the jewels of my mother which my grand father had given her at the time of her marriage. I knew that walter had received several such 50,000’s and lakhs out of various settlements but we did not know where it all went. The second groom was a teacher who was shorter than my sister by a few inches . My sister accepted because of the pressure exerted by my father but then before finalizing my grand parents took courage and told walter that my sister was not interested in the marriage. He got so wild that he shouted at my grand parents and went to the extent of saying that they need not be in our house and that they can go back to Nagercoil. They were so humiliated by this walter who was not worth the dust in their shoes. Some how we persuaded our grand parents to stay for some time but since walter was not behaving well with them they went back to Nagercoil after some days. A few days after they had gone walter came to me and said “you remember one perseus who had come to our house on one occasion. Salima had once told that we can marry your sister to him. Can you find out if he is interested” I immediately spoke to my grand parents in Nagercoil and shortly thereafter arrangements were made for the meeting of the bride and groom and though Perseus was of dark complexion my sister consented for the marriage as he was tall and had a good physique. Before my sisters marriage I got news that walter is staying in Pallavaram . After my grand parents went back to Nagercoil, on many days walter did not come home in the night but would come home in the morning .He would shamelessly travel in the cycle rickshaw for every one in MES road to see him coming in the morning. He will stay at home for some time and go to office. One day I checked his bag and found freshly cooked hot lunch in a Tiffin box. This confirmed that walter was having some affair and on one day in the night I and one of my friends went to Pallavaram station, followed walter and traced where he was staying. There we saw two ladies who looked like ladies sweeping the road. One of them looked like a barrel .She resembled an elephant and had the face of a man. We came back silently. I had not told about this to any one but planned to break walters legs or kill him on some day. I was waiting for my sisters marriage to get over. In the mean while my sisters marriage took place and my sister went to Nagercoil to live along with her husband A few weeks after my sisters marriage on one day Ganiappa uncle called me and asked me whether walter was coming home regularly .when I hesitated to answer he told me that he is living with another lady. I told him that I knew it. The next day he and Nagarajan uncle (Doctor Ravi’ father) went to my fathers office and requested him to give my share of my mothers property and also to give some money to him . He was so infuriated that he asked them to get out. The next day he had taken one Mathi who was a terminated employee from Best and Crompton company to the house of Ganiappa uncle and Nagarajan uncle and has pointed out to them and has made it appear as if he is showing the house to some rowdy so as to make them to think that they will be attacked any time .This was nothing but an illegal threat to them simply because they supported me. Shortly thereafter walter sent a notice to my grand father Mr Fredrick Nehemiah , Ganiappa uncle and Nagarajan uncle stating that they had threatened him and that because of their acts he was suffering from insomnia and that he intended to initiate appropriate legal proceedings against them. In the said notice he had made several dirty allegations against all of them and particularly against my Grand father. This caused severe mental strain on my grand parents . Thereafter my grandparents with the help of thathas brother in law ,retired IG Devasahayam attempted to fix up a meeting with walter but he declined to come and discuss. Thereafter on one day in the morning walter came to the house with about 200 persons (later on I came to know that they were all union members from Dunlop and Best & Crompton) who surrounded the house. One bastard by name Matthews held me pinned to my seat and after some time walter walked in along with this fat lady whom I saw in the pallavaram house and started checking all the rooms as if I have sold the treasures of the house. The union members tried to persuade me to stay in the house but I did not agree but I was unable to move out as I was held captive. Along with me one of my friends who happened to be with me in the house by name Miller also was held captive. On knowing this Millers mother came and made a great hue and cry and on seeing the commotion a crowd gathered and in the melee miller and I walked out of the house. I was out of the house but had only the Pant and T shirt I was wearing. Hearing all this walters brother, i.e. my periyappa Mr Stanley Dhas rushed from Avadi. He took stock of the situation and told my thatha and thathi who were in Ganiappa uncles house that he will go and speak to walter and try to get my books and clothes .At that time I was doing my M.A .Economics in Pachaiyappas house . Why I had to leave MCC and go to Pachaiyappas is yet another story which I will write later. Periyappa went to our house and asked the gate to be opened but was refused by walter and hence from the road itself fhe has asked walter to give my dress and books but walter has rejected his request. Periyappa came back, a broken man. I prepared to discontinue my studies and go to Nagercoil but periyappa insisted that I stay with him and complete my MA .I stayed in his house and completed my MA and went back to Nagercoil. After going to Nagercoil I filed a case against walter claiming my share of my mothers property .The case was ordered ex-parte since walter nor his advocate appeared for the hearing. Walter as cranky as he was, instead of filing a petition to set aside the ex-parte order filed a complaint against the advocate. The advocate got wild and he and the others decided not to appear in this case . In Nagercoil ,I got employed as a teacher in Kanyakumari public school ,with the helpof my grandparents and worked as teacher in the primary school for one year . Therafter since the principal of the school asked me to deposit my original certificates I left the school and with great difficulty joined Scott Christian College as lecturer in the department of Economics. One day Mr Justin one of the juniors of walter came to my grand parents house and told me that walter had realized his mistakes and had decided to make the wish of my mother to make me an advocate come true and wanted me to join law and become an advocate and be with him . I also thought that instead of hopping from job to job it was better to become an advocate ,using this opportunity. Walter had sent some money to enroll as advocate and I ,with the help of some of my friends in nagercoil joined JSS Law College in Mysore .Thereafter I came to Madras and joined walter and practiced as a labour law practictioner by filing authorization forms instead of vakalat in the labour courts. I passed BL and started practicing as an advocate. After some months of practice I got to know the trick of the trade and by Gods grace became one of the stars in the labour courts and High Courts . After coming over to Madras and starting to practice as a junior to FennWalter I planned my first trip to Nagercoil to meet my loving Thatha and thathi in April. Just two days before I was about to leave for Nagercoil I received a Telegram stating that my Thatha Mr Fredrick. G. Nehemiah had died. I immediately rushed to Nagercoil. While I was at my Thathas house I received my own letter that I was coming to Nagercoil to see my Thatha and Thathi. It was a great shock to me that I could not be by the side of my Thatha at the time of his death. Just 2 days before I could come over to Nagercoil for the summer vacation he died .I had to cancel my ticket and pre-pone my journey. Through out his life he was a teetotaler and did not possess any bad or harmful habits. He prayed every day .Family prayer in the morning and in the night was a routine. He was hale and healthy till the end except for being weakened and shaken by the shock of my mothers death. He was the embodiment of love and affection and he is my role model. Atlast my role model was no more .I felt very sad and I can’t express my broken heart in words. On getting down at Nagercoil bus stand I got an auto and went to my Thathas house .John Maama was at the gate ,waiting for my appearance.he caught hold of me and told me not to cry or make any comments as my Thathi would get upset. Of course I also knew that. There I saw my Thatha been laid on his bed resting in peace. His days were over, his sufferings were over. I had a glimpse of him for some time and then moved out to the garden. I started pondering over his life and death and I felt comfortable that he died peacefully without suffering from any sickness, disability or health problems except that he made use of his walking stick for a few years before his death. My greatest feeling was about my Thathi Mrs Grace Sundarabai Fredrick . How was she going to live alone in such a huge house and who was going to take care of her.

Even when his mother Mrs mabel thasiah died, he happened to be in Nagercoil. My grand parents and my grandmothers younger sister Mrs Louis selvabai Kitchley , wife of Doctor Kitchley the famous doctor in Madurai pleaded with my father to come and attend the funeral but he refused. Such was this man...