My appupa was a good-looking guy and a very funny man. He was a man of few words just like NR. NR has his good looks just like his great-grandfather. My grandpa spoke only Malayalam till his death though the majority of his adult life was spent in Tamil Nadu.
My grandpa came from a well-known family (tharavad) from Aluva, Kerela. There is a hearsay that his grandfather was the first one to study law in Chennai under the orders of then travancore Maharaja. We knew very little about his family back in Aluva , since he migrated to Nagercoil at a very young age after his mother’s death. He worked in police department and went for special duty at Thanumalayan temple during festivals. My ammuma’s (maternal grandmother) father was a top temple official at Thanumalayan temple at that time.
He was car crazy guy just like NR. He had the latest cars like Morris Minor in those days and my first two periyammas are only witness to his wealth.
I remember the long evening walks I used to take with my appupa from my grandmother house in Saidapet to my eldest periyammas house at Nandanam on the sidewalks of Mount Road in early 1970’s . He had a crooked walk due to an accident. He used to talk to me about things that interest him on the road like cars on the road. I never used to understand him well since ammuma and younger siblings of my mother who stayed with my grandparents house at that time spoke only tamil most of the time.
In those days , I saw only few cars on the Mount Road but many autorickshaws, rickshaws , bullock carts and Pallavan Transport buses . I remember a lone traffic police at Mount Road - Nandanam/VenkatNarayana Road intersection. Current Temple tower complex opposite to Housing Board was a huge sunken lot with overgrown grass and it had an old jeep in an upright position at the rear end of the lot. During our walks the sight of the old jeep meant we are closer to my periyamma house. I was less than 3 years old at that time and I can still remember everyting so vividly. The overturned jeep and the lot remained the same until the start of the temple tower complex construction .
I remember a funny incident that happened 32-33 yrs back. My grandpa lived with my mom’s eldest sisters after my grandma died. There was a ration shop just next door in a shopping area. That ration shop had a new hire named John. Occasionally my grandpa would go there to buy grocery upon my periyamma’s request. On one such occasion he had bought “Rava” (sooji) and I think it cost around 25 or 50 paisa in those days. Since it is government shop, the clerk (John) has to give receipt with the customer name for each transaction. He asked my grandpa’s name and my grandpa replied “Billy Mora”. His real name was Velayutham Pillai. He brought the receipt home with a name "Billy Mora" and shared the story with my periyamma . It seemed he was so annoyed that for a little change, he had to give his name as if it’s land deed. In his work days, even getting salary didn't involve any paper work like receipts.
John was a naïve guy from a remote village in Kanyakumari district starting his life as a provision clerk in government shop. He truly believed my grandpa name was Billy Mora. After few months, John befriended our family since we are also from Kanyakumari district and then knew my grandpa's real name. John worked in the same ration shop even during my Anna university days.
Whenever I heard this story, I thought my grandpa has made up the name “Billy Mora”. But after immigrating to US, I came to know that this is a real name . I was curious to know -how my grandpa knew this name? Did he come across somebody with this name or read this name in books? Kerela has a rich history of Christian missionaries from Europe and South America especially Aluva district. May be he knew somebody with that name. I wish he was alive to answer these questions. I wish he was alive to see his great-grandson who resemble him in every aspect.
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