My sister and I - a long, long time ago -- By S. Natarajan
The year was 1962. My sister Kanthimathi completed her S.S.L.C., which would be high school's 11th standard these days. She scored 100% in Mathematics in the public examinations. In those days, 53 years ago, it was rare for girls to be in school and even rarer to complete school and be in the school final exams. So, the news of my sister's achievement spread in Tirupur, our hometown, and everyone talked about it. Newspapers flashed the news, "Kanthimathi, daughter of Mr. Sellamuthu, cotton merchant, got 100/100 in Maths" and carried photographs of father and daughter on the front page. I was in the 6th standard then and it felt great for me to say that my sister got a state rank like that. A function was arranged two months later and a gold medal was given to her. A Mr. Sundaravadivel, Chief Educational Officer, gave her the medal. All the school teachers and important VIP's in Tirupur attended the felicitation.
My friends were asking me to give them a treat to celebrate my sister's achievement. In those days, masala dosai was famous as nobody would make it at home and it was only available in restaurants. There was a famous restaurant called Venkateswara Cafe. I took six of my friends to that restaurant. I got them one masala dosai and one tea each. One masala dosai cost 50 paise and tea was 15 paise, so the total for one person was 65 paise, and my total cost for treating my friends that day was 6 x 0.65 = 3 rupees and 90 paise, an unbelievable price in this day and age.
The year was 1962. My sister Kanthimathi completed her S.S.L.C., which would be high school's 11th standard these days. She scored 100% in Mathematics in the public examinations. In those days, 53 years ago, it was rare for girls to be in school and even rarer to complete school and be in the school final exams. So, the news of my sister's achievement spread in Tirupur, our hometown, and everyone talked about it. Newspapers flashed the news, "Kanthimathi, daughter of Mr. Sellamuthu, cotton merchant, got 100/100 in Maths" and carried photographs of father and daughter on the front page. I was in the 6th standard then and it felt great for me to say that my sister got a state rank like that. A function was arranged two months later and a gold medal was given to her. A Mr. Sundaravadivel, Chief Educational Officer, gave her the medal. All the school teachers and important VIP's in Tirupur attended the felicitation.
My friends were asking me to give them a treat to celebrate my sister's achievement. In those days, masala dosai was famous as nobody would make it at home and it was only available in restaurants. There was a famous restaurant called Venkateswara Cafe. I took six of my friends to that restaurant. I got them one masala dosai and one tea each. One masala dosai cost 50 paise and tea was 15 paise, so the total for one person was 65 paise, and my total cost for treating my friends that day was 6 x 0.65 = 3 rupees and 90 paise, an unbelievable price in this day and age.
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Gold Medal in S.S.L.C. Mathematics, 1962 (Click on above images to enlarge)
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