-- By S. Natarajan
To say that everyone in my family adored my sister, Kanthimathi, would be an understatement. Following her achievement in the S.S.L.C. (Secondary School Leaving Certificate) public examinations, the events surrounding her going to college for the first time illustrate that adoration and love very well.
My Akka (elder sister), after finishing her S.S.L.C., wanted to join the Pre-University Course (P.U.C.). In those days, every student wanting to go to college for his or her undergraduate studies had to first finish the P.U.C. In 1962-63, there were only a few colleges in Tamil Nadu that were exclusively for women. In the erstwhile Coimbatore District, there was only one college for women, namely, Nirmala College in Coimbatore. The next choice after that was the famous Holy Cross College in Trichy. My father decided to send Akka to that college.
The first step in the admission process was to write a letter to the college requesting an application form. After that, getting the application form would take nearly ten days. At that time, there were no other communication facilities besides postal mail. Everything - acknowledgement for the application form, interview card, admission letter, etc. - had to be sent and received by postal mail. My parents deputed me to go to the post office to pick up all our mail. Finally, my sister got admission to Holy Cross College, Trichy.
The whole family was eager to send her out of town for her higher studies. There was no other girl in our family or among our relatives who went to college. So, Kanthi Akka got special attention from everybody. My father, chithappa (uncle - my mother's brother-in-law) and R.S.R. chithappa (another brother-in-law of my mother) would keep dropping by at home from work to see what preparations were going on. My mother prepared homemade snacks for Akka's hostel life. These kind of things are very interesting compared to life nowadays. For my sister's hostel life, everything was given to her, even address-filled post cards to enable her to easily send weekly letters home.
There was a family friend called Somu Pillai who was the thickest friend of my grandfather (Chinnappa Gounder). He wanted to send his daughter, Malayammal, along with my sister to study in the same college. The preparations and all the hustle took on the flavor of a festival. Finally, the day came and my father arranged for a car to take the luggage (petrol cost just 90 paise per liter). My sister and her friend Malayammal reached the college hostel.
The very next day, my father, mother and grandfather were already expecting the first letter from Akka. The first letter came in a few days and everybody was in a happy mood. Within ten days, everybody decided to go and visit Kanthi Akka in the hostel. They decided to travel by train. I wanted to join them as train travel was very interesting. In those days, there were only steam engine trains. They had top speeds of 40-50 kmph. The running time from Tirupur to Trichy was more than 7 hours, and the fare was just Rs. 7. Anyway, seven members of my family started our train journey to visit Akka in the hostel within only ten days after she had joined there! My mother had prepared food for the train journey and we all went like we were on a tour. The excitement and sense of pride of my sister going to college lasted that whole year.
To say that everyone in my family adored my sister, Kanthimathi, would be an understatement. Following her achievement in the S.S.L.C. (Secondary School Leaving Certificate) public examinations, the events surrounding her going to college for the first time illustrate that adoration and love very well.
My Akka (elder sister), after finishing her S.S.L.C., wanted to join the Pre-University Course (P.U.C.). In those days, every student wanting to go to college for his or her undergraduate studies had to first finish the P.U.C. In 1962-63, there were only a few colleges in Tamil Nadu that were exclusively for women. In the erstwhile Coimbatore District, there was only one college for women, namely, Nirmala College in Coimbatore. The next choice after that was the famous Holy Cross College in Trichy. My father decided to send Akka to that college.
The first step in the admission process was to write a letter to the college requesting an application form. After that, getting the application form would take nearly ten days. At that time, there were no other communication facilities besides postal mail. Everything - acknowledgement for the application form, interview card, admission letter, etc. - had to be sent and received by postal mail. My parents deputed me to go to the post office to pick up all our mail. Finally, my sister got admission to Holy Cross College, Trichy.
The whole family was eager to send her out of town for her higher studies. There was no other girl in our family or among our relatives who went to college. So, Kanthi Akka got special attention from everybody. My father, chithappa (uncle - my mother's brother-in-law) and R.S.R. chithappa (another brother-in-law of my mother) would keep dropping by at home from work to see what preparations were going on. My mother prepared homemade snacks for Akka's hostel life. These kind of things are very interesting compared to life nowadays. For my sister's hostel life, everything was given to her, even address-filled post cards to enable her to easily send weekly letters home.
There was a family friend called Somu Pillai who was the thickest friend of my grandfather (Chinnappa Gounder). He wanted to send his daughter, Malayammal, along with my sister to study in the same college. The preparations and all the hustle took on the flavor of a festival. Finally, the day came and my father arranged for a car to take the luggage (petrol cost just 90 paise per liter). My sister and her friend Malayammal reached the college hostel.
The very next day, my father, mother and grandfather were already expecting the first letter from Akka. The first letter came in a few days and everybody was in a happy mood. Within ten days, everybody decided to go and visit Kanthi Akka in the hostel. They decided to travel by train. I wanted to join them as train travel was very interesting. In those days, there were only steam engine trains. They had top speeds of 40-50 kmph. The running time from Tirupur to Trichy was more than 7 hours, and the fare was just Rs. 7. Anyway, seven members of my family started our train journey to visit Akka in the hostel within only ten days after she had joined there! My mother had prepared food for the train journey and we all went like we were on a tour. The excitement and sense of pride of my sister going to college lasted that whole year.
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