പൂരം പിറന്ന ഉത്തമ പുരുഷൻ നവതിയുടെ നിറവിൽ

  ഉത്തമ പുരുഷൻ

തൊണ്ണൂറാം ജന്മദിനം ആഘോഷിക്കുന്ന ഞങ്ങളുടെ അച്ഛന് എല്ലാ വിധ മംഗളാശംസകളും നേരുന്നു.

പൂരം പിറന്ന പുരുഷൻ എന്ന ചൊല്ല് അച്ഛനെ സംബന്ധിച്ചിടത്തോളം വളരെ അനുയോജ്യം തന്നെ.

ഔദ്യോഗിക ജീവിതത്തിലെ സത്യസന്ധതയും പ്രതിബന്ധതയും എന്നും ഞങ്ങൾ മക്കൾക്ക് പ്രചോദനമായിരുന്നു.

ക്ഷമയുടെ മൂർത്തിമത് ഭാവം എന്ന് വിശേഷിപ്പിക്കാവുന്ന ഒരു വ്യക്തി കൂടിയാണ് അച്ഛൻ.

അച്ഛന്റെ അനുഗ്രഹവും സ്നേഹവും എന്നും ഞങ്ങളുടെ കൂടെ ഉണ്ടാവണം എന്ന് പ്രാർത്ഥിക്കുന്നു.

ഇനിയും കുറെയേറെ പിറന്നാളുകൾ ഞങ്ങളോടോത്ത് ആഘോഷിക്കാൻ അന്നപൂർണ്ണേശ്വരി അനുഗ്രഹിക്കട്ടെ എന്ന് പ്രാർത്ഥിക്കുന്നു.

മക്കൾ, മരുമക്കൾ.

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Our Achan – An All-Rounder

Wishing Achan a very Happy Birthday! a very special milestone birthday , it’s his 90th birthday indeed.

Our Achan (Thekke Veetil Padmanabhan), born on 4th November 1930 in a small village Cherukunnu, left his village when he was just 17 years of age to Madras. After passing his service commission exam he took up a job there. In the year 1955 he moved to Hyderabad and has continued to live there till date.

Achan married our mother (Late.Mrs K P Radha Padmanabhan) in 1957. He eventually joined PWD in Hyderabad and retired as a Gazetted Officer. After marriage, he also pursued his BA degree in English literature from Nizam College (attended an evening college) in 1960s.

Achan has always been an inspiration for all of us in the family for various things. He has a very good command over English language. During our school/college days, he would summarise the poems so beautifully into simple English, making it more interesting that the poetic language was never a difficult task for us.

Achan is also an ardent devotee of Devi Annapoorneshwari and would make sure he visits the Cherukkunnu Annapoorneshwari temple during Navaratri days every year.

He’s very soft-spoken, modest, sincere, well adjusting and someone who loves to travel. He loves gardening and can spend hours with plants. Drawing is his passion and he’s quite excited to do it any day effortlessly. He maintains his personal diary even today.

Achan enjoys watching cricket, the only sport he watches, also likes to cook and the artist in him will be clearly seen in his vegetable cutting.

His cheerful energetic nature emits lots of positivity around all of us….

Achan, you are really an “all-rounder”. This famous quote describes Achan quite well.

“A father is neither the anchor that holds us back, nor the sail to take us there, but a guiding light whose love shows us the way.”

May God bless him with good health and continued enthusiasm

With lots of love …..Family

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My Dear ACHACHAN: 90 Years Young

How could one ever encapsulate all that one’s grandparents have meant to them? They simply cannot. No words would ever do justice! But it would be remiss to say nothing. This is just a feeble attempt at the same, on the occasion of my Achachan’s 90th birthday.

I could enlist so many wonderful things about him – his integrity, his humility, his love for God, the country and others, his generosity… the list just goes on.

I could talk about his accolades and accomplishments and all the ways he has been of use to God, to bless others around him. But Achachan is so much more than how he is seen in the public eye, and he wouldn’t want the limelight, anyway.

उत्साहो बलवानार्य नास्त्युत्साहात्परं बलम् ।
सोत्साहस्य लोकेषु न किञ्चिदपि दुर्लभम् ॥

Is a Sanskrit quote that Achachan wholly believes in and lives by

It translates to:

Enthusiasm is the power of noble men.
Nothing is as powerful as enthusiasm.
Nothing is difficult in this world for an enthusiastic person.

I’m so immensely proud of my grandpa, for even at the age of 90, his zeal for life is unparalleled!
He is a man of character. He is honest, loving and kind hearted. He loves God and his family and we know it by his actions.

My memories with him are some of the best I have. Not just the evenings he used to spend gardening on our terrace, the family trips we made during our summer vacations, or even the times he would buy tasty snacks for all of us on his way back from office. But even the tiniest things, like him helping me out with my English Essays and Art projects stand out.

He has lived a fulfilling life. He still excitedly narrates stories from his childhood spent in Kannapuram, his experiences working as a Gazetted officer for the then Andhra Government or simply the days he would help my late Achamma in the kitchen. He still remembers every little detail and fondly reminisces them. Isn’t it admirable?

Achachan has always been so progressive in his thought and supported all of us wholeheartedly in our endeavors.

Other than my maternal grandma, Late Mrs. KP Dhanalakshmi, if there’s anyone that has been inspirational and has had a profound impact on my life, it would be my Achachan. I thank God everyday for having blessed me with such great role models.

Happiest of birthdays to you, Achachan.

Love,

Bunty & Priya
(KP Krishna Kumar & KP Padmapriya)

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The Coolest Nonagenarian!

The great orator, the artist, the man with a green thumb and the most progressive person in our family!

We learnt to give, to look at the brighter side of things when the chips are down and to challenge ourselves because of him.

He has been part of our speeches, our arts and science projects and he has made not only his terrace garden, but our lives bloom with his presence,he has been a great motivator and support when we needed him and he has always been around being the best father and grandpa in town!

To the world he is the dear Pappettan and to us he is our dearest most caring Achan/ Achapan!

He rocks cerulean blue even at his age! On his 90th birthday, all we wish for is his good health, smiling demeanour and many many more years of his presence in our lives!

God bless our Achan, Achapan and now a great grandfather to 3 lovely girls!

Ravi, Shobana, Rashmi, Roshni, Amit, Ashish, Anjali, Muskaan & Rhea
(Bangalore & Canada)

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Our Wings to fly

Dear Achappan,

You have taught your grandchildren so much just by being the person you are.

You are an example on how to live and love life.

The things we learn from you are endless, here are a few:
1. Be dedicated to everything you do and do it like there is no tomorrow. (Whether it was cutting vegetables or picking pooja flowers , he did every job well)
2. Care for nature and make sure you make time for it. (He loves his garden)
3. Pray ardently even if life has been tough on you.
4. Help with cooking. (He loves to cook and makes very tasty appams)
5. Read. Life only teaches you so much. The rest we learn from what we read (His Reader’s Digest collection was HUGE)
6. Be adventurous. Dare to try things that are different from others (He encouraged us to draw and take up music)
7. No job is small, whether it is household chores or your work, treat it equally.
8. Learn a language and master it. (He did it with English. In the time of no internet , he taught us how to use new words)
9. Generosity is key. It gives you happiness and meaning.
10.Age is just a number you have to have a young spirit , always.. (He would dance even today if you put the music on)

Happy birthday Achappa!

Loads of love,
Shweta, Arun and Vishal

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