Sholay

I remember father telling us about Sholay. He had seen it in Nellore during his visit there, and he was very impressed. The whole story, and the SanjeevKumar and Jaya roles really appealed to him. It was after his description that really intrigued me and pushed me to see the movie.

Rafi...

All of us are very fond of Mohammad Rafi and his songs. Father had some wonderful Rafi songs, including the famous duets with Asha and Geeta Dutt, from movies like CID. Of course, the classic from Parasmani, Salamat Raho, was another favorite of mine, though the song on the flip side was more popular.

Keeping up with the times....

My favorite film music is from the periods 1950-1982, the music I heard while I was growing up, till my early twenties. I seem to revert back to the music of those days, and I have not kept up with the music of today. What is most amazing about our father was that though he grew up with the music of and Madahavapeti Satyam and Saigal and Pankaj Mallick in his early youth, he kept up with the trends in music, and even in his fifties he would find great joy in listening to contemporary music- like the tunes from Chit Chor or songs from Cheekati Velugulu. A very rare trait- something my brother inherited.

"Exam"ined carefully

Our parents took a lot of interest in our education, our exams and our report cards. Even after I went to IIT, dad would receive the grades in the mail and would enquire as to the reason why I appeared to be goofing off. However, when I told him I was planning to go to the U.S. he did support me fully by buying me whatever books I needed to prepare for GRE and TOEFL.

News Junkies

Our father used to read the newspaper regularly- he was a news junkie. He would also listen, without fail, to the AIR news, often at 9 PM. Perhaps because of that influence, all his children turned out to be news addicts as well, each one trying to upstage the other.

GSI Office near the Post Office in Himayat Nagar

A memory from early childhood- I was going to fourth and fifth class at Rabindra Niketan, near my home in Himayat Nagar, and my father's GSI office was in a little building which also housed the Post Office. It was across the street from the school.

Pencil and Ink

Dad used to sharpen our pencils so that we would have sharp ones to take to school. He used to do it the old-fashioned way, using a sharp blade. We did not have sharpeners initially. When we were older, dad would fill our fountain pens with ink. I remember writing my exams in Little Flower with a fountain pen. Such delightful memories....