My Grandfather

My Grandfather

My grandfather was late Denga Naik. He was my mother’s father. Dharamma was my late grandmother. She had belonged to one of the oldest ancestral family of Hosbayya Naik, one of the leading personality of those days, lived in old Toppalakeri, in Honnavar Taluk. My mother was second eldest daughter of late Denga Naik. My mother had studied only up to seventh standard in those days. Her brothers and other younger sisters were more educated than her.

     My mother’s name was Devamma. After marriage my father had changed her name Manorama. My mother was fond of her father. At home my mother had taught all of us beginning with alphabets when we were small kids. Not only I even my other five sisters and one brother had learnt from her during childhood. My mother was our first teacher. In leisure time, at home she used to tell us wonderful and interesting things about my grandfather Denga Naik…..

He was very tall and handsome. Always he dressed neatly. He used to wear white shirt, white dothi and a long black over-coat, on the top that would cover up to his knee. He used to wear turbon over his head in a stylish way. He used to wear a tiny round alarm clock with a lengthy silver-chain placed in his coat-pocket, entangled the other end of the chain to his coat-button. With a walking-stick in his hand, used to walk majestically. People used to greet him in awe and respect.

 He was the Head-master of old St. Thomas high school in Honnavar at his retirement. He was man of letters. He had written number of poems and books in Kannada. He had deep knowledge in English and Sanskrit.

He used to perform religious functions like SatyaNarayan Pooja at home by himself, following all religious vidhis by chanting mantras. He was sympathetic. He used to help people who were in distress. He used to solve tussles in- families tactfully.

Those days, hardly we had been to grandfather’s house. My father was strict-disciplinarian. He didn’t like to send us to relatives’ house. When my grandfather used to come home, we had felt happy for he was giving us peppermints and sweet toffees. The last time I had seen him when I was in ninth standard. We had stayed in a rented-house in Sanappa- Chawl at the back of Devikeri in Sirsi. My father was Circle-Officer at that time. My grandfather had come home. We were over-joyed to eat ‘benne-butter’ which he had fetched. That was the last. After two years he died.

When I was working in college in Kumta, many teachers had asked me,“your grandfather was such a great personality, why can’t you write about him?” I had kept mum. I could not spare time to write for I was heavily burdened with my college and house-hold work.

 Even now I cannot forget the gigantic- figure of my grandfather. It cannot be vanished from my memory. I bow my head in respect when I think of him.

 

                                                                             Indu Naik