A granddaughter remembers...

Some moving reminiscences on the occasion of veteran actor Sivaji Ganesan's birth anniversary.Sivaji Ganesan... a name that's synonymous with great acting and a charismatic presence on the silver screen. He was known by several titles and has more than 300 films to his credit. Enough and more has been written about Sivaji Ganesan, the actor. But what was he like as a grandparent? His granddaughter takes a trip down memory lane...

"To us grandchildren (nine of them), he was our dearest Dada Sahib, who lavished us with lots of love and affection. We consider ourselves fortunate to have grown up under his loving are.

By the time we arrived on the scene, he had slowed his hectic pace of life and was much more relaxed and more accessible to all of us.

I remember my sisters and cousins would spend the greater part of the day playing in our grandfather's room, listening to him narrating stories about his real and reel life or laughing and enjoying ourselves as he repeated the verse "Vannanukku vannathi mela aasai, vannathikku kazhudai mela aasai"!

One of his favourite stories was about how he played female roles such as that of Noorjehan, during the early days of his stage career. Perhaps that explains why he was very good at giving us useful tips on make-up and colour combinations.

Grandpa loved to see all of us dressed traditionally... in grand silk saris, with lots of jewellery and flowers adorning the hair. Dada Sahib always rehearsed our bridal make-up before our weddings. In fact, I remember during my Bharatanatyam arangetram, he personally supervised every detail of the show, whether it was my costume or the stage dicor.

My grandfather was an early riser and was obsessed with neatness and punctuality. We imbibed these qualities from him. He was very broad-minded and forward in his thinking and views.

While talking about him, it would be apt to mention my grandmother, Kamala Ganesan or Kamalamma as she is better known.

The maxim "Behind every man there is a successful woman" is absolutely true as far as she is concerned.

My grandparents were Appa and Amma to everybody.

Ours is a joint family and all of us stay at "Annai Illam", our home. The credit for keeping the family bonds strong goes to my great-grandmother Rajathi Ammal and Kamalamma."

PRIYADHARSHINI NAGENDRAN

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