Winds whizzed as rains lashed. The 21 yr old finally found a shelter at an old man’s house, at the end of their agraharam. He watched a lightning struck tree burn, from the window.
Previously that evening, he was treated as a stranger by his own people. People living in the agraharam did not allow him to enter inside because his mother herself failed to recognise him. His heart ached, throat choked and a few drops of tears rolled down his cheeks. The old man offered him some food which Unni Krishnan denied. The old man’s wife , unable to see this handsome, young man sad, mixed some rice with curd and force fed. Unni Krishnan ate the humble curd rice and sobbed like a baby, for, he hadn’t eaten such tasty food, whose secret ingredient was love. He never cried like this before. He was a stoic person right from the beginning.
The old couple arranged bed for Unni Krishnan to sleep. The old man asked Unni Krishnan to sleep peacefully, assuring that everything would be fine soon. Unni Krishnan couldn’t sleep all night. He thought about his past and questioned himself about what he had done 10 years ago was right or wrong…..
Year 1902….
Unni Krishnan’s father, Narayana Iyer, son of a rich silk merchant, lost his eldermost son, who died aged 15, due to some food poisoning. Narayana Iyer and his wife were broke and every inch of the house reminded them of their beloved son. His death ate the couple alive. Leaving behind all the riches and robes, along with their little son and daughter, they moved out of the house one night, to the woods, in search of some peace. They reached a village, in the Malabar and lived in a house by the Santhana Gopala temple.
2 years passed and the couple were blessed with another baby boy. He was named Unni Krishnan, after Lord Santhana Gopala.
He wasn’t any normal child. As he grew up, he began learning things very quickly and was very intelligent compared to the kids his age. He was also as naughty as Lord Krishna was and had his mother on her heels all the time. At the age of 5, he was enrolled into modern school education. At 7, his parents initiated him into a Vedic life, by giving him brahmopadesa.
Years passed… Unni Krishnan now had 3 younger sisters as well… His father’s earnings couldn’t feed all their mouths. There were nights when his parents slept with empty stomach.
One day, the 11 yr old Unni Krishnan, saw his friend’s sparkling white veshti and asked his mother to buy him one. She politely denied. He threw tantrums and his mother scolded him. An angry Unni Krishnan, walked out of his house.
It was lunch time and Unni Krishnan didn’t return home. His mother was worried because, just a day ago, a boy was trampled by an elephant which was roaming in musth. Unni Krishnan was their little son and his parents couldn’t afford to lose the apple of their eye.
Narayana Iyer and his wife, leaving the custody of their 3 little girls with their elder daughter, went in search of their son. They enquired with everyone around and finally got to know that he was having lunch at a Namboodri’s house, where the rich Namboodri would provide lunch to poor brahmin men who passed by their place. It was a way of treating the poor guests, with new clothes and offer them lunch. Unni Krishnan was the youngest among all the poor Brahmins, where in, he was offered not only new veshti, but also some money for his flawless recital of purusha suktam.
The namboodri was shocked to see Unni Krishnan’s parents. Narayana Iyer and his wife hung their head in shame and brought their son home. His mother cried in shame, because they had a name and their prestige was at stake because Unni Krishnan did what he was not supposed to do – eat at such gatherings.
They spent that day in silence. The next day, at lunch time, Unni Krishnan’s mother, handed over a new veshti to Unni Krishnan. He happily wore it and showed it off to all his friends. While he walked back home, he saw a woman wearing his mother’s silk saree. He ran home to tell what he just saw. His mother smiled and said she sold her only silk saree to the temple priest’s wife and bought the new veshti for her beloved son.
Unni Krishnan silently removed the veshti, folded it and kept it in his box and wore his old, torn veshti, hugged his mother and cried. It was then that he understood, his mother’s sacrifice. He wanted to buy a new silk saree for his mother. That night, he couldn’t sleep out of guilt.
Even before dawn, taking a tiny bag of clothes and a few bananas, he left home, before everyone else in his house woke up.
He ran as much as he could, crossed hills and small villages and he landed at Salem, a town in Tamil Nadu. There, he met a young man, who was weaving a saree. Little Unni Krishnan, befriended the young man and joined as his helper. Every day, the young man would weave some sarees and go out to sell them. Unni Krishnan would accompany him by carrying some sarees. One day, the young man sat down dejected because not one of the sarees was being sold.
Unni Krishnan took a few sarees in his little hands and ran. The young man ran behind Unni Krishnan thinking that he stole the sarees.
Unni Krishnan stopped in front of a house and sat on its verandah. The lady of that house came out for enquiry and Unni Krishnan struck a conversation with her over some water. He then showed her those sarees he had with him, which were very much liked by her. He sold all those sarees he had with him, to her. He also told her that his friend has more designs and varieties of sarees and that he would sell them to her and her kith and kin at a reasonable price. She happily agreed to this.
Unni Krishnan’s friend, the young man, was surprised at this little boy’s marketing skills. From that day, Unni Krishnan was not just a helper but also a salesman.
3 years passed and Unni Krishnan was now a 14 yr old. On his advice, his friend opened a small textile shop, which was the only one in the town and once in a while Unni Krishnan managed it.
He earned enough but he wasn’t satisfied. He had this urge to do more. He spent sleepless nights thinking about it.
One morning, along with his friend, Unni Krishnan went to Madras city, to buy some fabrics. Unni Krishnan only heard about a city before. This was the first ever time he went to one. The place was buzzing with people every where. He saw men dressed in crisp white cottons and women dressed in colourful silks. He observed that life was very different in Madras, than compared to the simple lives people lived in Salem.
After finishing their purchases at Madras, they went to Kanchipuram. Unni Krishnan saw a group of people sitting on tables and eating. He went inside to see what was happening and that’s when his friend told him that it is a hotel and people buy food there. His friend explained him about a hotel, it’s functioning, etc. Out of curiousity, Unni Krishnan went into the kitchen and spoke to the chief cook there and understood more about it.
They left to Salem. One night, while walking back home, Unni Krishnan and his friend talked about the hotel and that’s when Unni Krishnan confessed to his friend that he wanted to move out and explore more. His friend encouraged him to start a hotel, for, Unni Krishnan cooked extremely well.
On an auspicious day, Unni Krishnan, taking all his earnings, set out on a journey to Kanchipuram. The 15 yr old, went to the hotel where he befriended the chief cook and joined as an assistant cook.
There were days when he injured his hands or burnt them, while mastering to cook new dishes. He also would learn some administration work while sitting with the hotel owner. Unni Krishnan was loved by all for his friendly nature and just for him, the hotel had its customers. He also learnt to speak, read and write English and Telugu.
Meanwhile, Unni Krishnan learnt about a place, Hyderabad or Bhagyanagar , which was ruled by the Nizams, from one of his Telugu friends, who lived in Kanchipuram. Since the time he heard of the place, he wanted to visit it.
4 Years passed and Unni Krishnan learnt the trade of running a hotel. He was now the chief supervisor and chief cook at the hotel. He also frequented Madras. Once in a while, his friend from Salem would visit him and the duo would travel to places like Tirupati, Bangalore, Mysore and Hyderabad, where in, they would go for business purposes.
Unni Krishnan, of all the places he visited, he felt Hyderabad or Bhagyanagar, the right place for him to start his venture. He frequented Hyderabad and befriended some people there.
At the age of 19, he bid farewell to Kanchipuram and began his journey to Hyderabad. He landed at Abids and with the help of a few friends , he set up a small hotel named Krishna Bhavan.
Meanwhile, his friend expanded his textile business to Kanchipuram, where he also set up a weaving unit of fine silks.
In a year, Unni Krishnan became famous as Krishna Iyer and his hotel business slowly began to show some profit. Amidst the other famous vegetarian hotels, his little Krishna Bhavan was also earning some good name. Tamil families living in Hyderabad frequented Krishna Bhavan.
Two years passed in Hyderabad and Unni Krishnan decided to pay a visit to his parents. Dressed in crisp cottons, carrying bags full of gifts to his family, he set on his journey to Kerala
He travelled by train and reached the place after 2 days, late in the evening. The place he grew up as a child changed so much… The woods became an agraharam and the temple was now looked after by his family. They were in a better condition than before.
He went to his house and called out for his mother. A 10 yr old girl walked out and enquired him. He told he’s Unni Krishnan. She didn’t recognise him and told her mother about some Unni Krishnan standing at the gate.
Narayana Iyer and his wife ran out to see their son. It was late in the evening and there stood a 6 footer, in crisp cotton kurta and veshti, with a big bag. He saw his parents and told them that it was their son, Unni Krishnan, who left home at the age of 11. His mother brought the lantern close to his face and bluntly told that it wasn’t her son. The whole of agraharam gathered meanwhile. Narayana Iyer and his wife couldn’t recognise their son in the dark. He requested them to let him in and that he could explain, but because the house had young girls living, they sent him off. People at the agraharam also agreed with Narayana Iyer and his wife and asked him not to enter into the agraharam till his parents recognised him.
Dejected, Unni Krishnan walked out of the agraharam. It began raining and people denied to give him some shelter for the night. He knocked the door of an old couple, who had no children. On enquiry, he told them his story and they immediately gave him a shelter to live, for as long as he wanted.
It rained heavily, for a week and the whole agraharam was staying indoors, for the river there was flooding. Unni Krishnan did his daily ablutions in the old couple’s place. He even cooked some meals for them.
Rains stopped and on a sunny morning, Unni Krishnan went to meet his parents. He called out for his parents.
Narayana Iyer and his wife saw a 6 footer with broad shoulders, tanned skin, in crisp white cottons. He had a thick moustache and beard, a tuft at the back of his head that was tied into a bun. He was 21 but looked like a 25 yr old.
His mother denied and didn’t accept this man as her son. He then opened a box and showed her the veshti which she had bought for him, 10 yrs ago, by selling her silk saree. She remembered and hugged her son. She ushered him into the house and introduced him to his sisters. He had his eyes moist on uniting back with his family.
He told his father that it was him, who secretly sent the money for his elder sister’s marriage. Infact he even attended the wedding secretly. His father broke down into tears listening to his son’s words.
Every night, he told his little sisters the stories of Madras, Kanchipuram and Hyderabad. He was a super hero to his little sisters.
His parents decided on getting him married. He agreed to it and married a 11 yr old girl, Saraswathi, daughter of a rice merchant, at a village, in Palakkad.
She was too young to be taken with him, to Hyderabad. She didn’t even reach puberty then. So, he left her at her parents’ place and went to Hyderabad. He would once in a while visit her and bring his wife some little silver and gold articles, which she would treasure carefully.
3 years later, Saraswati flowered and was sent to Unni Krishnan’s parents’ place, for Unni Krishnan to take her along with him, to Hyderabad. He didn’t come back home for 2 years as his business was booming up.
One fine day, he did come back, to see his 16 year old wife, who now transformed from a girl to a woman. Unni Krishnan and Saraswati’s eyes met for the first ever time that day. They didn’t talk anything. She understood her husband in no time. He simply held her hand, took their bags and bidding farewell to his family, they left to Hyderabad.
Unni Krishnan and Saraswati reached Hyderabad and started their new life there.
While Unni Krishnan grew up to be a great businessman, Saraswathi stood strong, like a pillar for him and she was no less than him, she fed a hundred mouths and ensured no one starved. They grew old together and got to be known as Iyer saab and Bade Amma!
P. S. I hope you’ve all done some time travelling while reading this. Well, I did travel back in times. Infact, I do, everytime I listen to my thatha’s story from Appa. I puff up with pride everytime Appa tells me stories about thatha… This is my thatha, Sri K. N. Krishna Iyer’s story, that I wrote today, by adding a little more masala. My thatha is well known as Iyer Saab or Pedda ayya and my paati is known as Bade amma or Pedda amma, among the people here at Hyderabad.
I love my thatha paati and this is a small tribute for them. I miss them a lot but I know, from somewhere above the sky, they’re looking at me, their pacha kondhei and smiling.
Ok, I don’t want to get so emotional…
Cheers,
Aarya a.k.a Meenu Iyer
Aarya Writes 