Last Will and Testament

Mysore 1947 - 1949   Standing next to my favourite tree in our Mysore home.  I then thought it was an enormous tree!     Primarily because of the experience my mother and we small children had faced with the vigilantes, my father obtained a transfer in the Mysore Electricity Board from Bangalore to Mysore.  He had two powerful mentors in the Mysore Electricity Department. They were Mr. Hayath and Mr. George Chandy, so getting the transfer on compassionate grounds was not difficult. He was appointed as the Superintending Engineer of Mysore with additional charge of the Mysore Palace which is illuminated during the Dasara Celebrations, witnessed every year by many hundreds of thousands of people from around the world.   The Palace is lit by a 100000 electric light bulbs. An amazing sight. Picture from The Hindu of the lit Mysore Palace Among his many responsibilities the most exciting was being in charge of the lighting of the Mysore Palace, which eve...

I was born in Bangalore (Bengaluru) on 3rd April 1943. I was born at the Vani Vilas Hospital near City Market. I understand that the gynaecologist was Dr. Mrs. George Chandy, the wife of Engineer George Chandy, who was my father's boss in the Mysore Electricity Board. I was told by my mother that I was quite ill when I was born and suffered from very bad colic.  I do not know to which house I returned or in which church I was christened. I was given the name Jacob, which was as  a memoriam to my mother's elder brother, K. M. Jacob (Chackochayan) who had died in 1941 at the Chickmagalur Estate. I was told that he had dies of a rat bite, but no one ever confirmed that to me.  The Matthan's of my father's generation had started a tradition of also giving the children an Indian name besides the Biblical ones. I was given the name Sushil. My elder sister had been named as Nalini. My elder brother was called Ranjit. They both took their Indian names into the school registrat...

Kandathil Cherian Mammen Mappillai (KCMM) Doyen of Kerala Milestones in the life of KCMM Born: 4th May 1873 Married: 1888 Founding of Malayala Manorama: 1888 B. A. from Madras Christian College: 1896 Headmaster, M. D. High School, Kottayam: 1901 - 1909 Resignation from M. D. High School: 1909 Demise of K. I. Varghese Mappillai, Founder of Malayala Manorama: 6th July 1904 Took over as Editor of Malayala Manorama: 1904 Elected to Sri Mulam Assembly: 1908 - 1912 Chairman, Travancaore National Bank: 1912 Elected to Sri Mulam Assembly: 1917 - 1921 Elected to Travancore Legislative Assembly: 1922 - 1928 Chairman, Travancore National and Quilon Bank: 1937 Closure of Travancore National and Quilon Bank: 21st June 1938 Closure of Malayala Manorama: 10th September 1938 Arrested by Government of Travancore: 20th October 1938 Demise of brother K. C. Eapen in jail: 27th April 1940 Death of son K. M. Jacob: 30th December 1941 Revival of Malayala Manorama: 29th November 194...