Influential and Inspirational

Hello! I am Balakrishnan’s granddaughter speaking. May I know who is on the line?

As a six-year old, I would be waiting to answer such phone calls in the evenings after school hours. It was not the phone that excited me. The excitement was in uttering the words I am Balakrishnan’s granddaughter. Yes, I am Balakrishnan B.E.’s granddaughter. The excitement was in the degree. I determined to be an Engineer and gain a B.E degree even as a six-year old.  All I knew at that age was an Engineering degree would earn a violet shade ink pen to sign papers, chauffeur driven car (Ambassador MSR 1777), a personal assistant and loads of respect. Whenever an opportunity arises, I enter his office room (an annexe in the house) and gingerly and secretively grab the white pen with violet ink and try writing a few words. I admired his charisma, his power and authority, his “Netri kan Thirappinum Kutram Kutrame” attitude, his profession, way others called him as “Engineer Sir” and children calling him “Office thatha”.  I made it a point to impress my grandfather with my neatly polished shoes, hanky pinned pinafore, academic excellence and tried to convey that I would become an Engineer one day. Just following him gave me an impetus to achieve my dream.

On the other hand, I had my maternal grandfather Chockalingam Pillai who was equivalently educated but resorted to agriculture and improved the society around him.  Calm and poised person, he was always surrounded by umpteen number of books and maintained a library at home. He spent his evenings in the library and his entire day with nature maintaining orchards, beautiful gardens and beehives. He believed in resource recovery and was far advanced in his thoughts as an engineer. He experimented his engineering and architecture knowledge in innovative designs which he did not care to showcase or exhibit to others. He spoke less and listened a lot, was creative and innovative and made me learn life’s lessons.

While Balakrishnan was inspirational, Chockalingam was influential in moulding me. I am avid reader and nature lover and I hold a PhD in Engineering with blessings of both grandfathers.