Over the four years we were at Govt College of Technology, Coimbatore, VA Natarajan and I met
almost every working day. My parents and I lived in a municipal colony almost
at the end of the road that ran from GCT to the Mettupalayam Road. Natarajan
would turn left on the Mettupalayam Road and cycle 7.5 KM more to his home in
Vellaikinaru.
We have been in touch ever since, till last month. He used
to visit his daughter’s family in Bangalore. On some of these occasions, he and
I used to meet. Sometimes when we went to Coimbatore, my wife Usha and I would meet
him.
We used to discuss a variety of topics including his
unwillingness to trust modern medicine. He had lost his wife several decades
ago, despite taking her to the Mayo’s Clinic for the best treatment available.
He took up the responsibility of bringing up two young daughters.
The world changed a lot during the last four or five decades. Natarajan was
running a factory/workshop and decided to wind it up after a few years. He then
took up technical audits and certification. He was very proud of this new
profession he had got into.
The time came to sell part of his agricultural land. He was very good in managing this transformation. He did not treat the funds
he was managing as his own! He was only a trustee to ensure the future of his
two young daughters. He wisely bought a plot on the way to Marudamalai and
built a block of flats. He stayed in one and was acting as the property
manager.
Perhaps he did this to provoke me – he often talked to me about
his belief in Karma, that the good and bad we meet in our life is the “reward” we
are getting for our deeds in our previous incarnations. I used to argue
vehemently against this. We always talked in English. It made our discussions more
formal and academic,
Another question we differed on – he was sceptical about the
medical field, its tools and claims.
Despite the differing beliefs, our friendship lasted all
these years. He was my best friend from GCT days. We were both interested in
serious topics and respected the other’s point of view. Not “My way, or the
highway!”.
I learnt a lot from him. One was the way of defending one's own belief without hurting the other person's feelings.
Srinivasan Ramani
4-10-2026.
