#Grandsire greatness

http://madeofgreat.tatamotors.com/

                     #Grandsire greatness

The large black and white portrait of a man in a Nehru jacket with stern eyes and a slight smile welcomed me into the grand Chettinad like home in Madurai, a temple town in the state of Tamil Nadu in India. A floodgate of memories opened up like a torrent as I kept my eyes riveted to the photograph and the bespectacled man mesmerized me to an extent that I found my paternal grandfather in flesh and blood, right before me as serious and stern as ever!

 Carbon dating my memories I heard the baritone of my Thatha “common tell, if ten bananas cost 50 rupees, what is the price of one”? The 7 year old curly haired girl trembled in fear and looked at the iron man in a ironed veshti with a spotlessly clean cream coloured shirt to get some clue for the question. The mind was a blank, more so due to the fear of the hard task master than the math itself and bananas seemed never an inviting fruit at that nightmarish moment! “Kittu,” shouted my Thatha, “this girl of yours is not at all alert , I don’t know how she is going to study!”The Q&A session ended even before it started and I heaved a sigh of relief and rushed out to play hopscotch with my buddies.

Every morning I stealthily watched my Thatha meticulously polishing his burgundy shoes and getting ready for the morning walk, the crisp shirt and pants looking new as ever and the walking stick firmly hung by the elbow. In the one hour of his absence, I would rummage his spic and span room delighted by the artefacts. The “Eiffeel tower” paper weight was always an attraction and I would caress it to my heart’s content eager to own it but never risked that temptation for fear of the aftermath. The radio would be next, tampering, twisting and turning all the knobs till a cacophony of signals and waves buzzzeddd...across. The “Hindu” daily paper neatly folded on the “easy chair” was an easy target but for the shrill cry of my mom “Suni....out of Thatha’s room now” and like a scaredy cat I saved the rest of sabotage and vandalism for the next day. Thatha reclined in his easy chair and the cryptic crossword was done in a jiffy looking at his watch to find out whether he had bettered his timings. The flute and violin recital from the radio enthralled him and words of “shabhaash” in appreciation added, to evoke my curiosity. I tried my best to recognize the worth of the music, the musician and the avid listener, but failed miserably on all the three counts!

I peeped bravely at the fully filled black and white squares of the crossword and squeaked in absolute delight and awe at his alacrity much to his exasperation and promptly ticked me off! He had his breakfast at eight in the morning, a meagre meal of two idlis with chutney and washed it down with a hot cup of coffee. He was a slave to the clock and all his activities were ruled by the hour hand! His waking up, bath, meals, radio time, read hours all were timed to perfection.

A strange kind of rapport grew between us, two divergent poles, one, a tyrant and a dictator, and the other a wide eyed snooping meddler! Years rolled by and I graduated from a headstrong fiend to a mellowed desirable teenager imbibing his qualities of straightforwardness, honesty, discipline , determination, punctuality and of course the love for the cryptic and the math but never to come anywhere close to his prowess! In my growing up, I learnt a lot about the grandsire from my dad and the fondness for this paternal forebear grew in leaps and bounds and he became an icon, an unmatched noble character. He lost his wife, my grandmother at a very young age and single handed brought up five children in an impartial manner that started from the same type clothes they wore to the same harsh upbringing with the same quantum of punishment, eventually making them successful individuals. A civil engineer by profession, he worked in the public works department of the government, an upright equitable officer dreaded by those working under him. Nothing could allure him and any attempt to grease his palms was dealt with mercilessly. Many roads and bridges have his trademark style of perfection and the most notable one is the bridge across periyar river in Aluva which stands as a testimony to his greatness.

                     

The iconic bridge built by Thatha in Aluva, near Kochi

                             

His name 'T S Narayanaswamy' etched in the plaque

            

He nurtured, cared and lived life in his true inimitable fashion that is nonpareil. He rarely laughed, mingled, watched TV or partook in festivals and rituals and kept to himself and his routine. When I got married, he had a natural affinity for my husband primarily due to the fact that he was an engineer, a non smoker and a teetotaller, the basic requirements to get the passing grades from him. My hubby was drawn to him like a magnet for his discipline and meticulousness and both were in awe of each other. When my Thatha fell sick, Sriram nursed him to good health and maintained the same sense of perfection in keeping the medicines and other essentials. And then the Patriarch changed, it was like the Sun rising from the west, he cared to crack a joke or two, woke up Sriram early in the morning and both watched cricket much to my amusement. But his tryst with time continued unabated and his stature as a grand dad grew taller in my eyes.

I was filled with pride at his fair non discriminate virtue and even though I have never sat on his lap, ruffled his hair or hugged him or listened to a fairy tale and enjoyed the warmth and affection of a grandfather, he was made of greatness that left a lasting impression. And when the big banyan tree fell, I wept alone for a Thatha who was unique, rare, exclusive, solitary and one and only one!

So dear readers, what do you think about this 

                           

glorious association? Tell me the answer and you could be the winner!

The #madeofgreat campaign is the first time Tata Motors is undertaking an overall brand association campaign with a brand ambassador. It rides on a strong consumer motivation of ‘Seeking Excellence’ and ‘Self Belief’ which is showcased by the confluence of two global brands-Tata Motors and Lionel Messi. The campaign builds upon Tata Motors’ DNA of trust, authenticity, reliability, simplicity, as well as its commitment to innovation.

Lionel Messi is talent galore with conviction and is an icon for today’s youth. He is a winner who is trustworthy, reliable, pioneering, simple and driven by self-belief, which is what is at the core of Tata Motors as well. Thus, proving to be an ideal fit for the role of Global Brand Ambassador.​