KOCHI: As the news about the passing of former Isro chairman K Kasturirangan flashed on the television, K Ananthanarayanan wiped away tears as memories come rushing back. Wife Geetha and son Sujith tried to console Ananthanarayanan, the late scientist’s brother, as he carefully turned the pages of the family album containing childhood photos.
“He was a very caring brother and called us regularly, enquiring about our health,” an emotional Ananthanarayanan, 82, reminisced, sitting at his house ‘Sreyas’ near Kadavanthra.
“We were staying with our grandparents at an old house near Valanjambalam in Kochi. Every day, anna (brother) would hold my hand while walking to the SRV School. He studied at SRV till Class 5, while I was in Class 3, when our family migrated to Mumbai.”
Kasturirangan completed his MSc in Mumbai and then went to Allahabad for research, he said. “Vikram Sarabhai mentored him as he joined ISRO,” Ananthanarayanan said.
He said Kasturirangan’s mother died at a very young age. “I was born in the second marriage of our father, Krishnaswamy. My younger brother Subburaman is settled in Maharashtra and our sister lives in Madurai. Anna had visited us here in Kochi two years ago.”
Facing health issues, he is unable to travel to Bengaluru for the final rites, he said.
Ananthanarayanan was employed with the Indian Airlines and settled down in Kochi after retirement. His son, Sujith, is an IT professional. The family has its ancestral roots in Tamil Nadu and Kasturirangan’s maternal forefathers belonged to the Nallepalli Agraharam in the Chittoor taluk of Palakkad district.