My father, T B Swaminathan, lived to the age of 90 and in his 32 years after retiring, achieved the stupendous feat of acquiring an MA in mathematics from Annamalai University at the age of 75 and an M Phil in the same field from the Madurai Kamaraj University when he was 84! He was recorded in the Guinness Book as the oldest person to achieve the feat in this discipline.
He had passed IRS before joining the income tax department and had a law degree as well. This was along with a third rank in SSLC and a degree in mathematics. He worked in several states, knew many languages and had translated two Bengali novels into Malayalam. Sanskrit was his other passion.
My father never burned the midnight oil for studying but was diligent in preparation. He listened to puranic discourses, attended to fellow pensioners’ grievances, walked a lot and spent quality time with his friends and relatives. He told his grandchildren stories from the Ramayana, Mahabharata and Itihasas. He was deeply attached to the children and took special care of them. A careful spender, money never really mattered to him if it were buying gifts for the kids.
There was an amusing incidence of his taking the examinations in Coimbatore (he lived with us in Thrissur, 125 kms from Coimbatore). An auto rickshaw he took to the exam centre for an MA paper broke down 5 kms from the centre. The driver, on knowing that his aged passenger, slightly panicked over the hold-up, was an exam candidate, immediately arranged another vehicle amidst heavy traffic, briefed the new driver of the need and refused any money for the distance run. The second driver took my father on time to the exam centre. “I cannot forget the two drivers who were significant factors in my achieving the mission”, my father would say.
On another occasion, he was interrupted at the door of the centre by an official, who hesitantly said, “...Sir, parents are not allowed inside.” Our candidate was least perturbed and responded, “That wouldn’t be a problem, my parents have long been dead.” The official was taken aback by the weird repartee, till he realised he was standing before an examinee himself.
My niece Sukanya, a journalist, referred to him as Ulysses voyaging towards the arch of knowledge. The ever-learning man died in 2007, a week ahead of his 90th birthday. It was anaayaasena maranam (painless death) for a man who never bothered about age, health and death.
Sanath Kumar T S
Email: sanathkumarts1958@gmail.com