MY CAREER IN ACCI, MARRIAGE AND THE MIRAGE MRK




After my appointment in the S & D department of ACCI in November 1979 my world was confined to Ennore office and my home in Tondiarpet.  Visits to meet my construction friend and guide in Valasaravakkam has become less frequent because of my preoccupation with other priorities and also of Ramakrishnan's family life.  He continued his job as construction engineer and has undertaken the task of turnkey projects at various north Indian sites. We continued our exchange of important events through letters at regular intervals.  As I  fondly  keep his association the letters written by him  are preserved along with the autographed books as a momento of our friendship.  In the year 1980 his marriage with Lalitha took place in Karaikudi and moved into a house in Valasaravakkam.  I have attended the wedding and he was very much pleased on my presence as I was the only representative from his friends group.

His dream of starting some business on his own has haunted him more and remained  a day dream as the required funding has not come from any quarters.  He took up assignments as site head at different projects leaving his wife and mother back in Chennai.  I came to know about the birth of a son, his  project work near Mumbai, attempt to go abroad on a similar assignment in Saudi Arabia,  waiting for the Visa and appointment letter,  his transfer of Project away from Mumbai,  dejection due to rejection in overseas job etc were informed through the letters.  Our meeting for 'little tiffin' and 'karaikkudi lunch' has become salivating memories of the past.   My marriage with Christy, a school teacher in Chennai has been arranged and the invitation was handed over to his wife at his residence in person, as he was outstation; another invitation with a letter was posted to his site.  All I could get was a letter of best wishes stating his inability to attend in person.  I also cherish a letter  wishing me good from Mr K V Chary from Nairobi. 

A few weeks after my marriage,  I paid a visit to Ramakrishnan's old residence with my wife and was disappointed to know that he had shifted his house to another location and could not get the address from the neighbouring house.  His writing also has stopped abruptly and his association remained a pleasant memory of the past thereafter.   My effort to find his whereabout through known friends, through telephone directories,  now through facebook has not given the desired result.  Even now I am scanning through his old letters where he would have given an address through which could establish lost contact.  His son born in the year 1981 would have completed his education and taking a career and would have settled in life.  Whenever I see young successful man in life aged around 36, visualise him as son of Ramakrishnan. Such an event happened in London last summer.  

Magesh Kallapiran an Export Manager of Piramal in charge of their Europe operations was living in London, an ex ICI MRO employee established contact during my visit.  He asked  for a meeting at a convenient place in London.  He requested  me to travel by tube rail  to the Liverpool station in an evening.  I travelled by the tube rail and reached the designated place in time.  He was waiting for me near the ticketing counter and he took me out for a stroll though the busy streets of London.   The famous Govan gardens and the jugglers street, the Kodambakkam of London of various performers and the fish tavern.  We had delicious salmon fish fry and chilled beer.  From there we went to Kings station where trains Euro star to various  European destinations starts.  We talked in detail about our family and career then and now.  While knowing that his father was a retired Executive Engineer with TWAD,  I had a spark in my head.

*    Can I locate through him  my lost contact of Ramakrishnan whose brother in law was a junior engineer in TWAD then.
*    Can he be the little boy, Ramakrishnan's nephew born in the year 1981
*     Has he been born in K K Nagar where he had his primary education in Chennai, job in ICI, Piramal and now in London

Answers to all these questions were negative,  and the search still goes on...

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