An honourable way of living

This photograph of my grandmother Seethamma with my father and my elder half-brothers, H.N. Ramakrishna (left) and H.N Srinivas Anand (right) and was taken around the same time. In this photograph my father is holding an image of his Guru, Bhagawan Anandagiri (Tanjore Swamigal).

The Gujarati family in Madras

This fading, tattered photograph carries in it the story of my Gujarati lineage’s courage and survival instincts – and how they came to call a south Indian city, Madras (now Chennai) their home – an antithesis to their familiar north Indian environment. This photograph taken by a professional photographer in 1952, is indeed the oldest family photograph we possess. While it is a rich a source of family memory, time has been harsh to it.