A Cottage in Swami Hills - 12. Yogambal Ammal

A COTTAGE IN SWAMI HILLS* 

12. YOGAMBAL AMMAL ALIAS YOGAKKA

By relationship, Yogambal Ammal or Yogakka was my grandmother's elder sister. She looked like my grandmother physically but emotionally and intellectually she was different. She was made of sterner stuff. She had the capacity to take tough decisions. She was a natural leader and carved out a place for her in any surrounding.

Yogakka as she was called by all in Kumbakonam house was widowed at a very early age and she was living most of the time in her father's village Thirumangalam, It is told to me that she took care of my uncle (Periappa- elder to my father  virtually from his young age. It is possible that bringing up a child gave her a meaning to her otherwise empty life. 

My Uncle got married and started his practice as a lawyer around 1945. He moved to Thillainagar from Tirumangalam and Yogakka moved to his house. She was almost the matriarch of the family till 1961. When her father, Shri. Ramaswamy Iyer passed away around that time, her problems started. she could no more live in Thillainagar due to strained relations with my Periappa. 

I was in Tiruchi when the differences reached a climax. I recall one day, when I was in my Periappa's house, she told me, "Sekar, Let us go to Pudukkottati". Both of us got a bus from Tiruchi and went to Pudukkottai where her younger sister was living. Her husband was a lawyer and probably Yogakka consulted him on some property matters. After a day's stay, we went to Kumbakonam. Her pleadings with my grandfather to take up her case for some Tirumangalam property fell on deaf ears. My grandfather refused to intervene in any matter and told her to sort it out amicably with my periappa. This disappointed Yogakka very much as she was expecting some legal help from my grandfather. It was clear that my grandfather was very practical in this decision as he did not want to even appear as if he was against my periappa. He had sympathy for her plight that she had no home to call her own at an advanced age after working for others for almost fifty years but he wanted her to reconcile to the situation rather than opt for fighting a futile battle.

Whatever that may be, she was always at home in Kumbakonam where she spent considerable time after the estrangement with my periappa. When my grandfather was there, she took interest only on spiritual matters. She used to perform Puja daily. I think she had taken some kind of "upadesam" or "Japam" which she used to perform. She had great interest in literature and told me that a famous writer "Anuththama" was her friend. I have seen this writer when she visited Kumbakonam and i was surprised that she chatting with Yogakka very freely. (Anuththama whose real name was Rajeswari wrote many novels including  மணல் வீடு which established her as a novelist of repute. she passed away in 2010 at Chennai at the age of 88.). I also participated in the conversation and asked Mrs Anuththama about her views of the decision of Kalki to give first prize to ரமணி சந்திரனின் முள்ளும் மலரும். She was of the view that it should have been given to ர சு நல்ல பெருமாள் எழுதிய கல்லுக்குள் ஈரம்.  I agreed with her as I liked Kallukkul eeram. It captured the patriotic spirit very nicely,  Nachi (Nachinarkkiniyan) was an unforgettable character in that novel. In spite of being a writer who had by that time published several novels, Anuththama was very humble and was willing to discuss with a boy like me the merits and demerits of two great novels.  I could not believe that the frail spectacled middle aged lady who would be mistaken as a middle class housewife was an award winning novelist. It was an unforgettable experience for me.

With the passing away of my grandfather, Yogakka assumed more control of the household. She slowly reduced the influence of Ponnamma Mami ( the cook who stayed in the house) on day to day decisions and weaned my grandmother away from listening to her. Yogakka herself was an expert cook, taking great trouble to cook some difficult dishes. So, there was an increase in the kitchen activity. She was very generous and shared the dishes with the tenants and other visitors. This improved her standing among them. She encouraged my grandmother to donate her clothes to the poor and she was of the view that it was time to do more virtuous deeds. 

In Kumbakonam house, she was the person who introduced evening "tiffin". Otherwise, we had only coffee and probably some biscuits. Yogakka introduced the variety like Adai and other dishes for the evening "tiffin". She used to bring the dishes to me wherever I was studying and give with great care and love. However, her heart was with my Periappa's children and she always used to miss them and sometimes cry recalling some incident or other. 

Yogakka passed away in 1976. I was in Mumbai. As per her last wishes, periappa performed her last rites. She probably deserved a much better life and probably a more satisfying end to a struggle she put in in her early years. Her life is also a sad commentary on the way our society is structured where a lady who is a widow is expected to render selfless service to all the others and not stand up for her rights,

* Cottage in swami hills refers to the house in which we lived in Kumbakonam. This phrase was used once by my grandfather when I asked him that as some  people go in summer to Kodaikanal and Ooty where they have a cottage whether we would also be able to go and stay like them one day. My grandfather replied that he already has a cottage near swami Hills (swamimalai) and he referred to his house as the cottage.