22Jun
My earliest memories of Manjuma were of a rather intimidating person, always clad in white (which I later learnt was khadi), severely pulled back pepper-salt hair and thick- rimmed glasses with high-powered lenses. She came often to my parental home as our families were close friends and my grandmother and she advocated fiercely for independence and worked together in the freedom movement. My father often recalled hours spent in his childhood, playing cricket with Manjuma’s sons on the grounds of their sprawling bungalow on Poonamallee High Road.
My own interactions with Manjuma, as an adult, began somewhere around 1991. My younger child had just started school and I thought it was time I got involved in the institution which had formed a large part of my childhood. In one of her visits home, I tentatively asked her if I could come to Bala Mandir to meet her. My aunt Sarojini Rajan was already volunteering there (she was quite the stalwart and a fixture in the office, along with Lakshmi Gopal’s mother Vedamma). They used to share the same auto to get to Bala Mandir.
Rukmini (Minnie) Amirapu
The enduring influence of books since childhood had fuelled my passion to pursue my PhD in English (2007) from the University of Madras. I am an editor and author by profession and specialise in documenting the histories of institutions. I have been a volunteer at the Bala Mandir Research Foundation since 2006, helping in administrative services and report writing. Presently I am Member-in-Charge of the unit. I am also an Executive Committee Member of the Bala Mandir Kamaraj Trust.
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Comment (1)
Yes Rukmini, all of us are here to ensure no child is called an orphan!