"No one can do maths like my son Gansa!" Agilandam remarked proudly to her friend. The young boy Ganesan (aka Kanisan) was enjoying his maths homework while accompanying mum who was looking after their humble family grocery shop. But these words from mum went deep into his mind...little would Agilandam know how powerful her words were, and how far the young lad's passion for maths will take him in life...
This is a true story of my Appa (dad in Tamil). He was born shortly after the end of World War 2 as the second child and eldest son in a humble family that lived in the heart of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. His story is special, but at the same time so is the story of every young Malaysian of that generation. It was a generation of incredibly hard working people of all races, who were born in a new era of peace, simple joys, hardships, incredible self belief and perseverance.
Ganesan was a very hard working child who understood at a very young age that working hard was the only way to survive and rise up in life. Nonetheless, he was a naughty young lad who loved to have fun too! It was a world of simple joys - Ganesan enjoyed playing with the ducks his dad reared, and helped collect their eggs which his dad would sell in the market place. He loved his pet dog, and his pet rooster which he would take for fights. Rooster fights were quite the thing back then.
It was an era of tough love too...one day he came back home to find his pet rooster missing, and mum had made chicken curry...needless to say it was a while before he could eat chicken again.
Before going to school he would make his rounds on his bicycle selling breakfast made by mum - appam, idli etc. At school, he was the teacher's pet & blue eyed boy. No one could do maths like him indeed, so his friends would copy him (and sometimes learn from him) as much as they could.
Unfortunately life was not easy. Looking after a family of 10 children was tough for his dad, and when Ganesan was fourteen, the family needed him to be a breadwinner.
"Karuppiah, what's wrong with you? Why are you taking a boy who's doing so well in his studies out of school? You are spoiling his future!" the headmaster of the school scolded his dad.
Karuppiah thatha (grandfather in Tamil) cried helplessly. What could he do?
Ganesan, watching his dad cry, vowed to himself that he would continue his studies and make his dad proud...
(To be continued...)
Next: Episode 2
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