A common man's autobiography

It was quite odd for me when I came to know that my father's uncle S.R.R has written an autobiography as he was not a public figure and I should say that I did not quite think that anybody can write a biography of his/her own life until I knew of this. However he was certainly a big shot in the family in the sense that he was highly qualified amongst his contemporaries in the family, a Doctorate.   Also he was an associate of Sir C.V.Raman.

They were 6 brothers and 2 sisters. My dad's father was the eldest (actually second but the eldest died at quite an early age).  My grandfather being the responsible elder brother had provided monetary support for the family. He did his PhD in London around 60-70 years ago and it sure was a great thing for a family like ours then.

My second cousin G.R.R who is the grandson of my father's uncle had the electronic version of his grandpa's autobiography and thanks to him I had the opportunity to read it a few years ago. There were a few things that interested me a lot and some of them made me proud to have been born and raised in that lineage. I have learnt some lessons from it too.

It gives some insight about the previous generation of my grandfather, A.R. My great grandfather S.R is the 3rd of 8 sons in the family. And they were financially doing well. When the sons grew up and individually set up their families, their financial status was on the descent (Most probably because the head of the family unexpectedly died at an early age). There was a need to sell a family property and the first four brothers who were doing better financially, gave away their shares too to the last 4 brothers who were struggling to make both ends meet. It is something that I could not believe at all and am very happy to learn that my ancestors had been so kind and considerate. Secondly, my great grandfather's mother wanted to throw away one of the boy babies born to my grandfather as she expected a girl baby in the family (she bore 8 boys no girl). I pinched my own self when I read it as no parent preferred girl babies during those days.

After reading his autobiography, I sometimes feel that everyone should write a biography or some note to mention about those that help us to be who we are today. Well, I told my mother to write her autobiography and she immediately said "I dont know where my maternal cousins are!! They did so much to me when I was down with jaundice at my grandma's place". I am happy because I made her think of those that helped her, during her last days.

I dont know how much time is left for me so I have also jotted down about those who had created an impact in my life.