Houses we lived happily

​Revised 

*A Family Keepsake: Our Homes, Our Journey*  

_For Dr. Chitra Vijayaraghavan, Rajesh, Shwetha, Dr Sreekanth Ramakrishnan,  

and our beloved grandchildren Vaibhav, Dhwani, Poorvi & Jhanvi_

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People live in various places and houses with different addresses. I have lived so. *We lived happily in all these houses.*

I was born in _Sharath House, Trichur_. My school days in Trichur were spent in two houses. First was _Paruvakkat House_ — a big house with all family members. uncles, aunts, cousins under one roof. One kitchen, twenty voices, endless love. Then _Ganapathi Agraharam house_. Pretty good. Quiet lanes, temple bells, and the rhythm of a smaller family.

Life took me to _Bangalore_. School / College days spent happily at _H-28, Anneyappa Block, Seshadripuram_. Cycles, cricket, friends, and the freedom of youth.  

*We had wonderful homely stay at Poorni House of elder brother Sundaramoorthy near Banaswadi Temple.*  

*Never to forget happy days at our sister Bagavathy's house at Jayamahal, Bangalore.*

Bank service began at Bangalore 1967 

Went to 

_Mariyamanahalli near Hospet, Karnataka_ — a wonderful, unhurried existence. The Tungabhadra flowed nearby, and life moved to the pace of the sun.

Married in 1974, and every address after was _ours_. We started in _Trichur near Kottappuram Temple_, with blessings close by. Then the transfers:  

_Jamshedpur — K Road or Bistupur_  

_Majhgaon residence, Singhbhum District, Bihar_  

_Chaibasa house_  

Steel and forests, new languages, and the strength of facing each place together.

Back to _Chennai_ — the city that always welcomed us home.  

House next to elder brother at _Besant Nagar_  

_Anna Colony house, Besant Nagar_ — with the sea for a neighbor  

*Moreover we stayed most happily at our elder brother Konthai Anna's house, Besant Nagar  Madras also with our parents.*  

_Mandevelli house at Karpagam Avenue_ — the first one we called our own

Then: _Tiruchirapalli, houses at Thillainagar_. Wonderful houses with children studying, Cauvery’s grace, and Srirangam on weekends.  

*It is required to mention our stay at Jeeyapuram and Tiruchirapalli where my parents-in-law treated us valuable and respectable always.*  

_Phaltan near Pune_ — Manager’s residence  

_Borivili and Andheri, Bombay_ with audit colleagues who became family

Further south: _Quilon house near all temples_  

_Tuticorin_ — good house, sea breeze, kind people  

_Coimbatore near Navavur Pirivu_, near Marudhmalai temple _Dharmapuri_, _Coimbatore near RS Puram_beautiful place 

_Chennai_ called us back again. Bought new house at _Thiruvanmiyur in 2010_. New house bought at _Tanjore Road, T. Nagar_ in 2023— a good house where we live.

*In 2008  we started our regular visits to USA on visa*, though the first step was in _1993, stayed at brother’s house, Dr. Drive, Hazard, Kentucky_.

Since 2008 our American homes:  

_2008 visited son Rajesh and daughter-in-law Shwetha at his house, Austin, Texas — beautiful house_  

_Lived at Louisville, Kentucky at brother Narayanan’s house_  

_Stayed at New Jersey, niece Sudha’s house_  

_Stayed with nephew Sridhar at Tulsa, Oklahoma_  

_Lived in neohew Karthik’s house at Nashville, Tennessee_  

_Lived in Salem with daughter Dr. Chitra Vijayaraghavan and son-in-law Sreekanth Ramakrishnan_  

_We stayed at a large house in Marblehead, MA with daughter Dr. Chitra Vijayaraghavan and children_  

_Lived happily with daughter Dr. Chitra Vijayaraghavan studying medicine at Nebraska, Omaha_  

_Stayed with son Rajesh at Fremont house now and then_  

_Presently staying at daughter Dr. Chitra Vijayaraghavan’s house, San Jose, CA_ — with grandson Vaibhav and granddaughters Dhwani, Poorvi & Jhanvi

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From _Sharath House, Trichur_ to _San Jose, California_.  

From _Paruvakkat_’s crowded courtyard to _Marblehead_’s seaside lanes.  

From _Poorni House, Banaswadi_ to _Jayamahal_, from _Jeeyapuram_ to _Jamshedpur_.  

From _Mariyamanahalli_’s stars to _Manhattan_’s skyline seen from New Jersey.

*All houses we feel as our own houses.*

Because home was never the walls. Home was my wife beside me since 1974. Home was children — Rajesh and Dr. Chitra Vijayaraghavan — doing homework in Thillainagar and medicine in Omaha. Home was daughter-in-law Shwetha and son-in-law Sreekanth Ramakrishnan. Home was grandson Vaibhav and granddaughters Dhwani, Poorvi & Jhanvi filling houses with laughter. Home was parents and parents-in-law in Jeeyapuram who treated us as honored guests always. Home was brothers Sundaramoorthy and Kontha, sister Bagsvathy, nieces in New Jersey, nephews in Tulsa, cousins in Nashville, and colleagues in Bombay who opened both doors and hearts.

Every pin code changed us. Every kitchen fed us. Every threshold blessed us.

This is our keepsake — not of property, but of belonging.  

We did not just live in houses.  

We were given homes, everywhere.  

And for that, we are grateful.

_With love,  

From all the addresses that made us_

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Ps Please correct mistakes