Sri.Veeyens's health condition

cmlover · Post by **cmlover** » 26 Dec 2011, 20:41

Om Tryambakam Yajamahe
Sugandhim Pushtivardhanam
Urvarukamiva Bandhanan
Mrityor Mukshiya Maamritat

sivakami · Post by **sivakami** » 26 Dec 2011, 22:51

Oh! so sorry to hear the news! Heart felt condolences..
Even on the 18th dec, after the rasikas meet at chennai, during the night while I was reading the posts from the rasikas who had attended, I saw that Veeyens Sir had logged in ( perhaps PUNARVASU had!).. I even waited for his interesting comments for sometime, and then logged-out.. Next day also (without realising his health condition), I first checked whether he has written anything, as I always like to read his post if it is there ...Only on 20th dec we came to know about his health...
we will miss him very much! May his soul rest in peace!!
Like Nick had written above,

with tears,

smala · Post by **smala** » 26 Dec 2011, 23:12

Saddened to see this news, Punarvasu - I'm very glad I got to meet him in person and will cherish that. In some ways I connected with him, missing my own father.

I will remember Veeyens for his gentle ways and his lovely warm subtle humor-filled recounts of his experiences and travels. To me they brought an era to life I did not know much about but could get a glimpse of through my own parents now long gone. Please do collect them, edit and create a memoir - I would love to purchase one. May Sri Rama bless him and be with him, as he would say. May Sri Rama also be with you and the rest of the family.

Enna_Solven · Post by **Enna_Solven** » 27 Dec 2011, 06:38

Punarvasu, I am sad to hear the news. My condolences to you and your family. Sri Veeyens' enthusiasm and humor were very much evident in his posts. His recollections made me fondly remember the tales my father told us at bed time.

May his soul rest in peace.

Ranganayaki · Post by **Ranganayaki** » 27 Dec 2011, 08:07

Punarvasu,
I sincerely regret your father's passing. All our lives have been touched by his writing. He brought me smiles and enjoyment. I thought he was a very nice man and I liked him a lot on the forum. He introduced us to all of you, his family, and he seemed to enjoy you all. I wish you all peace and comfort at this time, and with him in your hearts, I hope you will get over today's sadness with some ease.

May Lord Rama bless us all - what a sweet way to end a posting.

Sincerely, Ranganayaki.

arasi · Post by **arasi** » 27 Dec 2011, 08:38

Punarvasu,
Here I am, travel weary, turning on the computer to see what's happening, and I see that I've lost a friend, the oldest among us, but young at heart. Veeyens, and his contributions to our Rasikas.org family, as many of you have already felt and said, are something to cherish. His energy and zeal in sharing his life's experiences, his love for music, his sense of humor and his treating us as family cannot be easily forgotten.
Each one of the posts here reveals how he had endeared himself to us. That he is our Punarvasu's father makes it doubly painful.These are moments which make us all feel that our own days on earth are numbered, and we better live our lives fully, to the extent Veeyens did--
being creative, active and caring.
Before any young one on the forum did it, he made a file of all the installments of Oy bhArathiyArE! and sent it to me!
May his zeal for life continue in his family through generations (we get a glimpse of it through Punarvasu)--and may it touch our lives, his friends at Rasikas.

Rajesh brought the copies of Yadugiri's book in tamizh that I had asked for. He took so much trouble to get the book reprinted. I was going to send a copy to Veeyens. He would have read it in one go...

May Veeyens enthusiasm for life, along with his Rama's blessings, keep us going at Rasikas...

tiruvarur · Post by **tiruvarur** » 27 Dec 2011, 10:26

Heartfelt condolences to your family Punarvasu. Your father will be missed by all of us here for his young spirit, his old wisdom and large heart.

smala · Post by **smala** » 27 Dec 2011, 11:37

As I remember him

arasi · Post by **arasi** » 27 Dec 2011, 11:54

Mala,
Thanks for the picture. A symbolic one too, with the young girl in it. Life goes on, carrying all that's of value from the old into the future, so that it lives on...

balakk · Post by **balakk** » 27 Dec 2011, 14:34

Sincere condolences . His posts exuded optimism and warmth - he will be missed.

Pratyaksham Bala · Post by **Pratyaksham Bala** » 27 Dec 2011, 16:10

Heartfelt condolences to Shri Veeyens' family.

cienu · Post by **cienu** » 27 Dec 2011, 16:19

Thank you S_P for the picture . The memory of Sri Veeyens will remain in our hearts forever.

rshankar · Post by **rshankar** » 27 Dec 2011, 19:23

s-mala - brilliant idea to use sepia-tint for the picture. Thank you! That is exactly how I would like to remember him...

suma · Post by **suma** » 27 Dec 2011, 20:15

May his soul rest in peace. May God give you strength in this hour of grief

cacm · Post by **cacm** » 27 Dec 2011, 20:46

Dear Punarvasu,
Saddened to hear about your father. Let us remember, recall & perpetuate his GLORIOUS LIFE. REGS, VKV

cmlover · Post by **cmlover** » 27 Dec 2011, 21:00

Thanks smala. That is touching and the way we wish to remember him.
He now lives in our hearts eternally...
Punarvasu
If he has left any memoirs do continue to post them as well as your (and his family's) memories of his
great life which spans the greater part of the 20th century!

eesha · Post by **eesha** » 27 Dec 2011, 21:15

Dear Punarvasu,

Sincere condolences . May God give you strength to withstand this.

sangeethapriya gave him company and solace. As a way remembering him, I went through all the email exchanges we have made in the past. In one of his mails he had suggested to me that uploaders in sangeethapriya can indicate the quality of the recording so that downloaders can decide whether to download . I took this idea to the uploaders and since then some of the uploaders indicate the recording quality of their uploads in a scale of 1-5 or 1-10.

As we approach the new year, it is difficult to accept that he is not with us to welcome the new year.

tkb · Post by **tkb** » 27 Dec 2011, 22:51

Our sincere condolences to the family and the dear & near!

PUNARVASU · Post by **PUNARVASU** » 27 Dec 2011, 23:56

Here I am, writing as Punarvasu, coming out, as it were, of my father's protective umbrella. I am overwhelmed by the messages of consolation received from all of you, fellow rasikas. All the members of my family are touched by the affection and love you all have for my father. Yes he was a man with child like enthusiasm for everything in life, who loved people and who believed in being happy all the time.
I would just like to narrate an incident which happened 7 years back. My father, who underwent and angioplasty, developed some complications and was hovering between life and death. We did not expect him to survive then.He was in the intensive care unit and all the time crying out 'RAMA'. The nurse attending on him, came out of the room and told my brother, 'he is calling out for some one called RAMA; pl. ask that person to go inside and be with him. My brother told her,'RAMA is not a person, but his beloved God, to whom he calls out every time, in pleasure or pain'. The nurse was stunned. Such was his love for the form of Rama and the name of Rama. It is said 'THE NAME IS MORE POTENT THAN THE FORM ' AND HE TRULY BELIEVED IN IT.

The attached photo stands as a testimony to this faith and belief of his, which carried him through

S.NAGESWARAN · Post by **S.NAGESWARAN** » 28 Dec 2011, 00:36

May his soul rest in peace. May God give you strength in this hour of grief.

S.NAGESWARAN.
28.12.2011.

Ramasubramanian M.K · Post by **Ramasubramanian M.K** » 28 Dec 2011, 01:17

My heartfelt condolences Punarvasu to you and your family=although I have never met your father ==since joining the forum I have followed his posts and found them very informative and rekindled the nostalgia in me.
I fully support the suggestion to have his posts compiled into a book form.Veteran Rasikas like your father are rare and posterity will thank you and your family for preserving his legacy.

On a personal note when my father died in Sept 2006(he had been busy writing reviews/articles for various journals till his last breath) myself and my brother happened to turn on our desk-top computer to see that he had stored two articles==apparently it had been commissioned at some org's behest which we had no record of.when my brother mentioned this to S.Murali Pres MA,he said it would be timely for the Dec Souvenir (2006) that was under way that year and was posthumously published. We felt that was the best way to perpetuate his legacy more than any rituals.
Given your father's contributions to this forum alone,I feel it would be worthwhile to publish his thoughts and observations--even a string of anecdotes he may have relayed to your family members may be worth recalling and recounting.

My heartfelt condolences to you and your family on this irreparable loss.

PUNARVASU · Post by **PUNARVASU** » 28 Dec 2011, 02:41

We have collected all the posts of my father and will bring them out as a small booklet after editing them for some typos etc. Once it is ready, we will share it with all the members. Thank you, once again.

rshankar · Post by **rshankar** » 28 Dec 2011, 03:06

Punarvasu - thank you for compiling your dad's memories and publish them as a book - it is the best tribute you/we can pay him!

VK RAMAN · Post by **VK RAMAN** » 28 Dec 2011, 03:37

Punarvasu: What a wonderful way to cherish Veeyen's memory! Thank you.

Ranganayaki · Post by **Ranganayaki** » 28 Dec 2011, 03:59

I've missed many of his "anecdotes", but just read the last one he wrote - about the nomination for the Madapuram Peace Prize - and it's is such a CUTE posting.. a few more smiles thanks to him.

.

arasi · Post by **arasi** » 28 Dec 2011, 08:22

Punarvasu,
We are touched that you reach out to us at the Rasikas family as if we are an extension of your own family--and I'm not surprised. It shows that you are your father's child (your siblings too, I guess).
Yes, please bring his writings out as a book and continue your father's tradition in posting about things which interest you. Continue contributing subhAshitams.

rajumds · Post by **rajumds** » 28 Dec 2011, 09:54

Shocked to hear the news.

There was a time when I lost interest in rasikas.org and I hadn't logged in for a long time. One day , I logged in and out curiosity visited the lounge and started reading his posts and from that day on wards I was back in rasikas.org. The first thing I do is to check the lounge for his posts.

I feel I have lost a family member

cmlover · Post by **cmlover** » 28 Dec 2011, 21:49

Thanks punarvasu for respecting our requests. Do collect his posts here and add your recollections and other historical backgrounds along with the contribtions from other family members and publish them here, which will be a fitting permanent memorial for our beloved veeyens..

srkris · Post by **srkris** » 02 Jan 2012, 08:12

Did not read the sad news on time. Veeyens will be one of the most missed people of the forum.

His last post on Oct 24th last year was a concert report in his own style.

PUNARVASU · Post by **PUNARVASU** » 02 Jan 2012, 10:38

srkris, I thought you were travelling and hence missed the news. Yes, his final 'review' of the concert in the Los Angeles area speaks of his love for these youngsters whom he has known ever since they were school children.He was very proud of their achievements. Many more such young musicians like Sandeep Narayan, Ram Krishna Moorthy and others were all very dear to him and he used to watch their progress with a lot of pride and pleasure.

cmlover · Post by **cmlover** » 02 Jan 2012, 21:49

Yes srkris, the sad news should have been 'on Time'; but the second best is our Forum. We are lucky that he spent his last few days with us enlightening and educating us about the good old days! We will miss him but he still will commnicate with us through Punarvasu since his heart is already with us!

srkris · Post by **srkris** » 06 Jan 2012, 06:15

Now there is no one to ask Sri Rama to bless us all!

PUNARVASU · Post by **PUNARVASU** » 06 Jan 2012, 14:39

srkris,
he has asked Lord Rama enough number of times,probably He will keep those 'anticipatory requests' in mind and keep blessing us all'.

arasi · Post by **arasi** » 06 Jan 2012, 18:23

Punarvasu,
Exactly my thoughts! I also wondered if he would put in a word for all of us, now that he is closer to RamA!

PUNARVASU · Post by **PUNARVASU** » 06 Jan 2012, 19:16

arasi, knowing him, sure he will do.

Ranganayaki · Post by **Ranganayaki** » 07 Jan 2012, 00:14

Just want to share - in this context - my very last conversation with my father..

I was sitting with him on the edge of his bed, and he was looking off to the wall and he asked me thoughtfully,"Have you ever seen Rama?" I was mystified by his question and I simply said,"Yes.. are you seeing him now?" And he said, "Now also." I asked him if I should sing him the Nama Ramayana.. I googled the sloka, and sang it to him and then followed it with the Hanuman Chalisa, both in the tune sung by MSS. When I asked him if I was singing correctly, he raised his eyebrows and nodded, the way he usually did.. I got the impression that he was attentive, coherent, mostly mentally present. He passed away 24 hours later, a year ago.

vasanthakokilam · Post by **vasanthakokilam** » 07 Jan 2012, 00:19

Ranganayaki, that is quite touching and moving. Thanks for sharing.

cmlover · Post by **cmlover** » 07 Jan 2012, 05:05

What a great soul!
I wish I have a similar end!
I am sure he will put in a word with the Daasharathi clan!

mahavishnu · Post by **mahavishnu** » 07 Jan 2012, 05:15

Ranganayaki, very touching story. I'm so sorry for your loss.
I enjoyed listening to your father singing Sari evaramma in Bhairavi that you posted in the Shyama Sastry thread.

PUNARVASU · Post by **PUNARVASU** » 07 Jan 2012, 06:06

Rnganayaki, very touching! For me, the wound is still raw and I am just reliving the last moments of my father. Yes, he was also sorrounded by Ramanamam. We should consider ourselves lucky to have been by the side of the parents, holding their hands (and we gave him permission to go and be with our mother and his parents) when they depart.

arasi · Post by **arasi** » 07 Jan 2012, 11:37

You both touch my heart.
Couldn't be by my father's side when he passed away, since he was away from home on an assignment--a painful separation for months for a young man from his beloved family. The letter he wrote, which arrived several days after he died, was penned with his immense love for us and was in reply to the pongal cards we had made and sent him. As if he had a premonition--he had written, looking at the beautiful woman with a lamp in her hand I had cut from Ananda VigaDan and had pasted on it--he wrote, will I have the bhAgyam to see my little girl grow into such a woman?
His ishTa deivam was Murugan!

Ranganayaki · Post by **Ranganayaki** » 07 Jan 2012, 12:56

Punarvasu, I know what you are saying, your words in your other postings clearly tell of the poignant emotions you are enduring. I feel very close to you. Thanks for sharing again. I am touched by your account, of giving him permission to go. God bless you.

Arasi, thanks to you too for sharing. I am so sorry to know that you lost him at a tender age.

VK, CMLover, Ramesh, thank you all. Ramesh, thanks for listening to the song and mentioning it to me now. CML, I don't know how old you are, but appadi ellam pesathengo. It is a good thought, I know, but such events are so colored by the sorrow of the survivors, I felt a pang reading it. Ongalukku ellam nallathu thaan nadakkum. God bless you.

PUNARVASU · Post by **PUNARVASU** » 07 Jan 2012, 13:03

arasi, do not know what to write. Having tears in my eyes.
I am so touched by the affection and love shared by the members here. We should always keep it intact and bond with each other though our common love MUSIC.
CML , I echo Ranganayaki's sentiments.

arasi · Post by **arasi** » 07 Jan 2012, 13:22

On a lighter vein, wherever we end up, whenever we do, CML and I are going to have a lot more topics to exchange, talking our heads off!

Ramasubramanian M.K · Post by **Ramasubramanian M.K** » 10 Jan 2012, 05:47

Arasi/CML: Please let me know WHEN and WHERE and I will show up!! Yes the stories of Punarvasu and Ranganayaki are poignant and binds us all--Rasikas--together although we may not have all met each other--our common interest and passion being Music,we should focus our collective energies on "broadening" the CM listening base in our own constituencies using the local cultural institutions as a spring board--that would be our fulfillment of the legacy of the departed members' like Veeyens and Ranganayaki's Father.

Just to add my own personal anecdote although I was not around when my Father died in Sept 2006,I heard from my mother that 3 hours before his death one of the Chennai Sabha Secretaries called to tell my father that the promising candidate my Father had been "championing" for over 2 years for a slot in the upcoming December Music Season,is being given a chance-- and when my Mother conveyed the news to him my father was very happy--my mother had been remonstrating with him earlier as to WHY @ 93 he(my father) should lower his dignity and "tout' the credentials of every artiste before Sabha Secretaries--several decades younger,to which my father replied" If my recommendations are not heeded,that does not in any way impugn my dignity and if they are heeded so much the better for the artist especially those budding artistes from out of Chennai who do not get a fair shake amongst the Chennai Institutions--mind you my father by sheer virtue of Seniority knew all the leading Sabha Secretaries and would not relent pushing for artistes who he believed needed a break!!

By the way the artist referenced above is Amrutha Venkatesh--who -- when I checked this time--had quite a schedule this season . I am sure my father would have felt vindicated!!!

PUNARVASU · Post by **PUNARVASU** » 10 Jan 2012, 06:08

Shri MKR, your father must be truly happy to see Amrutha Venkatesh as a top ranking artist today. He belongs to that generation of people who would go any length for a right cause without expecting anything in return, as they believed 'virtue is its reward'(to quote my father's words). They have left their footprints on the sands of time and it is left for us to walk on them.