A TRIBUTE TO MY LOVELY BROTHER
VIJAYA VENKATA RAMA SUBBA RAO ALIAS TAMBU
Tambu breathed last
on the 21st April 2024 morning hours. The second sibling in the
large twelve members’ family, was named by my parents after my Mother’s father.
He is an embodiment of love and affection and a devout person, fully self-made.
He was the first earning member of the family after completing the
Pre-University Course in the pre-sixties from the Sri Venkateswara University.
Well-versed in shorthand, at the behest of my father, he joined the Lederle
Company (latter known as Cyanamid ) as a stenographer. While serving the Company,
he graduated himself through self-learning. Post-retirement from the Cyanamid,
he preferred to dedicate his life to service to humanity through yoga. He was
an ardent follower of Ramana Maharshi’s writings and philosophy. He pursued his
yoga learning under Yoga Acharya Raparti Rama Rao of the Centre for International
Yoga Consciousness, Eizinigiri, Vizianagaram in Andhra Pradesh.
A Karma Yogi
Annually or at such
intervals less than a year, he used to seek the blessing of his Yoga Guru. He
did post-graduation in Yoga Sastra. Apart from teaching Yoga both at his home
and at the houses of the students in the early hours and evening hours of every
day, he delivered lectures on Yoga and its importance. He gave discourses on
the All India Radio, Chennai on the International Yoga Day.
He always believed
that without himself being happy he would not make others happy. Whenever we
brothers and sisters ring him and ask him, ‘how are you’, his response was
always, I am happy. Even he was affected by Cancer and had intense suffering,
he gave the same response that kept the kith and kin, near and dear, that all
was well with him. This delusion distanced from early cure though all of us
latter knew that the disease is by nature terminal.
The Palate:
He created a
roof-garden where one can find beautiful flowers, vegetables for everyday use
and built a small Yoga Room. It was only after he became less mobile and weak,
did he shift to the ground floor at his lovely home in Chennai.
He treasures
reading philosophical books and loves Cricket. He started admiring Hardrik
Pandey for his versatility in batting and bowling. He used to give a call to me
whether I was watching his test game or T-20.
The Bondage
Up to the
Pre-Covid, he never missed a year to perform the customary annual ceremonies of
my parents along with me, coming all the way from Chennai. He was my yoga Guru
too. We used to reminisce into the past the way we moved when our parents were
alive, going back six to seven decades, year after year. Unbound in affection,
he never also missed to visit our sisters when he was at Hyderabad and his
brother-in-law Ch. Rama Rao, a scholar, and a scientist in NGRI.
When he visited the
US, he made it a point to visit Toronto to stay with my daughters and teach
some basics of yoga too.
Enjoys Good Food
My Mother knew from
the day he had the taste of food, he loved food and cleared the leaf. He also
knew like a couple of my other brothers, cooking tasty vegetarian cuisine. His
love for pickles – Avakaya, Menthikaya, and Magaya – all made of mango during
the season and stored for the year, is immense. Many a time, he used to cook his
own food at home as well. He loves cooking as much as his food.
Love for Music
He had very good
friends of repute in the Karnataka music world. His love for Karnataka Music –
vocal or instrumental, no matter, Thyagaraja Krithis, Annamaya Sankirthanas has
no boundaries of region, language, and instrument, His love for other fine arts is no less.
Whenever our sisters gave music concerts, he always sent the video clippings to
me to listen and enjoy. We inherited this love for music from our legendary and
affectionate parents.
I had a small
privilege of editing his AIR talks. A year back, I visited him at Chennai,
after he got the unfortunate disease.
Etched in my memory
great moments I enjoyed, I miss him, miss him a lot. He chose to go to my
parents’ heavenly abode. God bless him.
B. Yerram Raju, the
elder brother.
