Eighty years ago my grandfather ran the streets and hills of Koottickal and swam in the river right here. Today I speak at his funeral. Of that little boy who grew up to achieve great heights. Who inspired and guided many of us here today. Thank you all for gathering here today to celebrate my grandfather’s life.
Daddy was born on 26 th January 1928 into the Kallarakal Konthiamadom family, the oldest of his mother’s 12 children. He started his education in the quiet village of Koottickal in Kerala . After completing his Intermediate at SB College, Changanacherry, he broke past the shackles of society and made his way to Loyola College, Madras where he completed BSc Honours in Chemistry in the first batch.
This was followed by a short stint as a Chemistry professor in Colombo, Sri Lanka. Returning to India, he joined the Indian Air Force as an officer. Commissioned on 01 Jan 1950, he rose rapidly through the ranks, holding several important and strategic posts along the way such as the Director of Purchases in the UK, Evaluator of Aircraft for the Air Force and was the first director in charge of computerization of the Indian Air Force.
He married Ruby Emmanuel of the Ramapuram family in 1953 and together they began their 61 year long adventure. They were the perfect team. Chandi and Acca.
Awarded the Vishishta Seva Medal in 1981 for his distinguished service, he retired from the Air Force in 1984 as the Assistant Chief of Air staff, Logistics. He had lived in London, Colombo, Delhi, Shillong, Bangalore, Madras and finally decided to come back to where it all began, Koottickal.
Over the next three decades, he returned to his childhood love for plants and nature. Fondly remembered as Big Uncle by his many nephews and nieces, He always had a big smile - everyday, for everyone.
An excellent sportsman, he represented the Air Force in Hockey and was the services tennis Champion. Looking up to him, so many of us have grown to love sports. His curiosity in science and the world around him enthralled us and he would constantly be trying to figure out the chemistry or the physics behind everything in the Universe. This thirst for knowledge started with walking 7 kilometres everyday from his home in Koottickal to Mundakayam, as a small boy to visit the library there. As a young officer in England, the first thing he bought himself was an encyclopedia set. His thirst for knowledge never died. Yesterday as I sat on his desk in his office and looked around, sure enough, there it was on the table, a book on Quantum Physics.
Though most of us came to know him in the later years of his life, as a young officer travelling the country and outside, he was a mad adventurer who had to see everything he had read in books for himself. From walking the streets of France, plucking apples from the trees to eat, to his dream of taking a dip in every major river in India.
In spite of everything, he was a humble man who could talk to anyone from the youngest to the oldest with absolute ease. In the words of Rudyard Kipling,
Daddy was born on 26 th January 1928 into the Kallarakal Konthiamadom family, the oldest of his mother’s 12 children. He started his education in the quiet village of Koottickal in Kerala . After completing his Intermediate at SB College, Changanacherry, he broke past the shackles of society and made his way to Loyola College, Madras where he completed BSc Honours in Chemistry in the first batch.
This was followed by a short stint as a Chemistry professor in Colombo, Sri Lanka. Returning to India, he joined the Indian Air Force as an officer. Commissioned on 01 Jan 1950, he rose rapidly through the ranks, holding several important and strategic posts along the way such as the Director of Purchases in the UK, Evaluator of Aircraft for the Air Force and was the first director in charge of computerization of the Indian Air Force.
He married Ruby Emmanuel of the Ramapuram family in 1953 and together they began their 61 year long adventure. They were the perfect team. Chandi and Acca.
Awarded the Vishishta Seva Medal in 1981 for his distinguished service, he retired from the Air Force in 1984 as the Assistant Chief of Air staff, Logistics. He had lived in London, Colombo, Delhi, Shillong, Bangalore, Madras and finally decided to come back to where it all began, Koottickal.
Over the next three decades, he returned to his childhood love for plants and nature. Fondly remembered as Big Uncle by his many nephews and nieces, He always had a big smile - everyday, for everyone.
An excellent sportsman, he represented the Air Force in Hockey and was the services tennis Champion. Looking up to him, so many of us have grown to love sports. His curiosity in science and the world around him enthralled us and he would constantly be trying to figure out the chemistry or the physics behind everything in the Universe. This thirst for knowledge started with walking 7 kilometres everyday from his home in Koottickal to Mundakayam, as a small boy to visit the library there. As a young officer in England, the first thing he bought himself was an encyclopedia set. His thirst for knowledge never died. Yesterday as I sat on his desk in his office and looked around, sure enough, there it was on the table, a book on Quantum Physics.
Though most of us came to know him in the later years of his life, as a young officer travelling the country and outside, he was a mad adventurer who had to see everything he had read in books for himself. From walking the streets of France, plucking apples from the trees to eat, to his dream of taking a dip in every major river in India.
In spite of everything, he was a humble man who could talk to anyone from the youngest to the oldest with absolute ease. In the words of Rudyard Kipling,
If you can talk to crowds and keep your virtue.
Or walk with Kings nor lose the Human touch.
The curfew tolls the knell of parting day,
The lowing herd winds slowly o’er the Lea.
The ploughman homeward plods his weary way,
And leaves the world to darkness and to me.
Or walk with Kings nor lose the Human touch.
He had grabbed life with both hands and ridden it to adventure and lived a fulfilling life. We carry forth your legacy Big uncle, Chandichayan, Kunjunj, Daddy, Air Vice Marshal K J Chandi. The legacy of the Scientist, the teacher, the officer, the planter and the poet. May your soul rest in eternal peace.
I end with a few lines from the poem Elegy written in a country churchyard by Thomas Grey. It seems perfect, this was his favorite poem and here we are on our way to a country churchyard where that little boy once prayed more than eighty years ago. It has been a full circle.
The curfew tolls the knell of parting day,
The lowing herd winds slowly o’er the Lea.
The ploughman homeward plods his weary way,
And leaves the world to darkness and to me.
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