Reminiscing Half A Century.

It was morning, on Thursday 19^th, September 1963, my journey began, and incidentally it is also the year Malaysia was born.

I remember………….

1969

I went to Kindergarten at Public High School. Headmistress was Rajah Mami. Uncle Muthu buys me “Roti Kahwin” (aka roti bakar) during recess.
First man on moon, “one small step for man, a giant leap for mankind.”
May 13, 1969 riots in Kuala Lumpur.
Our first black and white television.

1970

Standard One at Sekolah Bukit Hampar. Perumal Dass and me would tag behind his father Uncle Narayanasamy (also a teacher at the same school), carrying a “barber bag” (a smaller version of suit case) with a square “slate” to write.
Met John Thompson at school and eventually he, Dass and me become the inseparable trio until our form Six.
Tun Razak becomes Prime Minister of Malaysia.

1971

India Pakistan war

1972

My sister Thara was born.
Heard the name Watergate but did not understand anything.
Athletes killed in Munich Olympics.

1973

US pulls out of Vietnam
My sister Vani almost killed me by pushing me of the rambutan tree. Luckily survived with a hairline fracture of the wrist.
P.Ramlee, passes away, a symbol of how Malaysia was.

1974

I dislocated my arm, actually Raj Kumar pushed me down from a table during Tamil class. I can still feel the slap I got from my father, his instant reaction seeing me in the hospital with a bandaged arm. Cikgu Susah (my discipline teacher) had to calm my father. I had two weeks of great time at Melaka Hospital being smothered with good food and company. After that incident Raj Kumar and I became good friends.
While I was in Melaka, my sister Thara was admitted at Segamat hospital with acute bronchitis. Poor Dad had to commute from Segamat to see me in the evening in Melaka.
Sat for my first public examination ie. Standard Five Assessment Examination.

1975

Farewell party at standard 6. Sang a Hindi song…..O mere Soni ……..
Pol Pot and Khmer Rouge takes over Cambodia.
First puppy love. Had a crush on my neighbour who was doctor.
My life crashed when I was told that I am short sighted, wanted to be a pilot.
Mohammed Ali Vs Joe Bugner, Boxing, watched at the school, the whole school was hooked onto the match.
World Cup Hockey, India Beat Pakistan (2-1). But it was the semi finals that got everyone emotional Malaysia Vs India (India beat Mal 3-2). Names like SriShan, Yogeswaren, Ajitpal Singh, Alam Sher Khan, Dhyanchand, Brian Star Mariam Poon Fook Loke..... And I wanted be a hockey player.

1976

Form 1, an exciting beginning at Segamat High School.
Got my appendix removed at about midnight, since my neighbor was a doctor she got the surgeon and 2 other doctors to operate on me . Small town everyone practical knows everyone else. Life was simpler.
Heard the name Bill Gates and Steve Jobs.
Sudirman  Hj Arshad won Bintang RTM, a legacy as to how Malaysian should have been.

1977

My ammamma (maternal grandmother) passes away.
First Kiss.
Elvis Presley died.
Watched the movie Star Wars and awed by the blue screen technology.
MGR becomes Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu
Got my first guitar, and wanted to be John Denver.
Watched Saturday Night Fever and got hooked on Disco, and all the dudes started to walk like Travolta.

1978

Felt the pressure for the first time, preparing for Lower Certificate of Examination.
My classmate Rasamalar passes away due to a traffic accident before she could sit for the examination.
Went camping at Gunung Ledang with friends after examination.
Camp David Peace accord : Carter-Sadat-Begin
Test Tube baby born.

1979

Ayatollah Khomeini becomes Spiritual Leader of Iran ousting Shah of Iran.
Saddam Hussien becomes President of Iraq
Margaret Thatcher becomes the first female Prime Minister of Great Britain

1980

Malaysian Certificate of Examination was another milestone.
US boycotts Moscow Olympics
Iranian Hostage Crisis
John Lennon was shot dead

1981

Walked tall when given an opportunity to do form Six.
President Sadat assassinated, President Reagan was shot and wounded, Pope John Paul II also wounded.
Mahathir becomes Prime Minister of Malaysia.
First case of AIDS reported.
Prince Charles married Lady Diana
MTV launched

1982

Falklands war, Great Britain invades Argentinian Island and takes control of Falklands.
Leonid Brezhnev dies.

1983

Embarked on a new journey, got enrolled for a degree program at University Science Malaysia.
President Reagan’s missile plan called Star Wars was launched.

1984

Fell in love and got dumped. Love aside, I had the best time in my life. Met Chandra, Ganason, Tall Jega, Sivan, Rajalingam sir, Megan, Selva, Shanti, Short Jega, Anandan, and Kalidas.  All of them have touched and made my life meaningful during good times and bad times at campus.
Soviet Union Boycotts LA Olympics, tit for tat.
Indira Gandhi was assassinated by her Sikh bodyguards. Son Rajiv becomes the Prime Minister.
Union Carbide Chemical Co. in Bhopal killed thousands due to toxic gas leak.
Mac was launched.

1985

Proton Saga, the first Malaysian car was launched.
Used my first computer ie IBM at University.
Mikhael Gorbachev becomes President of Soviet Union
The concept of Ozone layer holes was publisized

1986

Chernobyl Nuclear Disaster in Soviet Union.
Gameboy by Nintendo was launched.

1987

Last days at campus, camped out on Bukit Bendera, Penang.
My graduation.  Took photographs only to realize later that film role was not loaded.
Got my first job with Anthonian Store, a new phase in my life began.
Started smoking - Dunhill.
Iran Contra Scandal
MGR Died.

1988

Terrorist attack on Pan Am 747 over Lockerbie, Scotland.
Benazir Bhutto becomes the leader in Pakistan.

1989

Collapse of the Berlin Wall.
Tiananmen Square massacre in China.
Exxon Valdez oil spill in the Alaskan Coast.

1990

Unification of Germany.
Iraq invades Kuwait
Nelson Mandela released from prison.
Tunku Abdul Rahman Al Haj passes way.

1991

Got entangled in a dangerous liaison. An acutely stressful relationship. Thanks to my dad and "Appu" uncle I got out of it with bruised emotion. Good lesson learned.
Collapse of Soviet Union
Apartheid law in South Africa was abolished.  
Gulf War

1992

I became an Uncle. Kavin (my sister’s son) was born.
My grandmother (paternal) passes away. I was close to her. Strangely upon her death her eyes was half open, and couldn’t be shut till I came back and placed my hands on her eyes and it shut immediately.
The end of the Cold War.
Bill Clinton becomes US President.
Prince Charles and Lady Diana separate

1993

Rwandan conflict

1994

Bought my first car, a used Merc 200.
Met Greeja, was not love at first sight. But upon multiple sight we fell in love, got engaged.

1995

Our marriage.
Blessed with Raviena, the angel that changed my life completely.
I stopped smoking, went to Batu Caves, bought a packet of Dunhill and threw it into the fire, and never looked back.

1997

My grandfather (paternal) passes away.
Greeja and I completed our Masters.
Lady Diana killed in an accident.
Asian Financial Crisis

1998

Anwar Ibrahim arrested
Monica Lewinsky scandal
Viagra was launched.

1999

Joined the Academia.
Y2K scare rocks the world of computers.
We lost a child at 7 months of pregnancy

2000

Enrolled Raviena in a Kindergarten ie Child Enrichment Centre.
Mum got her 1st heart attack. A very emotionally trying time for the family.

2001

Terrorist attack on World Trade Centre.
ENRON Scandal
Greeja’s mother passes away.  Shortly after, we lost another child

2002

Raviena’s 1^st day at School, Sekolah Kebangsaan USJ2, Subang Jaya.

2003

Mahathir Mohamed steps down as prime minister of Malaysia.
Read the Da Vinci Code

2004

We purchased and moved into our very own home in February.
Tsunami left many devastating effects on Boxing day .
Facebook launched

2005

Hurricane Katrina
Youtube launched

2007

My cousin Paapa passes away.
We adopted Paapa’s children Roshen and Dhivya. I saw maturity in Raviena when she insisted that it was our duty to look after Paapa’s children. Looking back at our earlier losses, it seems there was a logical end to it.
Subprime Mortgage Collapse
iPhone launched

2008

Raviena in form 1, Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan Seafield, Seafield.
Barrack Obama becomes President of US

2009

Was introduced to Ramana Maharishi by my friend. It strengthened our spiritual development.

2011

Osama Bin Laden killed in Pakistan

2012

Roshen enrolled for a Culinary Diploma at HELPCat.
Mother initiates the concept of a Family Reunion which took place in May

2013

Roshen and Raviena got their driving licence.
Raviena enrolled at Sunway doing Canadian International Matriculation
Dhivyaa enrolled at HELP University doing Foundation in Arts.
The 2^nd family reunion is held in September.

 And  THE JOURNEY CONTINUES……………………………………………………..trying to decipher who am "I".