NCJ 75th Anniversary Appapen and Velliamchi Anecdotes

NCJ Appapen and Velliamichi Anecdotes

Velliamchi

She was famously a strict disciplinarian

When we visited during our winter holidays

She insisted that we all went to morning mass every day

And join in the very long 90 minute evening “prarthana” before dinner

We managed to have Mom intercede on our behalf

Claiming we did not understand her Malayalam prayers

And would prefer to say the prayer in English

Of course, our rosary took just 10-12 minutes

When we missed mass at the Latin church

We claimed we had attended mass at Leo XIIIth

She may have frowned upon many of our antics

but never challenged them because

She loved us all

And possibly because her English wasn’t great

And our Malayalam was woeful

It was a tradition among the Nereyeth sisters and their husbands who were affectionately called co-brothers or Cobras for short to host their families at annual Cobra Family Meetings

One Cobra meeting was held at our home in BLR

Imagine all the uncles and aunts horror when it was discovered

One morning that our house had been burgled

Some jewelry was stolen

Sarees were floating like waves in our back yard

Appapen’s watch had been stolen

He wasn’t upset

What upset him the most was that his favorite beedis had also been stolen – what if they were not available in Bangalore