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The Rediff Special/Uma Sankari on her father
P Nedumaran

'We were worried about
our father's health'

My father had had a bypass surgery recently. So, when he decided to go to the jungle to negotiate for the release of Dr Rajakumar, all of us - my mother, four brothers and myself - were very worried. We were worried about his health.

I asked him whether he could stay back and still help the others. He told me it was not possible and the mission was very important. He explained everything in detail and I was convinced, as always, by his explanations.

I understood that it was a very important job and it involved not only the lives of Rajakumar and the other hostages but also that of three million people in Karnataka and 600,000 in Tamil Nadu.

My mother (Parvathi) is a very soft-spoken and introverted lady who always stands by my father. She never expresses any fear or trepidation that will in any way hinder my father's work. She is a silent supporter of my father.

We were confident that those accompanying him would take good care of him. Nakkeeran Gopal has high regard for my father.

After he left for the jungles, we were very tense about the outcome of the mission. Will he be successful? Will he be able to bring Dr Rajakumar back?

After the first mission, he was to go for a second one when opposition leaders criticised him on the floor of the Tamil Nadu assembly. It hurt us.

I look at him not only as a father but also as a leader. I know his political ideology. Tamil Maanila Congress leader Balakrishnan, who led the opposition in criticising Nedumaran, was a friend of my father's. How could he talk like that despite knowing my father for several years?

My father's first reaction when he gets angry is to smile. When he heard about Balakrishnan's statement, he smiled, then laughed and commented, "What's this?"

From that moment, I was with him all the time. We were relieved when he finally decided to go. We also wanted him to go and complete the mission.

I felt very happy when I first heard that Rajakumar had been released. I could sense the happiness in the voices of Rajakumar's sons when they called me later. I had been hearing their voices over the telephone for several days and till then they were all very tense.

I had been feeling very sad for them all these days. Suddenly, they sounded so relieved and happy. I felt happy for them.

After that, I waited for my father's call. I just wanted to hear his voice. I was relieved of the tension only after hearing from him over the telephone. When he reached home, me and my cousin welcomed him by performing an aarthi.

When I was born 26 years ago, my father was an active Congress political activist and very close to Indira Gandhi. From the day I could remember, I have looked up at him as a leader, as a hero. I was proud of having a father who was adored by many people.

I knew even as a young girl that my father was different from my friends' fathers. I was very happy being with him and travelling with him to various places.

He couldn't spend much time with us when we were young as we grew up in Madurai. But being the youngest in the family after four brothers, I got to spend more time with my father.

It was after I became a software professional and got a job in Madras that I started spending more time with him. Two of my brothers (Kumanan and Manikana), both computer professionals, are working in the United States of America. The other two - Inian and Anandan - are working in Madras.

My relationship with my father is not only that of a daughter but also of a close friend though he was 41 years old when I was born. I can discuss anything under the sun with him. He is my soul, friend, philosopher and guide.

When he left the Congress and started his own party in 1979, I was just five years old. I remember the days in 1983-84 when Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam leader Velupalli Prabhakaran and other LTTE cadres stayed in our house in Madurai.

Being a kid, they used to talk to me and play with me and I became very close to them. Some of them told me about how they had lost their dear ones. Later on, I came to know that some of the people I knew got killed in the war in Sri Lanka.

When people whom I knew suffered and got killed, it disturbed me a lot. Their sufferings affected me. So, it was not their ideology that influenced me but their lives.

However, none of us siblings are interested in getting into politics. In fact, we have never thought about it.

(As told to Shobha Warrier)

The Rediff Specials

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