My mother, Indumati, at Stella Maris College, Madras - 21 March 1961

a precious photograph from the archives - from 21 March 1961 - of my mother, Indumati Muniswamy Naidu - before her marriage and change of name to Sharada Bhushan - as a member of the Faculty at Stella Maris College, Chennai - a junior lecturer for Telugu language (if I remember correctly). She is in the front row, third from right, in what was her favorite saree, a faint brown silk saree with a dark mustard border. This saree stayed with her for many many years and she did not hand it over to her daughter, Sarala Krishnamoorthy or daughter-in-law, Dr. Thulasi Bharat.

She had just completed her studies a couple of years earlier at Presidency College, with Dr. Lalitha Peters, her classmate, and joined Stella Maris as faculty. She hated getting married and journeying to Mumbai, but agreed only after being promised that she could study further, and could continue to work as a Teacher of Telugu language, which she did until her retirement.

My mother at Presidency College, Madras 1950-1953

an absolutely rare treasure of a photograph, received suddenly from someone who was shown the photograph quite accidentally. The BA Telugu (Hons) class of 1950-1953 at Presidency College, Madras, affiliated to the University of Madras. My mother, Indumati (later Mrs. Sharada Bhushan) is 2nd lady from right in the middle row, with Smt. Adilakshmi (mother of Santishree Dhulipudi) 2nd from right in the middle row, and with Smt. Lalitha Peters (4th from left in the middle row), who was former Professor of Telugu and Rector at Queen Marys College, Madras, for many years, with their classmates and faculty.

An absolute gem of a photograph, so crystal clear, and so perfectly preserved. My gratitude, with tons of millions of thanks to those unknown who preserved this photograph for so many years somewhere, someplace, somehow. I have immediately shared the photo with my mother's two sisters and am looking forward to hear from them if they recognise any of the others. The person in the front row, 3rd from left, is Prof. G. Narayana Reddy, who was later HoD Telugu at Sri Venkateswara University for many years and later became Vice Chancellor of that University. He presented me with the Roget’s Thesaurus and my sister received the book – ‘Word Power Made Easy’ – on receiving the news that he had become Vice Chancellor. He was with our family at Bombay on that day and was very happy.

My mother, Indumati, in this photo, if taken in 1953, would have been 23 years old and I am so moved by this photograph.

My mother, Indumati (Mrs. Sharada Bhushan) later went to work for a short while in the Telugu Department at Stella Maris College, Madras before shifting to Bombay and joining the AES High School and Junior College. She retired as the Principal of the institution.

Smt. Adilakshmi later went to Petersburg University in the then Soviet Union and set up the Telugu department and also authored a book on learning Telugu for Russians. She is respected by the faculty there and her students and their students consider her with tremendous adoration.

Smt. Lalitha Peters went to Queen Marys College, Madras as faculty for Telugu language and also became the Rector of the college. She later conspired with my mother in 1985 in identifying a doppelganger to them to be wed to me. Her student, Thulasi, is now a permanent reminder of their friendship to me, after we got married in 1986.

Dr. G. Narayana Reddy retired as Vice Chancellor, Sri Venkateshwara University, Tirupati.

Sitting – front row – from left to right – 1. Maremalla Nageswararao, 3. Prof. G. Narayana Reddy, 4. Prof. Ayyappan Pillai (Principal and Professor of English), 5. Prof. B. L. N. Rao (?) (HoD, Telugu Department), 6. Mr. Sarma, 7. Prof. P. S. R. Apparao.
Standing – middle row – from left to right – q. Mr. Vakkallanka Lakshmipatirao, 2. Shri Veturi Anandamurthy, 3. Smt. Alamelu, 4. Prof. Lalita Peters, 5. Smt. Vimala, 6. Smt. Indumati (Mrs. Sharada Bhushan), 7. Smt. Adilakshmi, 8. Mr. Dhara Ramanatha Sastry

My maternal grand-uncle with my maternal aunt, Shyamala and a cousin.

My maternal grand-uncle with my maternal aunt, Shyamala Naidu, and a cousin. Possibly late 50s or 1960. Maybe in Villivakkam or Nungambakkam, Madras

with my sister, Uma / Sarala at Villivakkam in the late sixties

With my sister, Uma / Sarala (now Sarala Krishnamoorthy, r/o Perth, Australia, and mother of Venkat Krishnamoorthy and Vegini Krishnamoorthy) in the late sixties at Villivakkam, Madras

My maternal grandmother, her eldest son, Kuchela, her sister and nieces - Meera and Bhavani

My maternal grandmother, Hymavathi Naidu, her eldest son, Kuchela Naidu, her sister, and nieces - Meera and Bhavani - possibly at Villivakkam, Chennai (then Madras) - in the late seventies.

Gajula Balija Naidu - Related surnames and family names in Tamil Nadu of 1860 to 1950

Balija Naidus were usually a trading community, found in all cities and mofussil towns of the Madras Presidency, from Srivilliputhur to Srikakulam. There were two major groups. The royalty - the Balija Nayaks, the Kings of Madura, Tanjore and Vijayanagar - were from the same community. As were their generals, ministers and governors. The second group were the traders - and of these, there were two major groups - Gajulu or Gazulu Balijas (bangle sellers) and the Perike Balijas (salt sellers).

In the current Tamil districts of Madras Presidency, the Balijas came to be known as Vaduga and Kavarai. To distinguish between the glass-bangle sellers and the gold jewellery traders, the Gajula Balijas involved in the richer trade got the titles "Chetti" and this was usually preferred. Commonly different surnames are - Naidu, Nayakkan, Chetti, Setti, Nayak, Kavarai, and Valaiyal Chetti among others.

[Valaiyal = Bangles in Tamil... i.e. Gajulu]

The Gazula Balijas in Nellore areas - 

from "The Vizagapatnam District Gazetteer" edited by W. Francis - 1907

The Balija Chettis or Setti, and sometimes, Shetty Balijas, and Sugavansi Balija controlled trading guilds. These communities became powerful and had tremendous impact on the trade of Vijayanagar. These guild-master families were given the title "Desai" by the Vijayanagar Kings. The Chetty families in Srirangam, Kumbakonam and Thanjavur were closely related to many Gajula Balija Naidus.

I remember my parents and grandfather being close friends of the Chetty families who were jewellers in Matunga, Mumbai, because they knew each other from back in Srirangam and were probably related, or close enough. The Chetty families, as I was told by my paternal grandfather, were actually Gajula Balijas, but on research, I learn that they were preferential to the community title - Kavarai Gajula Bangaru Naidu. This is the crucial distinction from glass bangles to gold jewellery traders.

There are variations in the surnames or family names. These include - Balija, Banajiga, Balanja, Bananja, Bananju, Banijiga, Balijiga, Valanjiyar, Balanji, Bananji, Baliga - derived from the Sanskrit term for Vanik or Vanii - a trader. It was the Banajigas who comprised trade guilds, and were famously known during the pre-medieval and medieval period as the five hundred lords of Ayyavolu. The name - Balija - also came to include Boya, Golla, Gavara and others during the rule of Krishnadevaraya of Vijayanagar.

The largest groups were Kapu, and these extended to Vakkaligas. In Kannada, some of these groups and communities came to be known by other names, including Pusala. There are communities named after their nativity - such as Gonuguntla Desayi Chetti - named after Gonuguntla Village. Yet another community was Gandavarapu, who were Gonuguntla Balijas, and migrated to Cuddapah. Other names included Mulaka, Miriyala, Vyasa, Tota, Kondeti, Gopathi and Perike among others.

The official status for Gajula Balija Naidus or Gazula Balija Naidus are -

Adumala Vakulabharanam Naidu - a relative I did not know about...

Adumala Vakulabharanam Naidu was a relative that I did not know about at all, until today, ie 15 February 2013. He was spouse of Balamma, eldest child and daughter of Shri Neela Meghala Shyamala Naidu, my paternal paternal great grandfather and Rukmini Devi, my paternal paternal great grandmother, residents of Srivilliputhur, south south Tamil Nadu during 1850 to 1920. Balamma was the elder sister of my paternal grand father, Shri Shyamala Ranga Bhashyam.

I did not know about Balamma's family, and never knew that she and her sister, Shanmughavalli, had married two cousin brothers, Adumala Vakulabharanam Naidu, and Adumala Alagari Singhari Naidu of Madras. Since the two sisters were married at Madras, the family moved out of Srivilliputhur to Madras. Later, my paternal grandfather was married to Rambai (aka Kodamma) of 12 Mannar Pillai Street, Trichy, sometime in 1915-1920.

Adumala Vakulabharanam Naidu was the son of the elder brother, while Adumala Alagari Singhari Naidu was the son of the younger brother.

Vakulabharanam - wow! what a name... made everything spin on its tip. There are variants. One could be - Vakalabharanam while the other variant could be Vakulabharanam.

Vakulabharanam is a classical Carnatic raga. This raga is the fourteenth Melakarta Raaga in the 72 Melakarta Raagas of Carnatic music. It is also sometimes called the Dhativasantabhairavi or the Vativasantabhairavi in Carnatic music.

The sudden mention of the name just blew me away, when I heard it from my paternal aunt, Pramila Jairam Naidu, who was spouse of Jairam Naidu, son of Algari Singhari Naidu.

The other variant - Vakalabharanam - that does not seem possible, is a surname that occurs rarely. Except, there is a twist in the story for this variant - The surname seems to occur only in the Srikakulam-to-Visakhapatnam area of north north Andhra Pradesh.

So you see... why the name takes my breath away... you have here, Shri Neela Meghala Shyamala Naidu and Rukmini Devi, of south south Tamil Nadu, wanting to marry off their two daughters, Balamma and Shanmugavalli, and did they find a matrimonial alliance with male siblings in a family of Balija Naidus of Madras, except they may have been getting a genetic root mix up with a family that has ties in north north Andhra Pradesh. What a span! What a panorama! Amazing.