Anu Pillai
ANU PILLAI
Anu Pillai was born in the great steel city of Jamshedpur on a cold winter afternoon on October 9th in the year 1971 to a middle-class hard-working couple. At 2.30 PM a beautiful wheatish girl full of life entered into this world and became a companion to an elder sister. My daddy was a General Manager in a multinational company and my mummy was a teacher.
In Indian culture, the birth of a girl signifies the arrival of the goddess Lakshmi. This was particularly true in our family’s case as my daddy got a double promotion in his job. My mother used to keep on uttering this event which proved to be a certainty boosting for me . My grandparents were very eager to see me as in those days there were no gadgets that we have today. When my father got leave from work, our family went on a train journey from Jamshedpur to Kerala. This was the first travel experience for this baby who still did not have a name and was addressed by different pet names like Dona, Bhattu and Motta. It was a long journey and not a comfortable one as I used to cry a lot during day time as this small body of mine was not used to the heat of the steam engine of the train. So my uncle and my father in each long halt stations used to wash me under the running tap water of the Indian railway stations which was heaven for me as after the bath I used to sleep peacefully. As soon as we reached Kerala a great naming ceremony took place and I was named Anu
As soon as I started walking my mother noticed I had a limp in my leg and so my parents took me to a doctor and he diagnosed me as handicapped. For a moment I was not able to understand why everyone in the family was upset after hearing what the doctor informed me. I thought that if I have medicines I would get cured but that was not the case for me. I had to live with my illness for the rest of my life. In spite of this ailment, the love and affection of my parents and sister helped me to enjoy my life.
Dad was an avid traveler which opened a flood of opportunities for me to travel as a tourist to various countries of the globe. The countries I visited are namely Dar-es-Salaam, Mauritius Cairo in Egypt, Kenya, Zanzibar, Reunion, Kuwait and Seychelles. In East Africa Tanzania I have explored many national parks and zoos as well. In one such tour at Arusha national park, one elephant chased our car, which was a heart-stopping experience. I thoroughly had a sizeable adventure and fun in all these places.
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In Dar-es-Salaam once when I learning swimming I was almost about to drown but my Mummy saw it and she jumped into the pool and saved me it was like a nightmare for me that day.
Another incident I remember is a very exciting one even now I feel proud when I think of it. I was a young Retroact in the Rotary Club of Dar -es-Salaam. They kept a competition of walking and I became the youngest Retroact to finish walking and I got a medal and a certificate for the same. My parents and my sister were very proud of me. I showed everyone that even though I am a handicap I can also achieve and become something in life.
Once my parents and my sister and myself and some of our friends went for an outing as it was Onam festival and we had great fun and a wonderful time. The boys and men were to do the cooking and the girls and ladies had fun playing and resting doing nothing for that day. Relaxing all the day. It was time for lunch and the men and boys started to serve us lunch and we all had fun.
The next country where I lived was Mauritius which is a picturesque island situated in the Indian Ocean. On this island, I commenced my schooling and everything was going on smoothly. At school some of my classmates who I considered as friends bullied me. This has affected my life and emotions a lot till today. This incident was a real shock to me. Despite that I had a jovial time with my family, relatives and friends. As Mauritius is a multicultural country we used to celebrate festivals and birthdays of everyone every year.
My parents and my sister were very encouraging due to which I learnt many others things such as swimming, stitching, badminton and many languages such as French, the local language of Mauritius namely Creole. Inspired by Mummy’s cooking and the compliment she got from everyone I started cooking for the first time which was an exciting experience for me.
In Mauritius I learned stitching and I made a lot things such as a table cloth, a handkerchief and a sweater for myself. My parents and sister were very pleased to see my stitching and praised my work. These 10 years of my life as an NRI were very blissful.
At the age of 11, we returned to India, in the state of Kerala which is known as God’s Own Country. I resumed my schooling for 1 year in Kerala where during the PT section I fell on the ground. I was immediately taken to the hospital where the Doctor diagnosed me as an epileptic patient. This confirmation from the doctor was another huge blow for me. My parents played a pivotal role in overcoming this hurdle. In the year 1985, my daddy got a new job in the city of Ahmedabad, Gujarat. I restarted my schooling along with the challenges of my health I completed my 9th level. During my 10th grade, my eyes started getting shady. I was examined by an ophthalmologist who discovered that I had to wear
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specs. I continued my studies and completed my 10th grade with great difficulty as I used to constantly get epileptic seizures. With all these hindrances I cleared my 10th and 11th 12th grades with the help of my parents and one sweet caring teacher Mrs Usha Chib and my dear friend Rupa Iyer. During my vacation time, I did my Montessori, Travel Tourism and Ticketing course.
Life is not a bed of roses thorns escort them. During my 12th board exams on a Sunday night, after two exams, the cruel hands of death came into my family’s life. My father suffered a sudden heart attack on Sunday 31st March 1991 at 10:20 PM I lost my beloved daddy. Darkness prevailed all around me. It was like as if my life came to a standstill. Hence I could not carry on with my exams. In this state of grief, my Usha teacher consoled me to write the rest of my exams but I was not in the right frame of mind to continue my exams. So I wrote the rest of the exams after coming back from Kerala in October after carrying out the rituals of my daddy.
During my higher secondary vacation, I completed my Telephone Operator course. I started my college life. I am a proud Xavierite with an Arts Graduation. The proverb “A friend in need is a friend indeed” aptly fits my college companion Aashita Shah with whose help I completed my college life. While waiting to get employed, I did a B.Ed. course from Delhi. I got a 1st class for my B.Ed. This course secured me a job in a Primary School. I was the class teacher of the of the second standard.
Life was steadily moving forward and one afternoon after my job as I reached home the postman came and gave my Mummy a letter from Kerala. In that the tenant of our house wrote There is a proposal for your second daughter. I argued with my Mummy that when my sister who is elder than me is sitting, then how can I marry?. As my sister wanted me to marry first I got married. Hence my marriage was held at a grand function in Trivandrum. But I did not know my life was going to turn for the worse. In the beginning after marriage, everything went off well but after that when all the people went and the house became quiet my in-laws and my husband were in the house they started telling everyone that I am a very sick girl so they are showing a Dr who will make me fine. That was all false. When my family members came, my in-laws started showing so much love towards me. They wanted only my money and property even though my Mummy gave them so much after I married their son. They wanted that everything should be in my name, hence they harassed me. At last, my Mummy and my sister came forever from Ahmedabad to solve my problem. They talked for days and nights to solve the issue but all in vain. After 3 months of marriage, I got divorced. I came back home feeling perturbed.
In my life, Dr Radhakrishnan was the epitome of grace who dedicated his life to his patients. I used to go for reviews for my illness. He suggested that why are you sitting at home and wasting your time thinking of your past? Why don’t you come and join us in the Epilepsy research centre at Shree Chitra Thirunal (SCT) hospital?.
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Wholeheartedly I accepted his advice and worked as a Telephone operator cum Receptionist for 2 years. I realised that life is not as bad as I thought and two years went off calmly. But I got an accident and then I could not continue my work and I was just sitting at home and getting desperate and feeling lonely and sad in life.
Meanwhile once my Mummy was reading a Malayalam newspaper, and she saw an ad for the Brahmakumaris centre. She took me to the Pettah Centre of the Brahmakumaris and I liked their teaching and their videos especially I liked Shivani Didi’s videos. Hence I got an interest in following the Brahmakumaris and did their seven days course in the centre as well as in their WhatsApp group. In the WhatsApp group exam, I got a 3rd rank and I became BK Anu Pillai and a Sevadhari. After which I started doing Seva by putting posts in different groups of the Brahmakumaris in Facebook as well as in WhatsApp I felt very happy doing the same.
My wish of becoming an Author was still lingering in my thoughts. I started searching for Publications and Publishers which I searched in different Social Media. I got only one positive reply from Blue Rose Publications. I published my first book and the book’s name is “The Treasures Of A Poetess. “For that I got a great honour from the Indian Army from Brigadier Lalit Sharma Station commander Trivandrum. As he liked my book The Treasures Of Poetess and my writings in it.
As I was thinking to write my second book which I was nearly going to finish writing I got a National Achiever’s Award for which got a certificate, a medal and a trophy and just recently I got a Women Icon Award 2024.I got these awards because they liked my first book.I was really feeling very proud and excited after getting these awards.
But my dream is only half fulfilled since I want to become an Author of many more books mostly poems, shayaris and short stories. I am aware that I have shortcomings but my family and friends and my cousins and a brother who is not even of my blood relationship are my greatest gift which I will cherish forever and continue to focus on my goals and live life to the fullest.