Mr. Sampath and the Art of the Chill

The Man from Scotland!  A Man for all Seasons!!

Geoffrey Sampath, as he liked to call himself jokingly when we were growing up, wearing a Scottish Balmoral-style hat and winter jacket on cold Delhi mornings, Appa was hardly ever flamboyant. This was the one indulgence he allowed himself. A crossword buff and a language lover, he'd use an imagined  Scottish accent trying to impress us when we were growing up. As with most kids, we found it more humorous than impressive! Looking back, though, given his penchant for picking up languages, he could have passed off for a Scotsman had he spent a little bit of time there. 

Born in Villivakkam, Madras, during the waning years of the British empire, the year WWII started, Appa was 4th of 5 siblings that survived to adulthood! From what I know based on hearing about his childhood, he was perhaps a conservative, safety-first type of a child. He wasn't a sportsman by any means, a trait that might have been defined by one specific moment in his early years. As the story goes, he and his cousins were chasing after someone on a bicycle and he took a huge tumble. Broke his front tooth and never picked up the courage to run again! I have a feeling he never really forgave those cousins for causing the trauma and laughing at him ;)! 

On the other hand, he was an avid reader and very studious. Perhaps he was the first in his extended  family circle to do very well in school (Singaram Pillai HS), and later at Loyola College where he graduated with a BA In economics - Honors, no less! He was proud of this extra honorific! Not having the family backing to pursue anything higher, and the pressure to earn to support them, he joined civil service - initially in the Railways in Mumbai and later switched to Customs and Central Excise. The latter defined his entire career. He moved from the then Bombay to Calcutta in 1964 with his wife of 3 years at that time, first child already born. Second would come a couple of years later, and the third, darling of the family, nearly a decade later. 

He was at home in Calcutta. Living in South Calcutta, the bastion of South Indian settlers in this once glorious city, Appa fell in love with the local language, Bangla. And the language loved him back! Within a few years, locals would ask which district of West Bengal he was from, not which Indian state. Such was his mastery. This was not just the spoken part- he also learned the script and soon was fairly fluent in reading Bengali text. The ease with which he picked up Bangla also extended to Telugu. At least for Bangla there was a reason, he was immersed in it in Calcutta. He claims he learned Telugu just by listening to it. 2 of the 4 families we were close to in Calcutta were from Andhra. Quite possible this was the reason although I think his ancestral place of birth had something to do with it. Kumbakonam/]Thanjavur, where his family came from, is the land where Tyagaraja and the music Trinity were born and was home to many Telugus. The local waters must have something to do with his Telugu knowledge although they had moved to Madras when he was barely 5. Yet, that ancestral connection ran deep, quietly bridging his love for languages to a lifelong devotion to melody—something that beautifully manifested throughout his life. 

During Calcutta days, as I was growing up, I remember a few things distinctly. He took us to the movies, some of which are etched in my mind. The Sound of Music at Globe theater was one such movie- he liked it so much he even took my grandma, his MIL, who couldn’t understand a word of English, to it. She seems to have loved it. Another movie he re-watched during this period was MS Subbulakshmi’s Meera. Originally released when he was a few years old, he was a big fan of the star musician and the title character she played. This was enough for him to want to name his daughter Meera even against the wishes of the orthodox families we came from. We also went for a few Tamil movies at the Minerva theater. Thanga Padakkam (Gold Medal), VIetnam Veedu (symbolizing the divided house) and Rikshakkaran featuring MGR in a typical “saving the poor man against the tyranny of the evil rich men” role that would eventually catapult him to becoming TN’s CM, are some that I remember watching with him. The sights and sounds of Calcutta are etched in my mind because of the various trips we took around the city on weekends as a family. The Esplanade's buzz, Park Circus, Maidan and Victoria Memorial Hall, Eden Gardens, Doll/Children’s museum, Nehru Planetarium, Kali Bari and Howrah Bridge are but a few of those. Perhaps because of him, Calcutta ranks #1 in my list of Indian cities. 

One of the gifts he and my mom gave us was a focus on learning Tamizh. We were admitted to Andhra Association School where one section was for Tamiilians. All 3 of us learned to read and write our mother tongue from a young age. This later continued in Delhi with DTEA!! They also encouraged us to read various Tamil novels throughout our lives. Bharathi Tamizh Sangam near Lake market was a favorite destination. This gave us the opportunity to read classics by various Tamil writers when we were growing up- some of those hold a special place in my heart. Even today, we read modern day Tamil classics and are getting to enjoy the depth of Tamil literature and history thanks to this forethought. 

A funny and memorable event we had around 1974 is stuck in my head. For a brief period between 1970-74, appa owned a Lambretta scooter. A heavy scooter, unlike the more lithe and agile Vespa/Bajaj, this gave appa a sense of security and balance.  He’d ride the scooter slowly, but we were happy to finally have our own vehicle. Like a typical Indian family, my brother would stand in front of my father in the small space, I will be squeezed between father and my mom in the pillion seat holding the new and youngest member of the family, Meera. On this day, we went to Lake Market, a well known vegetable market. As we finished shopping and approached the parked scooter, we noticed a bull staring at us. When my father kick-started the scooter, the bull must have got rattled by the noise and started slowly advancing towards us. We scrambled onto the scooter and decided to beat a hasty retreat. Retreat we did, but there was nothing hasty with a Lambretta. My father probably tried to accelerate as fast as he could, against his nature, but the scooter was slowly chugging along Rashbehari avenue, with an accelerating bull behind us. The faster dad went, the faster the bull seemed to get. This was probably around 7:30-8 PM  and the place was pretty crowded. However, not a single soul stirred to help us. They were all fascinated by the matador show and were cheering the bull on. Like the cycle incident as a child, this further enraged my father as he was screaming for help while trying to get away. Finally my mom threw the vegetable basket containing all the fresh veggies! Lo and behold, the basket found its mark. It landed right on the bull’s face and the basket handle got caught in its horns. Moms never miss their mark!! This caused the bull to be distracted enough for us to get away. Phew. Dad’s BP was through the roof and next morning he sold his scooter!! The impending transfer to New Delhi was ostensibly the reason but we think it was all bull!!

10 years later, father was transferred to New Delhi. This marked a dramatic transition for all of us. I, for instance, who had grown up as a Bengali boy, lost all touch with Bengalis for the next decade. Delhi is also a vastly different city. Calcutta, with its trams, crowded markets and streets was very pedestrian friendly those days. We walked everywhere perhaps because it was faster that way ;)! Delhi, on the other hand, was far flung. Overcrowded DTC buses were the only mode of transportation we knew. By now, we were older and independent. Appa and amma didn’t blink when we had to take DTC buses for 45 minutes to get to school. Our parents taught us independence without making a show of it. If that’s what was needed, that’s what was done. Appa would also leave for his office at about the same time as us, also trying to take the same buses. Remember, he was a cautious man, so to this day I don’t know how he made it to work as these buses would notoriously not stop at the bus stop. We had mastered the art of getting on to moving buses, barely getting a toe hold and hands clutching at the window grill. Right in front of him. He never chided us or lectured us! I can’t imagine any of us having the same faith today - we have become over protective!! Should have learned the “art of the chill” from him. 

By now our relationship was much more mature and he treated us as equals. We read the same English novels, Arthur Hailey, Alistair MacLean, Agatha Christie and a whole lot more. Anyone who has been around him will know his love for crosswords. We too became avid fans and would sit together solving these and other puzzles. Amrita Bazar Patrika in Calcutta also carried Cryptoquip that my dad and mom would solve together. They made a great puzzle pair. This habit continued till his last days. Somewhere along, my mom overtook him and became a master of App-based games including Sudoku, but we can’t imagine him without a pen and a folded newspaper anytime during the day.

One of the beauties of the era we grew up in, our parents were a true representation of the attitude that children were not their possession but merely ones that had been entrusted in their care. They were never overbearing. For the most part the best they could do was hope we would study and do well in our careers but not how we went about it. So when my brother showed some interest based on peer conversations in preparing for JEE, they fully supported him, even though it meant an added burden paying for private prep classes. He justified this expense by qualifying and suddenly my career path was on a fixed trajectory! They had discovered IITs thanks to Sridhar! But then he was always the bookish kind!! IIT seemed his natural calling. I don’t think appa had too much hope for me. This was revealed in a funny conversation AFTER I got through JEE and he was accompanying me to Madras to settle me in. Halfway through the 36h journey he exclaimed, “You listen to Vividh Bharathi from 7 AM till 11 PM, I never thought you’d make it through JEE” :)! True, I did that but he conveniently forgot that I picked up that habit also from my brother!! That is the extent to which he was directly involved in our education, but we knew that he and amma were fully supportive and gave us the confidence we needed to pursue our dreams and never held us back. This came handy when Maya and I became parents and our daughter announced she was NOT interested in STEM. We knew our role was not to impose our desires and hopes but support her in her passion. Namu can thank grandparents on both sides for this!

My days away from home at IITM and later when I moved to the US, again with his full support, meant I was not in everyday contact with him. But there was not one time he let the distance bother him- the occasional phone calls to a neighbor's house because we didn’t have a phone at home were just as easy as conversations when we met in person. I remember making the call in March of 1990, barely nine months after leaving India, to announce that I had found my life partner! His presence on the other side of the call made it so easy! There was no drama, no filmy threats, but just a simple laugh that eased all tension, and the rest is history. By the time they met Maya the following year, everyone was totally at ease. Maya became his Crossword companion while drinking morning coffee. As the legend goes, Maya even sang a “Dabban koothu” song when asked if she could sing, and won my dad’s heart over and we got instant permission to get engaged right away ;)!  

That in a nutshell was my father. He encouraged everyone to be their best and never criticized anyone. Till the last day, he made me feel like I was a better singer than I was. He on the other hand was a natural genius when it came to music. 

The Composer

Appa never formally trained in music. He also never formally learned Sanskrit. Despite this, as early as the mid-70s, appa got the urge to compose music in Sanskrit.  He penned his first song in honor of Sri Ramanujacharya, one of the most important exponents of the Sri Vaishnavism tradition who propounded Vishishtadvaita (Qualified Non-Dualism). I was a kid at that time but loved the tune he would sing this in. A little while later, he wrote about the glories of Sri Vedanta Desikan, the most brilliant stalwarts of Sri Vaishnavism in the post-Ramanuja period. Then I lost track of his composing era as I was away from home the rest of the time. When they visited the US finally in 2000, I finally got to hear a few of them. These were true gems. The specialty of his compositions, something he was immensely proud of, was that until then, no one had focused on Vaishnava Sthala Puranas and glorified not just the deity, but of the holiness of the place where the temple was located. My favorite in that batch of compositions was “Chakrayudha Pane” about his birthplace, Kumbakonam. My mom taught Maya another of his compositions, Sri Parthasarathim, about the eponymous Deity in Thiru Alli Keni (Triplicane) . Perhaps fittingly, his last rites will be performed at Krishna Theertham across from this temple for the next 10 days. 

In 2009, Sri Chitraveena Ravikiran made his dream come true but setting tune and producing an album titled “Hari Samarpanam”, featuring 9 of his gems sung by brilliant rising stars then. All of them are big names in Carnatic music today. A few years later, he and amma collaborated on his second album, Ahobila Hari. This album carried the first 2 songs on the Acharyas and 16 others. 

All his songs, meanings and notations were released in a book format, called “Keerthana Mala”. His wish was that people would take up these compositions and

popularize them as many of the temples and the glories of their sites are not well known even amongst Vaishnavites. Perhaps, as with many other artists, his dreams will come true one day!!

May 17, 2026 Webster Word of the Day was “Affable”, Affable describes someone who is friendly and easy to talk to. It can also describe something, such as someone’s personality, that is characterized by ease and friendliness. Unknowingly, Webster hit the nail on the head as a tribute to a man who personified the word. Anyone who has met appa even briefly will come away feeling they met their best friend - someone who deeply cares about them. The tributes I have heard and read in the last few days is a testimony to this.

Appa- I miss you a lot already and I know as days go by I will feel the void even more. But if I have learned one thing from you, it is never to be perturbed - be the “Sthithaprgnya”, the equanimous mind. I hope to emulate you!