Tatayya Says

Srisa & Srikar say...

2006-11-22T10:29:00.000-08:00

By Srisa

My thatha, Dr. B.Sadasivudu, is not only one of the leading Biochemists in India but he is also a great man. Only people who know him and are close to him know it. He has many unrecognised talents.

First of all he is a great thinker. He is not a follower, he is the one who sets the rules he makes sure everyone follows them. Now in his early eighties, he is into spiritualism. He reads a lot of books related to spiritualism. He not only reads the books but he thinks about every word in depth. Sometimes, when he is reading a book you find him staring into empty space. When you ask him what he is thinking, he calls you over to him and reads that passage to you, so that you can ponder about it and then have a discussion with him about it (never have a discussion with him when you have a view that is opposite to his because he will usually say something that makes you change your opinion immediately!!).

Secondly, he is a loving and caring person. I suppose like any grand dad, he used to take us to movies and buy me anything I like.

Thirdly, his love for the sport of tennis is amazing. He used to watch the game and then analyse the match so perfectly that you would stare at him in amazement, wondering how he keeps doing that.

Generally, he is a man aiming for perfection in anything he does. He is a legend.

By Srikar

My grandfather Dr. B.Sadasivudu is a very fun loving grandpa because he used to take me to movies and bought me lot of things. He also is one of the best doctors in India. He always reads books. He loves books and also he loves sport.

About - Tatayya

2006-11-21T23:18:00.000-08:00

I realized the wider the audience for this blog, the more the need to have a better introduction to dear tatayya. And, who else but the immediate dear ones to do that!

Kishan mama, i.e., Dr.Krishna Bharat, a renowned radiologist, is the only child of tatayya, who knows him as more than just father. He continues to discuss technical stuff even to this day and as you would read below; his sons got wind of it too!

It is with great privilege and pride that I am writing these few words about Dr.Sadasivudu. For me he is not only “pitrudevobhava” (father is equivalent to God) but also “acharya devo bhava” (teacher is equivalent to God) and “gurusakshath prarahbrahma swaroopam” (Guru or teacher ) for I was not only his son but also his student.

As a father he has been a great source of inspiration and a role model for me. He always commanded great respect just by his sheer benign presence. He never interfered in anything and always allowed us to choose our ways and path. And whenever we erred as children our mother (a great lady herself) used to control us by just mentioning his name. Such was the impact of his presence that I have never experienced admonishings from him.

And then I was lucky that I became his student and was able to experience his other side as a teacher and professional. He is a Biochemist of par excellence. Simply put for him ‘knowledge is power’ and the command he had over Bio-chemistry is phenomenal. He knew biochemistry like the back of his hand and the subject used to flow from his brain and heart like a river down the Himalayas. He literally used to breathe, drink, eat, sleep, sing and talk biochemistry. I can still vividly remember the extra lectures he used to take during weekends which no student used to miss and the lectures used to go on for 3 to 4 hrs at a stretch and everyone used to listen with rapt attention without getting tired. He had this uncanny ability to simplify complex topics so that every one could understand them. He also has this amazing ability of descending or ascending his level when ever he is teaching an undergraduate or discussing the subject with his peers. For me he was easily the best teacher through out my medical schooling and I am sure every one of his students will agree.

He was always studying the subject and the best part was that he was a relentless thinker and always used to analyse things and went about asking himself ‘why’ at every stage. That made him a great researcher and this reflects in the number of papers he has published and the awards he won. He is truly peerless!

During the later years of his career and now in his twilight period he combines science, philosophy and spiritualism and we are all fortunate that he passes his knowledge, wisdom to all of us with such analytical clarity. His down to earth demeanour and knowledge has earned him great respect worldwide. It is truly remarkable that given all his abilities, he is a very caring and loving person who is ever willing to help others in whichever way he can even though it was detrimental to himself sometimes. He is truly selfless!

I am really fortunate to have as father and teacher such a simple soul who is a great thinker, great teacher and peerless in the field of biochemistry. His approachable and helpful nature has won many hearts.

Lord Vishnu - is he jobless?

2006-11-10T02:15:00.000-08:00

A phone conversation with tatayya ended in a discussion about the avatara purusha - Lord Vishnu. I would like to warn the readers (if any :-)) that these views are definitely just one way of looking at the truth. It doesn't even once claim to be set in stone. So, please save your knives!

I wanted to talk to him about my reading on dasavataras (the 10 incarnations of Lord Vishnu). Tatayya asked me, "What do you think all these avataras were?" I presumed it wasn't a trick question and hence went about with, "Every once in a while the world would reach a point where a visionary direction was required, either to save it from near extinction or to restore social equanimity. The living beings on the Earth would need for The Higher Being (read God) to take over. Lord Vishnu, the care-taker of the world, then decides that he needs to descend and assume a form which was appropriate for the situation." I rattled off easily and was proud at how well I could put it out.

Tatayya then asked me, "In short, you say that the goal of an avatara is to bring the world back to a perfect state. Am I right?".”Of course", I said eagerly. "Now", he continued, "The creation itself was conceived by this so called higher being or God. Would you agree with that?" I reluctantly agreed. He then went on, "If that is so, how many times does it take for this Supreme Being to create one perfect world which would never go bad? How many times does he have to correct his own creation, his own so called puppets which go the wrong way? Isn't it strange? It almost seems like God is playing a game with us or he is extremely bored and with nothing else to do, going about creating and correcting repeatedly. Do you think Lord Vishnu is jobless?"

I was appalled at this argument of his! What is tatayya saying, I thought. Then, he said, "This itself is a proof that all this is unreal. This very existence is a mere fiction of our own imagination. And only when we truly realize that this nothing and the only truth is that peerless Existence, would we become one with it. In fact the realization would be that we are nothing but that very Supreme Being and nothing else!"

Rest of the phone conversation petered into mundane discussions, but, this particular topic remained fresh in my mind, hours after I finished the call. Yet another thought provoking conversation, it had been...

Goal of Life

2006-11-04T23:52:00.000-08:00

The answer to this question is, simply put, perfection. I was, in all honesty, surprised by this answer. How is this related? Let us ponder into the details -

As an individual, what is that one single aspect of our lives? Every one of us tries to do whatever we do perfectly. And, I agree the word tries is abused much more than what we perceive. But, as we lead our day to day lives, we demonstrate that unsaid, unknown urge to perform every action/job of ours perfectly.

Now, one needs to ask, were we ever told to be this way? The answer is a No. We just felt like doing it that way as we feel that is right or because that would make us happy. The task in itself becomes immaterial - whether it is a bank robber trying to de-code a money vault or an altruist trying to work out ways of disbursing his wealth for different social causes. Note - I would not want to differentiate between what is ethically right or wrong. That is in itself a different topic, but, the under-tone to this discussion is to high-light the inherent objective. This means, even if one is blotched/confused with his/her understanding of what is one's goal in life, we can safely say it is perfection.

And then, the naive I raise an eye brow to question, what about those of us who claim to be doing things for happiness. Pat comes the explanation, "that is only answering the question why. But, the real question we need to look into here is how. This has a simple answer – one tries to be perfect in whatever way one wants to do something".

That then settles the deal. The goal of my life is perfection. Yippee! All those intellectual ones were thinking too much and giving all those complicated answers -

To be one with God;
To realize one-self;
and many many more

Again, tatayya gives that oh, you are so blind kind of laughter. I realize I am again missing something. The ugly head looks up again - the all so familiar, yet puzzling question - who/what/where is God?

I shrug my shoulders, knowing deep inside that my attempts at answering this question would anyway be in vain. “Well”, says tatayya, “that uncertainty itself tells it all. This inexplicable, attribute less being is nothing but God! In other words, that perfect being is God!”

“An interesting example to this is in our own backyard – Ramayana. Lord Rama was in all essence the very definition of perfection. Whether Ramayana was a fact or a fiction, the point to note is the message it conveys. God, through the avataara of Rama, lived an entire life on the face of this earth as an ordinary human being, not once letting the people around him know/realize his true self, BUT at the same time leading a perfect life. Towards the end, when he realizes that he has fulfilled his purpose, he leaves, but not without giving ample evidence of why he was there and what was his agenda.”

As tatayya waits patiently with his customary smile (this time of a teacher hoping to see his ward apply his mind), I try to put two and two together and realize what he was driving at. That perfect being which is God has to be achieved and can be achieved by doing what we are all trying to do in life. Rama showed it and the rest of the world realized later that he is God. What does this imply? Essentially,

If we whole heartedly lead a life with single minded devotion on being dedicated to being right and perfect, one can actually be one with God, and;
Which would mean one would realize one-self

And as we petered into other mundane worldly matters, I was left wondering how much one can learn just listening to tatayya...

Space - do we see it right?

2006-11-04T23:43:00.000-08:00

A thought tatayya put into my mind the other day was extremely interesting. One usual evening, I was showing him a picture and admiring the work. He saw it for a moment and then gave me that smile of his with a twinkle in his eyes! I knew something is coming up. He asked me genially, "So, what is the most significant and admirable part of a painting?" Naively, I gave him the regular answer, "The painting and the artist's imagination". He then looked at me and said, "Did you ever look at a painting and think about the canvas on which the artist show-cased his/her talent?”

I did not understand it first time. He then explained me the 2 extremes of our entire existence and at the end of it, I was left, as ever, spell-bound!

"Firstly", he said, "consider the Universe. Everything in the universe is actually hung in something - Space. Compared to the space, even the sun and our entire solar system is nothing but a spec of dust!" I was still staring at him. "Space in itself", he continued, "is that incomparable being which is being accommodative enough to hold all and still have this immeasurable capacity! So, is space that all-pervasive, supreme being?" He asked.

“Now”, he said, "let’s now take the case of one of the tiniest, yet complex being - namely, the Atom. The atom, as is popularly know consists of electrons revolving at high velocities around a central mass consisting of protons and neutrons. But, what's holding all this? Where are the electrons revolving? In Space, isn't it?" He asked.

I slowly realized what he was saying. He went on, "Space is equivalent to, if not being the same as, that very Supreme Being, or Consciousness. That attribute-less, ultimate, one-being or truth (no fuzzy logic in thisJ), is many a times over-looked. We are too busy looking at and admiring the mundane superficial items/beings that we fail to realize the beauty and the sheer presence of it. But, it is this very being which we consciously or unconsciously seek. And the day we truly realize that the rest is mithya we are one with the Supreme Being!"

He went back to reading his book and I was back to looking at the picture, trying to see if I can catch a glimpse of what tatayya perceives...