Damayanti Ammal was born over 100 years ago to Chellammal and Venkataswamy Naidu at Pongalur. She studied in her native village and got a double promotion during her sixth standard. Those were times when the people of her area used to get together and eat the fish kozhambhu that was made in the house of the person who had caught the fish of the day in the neighbourhood lake. Damayanti Ammal was also known as Ammulu Ammal and she got married to B.Guruswamy Naidu at the age of eighteen. He had been the schoolmate of G.K.Devarajulu ( Founder - Lakshmi Machine Works ) and G.Krishnan ( C.S & W Mills ) at the Sarvajana School. The Intermediate was done from the Government Arts College in Coimbatore and the graduation was from the Madurai American College. B.Guruswamy Naidu had worked as a teacher for sometime and later on joined the Vijayalakshmi Mills at Kuniamuthur.
Damayanti Ammal was born over 100 years ago to Chellammal and Venkataswamy Naidu at Pongalur. She studied in her native village and got a double promotion during her sixth standard. Those were times when the people of her area used to get together and eat the fish kozhambhu that was made in the house of the person who had caught the fish of the day in the neighbourhood lake. Damayanti Ammal was also known as Ammulu Ammal and she got married to B.Guruswamy Naidu at the age of eighteen. He had been the schoolmate of G.K.Devarajulu ( Founder - Lakshmi Machine Works ) and G.Krishnan ( C.S & W Mills ) at the Sarvajana School. The Intermediate was done from the Government Arts College in Coimbatore and the graduation was from the Madurai American College. B.Guruswamy Naidu had worked as a teacher for sometime and later on joined the Vijayalakshmi Mills at Kuniamuthur.
B.Guruswamy Naidu was the Cashier and key person in Vijayalakshmi Mills and he used to enjoy the complete confidence of VLB ( V.L.Balakrishna Naidu ) and his family members. "Grandfather was a simple person and he was always helpful. He was respected by the mill staff and workers. His honesty and positive attitude made him write recommendation letters for the ones who were in need of jobs and a number of mills used to oblige. He used to read Shakespeare, Charles Dickens, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle to my grandmother and the kids. He used to insist that one should choose and read good books. His helpful nature had got him a lot of well wishers and he helped a ' Pori Seller ' towards to end of his life. He was a God fearing person, Grandfather was treated really well by V.L.Balakrishna Naidu and V.L.B.Janaki Ammal. They treated him like family and not a day passed without him meeting V.L.B. Grandfather had been a good friend of E.B.P. Haran ( Premier Paper Products ) and Bachubhai ( Kikani Family ). He was artistic and had given a nice white stone and green stone necklet for granny which he had purchased from P.A.Raju Chettiar & Brother those days. Grandfather was a dog lover. The family had a black colour Standard car," stated the grand daughter Ashalatha who lives in R.S.Puram. The residence of B.Guruswamy Naidu was known as ' Ajantha House '. Rangaraj Mastry had built their house as per ' Manaiyadi Sastram '.
Damayanti Ammal aka Ammulu Ammal and Guruswamy Naidu were blessed with three children - Kumudhini married to Rangaswamy ( SIMA ), Janardhanan ( who was educated at Rhode Island ) and Premalatha who was given to Ranganathan ( Doctorate in Chemical Engineering ). The family had originally lived in the mill line house and the kids used to go to school on a horse drawn cart before they moved to R.S.Puram.
The household had been blessed with guests everyday and Damayanti Ammal had been a great cook. Her badam halwa, obuttu, kajjayam, murukku, wheat halwa were all time favourites. She had been good in maths and was an avid reader. Tirupathi, Srirangam and Melkote were frequented regularly and she used to take friends and relatives along with her. He rangolis and pulli chikku kolams were legendary and she used to make a number of items at the time of Sri Krishna Jayanthi for her favourite deity Lord Krishna. The gutsy lady could kill a snake with the aid of a stone or a brick during her younger days. Children had to be busy and not lazy. Flower garlands, embroidery and crochet were part of her life. The workers at Vijayalakshmi Mills used to trust her a lot. They used to take guidance on the receipt of Diwali Bonus and she used to choose jewellery and clothes for them. Damayanti Ammal's car used to be loaded with coconuts, fruits, flowers and ghee during her temple visits. She had been to Varanasi thrice.
"Grandma had a very good taste and she used to choose lovely jewels for her near and dear from P.A.Raju Chettiar's shop. She used to buy jewels for a number of people. Raju Chettiar used to be seated under a ' punka ' that used to be drawn by a puller and he used to receive my grandmother very well. The shop used to execute grandmother's ideas and designs into fine ornaments regularly. She had won prizes in a number of contests conducted by TNAU ( Agricultural University ). In spite of being a vegetarian her non veg ' Grameeya Samayal ' ( Village cooking ) was simply great.The veg pickles made by her were loved by all and particularly the chinna nellikkai. She was the only daughter and therefore her parents had stayed with her. All the pattu sarees were purchased from Vijayalakshmi Hall , Karana Cloth Centre and other shops in town. She used to shop in Kirtilal Kalidas and also Mangalore Jewellery Mart once in a while. Great grandfather Venkataswamy Naidu had served Vijayalakshmi Mills as a bundling clerk. Granny was a match maker and she was a veritable encyclopedia. She had always been healthy. Well she was a construction expert too," added the grand daughter Ashalatha who has been spending a lot of time with her grandmother. Ashalatha, Rajmohan, Ashwin Kumar and Prasanna are the grand children of Damayanti Ammal.
"I used to go to Tirumala Tirupati to witness the Brahmotsavams. My favourite colours have been purple and burgundy. My husband used to drop our second daughter Prema at Nirmala College in our car. We had a driver. He used to always accompany the kids when they went out. I have loved cooking. People liked the podis made at our house. I went to Srirangam till the age of 95," stated Damayanti Ammal while giving a mango. She had always ensured that something was given to the guests who came home.
The second son in law Dr.Ranganathan spoke at length about his in laws, " Father in law gave me the book ' Autobiography of a Yogi '. He was a quiet man and used to read a lot. Mother in law came as an immigrant to Canada but she gave it up and returned to India. Once we went and stayed at the Yellow Stone National Park and she refused to sleep in the log cabin because there was a fire in the park. She came to Canada all by herself in the year 1978. Once she spent spent 8 months with us. Our son Prasanna had wanted his grandmother to spend time with him. Mother in law, Mrs.Daniel and Mrs.Ramdas used to make flower decorations for marriages way back in the year 1988. Father in law gave his daughters to educated men. In my case he did not even check my professional background. He had brought up his kids really well," smiled the son in law Dr.Ranganathan.
Damayanti Ammal was the co founder of Orjay Packaging Products, a successful packaging company that she launched along with her family. The grand old homemaker has been blessed with children, grandchildren, great grand children and great great grand children and she is thankful to Lord Krishna for his blessings.
Homemakers like Damayanti Ammal had enriched the society of the times. They added to the culinary and societal flavor of the region.