Conversations with the Jambunathans: Recent Episodes
Arjun Ramani
A series of conversations with Srinivasa & Vatsala Jambunathan, looking back and forward. Hosted by their grandchildren Arjun and Neha.
In this episode, the Jambunathan’s reflect on their grandchildren’s lives, becoming US citizens, and their goals for the future.
In this episode we discuss Jambunathan’s post-government career as chairman of the Bombay Stock Exchange and director of Helio & Matheson. We also discuss Vatsala’s various technology-related hobbies that have given her the nickname “High-Tech Mother-in-Law” or HTML for short.
The Jambunathans grow as a family with Jambunathan managed several government departments and Vatsala obtaining her MS and establishing her self as a teacher. Sriram and Suresh are born and Vatsala and Jambunathan go to London for some adventures.
In this episode, Vatsala takes us through her childhood and school days growing up as the youngest of 10 siblings. We learn about her parents’ influence in her life, the workings of the large household, and the siblings with whom she was closest. We also learn how she became interested in Bharatnatyam, her closest friends at school, and the moment she began to love geography.
In the fifth episode of Conversations with the Jambunathans, we switch to a rapid-fire Q+A format conversation to explore the key events of their early days as a married couple in several Maharashtra districts (Nasik, Sholapur, Osmanabad, and Aurangabad) and a brief stint in Bombay in between. We learn how the couple adjusted to married life, the story of their first car, and why Vatsala didn’t eat dosai for ten years. We learn about their joys like the birth of Sujatha and Suresh, as well as hardships like Vatsala’s heart surgery
In the second part of the episode on Jambunathan’s pre-marriage life, we start at the moment Jambunathan’s mother learns he has been accepted into the IAS.Then, we focus on the IAS Academy experience in Mussoorie: we learn what it was like for a Chennai-bred boy to be in North India, the syllabus consisting of everything ranging from horseback riding to world politics, and how Jambunathan made friends he continues to keep in touch with to this day.
In the second episode of Conversations with the Jambunathans, we go back in time with Jambunathan to reflect on his childhood and school days. We learn how World War II affected his family, his study habits as a young boy, and the biggest influences in his early life. We also get a peek into his days in college (when he met people like Viswanathan Mama) and as a young university lecturer who would use the school’s library to study for the IAS.
In our first episode, we talk to grandparents Jambunathan and Vatsala about how they met, their marriage, and their honeymoon. Look out for fun memories of the courtship process and reflections on the arranged marriage system!