Small Wonders — Session 12
Some places remain woven into a family’s story long after the years have passed. For Anuradha Nayar and KG Manoj, the KFI campuses in Chennai and the neighbourhoods around them hold a special place in the memories of their children’s early years.
In the 12th session of Small Wonders, Anuradha and Manoj return to Chennai, remembering the days when their family grew and their children, KK1 (Achu) and KK2 (Kicha), began their preschool years at the KFI campus in Besant Nagar. The campus, with its buildings and stories—including Annie Besant’s office space and the place associated with the meeting of Rabindranath Tagore and Mahatma Gandhi—becomes a starting point for a journey through memory.
The recollections are filled with the everyday richness of those years: school food, teachers, familiar walks to Besant Nagar beach, and the veteran journalist’s house by the shore. There are also memories of Kalari classes for KK1, TVG’s mridangam classes at Karpakam Gardens, and Achu’s chenda practice after Vidyarambham at Margi, Thiruvananthapuram, followed by Harisree with the blessings of Vishnu Narayanan Namboothiri.
The conversation brings back people who became part of that time, too. Memories of meeting Sreeja and Tharun in Tambaram, and of Dantis—Manoj’s Fine Arts College mate—and his wife Ancy, lead to affectionate recollections of their elder daughter, Linda, fondly remembered as Kuttumol.
As the conversation moves from the early days at The School to the shift to the Sahyadri campus, Chennai returns not merely as a city they once lived in, but as a landscape of childhood beginnings. The KFI campuses and their surroundings hold memories of learning, friendships, family routines and the small occasions that made those years special.
A small conversation about the beginnings of childhood, the places that shaped a family, and the memories that continue to bring Chennai close.
Small Wonders — Wake up with Small Talks.
A programme from AWAD by The Language Mill.
