Tuesday, November 7, 2023
Vittala Bittira - the man with big heart, brain and smile
It was over thirty-five years ago one day we heard our doorbellring at our Pugsley Street house. We were relatively new and wondering who that could be. On opening the door we found two bubbly kids full of smile introduced themselves as Bindhuand Sindhu(?)- not Kaveri . They had a bright brochure in hand and asked whether we would like to help the school by buying any item from the brochure they had . We found out they were living in our neighborhood. It was much later we met their parents in a social gathering. I saw a tall handsome but very quiet gentleman in the gathering and someone introduced me to Vittala. After a hello, I got busy filling my plate and joined the guests in the drawing room. There were all kinds of debates andloud discussions and Vittala was one of the few who was quite most of the time and even when he spoke it and gentle .It was not that he was not involved. He was fully engaged and the level of participation could be observed by his enigmatic smile controlled by a unique style of mustache. It was difficult to say whether the mustache added the mystique to his smile or his smile made the mustache distinct. I am sure he could easily be ahero in any Indian movie. It was over time in small gatheringswe got to know each other better. Such a humble person he was (it pains me to write in the past tense) the task of knowing about his achievements was not easy. However, knowing him as a person was very easy. Pleasant, kind and always ready to help.
Over the years, I learnt about his achievements from others. I happened to be at NB power headquarters when my student was presenting to the top management team on the financial feasibility of hydro and nuclear plants. When I mentioned that I knew one Bittira , they told me how vital his skill was for the refurbishing project. That was when I even knew that he was working at the Point Lepreau project.
When the privatization of NB power was a hot topic of burning issue, in every social gathering people would like to drag Vittalto the debate. But Vittala maintained the same gentle smile and was a thorough professional in not letting out the organizational politics around the issue.
The only time I could draw him into a long conversation was when I mentioned to him that I saw Kaveri in a CBC news clip covering floods or something. He was beaming with pride and explaining various projects of Kaveri.
Some of my unforgettable images include Vittala taking charge of coconut breaking at Jayram’s place, the V for Volunteer squad of Vishnu, Vishu and Vittala moving into action at the temple the moment they heard the arathi song, knocking at my door with a long and heavy doodhi ( bottle gourd) from his garden and I can go on. During the last couple of years of our stay, any time Gangu made some somasa or pakoda or bisi bele, we would get them delivered fresh in aluminum foil covered trays. When we were moving out in a hurry, we could take the liberty of leaving a lot of odd thigs with them to take care.
When we heard the news of his diagnosis, we were devastated.Even in his challenging fight, Gangu and Vittala maintained their cool and fought with dignity.
We lost a great friend. But the smiling face and the pleasant memories live with us forever. May his soul rest in peace.
Srinivasan and Kalyani
