Family:

Soon after Santiago Rajan was married they lived in a rented spacious two floor house in North Car Street in Tirunelveli Junction and his office was also in the house in the front room hall. In April 1966 Santiago Rajan and Pushpa Rajan’s first child boy was born They named him Bharathi Rajan after the great poet Subramania Bharathiar whom Santiago Rajan was fond of. Then they had three more sons namely Elango Santiago Rajan in 1968, Prince Santiago Rajan  in 1969 and finally Jawahar Santiago Rajan in 1971. Santiago Rajan put his children in the best schools with the best teachers in PalayamKottai, Tirunelveli. Those days in 1970’s English medium schools were reserved only for the select few coupled with difficult admission procedures and Santiago Rajan put his best effort to educate us all in Tamil and English medium schools followed by College education. Santiago Rajan was spending most of his income in paying his four sons college fees and at the same time trying to buy an own house in a good location in Tirunelveli Junction.

Santiago Rajan achieved both of those objectives of giving  professional education for all his four children and bought and built our dream home in a great location in Tirunelveli Junction  in 1986. After purchasing the house he demolished that old house  and  made this beautiful design of his would be home like a professional architect without seeking any architects assistance just only by consulting with us and our Mother.  We are forever thankful for what he was able to achieve for us. Our Father always used to take us on vacation to Courtallum Falls every year in 1970’s to 80’s and our Mother and we as young boys always used to look forward to those holidays and its one of those fondest memories which we and our Mother talk about even today. We lead a simple life and we could not afford far away vacations then and the farthest we have been on a vacation was to Madras to our relative’s house. When I was around 12 years old and my three younger brothers below ten years old, one fine evening Daddy surprised us all with two hockey sticks and ball by sending it with our servant and we were so delighted and that happiness was something which we cherished for a long period of time.  During our school years in 1970’s another great gift Daddy gave us was a lovely dog called Jimmy and we adored Jimmy the dog as our family member.

Daddy loved animals and treated them with care and affection. I recall an incident in 1987 when one boy pelted stone at Baby pigs and one Baby pig became unconscious and Daddy immediately went to their rescue and sprayed water on that baby pig and the baby pig became all right immediately and started walking just after that and this incident had a huge impact on myself Barti Santiago Rajan in my life since pigs were considered not a clean animal but to Daddy all that mattered at that moment was his nature to help anyone in need and that included animals as well . In 1997  Daddy fell down from a ladder which broke  while he was climbing up on it and sustained injuries in our farm only to feed a cat that was in the roof, few minutes later he was back to work. Daddy cared deeply about the pet guard dogs, animals and farm workers in our farm and  met all those hospital expenses whenever they became ill and he was such a caring person in his heart. Santiago Rajan was a genius not only in his Lawyer profession and a visionary who made us all wonder what a great architect  and creative person he was. Santiago Rajan always asked for advice from people (he used to say never feel ashamed in asking for  advice from people who are below you and sometimes they give the most valuable advice which you may not get even from your superiors), but made his own decision in everything he did. Daddy’s favourite colours were rose, yellow and his choice of "English colours”.

 Daddy made us all so proud making this three storied house with his inborn knowledge about interior and exterior designs. Santiago Rajan spent his most of hard earned savings from his lawyer profession and his valuable time for five years including his sleepless nights building his dream home brick by brick choosing the finest material and with the finest craftsman with his innovative and creative ideas which turned out to be the great family home we are blessed with today. After completion of the house in 1989, Santiago Rajan was able to invite Bishop of Palayamkottai Rev. Iruthayaraj (normally Bishops will not come for house warming ceremonies, but an exception was made for Santiago Rajan who was very close to the Bishop Rev. Iruthayaraj) for the inauguration of his dream home situated at address 62, Perumal West Car Street, Tirunelveli Junction. Accomplishing that dream home was one of the proudest moments in Santiago Rajan’s life. Daddy conducted his children’s wedding with utmost care and attention and  was  a wonderful host to all his guests rich or poor. Santiago Rajan invited for his children weddings not only the people whom he knew well but also people whom he did not get along well which showed his great human side. Santiago Rajan was a wonderful Father-in-law for his daughter-in-law’s and treated them like his own daughters.

Grandchildren and Daughter-in-laws always found Santiago Rajan as a Father figure and  who inspired them with family values and advice and he also had such a great sense of humour and made everything fun.Looking back, we cherish the memories of our  Father Santiago Rajan. He was always by our side during good times and bad times and more so during our difficult times. Daddy gave us strength, happiness and inspired us always and did every single thing with his children in his mind. He was our hero, inspiration, and strength and no body ever would ever be able to replace his place and be like him ever.We haven’t experienced anything tougher than saying goodbye to our Father on May 15th and May 16th 2014 the toughest days in the my life and our life. My Mother Pushpa Rajan is now both our Father and Mother who has sacrificed her entire life for her Husband and Children and we are so thankful to God that we were born as children of Santiago Rajan and Pushpa Rajan. One of our  vivid memories is the last time we saw him in Dubai Airport blessing me and Prince my brother and my wife Sharmila with his hands on my forehead put a cross, as he left knowing that we would certainly see  him again few months later. He maintained that he would never leave us and  our Father was everything to us. When you look back, every moment and memory is a blessing that fills you with warmth and love. Time would certainly be the healer and we live the best life we can with loved ones around us, especially our beloved Mother Pushpa Rajan.

Pushpa Estate:

Pushpa Estate  is the farm land named after his beloved wife Pushpa Rajan and was his favourite  place to visit any day and his hobby and leisure work. Santiago Rajan loved nature and adored farming. Santiago Rajan bought a 80 acre barren land in Nellaiapuram village just outside Tirunelveli in 1967 with the little money he had hoping that he would be able to make it into a profit making lush farm land. Little did he realize then that he has to put more than half of his entire life savings  on that farm. Santiago Rajan being was very hard working and he changed an entire barren land of 80 acres which he named Pushpa Estate and changed it into what it is today. Santiago Rajan started with a well  in that barren land and irrigated the land slowly. Santiago Rajan put so much effort, time  dividing his time between Lawyer profession and this newly bought land. He put so much effort and money  in converting the barren land to make it a lush Farm land purely by the water from the single well and undependable rainfall since that particular area did not come under perennial river Tamirabarani irrigation belt.

He was so proud of that farm land the named it Pushpa Estate after his beloved wife Pushpa Rajan. Soon after in 1970’s Santiago Rajan’s elder brother Gnanathikkam also joined hands with Santiago Rajan to manage Pushpa Estate to make the farm profitable with crops like Rice, Sugarcane, commercial crops like Cotton, Chilli, Peanuts, Toor Dal were also cultivated resulting in high yield and Several vegetables were grown and fruit trees like Coconut, Mango,  Lemon, Gooseberry, Tamarind, Banana, Sappota,  and other trees like Teak were also planted thus was able to make profit finally. Santiago Rajan’s brother was very helpful in achieving the results of a farm land and Santiago Rajan was very close to his brother Gnanathikkam. Early 1970’s to 1980’s were the profitable years for Pushpa Estate In late 1970’s Gnanathikkam’s son Selvaraj also joined his Father in Pushpa Estate to study college degree in the nearby college and to assist his Father as well and Selvaraj came out with flying colours in college studies later. Selvaraj always had close relation with our father Santiago Rajan and with us even today. After Gnanathikam’s time  one of our Grandmothers relative Chithipapamma a fine lady looked after the Pushpa Estate.

Then from  late 1980’s our father Santiago Rajan managed the farm completely on his own dividing his valuable time between the Farm and Lawyer profession and family commitments. Whenever monsoon rain failed, Santiago Rajan was able to take those challenges and using his intuition and experience able to manage and bring in much needed water for irrigation through bore wells  in appropriate places which even the agricultural experts were surprised at Santiago Rajan indepth knowledge. Some of our best child hood days were going to Pushpa Estate with our Father and Mother in a horse drawn carriage and spending time there and as well as celebrating Mattu Pongal there with the farm people most notably the efficient workers like Mookan family, Papathi family, Nayakar, and Chelliah and  nearby farm owner Arumugathevar family etc not to mention our farm animals. Those days the farm workers we had were very hard working, loyal and honest. Santiago Rajan always took care of his farm workers with care and  was very generous in helping the farm workers with generous pay, loan and farm produce. Santiago Rajan being the generous man he was, he always helped people in need and gave loan to several of his farm workers and  to many people in need  and most of the loans he gave away Santiago Rajan never asked for it back and hence never got it back.

Santiago Rajan always helped the villagers in  and around Nellaiyapuram where his Pushpa Estate was situated and even attended most of the villages wedding or other house ceremonies where he was invited as the chief guest. He also attended several Tirunelveli District Court functions and also several Lawyer family functions where he was invited as a Chief guest and made memorable speeches. Santiago Rajan was also member of Lions Club International, St. Xavier High School Alumni and close association with Brahma Kumari’s NGO organization and more.Santiago Rajan has been trying for a road connection for a number of years and finally in year 1999 Santiago Rajan had extensive persuasions and discussions with local legislators and Government officials and the road plan was agreed by the local Government. Part of the agreement deal Santiago Rajan donated several acres of his own farm land for this road project. Along with his connections and influence Santiago Rajan  was instrumental in securing a 4kilometre long road for Nellaiyapuram village  through Vellalankulam panchyat  connecting directly to the National Highway from Tirunelveli to Tenkasi. The local Panchayat and villagers were so pleased with Santiago Rajan’s contribution  and efforts that they named the road as ‘VAKKIL RAJAN ROAD”  (Vakkil is a Tamil word for Lawyer) which is there even today in the documents of Nellaiyapuram village.

Conclusion:

Santiago Rajan was a great family man and a great human being and we miss him dearly.  Daddy, did you ever know that you are our Hero!. Daddy was everything. Few of the advises he has given to us include  a) In life face difficulties and happiness with equal measure b) Be punctual and be smiling and nice to everyone whether someone is working as a Peon or as a Manager c) Always write  in a piece of paper what you need to do for the day or the week so that you are organized and that way will not miss those commitments  d) Do not feel ashamed in asking for advice from your subordinates and sometimes they give the most valuable advice  e) Do not postpone things, first things first  f) Our Father used to wake us up if we are late waking up by saying "This is the way we jump out of bed” from an old quote from a English text book which we studied while at school.Losing our Father Santiago Rajan was devastating and we could never have imagined feeling like this during the days and months after he died. But we would always be constantly reminded of him and of course, proud of him. I wish our Father would have been able to hold his latest 5th grandchild due in September 2015, of course, when the baby arrives we will still miss Daddy as much as we do now, but the wonderful thing is that his presence is still here and we will name this new baby Santiago Rajan. The baby will almost be like a gift that has come to smooth everything over from our Father. It’ll be a great joy and a relief from the sadness we’ve been through.

Santiago Rajan  always took people by surprise with his wisdom and knowledge whether in Lawyer profession, Farm cultivation, Public speeches or Building a house or Life in general. Santiago Rajan was a very hard working man and even at the age of 81 till his last breath on May 15th, 20124 Daddy was working 12hours a day. Santiago Rajan has been an amazing story and we are grateful to him that we could share this story with others.  Daddy, we will never be able to thank you enough for our upbringing and we will never forget the time we spent together. We all love you so much. You were a brilliant light and a true inspiration to myself and to us all. Daddy was always a fighter, though a very determined man and we all offer our tribute to his tenacity and bravery. Soon after his death we were looking for one good reason to find fault in my Father Santiago Rajan so that we won’t miss him so much and we failed to find any. We always had such great respect for our Father more so emotionally though we did not show that physically on every day life and we understood how much he had to achieve to get where he was, of course, that fuelled our own aspirations. We all miss you and Mummy misses you too, but we try to be strong for each other as I know that’s what you would have wanted. Santiago Rajan’s passing away on May 15th, 2014 taught us about life, death, meaning and purpose, regrets, joy, what makes life worth living and what we want to leave behind. All the good qualities we the four sons have today as adults are only from our Father and Mother.  Daddy, you will always be in our heart forever guiding us and watching us from heaven.  The one and only Santiago Rajan!


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