The beginning of my life was in Malaysia. My father was blessed to have had a chance to work in Port Dickson, a beach resort destination in Negeri Sembilan, a state in Malaysia.
If one travels by road, Port Dickson is about 56 miles south of Kuala Lumpur (capital of Malaysia). My father’s older brother (Dr. Cherian) was working for the Guthrie & Company Limited (owned by the British) in their rubber estates at that time.
My uncle (Dr. Cherian) was the head of the hospital in the Guthrie rubber estates in Port Dickson. He helped my father with a good job as an assistant doctor in the same hospital where he was the head. This was how my father went from India to Malaysia to begin a new life. We are eternally grateful to my uncle for his help, which gave my father and mother a chance to begin their lives together in a cosmopolitan country, just after they were married in 1950.
The first miracle that I can remember from my father’s accounts to all of us (his children) was the fact that our mother fell sick while she was in the ship. Her illness was extremely serious and she could not get up during the duration of the journey from India to Malaysia. However, by God’s grace, doctors at the port where the ship docked in Malaysia, could save her life.
My father and mother had four children. My two older sisters were born in the Guthrie rubber estates hospital where my uncle and father were working.
My father got a good job offer in Ulu Remis in 1956. My younger brother and I were born in the Guthrie oil palm tree estates of Ulu Remis (a tiny town in the southern state of Johor close to Singapore).
Without the miracle of my mother’s recovery, my siblings and I would never have been born! This is why I keep thinking about why all the four of us were born! What is the purpose of our lives?
The only answer I can give is that God created all of us in His image and our journey on earth is just the first step to Heavenly bliss! Our life does not end with the earthly existence we go through. We are being prepared for the perfect abode in Heaven!
My mother came to the United States of America in 2012, along with my younger brother, and spent some quality time with us. My younger brother could not stay for long due to his job responsibilities.
The picture of my mother (shown below) was taken, by my wife, when we went to the Quad City Botanical Center in Rock Island, IL 61201, USA.
Post-Script
• My uncle died in 1972.
• My father died in 1993.
• My mother died in 2018.
• My first sister died in 2015. She was a medical doctor working in Oman.
• My second sister passed away in 1989. She was a medical doctor working in India.
My childhood inspiration – Euler Equation
For addition we need 0, for multiplication we need 1, for calculus we need e, for geometry we need π and for complex analysis we need i. It is wonderful to note that 0, 1, e, π and i form the “dream team of numbers” – they are all in this one equation!
