Prema was an outstanding cook and shared her recipes generously. Her noodles were one of the best I’ve ever eaten. She gave me a recipe for sweet curd many years ago that became a family favourite and I shared it with so many people. You can see the recipe here:
Another recipe that is similar is below:
The years rolled by and we kept in touch during our visits to Bangalore. We were so shocked when we heard she was ill. It was the Pandemic and we could not leave Malaysia. It was even more shocking when we heard she had gone home to be with God. My last conversation with her via WhatsApp was about eggless cakes. True to her devotion to her family, she wanted a recipe for a family friend.
RIP Prema, until we meet again. I know you will be as busy as a bee and educating people the way you did, down here on earth.
I would like to share a tribute from her son Prathap which sums her up perfectly. Thank you Prathap for allowing me to share this on my blog.
The Many Faces Of Prema Daniel
Amma
She was the most loving, caring, calm and gentle person I knew. Growing up was an adventure with her. Who else can boast of having their own playschool In their house. Both Prithvi and I spent our formative years at the silver bells nursery school in Salem which was run by Amma. When we moved to Chennai Amma had to balance a demanding work and home life, while pursuing her second degree in education. She would wake us up early in the morning, get us ready to go to badminton practice, cook for all of us, receive us after badminton practice and get us ready for school and then go to work. In the middle of all this she made time for some beautiful memories. For example I once enrolled for a fancy dress competition as an astronaut with a costume designed by Amma, we had a birthday cake which was a badminton court complete with a net and players holding rackets.
Later in life as we went about our careers, Amma (and Appa) let us choose our career paths, make mistakes and supported us through all our ups and downs. When I was having a really tough time at my first job in Bombay and wanted to quit. she did not hesitate and asked me to come home immediately and said that we could deal with the consequences together. Quitting that job opened my life to a world of opportunities and also introduced me to my wife Purnima.
When Prithvi and Charitha had that terrible accident, Amma was the calming figure that stood behind all of us, and helped us overcome this, staying by Prithivi’s side as he recovered.
Thank you Amma.
Patimma
Isha, Deepan and Diya are going to miss all the games and fun activities. be it blocks made of boxes she collected over a period of time and painted in different colors, home made Play-Doh, Fingerpainting, puppetry, sand art, Origami the list is endless.
She also loved going on adventures with her grandchildren. Visits to the crocodile park, a joy ride on the metro, Berry picking and Visits to Museums was always fun with Pattimma.
When Diya had just finished pre-kindergarten she got to spend a whole summer with Amma at home in Washington DC. At the end of the month she has done so many activities and I remember Purnima remarking to me that Diya learned more in that one month than in the whole year preceding that.
Thank you Pattimma.
Prema Ma’am
Her career as an educator and a leading light on Early Childhood Education spans over decades.
Most people, when they retire, learn a new hobby, slow down and take it easy. But Prema Ma’am increased her intensity and focus towards her passion. She has worked with innumerable organizations and I would not do justice by even trying to list them today. She has helped many schools set up their curriculum and design classrooms and play areas, conducted workshops for teachers on story telling, puppetry, trained anganwadi teachers, authored and co-authored many books and manuals to name a few accomplishments. Her most current work with TNFORCES, as a coordinator, culminated in developing a comprehensive trainer manual which was published in September 2020 and was submitted to the Tamil Nadu Government.
One other charecteristic of hers was that she kept herself abreast with the latest developments in her field.
To quote from a message we got from Sandhya my cousin.
“We shared the same passion for education. It was wonderful to have someone with whom I could discuss research evidence-based practices in education and who didn’t think of me as ‘just a teacher’. I’m inspired to be a better educator each day because of her and she has shown me, through her example, that a person’s passion can last a lifetime.”
In the end, she was at her desk on Monday morning at 8:00 am to tune in to the morning assembly at Christ wood school, doing what she enjoyed and was passionate about.
Thank you Prema Ma’am.
Some words from a song Amma used to play on a cassette we owned of the musical ‘Jesus Christ Superstar’ has been playing in my head.
“Try not to get worried, try not to turn on to problems that upset you, oh don’t you know
everything’s alright, yes, everything’s fine”
If she was here she would have been comforting us during this difficult time. Today we will try to emulate her and comfort each other and cherish the full life she lived.
We miss you.
Thank you.
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