The Child

Sindhu was born Sandhya Rani, as the first child of Pratap Sena Varma of Thekkedath Kovilakom and Usha Rani of Nedumbram Palace on Deepavali day, the 3rd of November 1964. As per matrilineal system followed, she belongs to Nedumbram Palace of Thiruvalla, which has found an entry in Wikipedia as follows:

Nedumbram Palace

Thiruvalla is a City and Taluk located in Pathanamthitta District in the State of Kerala in India. The city is famous for its various religious festivals, schools and as the seat of the Diocese of Tiruvalla for The Mar Thomas Syrian Christian Community. It is also the location of Nedumpuram Palace and Paliakkara Palace.

----Similarly, Nedumpuram Palace is a branch of Mavelikkara Palace is an heir to the Kolathiri tradition of Udayamangalam.

Nedumpuram Palace is situated in Tiruvalla, India. The palace belongs to a branch of the Kulasekhara dynasty that ruled the principality of Udayamangalam in Northern Kerala. During the southern campaign of Tippu Sultan, the defeated family fled to the south and took shelter under the patronage of the King of Travancore. The current palace stands at the earlier location of a palace that belonged to the Raja of Tiruvalla.

Ref: "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nedumpuram_Palace"

High Court CMA 134 of 1915 showing origins of Nedumpuram Palace:

(Sindhu's maternal great grandmother Aswathy Naal Bhageerathy

Valiya Amma Raja is a signatory to the above plaint)

Since her father and mother were staying at Lakashmipuram Palace of Changanacherry at that time, she was born there. Her birthplace is renowned in Travancore history. The following excerpts from Ulloorinte Prabhandhangal (Essays of Ulloor) written by Mahakavi Ulloor S Parameswara Iyer is worth mentioning.

Dubai, 16th February 2008.

Sindhu, my wife.

Sindhu is my wife of 25 years. She has been a remarkable woman in many ways. Though travelled much and seen the fairer sex of many nationalities , I am yet to see a woman more beautiful ,serene and even divine.She is my source of strength and at times the very purpose of my life.

She is remarkably intelligent , talented and matured in many ways. When we met in the early 80's , she was hardly a teenager and most certainly an extremely beautiful girl. Just, 17 and she was the college-beauty of the renowned College of Alleppey.She was also the student with the highest marks from her school for the matriculation examinations.Frankly, beside her, I always felt, I was near a Thulasi stem known for its purity.

She has been with me in my travails as a banking personnel in India and once abroad, in the exotic African country of Malawi. To our two children, Lavanya and Mithun she is a lovely mother.

All my peace and happiness are intricately linked to her and I feel proud of that.

Murali