V.B.Sowmya on her wall:
“After all these years, the first thing I could think of when I face some issue is: "ask mom", irrespective of whether it is something relevant to her life experiences or not.”
I remember back around 1958-59, I was rusticated because I was too interested in mathematics, stopped attending classes since I felt they were teaching too much rubbish. I was home with a few math books, one on abstract algebra and the other ‘Introduction to mathematical philosophy’ by Bertrand Russell. In the village, there was nobody to discuss mathematics. I often sat in the kitchen and used to tell my mother about all these exciting ideas. Much before that she had her own life, reading, drawing singing and so on. But now I was thrown out of college, she became very protective and used to listen to me. And talking to somebody helped some. Finally I had to go back to college to get credentials and facilities to do mathematics. But the empathetic understanding from my mother, whether she understood the mathematics I was telling her about, helped me at various stages. Now I see the same with my wife and children.
