Ancestral maneuvers in the dark
A most self-centered exploration.
I remember watching an Ancestry.com commercial on a wintry day in State College, PA sometime in 2007. I remember feeling envious that most Americans had access to a service that aggregated Census records from as far back at 1790. After paying a fee of $44.99, someone with American or European heritage could piece together the story of their ancestors from the convenience of their web browser.
What I had to settle for was Oral transmission which sounded like the beginnings of a hopefully well-constructed standup act exclusive to South Asian comedians.
This realization of digital inconvenience led me down the requisite rabbit hole and subsequent 20-something expatriate exasperation of India’s hand-me-down bureaucratic system from the British and its subsequent bastardization.
>> 10 years, I happenstance upon Ancestry.com again while debating the future implications of having my entire genome encoded and stored on 23andme.com with a pro-commenter on an Internet Venture Capitalists’ blog.
On a whim, I decide to sign-up for a free trial of the more innocuous Ancestry.com and search for my maternal grandfather who, through the oral tradition of transmitting ancestral knowledge, I know graduated with a PhD in Public Administration from the Netherlands, sometime in the early 50s…(paused, momentarily)
My last name, Adibhatla, is bequeathed with colorful ancestry. It is an uncommon surname and translates to Adi- (first) -Bhatla (poet). There also happens to be a village near my home in India called Adibatla but its namesake is less clear.
Adibhatla also has the unique social utility of water cooler or elevator banter where I casually permit syllabically challenged and authentically American customer service phone representatives that it’s ok to say Abracadabra in an effort to verify my identity.
For the record, I was also once mistakenly called Ahmadinejad. I realize that there is little phonetic similarity but customer reps have to keep up their numbers and I can only imagine the phonetic pressures they are subject to. As a serious aside, the man who shot and killed Kansas based Indian Software engineer, Srinivas Kuchibhotla, assumed he and his friend were Iranians.
Anyway, I am fairly positive that this phonetic infraction invited the NSA to my haggling with Time Warner. The rep. apologized and we had a good yet somewhat nervous laugh.
Davy-040 from city-data.com reports that Sweden, Finland, Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, Belarus, Ukraine, Serbia, Greece, Russia, Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Thailand and all the *-stans have equally challenging last names. (aside: Why is this not a Buzzfeed list?)
The most relevant Adibhatla as per Google’s search is the eminent Ajjada Adibhatla Narayandas (1864–1945), a polyglot and literary giant of the Telugu language spoken by 74 million people around the world and if spoken by me quickly becomes a poorly constructed standup routine.
Telugu people form one of the the major linguistic groups of South Indian peoples. Others include the Tamilians (Tamil Nadu), Kannadigas (Karnataka), and, Malayalis (Kerala). These languages share many similarities but are conversationally distinct i.e. a Telugu person would not be able to eavesdrop on a Malayali conversation.
It is fair to say that the eminent Adibhatla is considered to be a Shakespearean figure and master exponent of Harikatha — a performance art form of storytelling that mashes up ancient hindu and vedic hymns through contemporary prose.
He was also a bit of a rebel in his time as per multiple accounts of his persona documented in biographies of his work, accessible in digital previews from a purposeful search on Google Books and in full physical form via the New York Public Library’s most venerable catalog.
I am still exploring whether any genetic traits passed on. I have been known to rant and sing spontaneously. This ancestor also provides a reservoir for an inflated ego amongst Telugu people who care about such things.
It’s like boasting about being related to Frank Sinatra or Elvis Presley in a uniquely Telugu way.
In 2013, I had the unique pleasure of watching an Urban Harikatha via the most capable team of Aditi Sriram & Shiv Subramaniam at New York City’s Bowery Poetry Club!
These are just a few moments, people, and institutions that make the magical enclaves of New York City and the Internet come alive. I digress though.
The title of the most notorious Adibhatla goes to Adibhatla Kailasam, one of the original leaders of the Srikakulam peasant uprising of 1967 and a central committee member of the Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist).
From Google Books, I learn that Adibhatla Kailasam was originally a teacher in the Srikakulam area and a fatal victim to a controversial police encounter during the Naxalite movement of the late ‘60s.
Oral transmission about him within the family is often accompanied by awkward silences and necessary prompts to change the subject to the relative comforts of Bollywood, Cricket, or Pakistani hostilities.
My discovery of him led to a more purposeful study of Communism and its origins else I would not have bothered with the Engels and Marx manifesto.
A leaf shows up on Ancestry.com!
Vedula Jagannadham, my maternal grandfather has been found in an obscure part of the passenger manifest of RMS Corfu on a voyage dated September 29, 1952 from Hong Kong to London.
My grandfather’s work lives on in a Google Books search and I hope to read this story to cousins, nephews, nieces, extended family and friends, and continue an old tradition of oral transmission augmented by digital technology, record keeping and data storage.
That, or my crazy Youtube videos, Medium posts, Spotify playlists, Facebook likes, and Tweets may someday be discovered by future Vedulas or Adibhatlas via an AI-powered ancestry.com that suggests they follow an edgy ancestor ;)
My maternal grandmother, Vedula Subbalakshmi was chief of operations of a household of 9. I did not have the pleasure of meeting her.
Adibhatla Cheyanulu, my paternal grandfather was Chief Controller of Stores at the Visakhapatnam Port Trust. He served multiple positions of authority in the ports of Bombay & Madras. He and I used to fantasize about submarines and lost treasure during long walks on the beaches of Vizag and he always bought us the best idlies, dosas, vadas and coconut chutney.
My paternal grandmother, Adibhatla Shyamala Devi, chief of operations of a household of 4 children and a force of nature.
