Kurisinkaparambil Varkey Kuriakose (Kuriakochen), my father was born in Angadi, Changanassery on 15thAugust 1903, the fifth child of Varkey (Mammachen) and Achamma. His great grandparents and grandparents had come from Changanassery. The legacy they brought to the family and Changanassery was decent people with successful business. Memories of those founding fathers are vague and missing. The most important mantle passed down to generations along with the family was the faith and the church. My father's memory of his own father was vague. Mammachen was tall and lean, fair in complexion, wrapped in white loin clothes and wore wooden sandals. He was one of those aristocratic catholic Brahmins who never smoked and drank. My father used to say that there was a 'class' in the way he talked, dressed and acted. He died when my father was only four years old.

My grandmother Achamma was a tall, stout woman, dark in complexion. She was a mountain of flesh. She wore two wrappers, one round her waist and another round her chest. She was the matriarch of the family. When she spoke, it was direct and to the point. She was respected by the women in the family and in the neighboring areas. Achamma was a great housekeeper with a strong sense of the value of money, who never reconciled with any waste. This had a great influence on my father in 'forming'. He was very careful with money and justified each expense.

The most precious gift came from my grandmother was deep faith in the church and its teachings and practices. She was a devout Catholic who took Holy Communion regularly. My father accompanied her to the church from the very childhood and he continued this practice till his death.

My father was born as a premature baby. Achamma delivered him in the eighth month of her pregnancy. There were no warm clothes available in the textile shops in Changanassery. So my grandfather had to walk to Kottayam, 20 kilometers from Changanassery to buy warm clothes to protect the premature baby. It was only through the prayers of my grandmother and the blessings of God, that my father survived infancy.