The Swamy Family Bloodline

My name is Natasha Swamy. I have always been a curious soul searching for answers, information and anything that's entertaining. Well, being in this family, one thing that your never short of is entertainment. And trust me there's lots going on here :-).

Getting to the to the topic, the one thing that seriously snatched my curiosity is my bloodline(sounds very dan brown types) but yes, I  am curious. I am supposed to be a South Indian, and my mother tongue is Tamil. The interesting part starts here. My grandfather, my father, me have always been in Mumbai. If I ask my father about my native he says "Secundrabad". With that logic my mother tongue is supposed to be Telegu, Then why is my mother tongue Tamil?? I asked every person in my family who laughed it off saying " Let me call my ancestor and ask them". To no avail I finally had to figure it out myself.  So I started speaking to my grandmother but due to her age she could not remember much. However she still managed to give me juicy insight to her life.

So here is the puzzle that I managed to put into perspective of the "Swamy Family Bloodline”. There is not much know about my great great great grandfather, so I begin this story trailing the life of my great grandfather(GGF) and his name was Vednaigam Swamy. The date is the closest that I could arrive based on my fathers year of birth, but it could be a plus/minus here and there.

The story begins somewhere in the year 1910. GGF migrated from madras to Bangalore. By his name we can figure out that he must have been a Hindu. This community usually carried some reference to god. He had very humble beginnings. He didn't have a job or much education, so he joined with a truck driver as his assistant/cleaner. He had a brother as well but we don’t know much about him. GGF was an adventurer himself so he loved his profile and accompanied the driver to all his destinations. After a few years the truck driver was employed by the British for their work. This would earn an extra them buck and would allow them a great travel plan. The British went on a voyage to Burma. My GGF and his boss traveled with the British troops to this side of the world. 

This is not Annieamma.
  Its a mere depiction of what annieamma would have looked like

There he happened to see Annie Mary. I think he fell in love with her. And I arrive at this conclusion because GGF was a hindu and Annie was a Tamil Christian. He may have converted here for her. They were married around 1912-13. GGF brought Annie to India. She was fondly called "Annie amma". They settled in Bangalore and GGF joined the railways. They eventually had two children Manuel Arokiaswamy and Anthony ArokiaSwamy. 

Manuel (my grandfather)  was born in the years 1914. GGF was then posted at Igatpuri, this was the cooling hub for the Indian railways. GGF moved base to igatpuri with bag, baggage and family. He continued his life here. My grandfather grew here with his parents in a small house near the station. The Swamy family was a devout followers of St.Anthony. They had a small chapel built here where people from far and wide came to pray. 

The alter at Igatpuri that still remains

On such an occasion they had a group visiting to pray for their children. They were the “Murray Family”. During their visit, they discovered that the Swamy family was looking for a bride for Manuel and the Murray family was looking for a groom for their daughter Rosemary. As fate had it, they were married. Rosemary's father gifted her two houses in the main city of Mumbai as her wedding gift. 

Rosemary and Manuel shifted base to Mumbai and had 10 kids. Manuel carried his father name as south Indians do not have surnames.

However, his children carried the name of their grandfather instead of their fathers names. That’s how we became the “Swamy's”. Manuel worked in a private tyre manufacturing plant in Mumbai and my grandmother was a homemaker. 

Now, the second most interesting twist, how is my native "Secundrabad". Well to answers this question you need to first know your history well. The British had one motive or a logo " the sun would never set on the British empire".

This simply translates to the fact that the British wanted to capture the whole world.  Since they were in India, they had to break the monarchy of the existing rulers. Modern Secunderabad was founded as a British cantonment after the Nizam was defeated.When the British took charge of this city. They moved their troops from the cantonments on Madras to this new city. The newly migrated crowd made this their home. The adapted to the local culture and also changed their dilalect to suit the locals. This version is called the Secunderabad Tamil. If you wan to know more then please google it out.



All the kids are married and busy with their lives and settled in Mumbai.  There have been further additions like the grandchildren and great grand children.

Rosie Amma with her Sister Sisilia.. fondly called as Chitti...

Not much is known about Annie amma but of what I hear, she was a kind lady. Annie Amma passed away in Igatpuri and was buried there. A trip to igatpuri is not complete without a visit to her grave. GGF is buried in our family grave at Sewri, Mumbai. The house in Igatpuri was sold long time back due to financial difficulties. All that remains there is memories and St. Anthony’s Chapel which the locals still celebrate.  

The Statue still remains at Igatpuri

That's how we ended being the Swamy family.  Its always good to know your history.

Please leave your feedback and comments.

PS : The contents of this blog is the sole copyright of the writer. Any copy or duplication of this work will be subject legal prosecution.