Humans of my life- Keertana

Kicking off my "Humans of my life" series with

"Sattiraju Venkata Anjani Naga Sai Sree Keertana"

The moment I heard this cutie's long sentence of a name, I knew we'd hit it off! I have that in common with her (my name is Vemuri Naga Yagna Siva Jyothy- for those of you curious :)), and our birthdays are four days apart. Go scorpions!

It was 2004 - I was single, new to town, just moved across the country after grad school. The Sattirajus were my first friends in town, and Keeru became my very first Portland baby!

I was a regular at the Sattiraju household, often showing up at random times, unannounced, just 'cause I was hungry or bored. In these 18 years, I don't think I ever went a month without visiting them! For five of those years, I was the girls' Telugu teacher. I saw Keeru and her baby sister Mahathi every Sunday for five years straight. Though there were many Keeru gems from my teaching years, one that stands out is this:

Me:
అన్నదమ్ములు- దీనికి విగ్రహ వాక్యము, సమాసము చెప్పు?
(what kind of a combination word is "Annadammulu"?)

Expected Answer:
అన్న మరియు తమ్ముడు, ద్వంద్వ సమాసము
(Older brother-anna AND younger brother-tammudu, a tautonym)

Keeru:
అన్నము మరియు దమ్ములు, ద్వంద్వ సమాసము
(food-annamu AND smoke/weed-dammulu, a tautonym)

I laughed till tears came out that day.

Keeru went on to complete the rigor of 5yrs of Telugu school with flying colors, and even paid it forward by volunteering as a teacher- her students remember her as the crazy akka that loved her bujji meka (little goat). She played volleyball in high school, volunteered at Kaiser Permanente and at a medical office. She learnt Carnatic music, Piano, and Kuchipudi dance, among many other cool things high schoolers these days do!

The little baby in this picture is my earliest memory of Keeru. From then on, I had a front row seat to her formative years and it has been a privilege seeing the beautiful and compassionate young lady she has become now. She stopped by recently, before heading off for college, just to give me a hug and say bye, and I am still tearing up as I write this.

Here's wishing Keertana the most enjoyable and enriching college life!

Keertana with Raaga and Taara at a Manabadi outreach event

The note from Keeru before she went off to college

My earliest memory of Keertana