I think most knew him as Dr. G. Rajasekaran or Raja G or professor, but I only knew him as Appa. He was always willing to explain some complex scientific theory to me, and yet he was able to keep it at a level I could understand. He was a true educator. Mostly we enjoyed our time together talking about whatever topic was at hand. We did this a lot while walking, he insisted on a walk daily. We would chat on the car rides to and from UCR when have visited us in California. He liked watching movies or series. Especially a series on the spiritual. Soon after marrying Uma, we all watched the Mahabharat series. Then later once we got NetFlix we watched the Buddha series. We didn’t try to philosophize to come to some great understanding, but just had that common interest. His love for classical Indian music allowed me to attend Carnatic concerts while visiting Chennai. His love of history and travel fostered many wonderful trips to see beautiful temples, heritage sites, landscapes, new cities, and people in India and in the US. His catch phrase was “safety is the first priority”, but that never stopped him from getting out and enjoying life. I’m thankful to have had the privilege of spending the last 23 year as his son in law and friend.
