Its a small world!

It really is a small world. Many of you may remember this post I did a few months ago....where I had posted some really really old family pics, photos about 70 plus years old which my mom dug up for me. Here are a couple which are relevant to this post I am writing...

This was my great great grandfather (mom's mom's dad), an eminent lawyer Manjeri Rama Iyer!

And these are my great grandparents (the couple standing in the back). In other words, the lady is my great grandmother, daughter of M. Rama Iyer in the picture above!

So imagine my surprise ( I really almost fell off the chair) when a few days ago I got this e mail from a person and this is what he said..."Hi there....I am "so and so" ! Guess we are related as Manjeri Rama Iyer is my great grandfather. It would be nice if you can mail me." WOWZERS!!! And then he sent me these 2 pics which showed.....

 My g.g. grandfather Manjeri Rama Iyer in the middle with my g. grandmother Rajalakshmi to his right, and this person's grandfather standing in the back row.

But of course, I remained cautious (too many weird people out there) and sent him a reply asking him to tell me who he was, and give me some family details. And so we emailed back and forth, him telling me how for years he has been searching for more info on his family, including making trips to his village in Kerela scouting for more info. Then, and this is really a clincher, he sent an attachment of a family tree he had come across on the web, which had some of his family info in it. And I WAS ON IT!!!

And soon the mystery was cleared up. His great grandfather/my great great grandfather are one and the same person. 

For you genealogy philes who can handle the intricacies - his grandfather and my great grandmother (the lady in the pic) are siblings. His father and my grandmother are first cousins......bottom line is he and my mom are second cousins!!!!

Isn't that really something? The power of the Internet and especially Facebook, never ceases to amaze me!