His parents, V.C. John and Meena Purushotham had only been in Bangalore for a few years following a harrowing journey from Burma during World War II. The Purushotham family, who had four children in Burma, fled on foot to their home country. Their oldest child, Meera was the only survivor of the children.
Once settled in the South of a newly independent India, the Purushotham family began again when daughter Violet was born. Before 1948 gave way to a new year, another baby was due before Christmas. But the family was in for a surprise when twins were born. Selvakumar, known as Kumar in the family, was born minutes before his brother Sunderraj.
The family would continue to grow, adding brothers Victor and Jaykaran to their numbers. In total, there were six surviving Purushotham children.
Kumar and Sunder were truly each other’s halfs for the duration of their lives even if they both had different interests and friend groups. According to Sunder, Kumar was the more easy-going guy, with a mellow personality. Both brothers had great senses of humor—something that never diminished as they grew older. But people knew not to mess with Kumar, or Sunder would give them what they deserved.
Selva, as he was known outside of the family circle, attended Lowry Memorial High School with his twin and matriculated to Spicer Adventist University in Pune, India. Sunder joined him a year later, though the twins had different roommates and friends. Regardless, they had a bond that time or distance would never break.
Selva graduated from Spicer in 1972 before going to Singapore to marry Eleanor Rao, whom he met in his last year of college. The two came back to India to work in Pondicherry, and it was during their stay there that youngest brother Jakey made an overnight train journey as an unaccompanied minor to visit his big brother and new sister-in-law—who didn’t even know he was coming!
Selva and Eleanor left India to live in Malaysia after a year and their first child, Wilona was born in Singapore in 1975. After a few years living in the beachy city of Kuching, the couple applied to Andrews University in Michigan to pursue graduate studies. The little family left Malaysia in March 1978 and first touched American soil in Chicago, Illinois in the dead of Midwestern winter.
During their time at Andrews, Selva worked on an MBA and the family enjoyed the small international community of fellow friends from India and other parts of the world who were all in the same boat—young families far from home bettering their lives in the land of opportunity.
After graduation in 1980, Selva and his little family moved to Pearl River, New York where he worked as treasurer of Metro Ministries of the Greater New York Conference of Seventh-day Adventists. And it was there in 1981 that Rachel made the family complete. New York was home for the next seven years as Selva moved out of denominational work and built his accounting career in various companies and organizations in New York and New Jersey.
In 1985, Selva brought his family back to India to finally meet his siblings and mother. The two week-stop in India was part of a larger around-the-world vacation of meeting up with dear friends and family not seen for far too long.
Two years later, in late summer 1987, Selva drove cross-country in the family car loaded with lots of luggage while Eleanor and the girls flew, to start a new life in California. In July 1988, Selva began his job at California Steel Industries as a Senior Accountant, a post he would hold until he retired in 2020. In California, he reconnected with his college roommate, Alfred Pragasam and found a new core of dear friends in the South Asian community. Always social and friendly, Selva made friends wherever he went—at work, at church, on jury duty, even on the board of the the bank he used.
Life in California saw both of his girls growing up—they finished high school, graduated college, and started their careers. Wilona married Hoosh—who was more son than son-in-law—moved back east, gave Selva his only grandchildren—Mia and Javad, and published articles he liked to show friends. Rachel stayed in California, became a doctor—the first Dr. Purushotham in the family, and a source of immense pride for him—before moving to Tucson, Arizona to further her career and create a life with her fur-babies and her partner Nick. In California, Rachel was even the primary care physician for many of Selva’s friends—also a source of immense pride.
Selva’s life was best marked as being a long-suffering girl-dad, a jovial jokester, a lover of tennis and regular attender of matches at Indian Wells, an easy-going friend who loved nothing more than good friends and good food, a committed Seventh-day Adventist Christian, and an adored brother whose love for his siblings—Meera, Violet, Sunder, Victor, Mala, and Jakey—can’t be measured in words. Nothing made him happier than being with the people who made up the core of who he was.
Selva moved to Rancho Cucamonga following his divorce in 2005. He loved the parks and many walking paths in the city, going on three-five miles walks nearly daily. He was also an avid racquetball player who made good use of the courts at California Steel. After a few years attending another church, Selva transferred his membership to the Rancho Cucamonga Adventist church where he made many close friends and was very active in church life till he got sick.
Living in Rancho, Selva also made a loyal friend in his neighbor Paul who took him to medical appointments and has been an endless source of help and comfort to the family.
In late February 2024, Selva learned he had Stage 4 lung cancer—a shock to a life-long non-drinker and non-smoker. His girls, son-in-law, grandchildren, and siblings came to his side to ensure his healthcare and safety were zealously guarded. And most of all, to make sure his remaining time was filled with comfort, peace, dignity, and love.
Cancer robbed Selva of time. Time to see his grandchildren make him a great-grandpa, time to take more international trips with his dear friends and family, time to kick back in his sweet brother Victor’s home in Bangalore, and much more.
But when he took his last breath on the morning of April 20, 2024, Selva was surrounded by his brothers, sister Mala, Wilona, Rachel, and Hoosh. He went to his rest surrounded by peace and love, in his own home and in his own bed.
He leaves behind daughter Wilona and son Hoosh, daughter Rachel and partner, Nick, grandchildren Mia and Javad, sisters Meera, Violet (deceased), twin Sunder, brother Victor and sister Mala, brother Jakey (Udaya), many nieces, nephews, and their families, and a host of friends who to him, were and always will be, family.
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