Sudha and her parents went back to Bhopal on 31st Aug 1975 and my parents and Sandhya left soon after to KGF.
Then began a long exchange of letters between me and Sudha--- the usual kootchie-cooing stuff.Meanwhile, I started looking for a house.
In October 1975, Kamaraj died and Madras came to a standstill.All hotels were shut and 3 days holidays were declared.I decided to go to KGF and caught the afternoon express train.It was packed with passengers and the weather was extremely hot.The one memory I have was of sweat dripping from the passengers on the upper berth on to me as I was sitting. Yuck!!!
In the same month, Sundari and G.L.N.Ayya had the Grihapravesha of their house in Mysore and I went there. I remember a group of us cousins going to see "Sholay" in a Mysore theatre.
On my return, I moved into a house in Annanagar in Nov 1975.Rent was Rs.250 a month.This was one of the few owners willing to rent a house to a bachelor and that too on my promise that I was engaged and would get married in a couple of months.
In Dec 1975, I paid a visit to Bhopal.Sudha took me to all the important landmarks and introduced me to her friend Sandhya.We all went to see "Uljhan", a Sanjeev Kumar-Sulakshana Pandit starrer. We also paid a visit to Sanchi and saw the stupa there.
Meanwhile, the wedding date was fixed for 2nd Feb 1976 and the wedding hall was Nijaguna Kalyana Mandira on Bull Temple Road in Basavanagudi, Bangalore.The chatra was just being inaugurated and ours was the first wedding to be held there.
BVN asked my father to recommend a suitable caterer and my father suggested Nagaraja Sastry who had catered in Rummy's wedding.
I was in the meantime incurring capital expenditure --- I bought a Godrej cupboard and a cot (both of which remain with us to this day)and 2 chairs.
The wedding was a grand affair.All of my dad's siblings and all of my mom's siblings were present.There was a godly crowd present from my mother-in-law and my father-in-law's side too and most of them ( like the Nadig family)and Gangammanavaru and her family were known to us.Oh yes, this was the other connection that I forgot to mention in my earlier blog.
Gangammanavaru was the sister of NDS Rao who was married to BVN's sister.Gangammanavaru was also the mother of my aunt Kamala who was married to dad's brother Kanteerava.
In this way, there was a good interaction during the wedding between the two families which is usually missing in most weddings.
The wedding over, I returned to KGF with my parents. Sudha and her parents accompanied by her brothers Vinod and Ravi came over to KGF on 5th Feb and left her there.
After a couple of days, we left on our honeymoon to Mysore and Ooty.This remains a sore point with Sudha even today.She still remains disappointed that we did not go to Kashmir for our honeymoon.
We stayed at Hotel Dasaparakash in Mysore and had hardly stirred out of the hotel when we ran into Appaji. He was shocked that we had checked into a hotel ( didn't he know that we were on our honeymoon?) and insisted that we move to his house right away. That evening , Sudha and I went to Brindavan Gardens and took a lot of photos.
Next, we went to Ooty and again stayed in Hotel Dasaprakash.
We went to the lake for boating by ourselves and got stuck in the middle of the lake because of the weeds underneath the boat.It was really funny because there I was in my wedding suit and Sudha in her Conjeevaram saree and dripping with jewellery and we were frantically waving out to get help!!Someone finally came and cut the weeds and we were back to terra firma again.
We returned to KGF and immediately left for Bhopal.We gave the film for developing and found , to our shock and horror, that the photo studio had misplaced the film.The studio owner then made a very generous offer.He said that if we went to the same place and got the photographs a second time, he would develop and print the photos for free.
Incredibly, we did this. We had gone to Rosy's wedding in Mysore in Oct 1976. We again went to Brindavan Gardens, posed in the same places and sent the film to Bhopal and the studio owner kept his word. But I'm getting ahead of my story.
When we came back to Madras towards the end of Feb 1976 to resume our married life, my parents and Sethuram and Seetha accompanied us.
My next blog will detail our life in Madras starting with our first grand dinner on the day we arrived!!
Sunday, August 29, 2010
Wednesday, August 18, 2010
The ACH-BVN Connection
I mentioned in my previous blog that my dad and B.V.Nagaraj hit it off like old friends when they met in Chennai in August 1975.
The two families were related in a variety of ways.
Let me start with the information I have.
My mom's elder sister Seethakka got married to Lakkavalli Srikantiah.Srikantiah was the son of Lakkavalli Puttiah whose children included Seshamma,Srikantiah,Sathyanarayana,Jayamma,Subba,Rama,Naga, Gopamma,Susheela,Savithri and Kitti( thanks to Naga who updated me with this information today-19.8.2010-- as I'm writing this blog)
Seethakka went off to live in Bhadravathi with her husband.They lived as a joint family with Puttiah's other children. Occasionally, my mom would go there to visit her sister and would play with the girls Susheela and Savithri.
Subsequently, dad's brother Sathya got married to Susheela .
B.V.Nagaraj got married to Savithri in the early 1950s and their children were Vinod ( born 31 Dec 1954) and Sudha ( born 17 May 1956). Savithri died of cancer in Jan 1962 and
B V Nagaraj was left alone to raise the 2 kids. I still remember the postcard that Seethakka wrote to mummy stating that Savithri had passed away .
Around this time, there was a Civil Surgeon Dr.D.V.Subba Rao in KGF who used to reside in Robertsonpet and we used to go to their house occasionally.He had three children--- Dr.D.S.Chandrasekhar, Krish ( living in America and married to Magdalene, a German )and Lalitha.Lalitha had done her M.A.in Political Science in Mysore University.This was a pretty high qualification at that time.
It was my dad who arranged the wedding between BVN and Lalitha .
Other connections--- Naga's wife Swarna's sister Vishali was married to mom's cousin Kanta.
Lalitha's brother Dr.Chandrasekhar was married to Prema from the Nadig family.Prema's father was Dr.S.N.Gundu Rao whose son Ramu was running Chaya Nursing Home and the family was very close to my brother-in-law B.S.Nagaraj's family.
The story also goes that my mom had decided long ago that Savithri's daughter would be brought into her family.
You will therefore see that this family was known to us and related to us in many ways and so there was a great comfort factor.
The two families were related in a variety of ways.
Let me start with the information I have.
My mom's elder sister Seethakka got married to Lakkavalli Srikantiah.Srikantiah was the son of Lakkavalli Puttiah whose children included Seshamma,Srikantiah,Sathyanarayana,Jayamma,Subba,Rama,Naga, Gopamma,Susheela,Savithri and Kitti( thanks to Naga who updated me with this information today-19.8.2010-- as I'm writing this blog)
Seethakka went off to live in Bhadravathi with her husband.They lived as a joint family with Puttiah's other children. Occasionally, my mom would go there to visit her sister and would play with the girls Susheela and Savithri.
Subsequently, dad's brother Sathya got married to Susheela .
B.V.Nagaraj got married to Savithri in the early 1950s and their children were Vinod ( born 31 Dec 1954) and Sudha ( born 17 May 1956). Savithri died of cancer in Jan 1962 and
B V Nagaraj was left alone to raise the 2 kids. I still remember the postcard that Seethakka wrote to mummy stating that Savithri had passed away .
Around this time, there was a Civil Surgeon Dr.D.V.Subba Rao in KGF who used to reside in Robertsonpet and we used to go to their house occasionally.He had three children--- Dr.D.S.Chandrasekhar, Krish ( living in America and married to Magdalene, a German )and Lalitha.Lalitha had done her M.A.in Political Science in Mysore University.This was a pretty high qualification at that time.
It was my dad who arranged the wedding between BVN and Lalitha .
Other connections--- Naga's wife Swarna's sister Vishali was married to mom's cousin Kanta.
Lalitha's brother Dr.Chandrasekhar was married to Prema from the Nadig family.Prema's father was Dr.S.N.Gundu Rao whose son Ramu was running Chaya Nursing Home and the family was very close to my brother-in-law B.S.Nagaraj's family.
The story also goes that my mom had decided long ago that Savithri's daughter would be brought into her family.
You will therefore see that this family was known to us and related to us in many ways and so there was a great comfort factor.
Saturday, August 14, 2010
Madras--- The Bachelor Years ( 1974-1976)
Before I proceed further, I must tell you that there were major events happening in India in 1975.
The Allahabad High Court had decreed that Prime Minister Indira Gandhi would lose her Rae Bareilly seat due to corrupt practices and Jayaprakash Narayan was leading a revolution of sorts with his Nav Nirman Samithi.
Indira Gandhi declared an internal emergency on the midnight of 25th June 1975 and , in one fell swoop, all the Opposition leaders and a host of intellectuals were arrested and put in prison.Press censorship was imposed.A 20 Point Program was launched and hoardings such as " The Nation is on the move" came up all over the place.Of course there were some wags who also wrote " Speed Limit 30 Km/Hour" in the same hoarding.
To come back to the present, I was invited to meet Mr & Mrs.B.V.Nagaraj and their daughter Sudha at Mr.N.D.Bhagavan's house on the evening of Saturday 23rd Aug 1975.
I showered and shaved, put on my best clothes and then went off in search of Canal Bank Road in R A Puram.After a couple of twists and turns, I found the place.As I was nearing the house, I met a couple who seemed to be Mr & Mrs.Nagaraj. They also looked at me expectantly and it indeed turned out to be Mrs.Nagaraj.She sat on the pillion and I took her to the house.
Introductions were over and then this vision in a light green saree walked in.I instantly fell in love with her and was tongue tied.We made some general conversation about people whom we both knew---- which was plenty, more about that later--- and then I asked Mr.Nagaraj whether I could take his daughter out.
He said yes and then I took her on my scooter . We first went to Parry's where I showed her the YMCA where I was staying. We had coffee at Ninan's restaurant below and then we went to Marina Beach.
It was here that I asked her the first question which for me had deep financial implications and was a matter of concern.
I asked her if she knew how to iron clothes and she said yes.
I asked her what was her favourite colour and she said pink. She asked me what was my favourite colour and I said blue.
We then made some general conversation--- she about Bhopal and her family, me about KGF and my family.I might have given her a peck on the cheek but this detail remains a bit hazy.
Anyway, we got back to the house and I bid goodbye with a promise to meet up again on 30th Aug ( the next Saturday) for the formal "interview".
Back in the YMCA, I wrote a letter to my parents that I had met the girl and liked her. You must understand that the phone was not used much those days and all correspondence was by letter.My parents were shocked but did not say anything.I guess they were secretly happy.
Anyway, dad, mom and Sandhya came on 30th Aug and went straight to Venu's house.We all went to Bhagavan's house and my dad and Mr.Nagaraj hit it off like old friends which they indeed were( more about that later as I've promised before).
I again took Sudha to Marina Beach and perhaps repeated the peck on her cheek.
Next day, Mr.Nagaraj gave a luncheon treat for all of us at Hotel Palmgrove.There were 20 of us including Bhagavan and his family,his brother Balu and family, Venu and family, my parents, Sandhya and I and of course Mr & Mrs. BVN and Sudha.
My scooter had broken down and I was squiring Sudha around in a black and yellow taxi.Finally, they left for Bhopal by the Grand Trunk Express and mom and dad left for KGF that night.
The wedding date was fixed for 2nd Feb 1976 and then began a long exchange of letters between Sudha and me.
The Allahabad High Court had decreed that Prime Minister Indira Gandhi would lose her Rae Bareilly seat due to corrupt practices and Jayaprakash Narayan was leading a revolution of sorts with his Nav Nirman Samithi.
Indira Gandhi declared an internal emergency on the midnight of 25th June 1975 and , in one fell swoop, all the Opposition leaders and a host of intellectuals were arrested and put in prison.Press censorship was imposed.A 20 Point Program was launched and hoardings such as " The Nation is on the move" came up all over the place.Of course there were some wags who also wrote " Speed Limit 30 Km/Hour" in the same hoarding.
To come back to the present, I was invited to meet Mr & Mrs.B.V.Nagaraj and their daughter Sudha at Mr.N.D.Bhagavan's house on the evening of Saturday 23rd Aug 1975.
I showered and shaved, put on my best clothes and then went off in search of Canal Bank Road in R A Puram.After a couple of twists and turns, I found the place.As I was nearing the house, I met a couple who seemed to be Mr & Mrs.Nagaraj. They also looked at me expectantly and it indeed turned out to be Mrs.Nagaraj.She sat on the pillion and I took her to the house.
Introductions were over and then this vision in a light green saree walked in.I instantly fell in love with her and was tongue tied.We made some general conversation about people whom we both knew---- which was plenty, more about that later--- and then I asked Mr.Nagaraj whether I could take his daughter out.
He said yes and then I took her on my scooter . We first went to Parry's where I showed her the YMCA where I was staying. We had coffee at Ninan's restaurant below and then we went to Marina Beach.
It was here that I asked her the first question which for me had deep financial implications and was a matter of concern.
I asked her if she knew how to iron clothes and she said yes.
I asked her what was her favourite colour and she said pink. She asked me what was my favourite colour and I said blue.
We then made some general conversation--- she about Bhopal and her family, me about KGF and my family.I might have given her a peck on the cheek but this detail remains a bit hazy.
Anyway, we got back to the house and I bid goodbye with a promise to meet up again on 30th Aug ( the next Saturday) for the formal "interview".
Back in the YMCA, I wrote a letter to my parents that I had met the girl and liked her. You must understand that the phone was not used much those days and all correspondence was by letter.My parents were shocked but did not say anything.I guess they were secretly happy.
Anyway, dad, mom and Sandhya came on 30th Aug and went straight to Venu's house.We all went to Bhagavan's house and my dad and Mr.Nagaraj hit it off like old friends which they indeed were( more about that later as I've promised before).
I again took Sudha to Marina Beach and perhaps repeated the peck on her cheek.
Next day, Mr.Nagaraj gave a luncheon treat for all of us at Hotel Palmgrove.There were 20 of us including Bhagavan and his family,his brother Balu and family, Venu and family, my parents, Sandhya and I and of course Mr & Mrs. BVN and Sudha.
My scooter had broken down and I was squiring Sudha around in a black and yellow taxi.Finally, they left for Bhopal by the Grand Trunk Express and mom and dad left for KGF that night.
The wedding date was fixed for 2nd Feb 1976 and then began a long exchange of letters between Sudha and me.
Friday, August 13, 2010
A Bachelor in Madras ( 1974-1976)
I landed in Madras on 23rd March 1974.It was a saturday morning and the blast of heat that hit me as I came out of Madras Central was a foretaste of the famous Madras heat.
I took a cycle rickshaw and went straight to Udipi Home in Egmore which was just 200 Metres away from our Office.
After freshening up, I walked over to the Office. This was in a residential locality and the carpenters were still giving the final touches in the ground floor. The first floor was to be the residence of the Branch Manager, Mr.N.P Shah.
The interiors were done up very well and my first impression of the lounge was that it looked like the lobby of a 5 star hotel. My fellow Sales Engineer was V.Kalyansundar whom I had known when he had come for training to Hubli.
I soon went back to the hotel (Rs.17 per day), had my lunch and then went to visit Venu. Venu was the Finance Director of Binny's and had a bungalow opposite to the Madras Boat Club.I took a bus to Adyar Gate ( now Park Sheraton) and walked up to his house.Venu was at home and I met Jaya Chikkamma as well as the children Vagdevi, Abhaya and Prasad.
I was to spend many pleasant weekends at their home over the next 2 years.
I got back to Udipi Home and then got ready to attend the Branch Office Inauguration Event at Hotel Connemara.
One of the Directors had driven down in a yellow Ford Mustang and this was creating waves at Connemara where it was parked.
The function was a grand success and I was introduced to many customers whom I would be regularly seeing later.
After I went back to the hotel, I realized that my Rs.100 would not last long if I continued to stay at Udipi Home. Next day ( 24th Mar), I shifted to Roseland Lodge ( Rs.10 per day) which was just opposite Egmore Railway Station.
When 1st Apr came, I did not get my salary because the Accounts people were not aware of my transfer to Madras!!
I had to borrow Rs.200 from Mr.Shah.
The 2 stenographers, Monica Kurup and Jennifer Satur, joined on 7th Apr 1974 and all 5 of us ( NPS,Kalyan, Jenny, Monica and me) went to Woodlands Drive-In for lunch.
In May 1974, Kalyan resigned since he had got admission to IIM,Calcutta so it was just me and NP Shah to do the Sales work.
My first Sales visit was to Bangalore and there was this customer in Peenya who had a problem with one of our pumps.
I visited his factory and had no clue of how to solve the problem. I finally told him that he should change the equipment.The poor guy dropped me back to Saraswathi's house in Maleswaram where I was staying and Gayathri gave him Khas Khas ( opium seed)payasa since it was Rama Navami or some such festival.He actully felt very woozy after this and he went off never to contact us again.
In Apr 1974, I shifted to another lodge in Saidapet ( very close to Saidapet railway Station) which offered a room with attached bath for Rs.110 per month.
Commuting by electric train between Egmore and Saidapet was easy and I would have my breakfast consisting of curd rice at Egmore Station after coming in from Saidapet.
For lunch, I would get the office boy to bring Masala Dosa or some other stuff from Udipi Home.
I stayed in Saidapet for just a month. In May 1974, I was able to move in to YMCA at Parry's Corner. I shared a room with two other boys--- Sudarsanam who was working asa Service Engineer at Ashok Leyland and Kamaluddin who was working in ITDC.These were nice guys who kept to themselves and did not interfere much.The room was very large and spacious and every evening a delightful breeze would blow in from the sea which was less than 500 metres away.
I would take Bus No 9 or 10 from Parry's Corner to casa Major Road and come back in the evening in the same bus route.
The office atmosphere was excellent.N P Shah's parents were staying with him and his wife had just returned with their second child from her Gujarat hometown.Every now and then, she would send down some delicacy like dhokla .There was a TV available, so if there was some Test Match going on, I would go up and watch the match.
The Madras heat was terrible but I was slowly getting used to it.I made my first visit to Kerala in June 1974and the first thing that hit me when I landed in Cochin wasthe smell of fish and then that of coconut oil.I travelled extensively in the interiors from Calicut in the north down to Trivandrum in the south.Trichur, Chalakudy, Shertallay, Kottayam,Udyogamandal,Quilon,Alwaye,Ambalamedu,Cannanore---- I've been everywhere.Kerala has a very good bus network and getting around isn't difficult at all.Ernakulam was the commercial centre and Cochin situated on Vypeen Island was the quieter area where the Navy establishment was located.
During my trips, I always took care to visit the local places of interest, be it Guruvayur near Trichur or Kanyakumari near Trivandrum.Mattancherry near Cochin had a quiet ambience and some areas nearby reminded me of KGF.
Boiled rice in the food was a major problem and it was difficult to find hotels that prepared meals with raw rice.
I made similar extensive trips in Andhra Pradesh. Guntur, Eluru,Vijayawada, Tadepalligudem, Bhimavaram,Rajamundry, Kakinada, Kovvur, Tanuku, Sirpur Kaghaznagar, Warangal, Bhadrachalam were some of the areas I visited.
The land was very fertile but the people were very poor.I travelled in many places by Cycle-rikshaw and the poor rikshawallah would accept whatever money I gave him.
Within Madras, I used to go to places as far away as Manali, Avadi, Ambattur, Madhavaram etc.I'm not exaggerating when I say that I worked really, really hard.But this was work that I enjoyed and I felt that I was making a real contribution to the organization.
Whenever I wanted to go to KGF or Bangalore for some function, I would plan a tour.During one such tour, Shankara and I went for a movie in Plaza Theater in Bangalore. During the interval, I slipped across to a customer's Office next door, finalized an order and came back within 20 minutes and resumed watching the movie.Shankara was amazed when I told him that my work for the day was over.
In May 1974, I attend the wedding of Vijayasimha ( Venu's brother) in Bangalore.
1974 was a year of unrest.The famous Railway strike led by George Fernandes took place in May 1974 and events had already started that would culminate in the declaration of Emergency in June 1975.
Our working hours were 9.30 AM to 5.30 AM with Saturdays being half-day. Sometime in July 1974, there was a power cut in Maharashtra because of which the lifts were not working on Saturdays in our Bombay Head Office.As a result, all Branch sales were ordered to be closed on Saturdays and we had a 5 day week.
From then on, I spent practically every week end at Venu's house.I would come on Saturday morning at around 10 AM and pick up a bunch of comics that Abhaya or Prasad had.I would then head back on Saturday evening.Sometimes, I would stay over and leave on Sunday morning or afternoon after lunch.
Prasad was a great lover of Billy Bunter books and had a stack of them.Many years later, when my son Sachin got married, Prasad sent me a Billy Bunter book all the way from USA .He inscribed it " To the Father of the Groom". Very thoughtful of him and a gift that I greatly treasured.
I used to travel a lot within Madras by auto and taxi and now the company decided to offer me a loan to buy a two-wheeler.I quickly went to KGF and took a crash course in scooter and motorbike riding at the Gymkhana Grounds with the vehicles being lent by my dad's colleagues.
I then went to Bangalore and bought a second hand lambretta with the help of B S Nagaraj and brought it by train to Madras.
I was now really mobile and used the opportunity to go places like Marina Beach etc.
Money was still tight and made worse by the fact that my full salary was not being credited to me.Here's why. Inflation was soaring at more than 12% at that time and the Government passed a law that an employee could not get more than one increment.If he did get more, the additional emoluments was to be stored in a separate account and given later.
I got 5 increments in August 1974, but I was given only one increment as part of my salary and the balance was kept in a separate account. Crazy but true!!
In November 1974, I suffered another tragedy. I had gone on a tour to Andhra Pradesh and had got off at Warangal in the night.I tried for a retiring room but it was not available. I then slept in the waiting room. When I got up in the morning, my suitcase was gone!! Fortunately, I had my wallet with me and the office briefcase was intact.
I lodged a complaint and then cut short my tour and returned to Madras.I then spent around Rs.1500 ( a lot of money those days) on refurbishing my wardrobe.
My company was extremely understnding about this and refunded the money back to me.
Life went on in this vein till April 1975 and that is when a series of events happened that severely tested my ability to cope with crises.
One of our office assistants had sent off an anonymous letter to our Head Office with complaints against my Branch Manager.As soon as they got it, they went through the contents and decided that the charges were baseless and decided to sack the employee. On the day I got the call, my BM was travelling.I was told to prepare a letter of dismissal and send the employee home immediately.This was a person with a family and I was sharing the same office room with him for over a year. But what had to be done had to be done. So I got the letter prepared, called him into the BM's chamber, asked him to sign the duplicate copy and asked him to clear his belongings immediately. Mind you, I was just 24 and this was a new experience for me.
Jenny resigned in May 1975 to join Qantas and only Monica was left to do the stenography. My BM went on long leave in June 1975 and suddenly Monica also stopped coming for work.
I didn't know what to do since work was piling up and the only people left in the Office were the Office car driver who also doubled up as an Office Assistant and me.
Jenny was still in Madras and so I spoke to her and explained the problem and asked her if she could help out by doing the typing work for me.She was a real sport and agreed.
Every day, I would send the typewriter, the office stationery like letterheads, envelopes, inter-office memo pads, carbon paper, stapler etc along with my handwritten notes along with the car driver. He would deposit the fresh set and bring back the typewritten letters etc that had been sent on the previous day.This went on for more than 10 days before a new girl joined.
By this time, my boss had also returned from his leave and he really appreciated the fact that I had not allowed work to pile up.
By now, I had started getting getting feelers from my mom and dad whether I was ready for marriage. A couple of proposals had come in but it had not yet got to the stage of exchanging photos etc.
In Aug 1975, my mom wrote to me that Mr.B.V.Nagaraj and his wife and daughter were coming down to Bangalore and were interested in a possible alliance. Since I was in Madras, they wanted to meet me with my parents in Madras on 30th Aug 1975 on their way back to Bhopal.30th Aug 1975 was a Saturday, so dad and mom duly booked their ticket to Madras and informed Venu that they would be staying in his house.
I happened to be in the office on 23rd Aug even though it was a Saturday.A call came through and it was from Mr.B.V.Nagaraj.He said that he was speaking from Madras and wanted to know whether I could meet them at his newphew Bhagavan's house in Raja Annamalaipuram. I had no clue where the house but said I would be there.
( To be Continued)
I took a cycle rickshaw and went straight to Udipi Home in Egmore which was just 200 Metres away from our Office.
After freshening up, I walked over to the Office. This was in a residential locality and the carpenters were still giving the final touches in the ground floor. The first floor was to be the residence of the Branch Manager, Mr.N.P Shah.
The interiors were done up very well and my first impression of the lounge was that it looked like the lobby of a 5 star hotel. My fellow Sales Engineer was V.Kalyansundar whom I had known when he had come for training to Hubli.
I soon went back to the hotel (Rs.17 per day), had my lunch and then went to visit Venu. Venu was the Finance Director of Binny's and had a bungalow opposite to the Madras Boat Club.I took a bus to Adyar Gate ( now Park Sheraton) and walked up to his house.Venu was at home and I met Jaya Chikkamma as well as the children Vagdevi, Abhaya and Prasad.
I was to spend many pleasant weekends at their home over the next 2 years.
I got back to Udipi Home and then got ready to attend the Branch Office Inauguration Event at Hotel Connemara.
One of the Directors had driven down in a yellow Ford Mustang and this was creating waves at Connemara where it was parked.
The function was a grand success and I was introduced to many customers whom I would be regularly seeing later.
After I went back to the hotel, I realized that my Rs.100 would not last long if I continued to stay at Udipi Home. Next day ( 24th Mar), I shifted to Roseland Lodge ( Rs.10 per day) which was just opposite Egmore Railway Station.
When 1st Apr came, I did not get my salary because the Accounts people were not aware of my transfer to Madras!!
I had to borrow Rs.200 from Mr.Shah.
The 2 stenographers, Monica Kurup and Jennifer Satur, joined on 7th Apr 1974 and all 5 of us ( NPS,Kalyan, Jenny, Monica and me) went to Woodlands Drive-In for lunch.
In May 1974, Kalyan resigned since he had got admission to IIM,Calcutta so it was just me and NP Shah to do the Sales work.
My first Sales visit was to Bangalore and there was this customer in Peenya who had a problem with one of our pumps.
I visited his factory and had no clue of how to solve the problem. I finally told him that he should change the equipment.The poor guy dropped me back to Saraswathi's house in Maleswaram where I was staying and Gayathri gave him Khas Khas ( opium seed)payasa since it was Rama Navami or some such festival.He actully felt very woozy after this and he went off never to contact us again.
In Apr 1974, I shifted to another lodge in Saidapet ( very close to Saidapet railway Station) which offered a room with attached bath for Rs.110 per month.
Commuting by electric train between Egmore and Saidapet was easy and I would have my breakfast consisting of curd rice at Egmore Station after coming in from Saidapet.
For lunch, I would get the office boy to bring Masala Dosa or some other stuff from Udipi Home.
I stayed in Saidapet for just a month. In May 1974, I was able to move in to YMCA at Parry's Corner. I shared a room with two other boys--- Sudarsanam who was working asa Service Engineer at Ashok Leyland and Kamaluddin who was working in ITDC.These were nice guys who kept to themselves and did not interfere much.The room was very large and spacious and every evening a delightful breeze would blow in from the sea which was less than 500 metres away.
I would take Bus No 9 or 10 from Parry's Corner to casa Major Road and come back in the evening in the same bus route.
The office atmosphere was excellent.N P Shah's parents were staying with him and his wife had just returned with their second child from her Gujarat hometown.Every now and then, she would send down some delicacy like dhokla .There was a TV available, so if there was some Test Match going on, I would go up and watch the match.
The Madras heat was terrible but I was slowly getting used to it.I made my first visit to Kerala in June 1974and the first thing that hit me when I landed in Cochin wasthe smell of fish and then that of coconut oil.I travelled extensively in the interiors from Calicut in the north down to Trivandrum in the south.Trichur, Chalakudy, Shertallay, Kottayam,Udyogamandal,Quilon,Alwaye,Ambalamedu,Cannanore---- I've been everywhere.Kerala has a very good bus network and getting around isn't difficult at all.Ernakulam was the commercial centre and Cochin situated on Vypeen Island was the quieter area where the Navy establishment was located.
During my trips, I always took care to visit the local places of interest, be it Guruvayur near Trichur or Kanyakumari near Trivandrum.Mattancherry near Cochin had a quiet ambience and some areas nearby reminded me of KGF.
Boiled rice in the food was a major problem and it was difficult to find hotels that prepared meals with raw rice.
I made similar extensive trips in Andhra Pradesh. Guntur, Eluru,Vijayawada, Tadepalligudem, Bhimavaram,Rajamundry, Kakinada, Kovvur, Tanuku, Sirpur Kaghaznagar, Warangal, Bhadrachalam were some of the areas I visited.
The land was very fertile but the people were very poor.I travelled in many places by Cycle-rikshaw and the poor rikshawallah would accept whatever money I gave him.
Within Madras, I used to go to places as far away as Manali, Avadi, Ambattur, Madhavaram etc.I'm not exaggerating when I say that I worked really, really hard.But this was work that I enjoyed and I felt that I was making a real contribution to the organization.
Whenever I wanted to go to KGF or Bangalore for some function, I would plan a tour.During one such tour, Shankara and I went for a movie in Plaza Theater in Bangalore. During the interval, I slipped across to a customer's Office next door, finalized an order and came back within 20 minutes and resumed watching the movie.Shankara was amazed when I told him that my work for the day was over.
In May 1974, I attend the wedding of Vijayasimha ( Venu's brother) in Bangalore.
1974 was a year of unrest.The famous Railway strike led by George Fernandes took place in May 1974 and events had already started that would culminate in the declaration of Emergency in June 1975.
Our working hours were 9.30 AM to 5.30 AM with Saturdays being half-day. Sometime in July 1974, there was a power cut in Maharashtra because of which the lifts were not working on Saturdays in our Bombay Head Office.As a result, all Branch sales were ordered to be closed on Saturdays and we had a 5 day week.
From then on, I spent practically every week end at Venu's house.I would come on Saturday morning at around 10 AM and pick up a bunch of comics that Abhaya or Prasad had.I would then head back on Saturday evening.Sometimes, I would stay over and leave on Sunday morning or afternoon after lunch.
Prasad was a great lover of Billy Bunter books and had a stack of them.Many years later, when my son Sachin got married, Prasad sent me a Billy Bunter book all the way from USA .He inscribed it " To the Father of the Groom". Very thoughtful of him and a gift that I greatly treasured.
I used to travel a lot within Madras by auto and taxi and now the company decided to offer me a loan to buy a two-wheeler.I quickly went to KGF and took a crash course in scooter and motorbike riding at the Gymkhana Grounds with the vehicles being lent by my dad's colleagues.
I then went to Bangalore and bought a second hand lambretta with the help of B S Nagaraj and brought it by train to Madras.
I was now really mobile and used the opportunity to go places like Marina Beach etc.
Money was still tight and made worse by the fact that my full salary was not being credited to me.Here's why. Inflation was soaring at more than 12% at that time and the Government passed a law that an employee could not get more than one increment.If he did get more, the additional emoluments was to be stored in a separate account and given later.
I got 5 increments in August 1974, but I was given only one increment as part of my salary and the balance was kept in a separate account. Crazy but true!!
In November 1974, I suffered another tragedy. I had gone on a tour to Andhra Pradesh and had got off at Warangal in the night.I tried for a retiring room but it was not available. I then slept in the waiting room. When I got up in the morning, my suitcase was gone!! Fortunately, I had my wallet with me and the office briefcase was intact.
I lodged a complaint and then cut short my tour and returned to Madras.I then spent around Rs.1500 ( a lot of money those days) on refurbishing my wardrobe.
My company was extremely understnding about this and refunded the money back to me.
Life went on in this vein till April 1975 and that is when a series of events happened that severely tested my ability to cope with crises.
One of our office assistants had sent off an anonymous letter to our Head Office with complaints against my Branch Manager.As soon as they got it, they went through the contents and decided that the charges were baseless and decided to sack the employee. On the day I got the call, my BM was travelling.I was told to prepare a letter of dismissal and send the employee home immediately.This was a person with a family and I was sharing the same office room with him for over a year. But what had to be done had to be done. So I got the letter prepared, called him into the BM's chamber, asked him to sign the duplicate copy and asked him to clear his belongings immediately. Mind you, I was just 24 and this was a new experience for me.
Jenny resigned in May 1975 to join Qantas and only Monica was left to do the stenography. My BM went on long leave in June 1975 and suddenly Monica also stopped coming for work.
I didn't know what to do since work was piling up and the only people left in the Office were the Office car driver who also doubled up as an Office Assistant and me.
Jenny was still in Madras and so I spoke to her and explained the problem and asked her if she could help out by doing the typing work for me.She was a real sport and agreed.
Every day, I would send the typewriter, the office stationery like letterheads, envelopes, inter-office memo pads, carbon paper, stapler etc along with my handwritten notes along with the car driver. He would deposit the fresh set and bring back the typewritten letters etc that had been sent on the previous day.This went on for more than 10 days before a new girl joined.
By this time, my boss had also returned from his leave and he really appreciated the fact that I had not allowed work to pile up.
By now, I had started getting getting feelers from my mom and dad whether I was ready for marriage. A couple of proposals had come in but it had not yet got to the stage of exchanging photos etc.
In Aug 1975, my mom wrote to me that Mr.B.V.Nagaraj and his wife and daughter were coming down to Bangalore and were interested in a possible alliance. Since I was in Madras, they wanted to meet me with my parents in Madras on 30th Aug 1975 on their way back to Bhopal.30th Aug 1975 was a Saturday, so dad and mom duly booked their ticket to Madras and informed Venu that they would be staying in his house.
I happened to be in the office on 23rd Aug even though it was a Saturday.A call came through and it was from Mr.B.V.Nagaraj.He said that he was speaking from Madras and wanted to know whether I could meet them at his newphew Bhagavan's house in Raja Annamalaipuram. I had no clue where the house but said I would be there.
( To be Continued)
Thursday, August 12, 2010
1972-1974--- The Hubli Years
In many ways, the Directors of Akay Industries were ahead of their time.
They had a music system which played popular film songs in the shop floor. The favourites at that time were from "Hare Rama Hare Krishna", "Kati Patang", "Haathi Mere Saathi", "Yaadon ki Baaraat", "Amar Prem" etc and the music was not a distraction but helped keep the employees in a good mood and improved their productivity.
The Directors had also arranged a benefit cricket match for Vijay Manjrekar and Rohan Kanhai from the West Indies had come down to Hubli to play the match in May 1972. Sunil Gavaskar was fresh from his debut tour of the West Indies and was a crowd favourite as were Ajit Wadekar, E.A.S.Prasanna, G.R.Vishwanath, Brijesh Patel etc.
Around July 1972, my Hassan classmate M.G.Nagaraja Setty came down to Hubli to take training in boilers , so he and I shifted to a room in Deshpande Nagar. This was a considerably longer distance to the factory from my previous lodgings but I did not mind this.
Rummy was now in the family way and delivered a baby girl ( Akhila) on 27th Nov 1972.Her own birthday was on 26th Nov so it was like a birthday gift for herself.
Meanwhile, daddy had had some problems in his official workplace.Kolar Gold Mining Undertaking ( KGMU) now became Bharat Gold Mines Ltd and there was a new Chairman & Managing Director in place.There was a proposal to stop pension benefits for employees of BGML and so a lot of senior people in KGMU resigned en masse( they were, in fact, allowed to retire). This included Priyan's dad and Raguram's dad. My dad also submitted his resignation but after a month of suspense, he joined back BGML on getting assurances that his pension would be protected.
I went to KGF to look up Rummy and Akhila during the Christmas holidays.
Meanwhile, my training was getting along fine. I had bought a transistor with the prize money I had got in the sports and this provided some entertainment.
Deepavali was celebrated in Bhadravati as usual.
In February 1973, Saraswathi's husband H.S.Subbukrishna Rao died.He was a very nice man but had usually kept to himself.Thammayya had gone off to Jamshedpur visiting dodda Papacchi and K.S.N.Swamy and they all rushed back to Bangalore by train.
Nagaraja Setty went back to Shimoga after his training and I shifted back to Hotel Anand . My KGF friend Len Ryder came to Hubli in March 1973 to write his M.A. in English and stayed with me.During his short visit, we went to Delhi Darbar Hotel and he introduced me to Paratha with Egg Curry.
I was so far used to Udipi or North Indian dishes but Egg Curry was a totally new dish and I simply fell in love with it.Fortunately, the hotel which I now frequently visit in Trichy ( Hotel Sangam) makes delicious Egg Curry and this is my dish of choice whenever I go there.Len, thank you for introducing me to Egg Curry which I've now been having for 37 years.
Saraswathi's daughter Chaya's wedding was fixed for Aug 1973 and this was the next family event I attended.Chaya's husband Somasekhar was in the Air Force and Chaya went to Ambala after her wedding.
My daily visits to Railway Institute continued and then Peter Soggee got married sometime in Dec 1973.
By now, I was earmarked for being posted to Delhi and my training had got intensified.In February 1974, I was called and told that I would instead be posted in Madras as a Sales Engineer.
The Madras Branch Office was being inaugurated on 23rd March 1974 and I was asked to report there and attend the inauguration.
I left Hubli on 21st March after giving a farewell cum birthday treat to my friends in colleagues and left for KGF with my baggage.
It had been an eventful 2 years in Hubli and I had made many friends both within the company and outside.
I reached KGF on 22nd Mar, spent a day there and then reached Madras on 23rd March which was a Saturday. I had around Rs.100 in my pocket.
My next blog will cover the events leading up to my wedding in 1976.
They had a music system which played popular film songs in the shop floor. The favourites at that time were from "Hare Rama Hare Krishna", "Kati Patang", "Haathi Mere Saathi", "Yaadon ki Baaraat", "Amar Prem" etc and the music was not a distraction but helped keep the employees in a good mood and improved their productivity.
The Directors had also arranged a benefit cricket match for Vijay Manjrekar and Rohan Kanhai from the West Indies had come down to Hubli to play the match in May 1972. Sunil Gavaskar was fresh from his debut tour of the West Indies and was a crowd favourite as were Ajit Wadekar, E.A.S.Prasanna, G.R.Vishwanath, Brijesh Patel etc.
Around July 1972, my Hassan classmate M.G.Nagaraja Setty came down to Hubli to take training in boilers , so he and I shifted to a room in Deshpande Nagar. This was a considerably longer distance to the factory from my previous lodgings but I did not mind this.
Rummy was now in the family way and delivered a baby girl ( Akhila) on 27th Nov 1972.Her own birthday was on 26th Nov so it was like a birthday gift for herself.
Meanwhile, daddy had had some problems in his official workplace.Kolar Gold Mining Undertaking ( KGMU) now became Bharat Gold Mines Ltd and there was a new Chairman & Managing Director in place.There was a proposal to stop pension benefits for employees of BGML and so a lot of senior people in KGMU resigned en masse( they were, in fact, allowed to retire). This included Priyan's dad and Raguram's dad. My dad also submitted his resignation but after a month of suspense, he joined back BGML on getting assurances that his pension would be protected.
I went to KGF to look up Rummy and Akhila during the Christmas holidays.
Meanwhile, my training was getting along fine. I had bought a transistor with the prize money I had got in the sports and this provided some entertainment.
Deepavali was celebrated in Bhadravati as usual.
In February 1973, Saraswathi's husband H.S.Subbukrishna Rao died.He was a very nice man but had usually kept to himself.Thammayya had gone off to Jamshedpur visiting dodda Papacchi and K.S.N.Swamy and they all rushed back to Bangalore by train.
Nagaraja Setty went back to Shimoga after his training and I shifted back to Hotel Anand . My KGF friend Len Ryder came to Hubli in March 1973 to write his M.A. in English and stayed with me.During his short visit, we went to Delhi Darbar Hotel and he introduced me to Paratha with Egg Curry.
I was so far used to Udipi or North Indian dishes but Egg Curry was a totally new dish and I simply fell in love with it.Fortunately, the hotel which I now frequently visit in Trichy ( Hotel Sangam) makes delicious Egg Curry and this is my dish of choice whenever I go there.Len, thank you for introducing me to Egg Curry which I've now been having for 37 years.
Saraswathi's daughter Chaya's wedding was fixed for Aug 1973 and this was the next family event I attended.Chaya's husband Somasekhar was in the Air Force and Chaya went to Ambala after her wedding.
My daily visits to Railway Institute continued and then Peter Soggee got married sometime in Dec 1973.
By now, I was earmarked for being posted to Delhi and my training had got intensified.In February 1974, I was called and told that I would instead be posted in Madras as a Sales Engineer.
The Madras Branch Office was being inaugurated on 23rd March 1974 and I was asked to report there and attend the inauguration.
I left Hubli on 21st March after giving a farewell cum birthday treat to my friends in colleagues and left for KGF with my baggage.
It had been an eventful 2 years in Hubli and I had made many friends both within the company and outside.
I reached KGF on 22nd Mar, spent a day there and then reached Madras on 23rd March which was a Saturday. I had around Rs.100 in my pocket.
My next blog will cover the events leading up to my wedding in 1976.
Wednesday, August 11, 2010
Start of Working Life-------- ( 1972-74)
Before I start writing about my life in Hubli,
I thought I'll cover some of the important family events that I missed out in my earlier blogs.
In May 1969, Papanni got married to Girija at Mysore.All of us went by bus from Bangalore to Mysore for the wedding.As soon as we returned to Bangalore, we attended Chubbadi's house Gruhapravesha at Hanumanthnagar, Bangalore. I remember that I was down with a fever during this function.
In June 1970, Girija ( Saraswathi's daughter) got married to B.K.Ramamurthy at Badaganadu Hostel, Seshadripuram,Bangalore.
We were from the girl's side , so Thammayya, Nanjunda, Shankara and myself were quite busy unloading the luggage from the bus when the groom's party came and generally doing upachara to them.
I generally volunteered to serve water when the guests sat on the floor for the banana leaf lunch as this gave me a chance to check out the girls and ply them with as much water as they wanted to drink.
In November 1971, Vani ( Shiva's daughter) got married to S.N.Parameshwar in Bangalore.
Back to my Hubli saga. Dad accompanied me to Hubli and we once again checked in at Putti's house. We then went around town looking for suitable lodgings and zeroed in on Hotel Anand on Station Road which was just two minutes walk away from Akay Industries.The room was given on a monthly basis at Rs.60 per month.There was a common bathroom and toilet.The hotel was decent and also offered meal coupons ( 60 coupons) for Rs.60 .For Rs.120, my lunch, dinner and lodgings were taken care of.
That done, we went to Dharwar to look up dad's cousin and her husband who was a professor in Karnatak University. Their house was one of those old British bungalows with Mangalore tiled sloping roofs.We sat in the drawing room for our coffee and snacks.I glanced up and almost choked on my coffee.The roof was teeming with lizards.Every once a while, one of those lizards would fall from the roof and the professor and his wife would carry on with their conversation unconcernedly.
Dad and I looked at each other and beat a very hasty retreat.
Next day, I joined Akay Industries and was instantly smitten with the receptionist---- a sweet Anglo Indian girl called Juanita Lovett( Nita for sort).She was drop dead gorgeous and there was a lot of unnecessary human traffic ( male)in and around the reception desk.
Anyway I soon settled in.My fellow GET was Karandikar who was from Hubli itself and he made me feel comfortable.
The working hours were 8 AM to 12 Noon and 1 PM to 5PM, 6 days a week.
During the first couple of days, I wandered up Gadag Road and came across the Railway Institute. I went in and found that they had a billiard table and a library. Perfect!!!
Membership was Rs.3 per month and no extra charges for the library or billiards. Even more perfect!!
I went in to the Billiards Room and found a crowd of Anglo Indians there.It seemed as though I was back in KGF.
God was still in his Heaven and everything was better than ever before.
One of the guys playing Billiards was Peter Soggee who was the cousin of John and Patty Soggee whom I knew back in KGF.
We quickly became friends and he introduced me to his brother-in-law Bobby Nellthrop. The other regulars were Richard Lawrence , Lou Besterwitch and Mr.Anthony D'Cruz who was like a kind of father figure in the Institute.His son Ashley would drop in occasionally and his daughter Noella joined Akay Industries later .Noella is now in Melbourne and she and her husband Ravi Hiremath ( whom she met while he was also in Akay)are good family friends of ours and Sudha and I had the pleasure of meeting them when we visited in 2001.
Apart from the Railway Institute, Hubli had lots of movie theatres which screened the latest Hindi movies.The town was small and one could easily go around by foot.
I soon established a routine. Immediately after work ended at 5 PM, I would come back to the room, freshen up and be off on the 15 minute walk to the Institute.I would play there till around 8 PM, walk back, have my dinner and then be off to bed.In the morning, I would usually have breakfast at Prakash Restaurant on the way to the factory.The usual was Uppittu-Shira or Idly-Vada.
On Saturday nights, I would see Hindi movies at Sangeet Theatre.
I still remember my first visit to Pritam Restaurant in Hubli.That was the first time I tasted Alu Mutter and even today my first choice among Punjabi dishes is Alu Mutter.
Matka was a very popular gambling pastime in Hubli at that time.The Matka king was Ratan Khatri operating from Bombay.
This is how the game went.You went to any shop and bet on any two digit number for Rs.1/.Let's say the number was 21.
There was a number ( called open)that was drawn in the morning at 11AM.If the number was 2, you got Rs.3.The second number( called close) was opened at 8 PM in the night.If it was 1, you got Rs.9 for your Rs.1 bet for betting correctly on 21.It was extremely simple and you would get paid instantly from the shop where you placed the bet.Any street urchin would tell you the open and close numbers for the day and would also advise you the hot number for the next day.
The best part was that the number would be known all over India within 15 minutes of its being opened.I'm talking about 1972 when even long distance calls were a distant reality.
We played snooker more often than we played billiards and another popular game was shuffle pool.On 1st May 1972, The Institute had the May Queen Ball and my heart sank when Nita walked in with her boyfriend.I moped for about 2 or 3 days and then got on with my life.
Occasionally, my friends and I would go for a "wet".This was Anglo-Indian slang for a drink and we would frequent a bar where Government Arrack from Pampasar Distillery was sold.This was really cheap stuff and we would spend long hours chatting away.My friends were all loco drivers who drove goods trains from Hubli to Castle Rock in Goa and back.Occasionally they would come back with Cashew or Pineapple feni from Goa and we would all have a "wet" in Bobby's house which was just across the Institute.
They were a jolly bunch and I really enjoyed their company.
In the Factory, I would regularly play TT at lunch with a guy called Pai. The company had organized employees' tournaments in TT and Shuttle and I won the TT Singles and Doubles as well as the Shuttle Singles and Doubles Titles.This is when I really came to the attention of the senior officials of the company.
( to be continued)
I thought I'll cover some of the important family events that I missed out in my earlier blogs.
In May 1969, Papanni got married to Girija at Mysore.All of us went by bus from Bangalore to Mysore for the wedding.As soon as we returned to Bangalore, we attended Chubbadi's house Gruhapravesha at Hanumanthnagar, Bangalore. I remember that I was down with a fever during this function.
In June 1970, Girija ( Saraswathi's daughter) got married to B.K.Ramamurthy at Badaganadu Hostel, Seshadripuram,Bangalore.
We were from the girl's side , so Thammayya, Nanjunda, Shankara and myself were quite busy unloading the luggage from the bus when the groom's party came and generally doing upachara to them.
I generally volunteered to serve water when the guests sat on the floor for the banana leaf lunch as this gave me a chance to check out the girls and ply them with as much water as they wanted to drink.
In November 1971, Vani ( Shiva's daughter) got married to S.N.Parameshwar in Bangalore.
Back to my Hubli saga. Dad accompanied me to Hubli and we once again checked in at Putti's house. We then went around town looking for suitable lodgings and zeroed in on Hotel Anand on Station Road which was just two minutes walk away from Akay Industries.The room was given on a monthly basis at Rs.60 per month.There was a common bathroom and toilet.The hotel was decent and also offered meal coupons ( 60 coupons) for Rs.60 .For Rs.120, my lunch, dinner and lodgings were taken care of.
That done, we went to Dharwar to look up dad's cousin and her husband who was a professor in Karnatak University. Their house was one of those old British bungalows with Mangalore tiled sloping roofs.We sat in the drawing room for our coffee and snacks.I glanced up and almost choked on my coffee.The roof was teeming with lizards.Every once a while, one of those lizards would fall from the roof and the professor and his wife would carry on with their conversation unconcernedly.
Dad and I looked at each other and beat a very hasty retreat.
Next day, I joined Akay Industries and was instantly smitten with the receptionist---- a sweet Anglo Indian girl called Juanita Lovett( Nita for sort).She was drop dead gorgeous and there was a lot of unnecessary human traffic ( male)in and around the reception desk.
Anyway I soon settled in.My fellow GET was Karandikar who was from Hubli itself and he made me feel comfortable.
The working hours were 8 AM to 12 Noon and 1 PM to 5PM, 6 days a week.
During the first couple of days, I wandered up Gadag Road and came across the Railway Institute. I went in and found that they had a billiard table and a library. Perfect!!!
Membership was Rs.3 per month and no extra charges for the library or billiards. Even more perfect!!
I went in to the Billiards Room and found a crowd of Anglo Indians there.It seemed as though I was back in KGF.
God was still in his Heaven and everything was better than ever before.
One of the guys playing Billiards was Peter Soggee who was the cousin of John and Patty Soggee whom I knew back in KGF.
We quickly became friends and he introduced me to his brother-in-law Bobby Nellthrop. The other regulars were Richard Lawrence , Lou Besterwitch and Mr.Anthony D'Cruz who was like a kind of father figure in the Institute.His son Ashley would drop in occasionally and his daughter Noella joined Akay Industries later .Noella is now in Melbourne and she and her husband Ravi Hiremath ( whom she met while he was also in Akay)are good family friends of ours and Sudha and I had the pleasure of meeting them when we visited in 2001.
Apart from the Railway Institute, Hubli had lots of movie theatres which screened the latest Hindi movies.The town was small and one could easily go around by foot.
I soon established a routine. Immediately after work ended at 5 PM, I would come back to the room, freshen up and be off on the 15 minute walk to the Institute.I would play there till around 8 PM, walk back, have my dinner and then be off to bed.In the morning, I would usually have breakfast at Prakash Restaurant on the way to the factory.The usual was Uppittu-Shira or Idly-Vada.
On Saturday nights, I would see Hindi movies at Sangeet Theatre.
I still remember my first visit to Pritam Restaurant in Hubli.That was the first time I tasted Alu Mutter and even today my first choice among Punjabi dishes is Alu Mutter.
Matka was a very popular gambling pastime in Hubli at that time.The Matka king was Ratan Khatri operating from Bombay.
This is how the game went.You went to any shop and bet on any two digit number for Rs.1/.Let's say the number was 21.
There was a number ( called open)that was drawn in the morning at 11AM.If the number was 2, you got Rs.3.The second number( called close) was opened at 8 PM in the night.If it was 1, you got Rs.9 for your Rs.1 bet for betting correctly on 21.It was extremely simple and you would get paid instantly from the shop where you placed the bet.Any street urchin would tell you the open and close numbers for the day and would also advise you the hot number for the next day.
The best part was that the number would be known all over India within 15 minutes of its being opened.I'm talking about 1972 when even long distance calls were a distant reality.
We played snooker more often than we played billiards and another popular game was shuffle pool.On 1st May 1972, The Institute had the May Queen Ball and my heart sank when Nita walked in with her boyfriend.I moped for about 2 or 3 days and then got on with my life.
Occasionally, my friends and I would go for a "wet".This was Anglo-Indian slang for a drink and we would frequent a bar where Government Arrack from Pampasar Distillery was sold.This was really cheap stuff and we would spend long hours chatting away.My friends were all loco drivers who drove goods trains from Hubli to Castle Rock in Goa and back.Occasionally they would come back with Cashew or Pineapple feni from Goa and we would all have a "wet" in Bobby's house which was just across the Institute.
They were a jolly bunch and I really enjoyed their company.
In the Factory, I would regularly play TT at lunch with a guy called Pai. The company had organized employees' tournaments in TT and Shuttle and I won the TT Singles and Doubles as well as the Shuttle Singles and Doubles Titles.This is when I really came to the attention of the senior officials of the company.
( to be continued)
Tuesday, August 10, 2010
1971-72---The period of rest and Rummy's Wedding
I had finished my previous blog at the stage where I had completed my final year exams and had gone to KGF to await the results.
In KGF, as usual I plunged into the normal activities of reading, playing games and watching movies. One of my KGF friends was Satish Kashyap who was studying to be a doctor.He had gone to West Bengal with a team of doctors to attend to the lakhs and lakhs of Bangladesh refugees who were streaming into India after the Pakistan Army began its crackdown in East Pakistan in March 1971.Sheikh Mujibur Rehman had been elected as the Prime Minister and was now in prison.
The atmosphere those days was thick with talks of war between India and Pakistan.
My results came in June and I had again got a single ordinance. I was shattered because this meant I would lose one entire year of my life.With a heavy heart I went to Hassan to collect my marks card.
I found that the subject I had failed in was "Theory of Machines", the one which I wrote when I was suffering from high fever.Ironically, I had secured first class marks in the other subjects which meant that I would be declared passed in first class once I completed this subject.
There was nothing else to do but go back to KGF and wait for the exam to finish in September."Theory of Machines" was so easy that it really did not require any great preparation.
Thus began one of the most enjoyable periods of my life.Rummy was at home making preparations for her wedding and my Munji was also fixed up for 26th Sep 1971.Nagaraj would drop by almost every weekend and he and Rummy would go off together into the garden for long chats.
Mummy would fret a lot during these periods hoping that nothing "improper" was taking place and would bribe God with a Rs.1 offering for every such occasion.By the time the wedding took place, this had added up to a fairly impressive amount.
My daily routine was standard. I would get up in the morning and Rummy would lovingly make me six toasted sandwiches with thinly sliced tomatoes and salt and pepper. This done, I would go off to Ooregum Hall at 10 AM for a round of snooker with Roland Benson. Back by 12 Noon and a hearty lunch followed by a nap.Leave at 3 PM to Ooregum Hall for tennis, pick up a couple of books at the library and back again at Nundydroog Club for Shuttlecock, table tennis and billiards and snooker again. God was in his heaven and all was right with the world.
The exam was held in September and I duly completed it and bade a fond farwell to Hassan. The town had looked after me well for 5 years and I had good memories.
Back home, I plunged into preparations for Rummy's wedding.
"Prajamata" was a Kannada magazine that was doing an article on various Kannada-speaking communities.They were to publish one on Babboorkammes and asked my dad for permission to attend Rummy's wedding and take some pictures.
Meanwhile, I had applied to DCM for Management Trainee Post.I was shortlisted and asked to go to Madras for an interview.However, the fact that I had an exam still pending disqualified me and that was that.
A month before the wedding, Annavaru ( mummy's uncle) died of a heart attack in Bangalore. He was a very jolly man and daddy and he mutually liked each other. They had played in many cards sessions and enjoyed each other's company.Dad and mom rushed to Bangalore in a taxi to condole the death.
Dad had arranged a taxi to take the wedding items to Bangalore.The plan was for dad and mom and Sandhya to come to Bangalore in the taxi and Rummy and I were to go by bus.
The taxi was on its last legs and the gear lever was actually welded on to the steering column. I had my own doubts whether it would last the 60 miles to Bangalore.
Any way, Rummy and I left by bus and went straight to Chubbadi's house in Bangalore.It had started raining on the way and there was a heavy downpour.We waited and waited and finally the taxi pulled up aound 6 hours after it left KGF.
It had broken down on the way and what's worse, the rain water had seeped into the trunk and into the suitcases containing all the silk sarees etc.The first thing we did was to unpack all the suitcases and hang the sarees and other clothes out to dry.
My Munji was to be held along with that of Thammayya ( Saraswathi's son) on 26th Sep ( Sun), 27th was the Devarasamaradhane, 28th evening was the varapooje and 29th was the wedding.30th was the Satyanarayana Pooje.The celebrations were spread over 5 days.
Sethuram and Seetha had come all the way from Assam and they lost their suitcase containing cash, clothes and Seetha's jewellery in Jolarpet.
Thammayya and I duly finished our Munji and Srikantiah ( Seethakka's husband) was entrusted with the task of teaching us Sandhyavandhane.He touched various parts of his body and we diligently followed him. At one point, his nose started itching and he scratched it and both Thammayya and me scratched our noses also!!
The wedding was great fun and we had a cricket match between the boy's side and the girl's side.For the first time in a long period, all 9 of dad's siblings were present.
The time came for Rummy to leave for her husband's home and I had a lump in my throat.She was just 19 and was so mature for her age that sometimes I didn't know who was older, she or I.
When we got back to KGF, my results had come. I had passed "Theory of Machines" with 64 marks and had an overall 64% marks and had passed in 1st Class.
I was debating various choices--- NITIE,a job or higher studies.
The political situation had now really hotted up between India and Pakistan . Refugees from East Pakistan were pouring in daily by the thousands and it was quite obvious that this situation could not go on any further.Both countries made feverish preparations to go to war.
Pakistan tried to pre-empt the situation by striking at our Air Force bases and India promptly declared war on 3rd Dec 1971.I twas a short campaign ending with the liberation of Bangladesh on 16th Dec 1971.Gen ( later Field Marshal) Sam Manekshaw and Lt.Gen J.S.Aurora were the prominent war heroes.
Priyan's brother Prem was in the Navy and flew sorties into Bangladesh from I N S Vikrant and was decorated with the Maha Vir Chakra.
Around January 1972, I saw an advertisement calling for Graduate Engineer Trainees from Akay Industries, Hubli and applied for the position.I got a letter asking me to come for an interview and I went.
Pramila's sister Putti was in Hubli and I went and stayed in their house.Their neighbour was Prabhakar Tatuskar who was working in Akay Industries.He gave me a brief picture of the company and its products.
Next day, I was interviewed by Mr.Sudhakar B.Suvarna Administrative Office and Mr.B.Vasudeva, Production Superintendent. Almost the first question they asked me was whether I knew anything about Akay Industries. I promptly repeated all that Mr.Tatuskar told me and they were very impressed aout my knowledge of the company.
I was told that I had been selected and was asked to await the appointment letter.
The letter duly came in Feb 1972 and I was told to report to work on 21st March 1972. I was not yet 21 then.
More in my next blog.
In KGF, as usual I plunged into the normal activities of reading, playing games and watching movies. One of my KGF friends was Satish Kashyap who was studying to be a doctor.He had gone to West Bengal with a team of doctors to attend to the lakhs and lakhs of Bangladesh refugees who were streaming into India after the Pakistan Army began its crackdown in East Pakistan in March 1971.Sheikh Mujibur Rehman had been elected as the Prime Minister and was now in prison.
The atmosphere those days was thick with talks of war between India and Pakistan.
My results came in June and I had again got a single ordinance. I was shattered because this meant I would lose one entire year of my life.With a heavy heart I went to Hassan to collect my marks card.
I found that the subject I had failed in was "Theory of Machines", the one which I wrote when I was suffering from high fever.Ironically, I had secured first class marks in the other subjects which meant that I would be declared passed in first class once I completed this subject.
There was nothing else to do but go back to KGF and wait for the exam to finish in September."Theory of Machines" was so easy that it really did not require any great preparation.
Thus began one of the most enjoyable periods of my life.Rummy was at home making preparations for her wedding and my Munji was also fixed up for 26th Sep 1971.Nagaraj would drop by almost every weekend and he and Rummy would go off together into the garden for long chats.
Mummy would fret a lot during these periods hoping that nothing "improper" was taking place and would bribe God with a Rs.1 offering for every such occasion.By the time the wedding took place, this had added up to a fairly impressive amount.
My daily routine was standard. I would get up in the morning and Rummy would lovingly make me six toasted sandwiches with thinly sliced tomatoes and salt and pepper. This done, I would go off to Ooregum Hall at 10 AM for a round of snooker with Roland Benson. Back by 12 Noon and a hearty lunch followed by a nap.Leave at 3 PM to Ooregum Hall for tennis, pick up a couple of books at the library and back again at Nundydroog Club for Shuttlecock, table tennis and billiards and snooker again. God was in his heaven and all was right with the world.
The exam was held in September and I duly completed it and bade a fond farwell to Hassan. The town had looked after me well for 5 years and I had good memories.
Back home, I plunged into preparations for Rummy's wedding.
"Prajamata" was a Kannada magazine that was doing an article on various Kannada-speaking communities.They were to publish one on Babboorkammes and asked my dad for permission to attend Rummy's wedding and take some pictures.
Meanwhile, I had applied to DCM for Management Trainee Post.I was shortlisted and asked to go to Madras for an interview.However, the fact that I had an exam still pending disqualified me and that was that.
A month before the wedding, Annavaru ( mummy's uncle) died of a heart attack in Bangalore. He was a very jolly man and daddy and he mutually liked each other. They had played in many cards sessions and enjoyed each other's company.Dad and mom rushed to Bangalore in a taxi to condole the death.
Dad had arranged a taxi to take the wedding items to Bangalore.The plan was for dad and mom and Sandhya to come to Bangalore in the taxi and Rummy and I were to go by bus.
The taxi was on its last legs and the gear lever was actually welded on to the steering column. I had my own doubts whether it would last the 60 miles to Bangalore.
Any way, Rummy and I left by bus and went straight to Chubbadi's house in Bangalore.It had started raining on the way and there was a heavy downpour.We waited and waited and finally the taxi pulled up aound 6 hours after it left KGF.
It had broken down on the way and what's worse, the rain water had seeped into the trunk and into the suitcases containing all the silk sarees etc.The first thing we did was to unpack all the suitcases and hang the sarees and other clothes out to dry.
My Munji was to be held along with that of Thammayya ( Saraswathi's son) on 26th Sep ( Sun), 27th was the Devarasamaradhane, 28th evening was the varapooje and 29th was the wedding.30th was the Satyanarayana Pooje.The celebrations were spread over 5 days.
Sethuram and Seetha had come all the way from Assam and they lost their suitcase containing cash, clothes and Seetha's jewellery in Jolarpet.
Thammayya and I duly finished our Munji and Srikantiah ( Seethakka's husband) was entrusted with the task of teaching us Sandhyavandhane.He touched various parts of his body and we diligently followed him. At one point, his nose started itching and he scratched it and both Thammayya and me scratched our noses also!!
The wedding was great fun and we had a cricket match between the boy's side and the girl's side.For the first time in a long period, all 9 of dad's siblings were present.
The time came for Rummy to leave for her husband's home and I had a lump in my throat.She was just 19 and was so mature for her age that sometimes I didn't know who was older, she or I.
When we got back to KGF, my results had come. I had passed "Theory of Machines" with 64 marks and had an overall 64% marks and had passed in 1st Class.
I was debating various choices--- NITIE,a job or higher studies.
The political situation had now really hotted up between India and Pakistan . Refugees from East Pakistan were pouring in daily by the thousands and it was quite obvious that this situation could not go on any further.Both countries made feverish preparations to go to war.
Pakistan tried to pre-empt the situation by striking at our Air Force bases and India promptly declared war on 3rd Dec 1971.I twas a short campaign ending with the liberation of Bangladesh on 16th Dec 1971.Gen ( later Field Marshal) Sam Manekshaw and Lt.Gen J.S.Aurora were the prominent war heroes.
Priyan's brother Prem was in the Navy and flew sorties into Bangladesh from I N S Vikrant and was decorated with the Maha Vir Chakra.
Around January 1972, I saw an advertisement calling for Graduate Engineer Trainees from Akay Industries, Hubli and applied for the position.I got a letter asking me to come for an interview and I went.
Pramila's sister Putti was in Hubli and I went and stayed in their house.Their neighbour was Prabhakar Tatuskar who was working in Akay Industries.He gave me a brief picture of the company and its products.
Next day, I was interviewed by Mr.Sudhakar B.Suvarna Administrative Office and Mr.B.Vasudeva, Production Superintendent. Almost the first question they asked me was whether I knew anything about Akay Industries. I promptly repeated all that Mr.Tatuskar told me and they were very impressed aout my knowledge of the company.
I was told that I had been selected and was asked to await the appointment letter.
The letter duly came in Feb 1972 and I was told to report to work on 21st March 1972. I was not yet 21 then.
More in my next blog.
Thursday, August 5, 2010
The Final Year BE ( 1970-1971)
Before I start my blog on my final year, I must mention an episode in my 4th Year which affected me deeply.
I had a bout of fever when I was in Hassan and as I was recovering, I read "Exodus" by Leon Uris.I read it from start to finish and this book had a profound influence on me.
Readers will remember how I mentioned that I was a fairly regular reader of "Blitz", the Bombay weekly edited by R.K.Karanjia.The 1967 Gulf War had just got over with a comprehensive victory for Israel and Blitz kept publishing articles about the expansionist policies of Israel and how it was being helped by US and UK. My sympathies were fully with the Palestinians and I also felt that Israel was basically a warmongering State.
"Exodus" gave me an opportunity to get to know the other side of the picture and showed how the British actually tried to stifle the birth of Israel in 1948 when they were administering Palestine.This was a state born out of hatred and conflict and surrounded by enemies on all sides who had vowed to destroy it.It still managed to survive and actually went through 3 wars in 1956, 1967 and later in 1973.
Who is right and who is wrong is not for me to judge , but for the first time I had an opportunity to get both sides of the story.
I am mentioning this because we all go through incidents or see and hear things which leave a deep impact on our lives. For me, reading "Exodus" was one of them.
The final year classes started in right earnest in July 1970 and I was determined to do well and get a first class. I again had a single room and started off by solving the question papers of the previous 4 or 5 years.
The educational tour came up and now there was a division among the boys.One set wanted to go to North India on a longer tour and the other set wanted to make a shorter tour at a much lower cost. I opted for the shorter tour and was made the Tour Secretary again.
We decided to go to Goa, Pune and Mumbai. Goa was chosen for its fabulous beaches and for its supposed notriety of having girls sunbathing topless in Calangute beach.I said that there were no industries in Goa to visit but the majority view prevailed.I wrote to some of the factories in Pune and Mumbai and the tour was fixed.
Calangute Beach was all that it promised to be ( remember that it was the time of hippies, LSD and flower children) and offered lots of opportunities for males to satisfy their voyeuristic instincts.
From there we went to Poona by train and visited some factories. I paid a visit to Chik Papacchi who was staying in Kirkee and from Poona we caught the Deccan Queen to Bombay.
I had made a massive goof-up in the arrangements. I thought Greaves Cotton factory was in Bombay and had made arrangements to visit them. When we went there, we found that it was the Office and the Factory was actually in Poona!!
Obviously, we had to take the day off for sight-seeing and I instantly became a hero.I had gone to visit Chambi and MSK who were staying in Haji Ali. Their apartment was right opposite to that of Nadira and Chambi told me stories of how Raj Kapoor would visit Nadira's apartment every year during Raksha Bandhan and get a rakhi tied by her.
I was supposed to get back to Hassan with my colleagues but Chambi threw a temptation my way. She said that she had tickets for a Kishore Kumar Music Night a couple of days hence in Shanmukhananda Hall and also wanted me to take Seeni and Jyotsna to Baroda to spend the rest of the Dasara holidays in Lambi's house.She offered to book the ticket to me too.The prospect of going to a Kishore Kumar night and then to Baroda ( my first visit) was too tempting and so I took the permission of our accompanying Lecturer to stay back.
Another major tragedy took place when I was staying in Chambi's house.Since I was the Tour Secretary and Treasurer rolled into one, the entire tour money was with me and I had around Rs.500 left which I had kept in a pocket in my underwear.One day,I put this to wash in Chambi's house and the maidservant found out bits of paper later on which were actually currency notes.I was in a state of shock and didn't know what to do.
Kanteerava Uncle was also visiting Bombay at that time and he gave me Rs.100 to tide over. Rs.500 was a lot of money those days and I didn't know what I would do to repay the money to my colleagues.
Anyway, I put this behind me and went along with Chambi's family to enjoy the Kishore Kumar Nite. Kishore Kumar had a lot of Income-Tax problems at that time and was doing a lot of these shows to raise money to pay up.
Later, I took Seeni and Josi to Baroda and we had a lovely time with Lambi and Prasanna.
I came back to Hassan and then went to KGF for the Deepavali holidays.Here is where I encountered yet another tragedy.
After bursting all the crackers, I found some that hadn't exploded. I patiently opened up each one of them and put all the explosive powder on to a piece of paper and lit it with a matchstick.My hands were already covered with the powder and when it caught fire, it just exploded and completely burnt my right hand.
I ran from th verandah of our KGF house and did some 200 rounds of our dining table.The pain was so intense and I was just trying to do something else to divert the feeling of pain.When I looked at my hand, it resembled a suttu badhanekai ( burnt aubergine).This was around 12 noon.Dad came home at 1 PM, took one look at my hand and simply said ( You are 19).That said it all.
I went to the hospital the next day and to Hassan a couple of days later. The hand was still raw and I had to cover it with a handkerchief.Any inadvertent contact with any object sent excruciating pain through my hand and sometimes drew blood.
Anyway, the final term was all about studies and more studies. Term drew to a close and as th exams got close, there was a sense of dread as well as a sense of anticipation.Dread because these were really important exams and the marks secured in the final year would go a long way in shaping one's career.Anticipation because we knew that we were on the threshhold of entering the next stage of our life.
I have mentioned before about my coming down with fever on the eve of Theory of Machines exam and how N.A.Ravindranath took me to the doctor on his cycle to get an injection for me.
The fever did come down but I was very weak when I wrote the exam. A fateful one as later events turned out.
Meanwhile, there was also a bit of good news.Dad and mom were now seeing grooms for Rummy and she hit the jackpot with the very first boy she saw.He was B.S.Nagaraj, the third among 5 brothers and a sister.All the 5 brothers were active cricketers and were playing for Jolly Cricketers in the State League. They were staying in Malleswaram.
I got the news in May 1971 that the marriage was fixed for 29th Sep 1971 and went home with a happy heart with my bag and baggage.
More later.
I had a bout of fever when I was in Hassan and as I was recovering, I read "Exodus" by Leon Uris.I read it from start to finish and this book had a profound influence on me.
Readers will remember how I mentioned that I was a fairly regular reader of "Blitz", the Bombay weekly edited by R.K.Karanjia.The 1967 Gulf War had just got over with a comprehensive victory for Israel and Blitz kept publishing articles about the expansionist policies of Israel and how it was being helped by US and UK. My sympathies were fully with the Palestinians and I also felt that Israel was basically a warmongering State.
"Exodus" gave me an opportunity to get to know the other side of the picture and showed how the British actually tried to stifle the birth of Israel in 1948 when they were administering Palestine.This was a state born out of hatred and conflict and surrounded by enemies on all sides who had vowed to destroy it.It still managed to survive and actually went through 3 wars in 1956, 1967 and later in 1973.
Who is right and who is wrong is not for me to judge , but for the first time I had an opportunity to get both sides of the story.
I am mentioning this because we all go through incidents or see and hear things which leave a deep impact on our lives. For me, reading "Exodus" was one of them.
The final year classes started in right earnest in July 1970 and I was determined to do well and get a first class. I again had a single room and started off by solving the question papers of the previous 4 or 5 years.
The educational tour came up and now there was a division among the boys.One set wanted to go to North India on a longer tour and the other set wanted to make a shorter tour at a much lower cost. I opted for the shorter tour and was made the Tour Secretary again.
We decided to go to Goa, Pune and Mumbai. Goa was chosen for its fabulous beaches and for its supposed notriety of having girls sunbathing topless in Calangute beach.I said that there were no industries in Goa to visit but the majority view prevailed.I wrote to some of the factories in Pune and Mumbai and the tour was fixed.
Calangute Beach was all that it promised to be ( remember that it was the time of hippies, LSD and flower children) and offered lots of opportunities for males to satisfy their voyeuristic instincts.
From there we went to Poona by train and visited some factories. I paid a visit to Chik Papacchi who was staying in Kirkee and from Poona we caught the Deccan Queen to Bombay.
I had made a massive goof-up in the arrangements. I thought Greaves Cotton factory was in Bombay and had made arrangements to visit them. When we went there, we found that it was the Office and the Factory was actually in Poona!!
Obviously, we had to take the day off for sight-seeing and I instantly became a hero.I had gone to visit Chambi and MSK who were staying in Haji Ali. Their apartment was right opposite to that of Nadira and Chambi told me stories of how Raj Kapoor would visit Nadira's apartment every year during Raksha Bandhan and get a rakhi tied by her.
I was supposed to get back to Hassan with my colleagues but Chambi threw a temptation my way. She said that she had tickets for a Kishore Kumar Music Night a couple of days hence in Shanmukhananda Hall and also wanted me to take Seeni and Jyotsna to Baroda to spend the rest of the Dasara holidays in Lambi's house.She offered to book the ticket to me too.The prospect of going to a Kishore Kumar night and then to Baroda ( my first visit) was too tempting and so I took the permission of our accompanying Lecturer to stay back.
Another major tragedy took place when I was staying in Chambi's house.Since I was the Tour Secretary and Treasurer rolled into one, the entire tour money was with me and I had around Rs.500 left which I had kept in a pocket in my underwear.One day,I put this to wash in Chambi's house and the maidservant found out bits of paper later on which were actually currency notes.I was in a state of shock and didn't know what to do.
Kanteerava Uncle was also visiting Bombay at that time and he gave me Rs.100 to tide over. Rs.500 was a lot of money those days and I didn't know what I would do to repay the money to my colleagues.
Anyway, I put this behind me and went along with Chambi's family to enjoy the Kishore Kumar Nite. Kishore Kumar had a lot of Income-Tax problems at that time and was doing a lot of these shows to raise money to pay up.
Later, I took Seeni and Josi to Baroda and we had a lovely time with Lambi and Prasanna.
I came back to Hassan and then went to KGF for the Deepavali holidays.Here is where I encountered yet another tragedy.
After bursting all the crackers, I found some that hadn't exploded. I patiently opened up each one of them and put all the explosive powder on to a piece of paper and lit it with a matchstick.My hands were already covered with the powder and when it caught fire, it just exploded and completely burnt my right hand.
I ran from th verandah of our KGF house and did some 200 rounds of our dining table.The pain was so intense and I was just trying to do something else to divert the feeling of pain.When I looked at my hand, it resembled a suttu badhanekai ( burnt aubergine).This was around 12 noon.Dad came home at 1 PM, took one look at my hand and simply said ( You are 19).That said it all.
I went to the hospital the next day and to Hassan a couple of days later. The hand was still raw and I had to cover it with a handkerchief.Any inadvertent contact with any object sent excruciating pain through my hand and sometimes drew blood.
Anyway, the final term was all about studies and more studies. Term drew to a close and as th exams got close, there was a sense of dread as well as a sense of anticipation.Dread because these were really important exams and the marks secured in the final year would go a long way in shaping one's career.Anticipation because we knew that we were on the threshhold of entering the next stage of our life.
I have mentioned before about my coming down with fever on the eve of Theory of Machines exam and how N.A.Ravindranath took me to the doctor on his cycle to get an injection for me.
The fever did come down but I was very weak when I wrote the exam. A fateful one as later events turned out.
Meanwhile, there was also a bit of good news.Dad and mom were now seeing grooms for Rummy and she hit the jackpot with the very first boy she saw.He was B.S.Nagaraj, the third among 5 brothers and a sister.All the 5 brothers were active cricketers and were playing for Jolly Cricketers in the State League. They were staying in Malleswaram.
I got the news in May 1971 that the marriage was fixed for 29th Sep 1971 and went home with a happy heart with my bag and baggage.
More later.
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