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.