I'm reminded by my nieces that I had forgotten to mention the
Gruhapravesha of Rummy and Nagaraj's house in June 1984, so I've added it here.
1985 dawned bright and clear with Rajiv Gandhi at the nation's helm after the tragic assassination of Indira Gandhi.
The young PM brought a breath of fresh air to the nation.I remember a Doordarshan TV program where he interacted with a group of young school children.He was absolutely at ease with them and answered their most inane questions.His Hindi wasn't as good as that of his mom's.I remember us mentioning that , under Rajiv, India had become a banana republic.That's because all his speeches were laced with " Hum yeh banana hai. Hum woh banana hai".
I had by now completed my Post Graduate Diploma in Marketing Management from Madras University and was now doing my Diploma in Management from AIMA.I had to attend classes 3 days a week and also manage my official tours.
I had my final exams to complete and I had got the timetable.I had kept the exam timetable in the car and the guy who came to clean the car every day thought it was some scrap paper and threw it out.I didn't know if the exam the next day was Management Accounting or Business Law and I had no way of checking with my batchmates.Anyway, I thought it was Management Accounting and so went early to the exam hall so that I could check with the other candidates as to what the subject really was .
I had carried my Management Accounting Text Book and was pacing the corridor.One guy came in and nearly fainted on seeing my text book.He broke into a cold sweat and almost started crying.I asked him what's the problem.He said that he had though that day's subject was Business Law and didn't know it was Management Accounting. I said," Relax, you're right" and then went ahead and wrote the Business Law exam and --- wonder of wonders--- actually got the highest marks out of all subjects!!
That was around Feb 1985.The next major hurdle was Sandeep's admission to DAV School.I had nightmares at the thought of standing all night in a queue all over again.
In March 1985 , I was travelling to Hubli.Sudha made some enquiries and learnt that, since DAV School was run by Arya Samaj, it would help if we knew some senior members of Arya Samaj.She immediately rang up Jayalakshmi Chikkamma to ask if Chikkamma knew anybody in Arya Samaj.
Just at that moment, a person who used to sell Jewellery stones to Chikkamma for over 20 years was visiting her house to show her some diamonds.His name was, I think, Mr.Pillai. He overheard Chikkamma talking to Sudha and the words Arya Samaj and DAV School being bandied around.He asked Chikkamma what was the problem.Chikkamma dismissively told him," No, it's just my niece on the phone and she wanted to know whether I knew anybody in Arya Samaj for help in getting admission to DAV School and I said I don't know anybody." Mr.Pillai said , " Maybe I can help". Chikkama asked how and he said " Because I'm the President of Arya Samaj. Ask her to send someone to the School after a couple of days and I'll see that she gets the application form."
Sudha told me all this when I was in Hubli ( Oh yes, the other big event of 1984 was that we got our telephone-- No.453691--- on 18 Dec 1984 after 2 years of waiting---- a remarkably short waiting period for those times, I might add.).
The earth stood still for a couple of minutes while I digested this information.However,ever the cautious person, I still told Sudha to stand in the queue since Mr.Pillai had said that he would give us the form after the general public got it.Our heart was not in this and so we missed out on getting the form in the regular manner. On the appointed day, I went to the school.Mr.Pillai was there and gave me the application form. I'm pretty sure that half of our punya acquired in our previous janma was used up for the purpose of getting this application form.But it was worth it.
My father-in-law, in the meanwhile, had found a house in Jayanagar 8th Block and had set about constructing a new house on the 80ftx 50 ft plot.The Gruhapravesha was held in June 1985.
Thammiah, Saraswathi's son, committed suicide in Sep 1985. This was a major blow to me since he and I were very close from childhood.I got the news on a saturday when I was working in the Office. I immediately rushed to Bangalore and broke down on seeing his body. Such a promising life cut short in the prime of youth!! He left behind his wife Leela and a son ( Bharath) and a daughter.
The other notable event was the Gruhapravesha of Sethuram's house ( an addition to Sathya Chikkappa's house on the same plot of land) in Oct 1985.
Sudha, Sachin, Sandeep and I went from this function to Hubli. We stayed in the Akay Industries Guest House and the Khimjis were most gracious hosts. From there, we went to Goa and stayed there for a couple of days before returning to Madras.
Vinod was now working in Kanpur with J.K.Cements.He had come to Bangalore on an official trip and stayed with us for a couple of days in Madras on his way back to Kanpur.
The rest of the year passed off uneventfully and I'll cover 1986 in my next blog.
Bye for now.
Showing posts with label Hubli. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Hubli. Show all posts
Tuesday, November 16, 2010
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)
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