After this adventure in Madurai, life became more normal.
In Sep 1976, Sudha and I made a trip to Jagdalpur.My father-in-law had been posted to Jagdalpur as Superintending Engineer in the PWD .
We travelled to Vizag and he had come there to pick us up by car.It was an 8 hour journey from Vizag to Jagdalpur, much of it through forested area. We passed through Sunabeda, Koraput and the Dandakaranya forest of Ramayana lore. In fact,there is a common perception in these areas that the Lanka of Ravana is from this region and not Sri Lanka as is commonly believed.In fact, all these places have a suffix Lanka after their names eg Kanker Lanka, Dantewada Lanka etc.
Anyway, we reached Jagdalpur in the evening.BVN had a huge bungalow with 6 bedrooms, 6 dressing rooms and 6 atached bathrooms.There was an army of retainers waiting to receive us.The house also had a table tennis table.
Jagdalpur was a small town and the capital of Bastar District which was bigger in area than the state of Kerala.
During our trip, we paid a visit to Kutumsar caves which have stalactites and stalagmites.On the way back,we came through Bhadrachalam to Vijayawada and returned to Madras.
After we returned from Jagdalpur, Sudha and I moved from Annanagar to Chetput so that I could be closer to my office in Egmore.This move was made in Sep 1976.
In Oct 1976, we again went to Mysore for Rosy's wedding and , on the way back, we attend Venu's sister Vani's wedding at Bangalore on 13 Oct 1976.Vani's husband G.V.Sukumara was my senior in Hassan.
Our weekends were spent in going to Balu's house or Bhagavan's house to watch movies on Doordarshan.We also went to a lot of movies, prominent among them being "Kabhi Kabhi", "Khel Khel Mein", "Karz" etc.
In Feb 1977, Venu's father A.N.Anantharamiah passed away and Venu and Jayalakshmi had to be in Bangalore for the ceremonies. They left behind their children Vagdevi,Abhaya and Prasad at our house.
I thought I was the only one who hated cream ( kene) in milk and curds, but Abhaya went one better than me. He always used to carry a filter in his pocket. He would use this to filter the coffee and curds and ensure no cream.
In March 1977, we moved to another house in Kamala Bai Street in T'Nagar. How we got there is an interesting story.
Balu had told us about a portion of a house being vacant in Kamala Bai Street near Vani Mahal.We went to the place and started looking for the house.It was night and we heard some music emanating from one of the upper floors of a house.We went and found that there was a group practising Kannada songs.On further enquiry, we found that the house we were looking for was in another portion of the same building.
The head of the family was introduced to us.He was Mr.M K Gopinath and the family including his wife Rama, sons Mohan and Prabhu and daughter Sheela.One of the guests there was Girija Vishwanath who was born in Chitradurga and knew Kanthu.We straightaway knew that this was the place we wanted to live in.
The building was split into four portions. The two portions on the ground floor belonged to two brothers who were not on speaking terms with each other. Mr.Gopinath was the tenant on the 1st floor in one portion and the other portion on the first floor was the vacant one which we had come to see.
We took the house on rent ( Rs.300 per month) and moved in on 1st Mar 1977.This house was centrally located; Pondy Bazaar was just a street away and Panagal Park was also within walking distance though it had not yet gained its fame ( notriety??) as a shopping centre as it has now.The only problem was that Kamala Bai Street was a low lying area and used to get flooded if there was rain.Friends and relatives visiting us would joke that what we needed was a boat, not a scooter.
Balu's house was less than a kilometre away and we went to their house frequently.
Venu and family had moved to Hyderabad meanwhile so that was one house where we stopped our visits.
In Oct 1977, Dad, Mom and Sandhya went on a trip to Kashmir.Kanthu and Venkatesh were in Srinagar and the plan was to visit Delhi and Bombay on the way back.Tragically, Ramanna( mom's father) passed away in Shimoga when they were all in Srinagar, so Mom and Kanthu caught the next flight from Srinagar to Bangalore.
In Dec 1977, Sudha and I got the happy news that she was pregnant.
Meanwhile, Sudha and I had become members of Kannada Balaga and took part in our first Kannada Drama in Feb 1978 for the Ladies & Gents program.We had a brother and sister role and it came out fairly well.
Dad and Mom arranged the Shreemantha ceremony at KGF on 20th May 1978, a couple of days ahead of Sudha's cousin Viju's wedding on 25th May 1978 at Bangalore.
Sudha's parents were in attendance as also her brothers Vinod and Ravi.They had all come down from Jagdalpur by car.
From KGF all of us went to Bangalore for Viju's wedding. I remember that 25th May 1978 also happened to be the 25th wedding anniversary of Chandu Mava and Prema Atte.We had a grand time during the wedding.
From Bangalore, Sudha proceeded straight to Jagdalpur with her parents and brothers for her confinement.
I was back to living a bachelor's life again.Rama Aunty and Gopinath became my foster parents and took care of me well whenever I was in Madras. Otherwise I plunged myself into tours just to avoid being in Madras.
The Gopinaths were avid cards players and I would usually spend some time after dinner playing with them.
It was when I was having one such cards session on the evening of 22nd Aug 1978 that I got a telegram which said that Sudha had delivered a baby boy at 1.15 PM that day.
I immediately made preparations to leave for Jagdalpur and also bought a nice white and blue saree for Sudha.She maintains that this is the best saree of all the sarees that I have gifted her.
I reached Waltair a couple of days later and then caught a bus next day for the 8 hour journey to Jagdalpur.I reached at night and went to the maternity hospital next day.There was this child all wrapped up and the only thing I can remember was his marble like eyes peeping out at me.It was such a lovely experience holding this cute baby in my arms.
As usual , Sudha had a story for me about the delivery.
Her dad had checked out the delivery room of the maternity hospital a month before the delivery and found that it badly needed a coat of paint.He couldn't obviously get one room painted so he got the whole maternity hospital a new coat of paint.
A week before the delivery date, there was a new crisis.The lady doctor had received her transfer orders and the replacement doctor had not yet arrived.BVN was very worried that there would be no doctor available when the need arose.
So he delayed providing the required transport for the doctor to move out of Jagdalpur and thus the situation was saved.The PWD engineers gave the reason for non availability of transport as flooding of the bridges and roads and miraculously everything became OK as soon as the baby was born.
In October 1978 ( 2 months after the baby was born), my dad, mom, Sandhya, Rummy, Nagaraj, Akhila and I went together from Madras to Jagdalpur for the Namakarna ( Naming Ceremony).
We went by Coromandel Express from Madras to Waltair and reached there in the evening.We were to take a taxi from the station to the hotel for an overnight stay before catching a bus next morning for the 8 hour trip to Jagdalpur.
A person met us on the station platform and offered to take us to the hotel.We followed him and sat down in what must have been a 1930 model taxi.I sat in the front seat next to the taxi driver and he gave me a small plastic pipe to hold.
As soon as he sat, the driver took the pipe from me and put it somewhere close to his leg.The taxi moved in fits and starts and soon the driver pulled up near a petrol bunk.He have me the plastic pipe again and then took a plastic jerry can from near his leg to get the petrol filled. This was the petrol tank!!!
Incredibly, we engaged the same taxi again next morning to take us to the bus-stand and got there without any mishap.
The Namakarna ceremony went off very well and the baby boy was named Sachin. This was the name of a popular film star those days and the most romantic star pair those days was Sachin-Sarika.A lot of boys and girls born in 1978 were called Sachin and Sarika respectively.
There was a huge party arranged in the evening on the lawns of the bungalow.Everybody spoke only in Hindi and tis was a bit of a problem for us. Anyway Rummy decided to try out her Hindi on a small boy by calling out to him " Udhar Aao, Udhar Aao"--- instead of "Idhar Aao". The boy wa ssuitably confused and wondered whether he had learnt his Hindi properly.
We spent around 3 or 4 days playing cards ( Rummy) and Ravi made a neat Rs.150 which was a lot of money those days.
After a pleasant stay, we all returned to Madras .
My next blog will dwell on the joys of parenthood.
Showing posts with label Madras. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Madras. Show all posts
Saturday, September 11, 2010
Thursday, September 2, 2010
Grihastashrama( Married Life)---- 1976 to 1978
My first day in Madras as the head of a household was a bit of a disaster.
As I've mentioned earlier, my dad and mom and Sethuram and Seetha accompanied us to Madras.
We were staying in Annanagar West which was just on the edge of civilization.My scooter was the only mode of conveyance.To top it all, Sudha didn't know a word of Tamil.
We didn't have a gas connection and we didn't have a sofa set or dining table.A fridge was out of the question.
The first thing we did was to hire a small girl ( maybe around 10 years) as a servant maid.We called her Ponnu.
Next was to register with Aavin for daily milk supply.
As soon as we landed in Madras, I went out and made a phone call to Venu to tell him that we had come.Somewhere during the conversation, I invited Venu over with his family for dinner that night and Venu promptly accepted. This was around 1 PM. I came back and told Sudha and my mom that Venu and his family were coming home that evening for dinner.
They looked at me in horror and gave me a look that indicated that I must have gone out of my mind.After she recovered her wits, my mom asked me whether I knew that we didn't have enough plates and glasses, we didn't have chairs to seat any guests, we didn't have a dining table to dine on, we didn't have any milk and curds, we didn't have enough dishes to cook a decent meal and we didn't have enough vegetables etc etc etc.She also reminded me that all cooking was to be done on a single electric stove since we didn't have cooking gas.
After having delivered that royal firing, mom, Sudha and Seetha got down to prepare something. I'm sure their simmering anger against me helped speed up the cooking.
I went crazy with fetching things from the Chintamani Supermarket on my scooter for the dinner.
After this notable event, things settled down somewhat and we made a few trips in 7C Bus Route to Parry's Corner and Evening Bazaar to get some essential household stuff.
We also made a bus trip to Adyar Gate to visit Venu's house.It was a long bus ride and all of us , barring Sudha, went off to sleep. She didn't know where we should get off and was hesitant to wake us up. Anyway, I woke up in time and we had no mishaps.
My parents-in-law visted us and gifted a dining table set.
My company managing director gave me a gift of Rs.1000 and we bought a sofa set with this money.
We were staying in a portion of a house which had two other tenants, both of them sisters.They were Sindhis and Sudha felt very comfortable talking to them in Hindi
I used to be off to work by 8.30 AM and returned in the evening.Sudha took stenography and typing classes to while away her time.Her teacher was a retired Legislative Assembly Stenographer and his wife was a typical Madras Maami who would give Sudha Arashina + Kunkuma on festival days etc.
In the evenings, Sudha and I would go out shopping and buy things to furnish our house.Grocery and provision purchase was at the nearby Chinthamani Supermarket where I would stand in one queue to buy Kerosene and Sudha would stand in another queue to buy Aavin Butter or some such scarce commodity.
I had applied to the Park Town Co-Operative Society for an Indane Gas Connection but it normally took 3 years to get a connection. I had a friend in Indian Oil who helped me get an out of turn connection in May 1976.
In the same month, Rajani, Nandini,Anil and Badri came to spend a couple of days with us.We had no extra cots and all of us would sleep in the drawing room.We had good fun.
I had gone on a tour of Andhra during May and I visited places such as Sirpur Kaghaznagar and Bellampally where the weather was extremely hot. I caught a fever in Sirpur but decided to continue with my visit to Bellampally and then return to Chennai. This was my first to Bellampally where coal was being mined.I reached there with a high fever around 8 PM and checked into a dingy hotel.The air was thick with coal dust.There was no decent food available and I had to manage with Fanta Orange.
The next morning, the sun was bright and shining by 5.30 AM and it was already hot.I went to the Office of Singareni Collieries and the person there was shocked at seeing me. He asked me whether I had been asked to come. I said no, I came on my own.He told me never to come unless I was called and also said that, in that case, the company would make arrangements for transport and stay in their guest house.
I finished my work by 10 AM and scooted out of the place.
In June 1976, I went on a tour of Trichy, Madurai and Tuticorin and took Sudha along with me. We went to the Rock Fort Temple in Trichy, Srirangam, Madurai Meenakshi Temple and also to Kanyakumari.In Sriangam, I paid Rs.12 and bought a colourful saree for Sudha.
In August 1976, I went on a tour of Southern Tamil Nadu and almost got married a second time. Here's how it happened.
I had gone to visit a company called Kothari Phytochemicals which was on the outskirts of Madurai. I had gone there by a mofussil bus.After I finished my work, I came out and was waiting at a bus stop for a bus.I had a newspaper with me and was busy reading it.A few minutes later a woman in her twenties came and stood next to me.After some time, she asked me " Are you coming from Palani?"I did not want to enter into a conversation by saying yes or no, so I buried my face in the newspaper and gave a grunt.She took this as a yes and then asked " Are you going to Madurai?" Grunt.
"Weather is very hot , no?" Grunt.This went on for quite some time--- she asking questions and my replying with grunts with my face buried in the newspaper.
After some time, I realized the incogruity of the situation and thought I would get rid of her by walking up to a nearby teashop. She came behind me. I asked for a cup of tea and she said " One for me also". The shopkeeper looked at me and I nodded yes since it would be churlish to refuse a cup of tea to a lady.
The bus came and I got in and sat in the back seat.In Tamilnadu, the entire left side seats of any bus are usually reserved for women and a few seats were empty. Still the lady came and sat next to me.By now, alarm bells were ringing in my mind.
The conductor came around and I bought one ticket.The woman immediately said "One more ticket for me".The conductor looked questioningly at me and I shrugged my shoulders indicating I did not know who she was.Surprisingly, he did not ask the woman for any money but gave her a ticket anyway.
By now I was certain that something funny was going on.As the bus neared Madurai bus stand, I casually got up and edged my way towards the exit.The lady immediately got up and came behind me.
As the bus slowed down near the bus stand, I got off and ran to the nearest cycle rickshaw and told the driver to move.He asked me where to go.I told him to just start and get away.
The lady ran hard behind the cycle rickshaw and caught hold of a bar at the back and did not let go. I kept urging the driver to cycle faster but she did not let go.By now, we were going through the main street in Madurai and a crowd was looking on.In between gasps of breath, the lady kept shouting " Enne vittitu povadeengo"--- Don't leave me and go.
I asked the rickshaw driver to stop near a traffic policeman.
By now a big crowd had gathered. I went up to the policeman and told him that the lady had followed me all the way from the suburb.The policeman asked her why she was following me and she replied" En purushan saar. Enne vittitu poyitanga"--- " He is my husband.he has left me and gone".
I told the policeman that I was already married and from Madras and produced my visiting card. He took one look at it and asked me to get away as soon as possible.I got into the rickshaw again and told the driver to move fast. The lady broke away and again started running behind me but we had already covered some distance.I was staying at The New College House and decided to cut short my Madurai visit and proceed to Tuticorin. The problem was that I had to catch a bus and therefore would have to come to the bus stand again.
I changed my clothes, put on my sunglasses and very warily came to the bus stand.Fortunately, the woman was nowhere to be seen and I made a smooth getaway.
End of story.
As I've mentioned earlier, my dad and mom and Sethuram and Seetha accompanied us to Madras.
We were staying in Annanagar West which was just on the edge of civilization.My scooter was the only mode of conveyance.To top it all, Sudha didn't know a word of Tamil.
We didn't have a gas connection and we didn't have a sofa set or dining table.A fridge was out of the question.
The first thing we did was to hire a small girl ( maybe around 10 years) as a servant maid.We called her Ponnu.
Next was to register with Aavin for daily milk supply.
As soon as we landed in Madras, I went out and made a phone call to Venu to tell him that we had come.Somewhere during the conversation, I invited Venu over with his family for dinner that night and Venu promptly accepted. This was around 1 PM. I came back and told Sudha and my mom that Venu and his family were coming home that evening for dinner.
They looked at me in horror and gave me a look that indicated that I must have gone out of my mind.After she recovered her wits, my mom asked me whether I knew that we didn't have enough plates and glasses, we didn't have chairs to seat any guests, we didn't have a dining table to dine on, we didn't have any milk and curds, we didn't have enough dishes to cook a decent meal and we didn't have enough vegetables etc etc etc.She also reminded me that all cooking was to be done on a single electric stove since we didn't have cooking gas.
After having delivered that royal firing, mom, Sudha and Seetha got down to prepare something. I'm sure their simmering anger against me helped speed up the cooking.
I went crazy with fetching things from the Chintamani Supermarket on my scooter for the dinner.
After this notable event, things settled down somewhat and we made a few trips in 7C Bus Route to Parry's Corner and Evening Bazaar to get some essential household stuff.
We also made a bus trip to Adyar Gate to visit Venu's house.It was a long bus ride and all of us , barring Sudha, went off to sleep. She didn't know where we should get off and was hesitant to wake us up. Anyway, I woke up in time and we had no mishaps.
My parents-in-law visted us and gifted a dining table set.
My company managing director gave me a gift of Rs.1000 and we bought a sofa set with this money.
We were staying in a portion of a house which had two other tenants, both of them sisters.They were Sindhis and Sudha felt very comfortable talking to them in Hindi
I used to be off to work by 8.30 AM and returned in the evening.Sudha took stenography and typing classes to while away her time.Her teacher was a retired Legislative Assembly Stenographer and his wife was a typical Madras Maami who would give Sudha Arashina + Kunkuma on festival days etc.
In the evenings, Sudha and I would go out shopping and buy things to furnish our house.Grocery and provision purchase was at the nearby Chinthamani Supermarket where I would stand in one queue to buy Kerosene and Sudha would stand in another queue to buy Aavin Butter or some such scarce commodity.
I had applied to the Park Town Co-Operative Society for an Indane Gas Connection but it normally took 3 years to get a connection. I had a friend in Indian Oil who helped me get an out of turn connection in May 1976.
In the same month, Rajani, Nandini,Anil and Badri came to spend a couple of days with us.We had no extra cots and all of us would sleep in the drawing room.We had good fun.
I had gone on a tour of Andhra during May and I visited places such as Sirpur Kaghaznagar and Bellampally where the weather was extremely hot. I caught a fever in Sirpur but decided to continue with my visit to Bellampally and then return to Chennai. This was my first to Bellampally where coal was being mined.I reached there with a high fever around 8 PM and checked into a dingy hotel.The air was thick with coal dust.There was no decent food available and I had to manage with Fanta Orange.
The next morning, the sun was bright and shining by 5.30 AM and it was already hot.I went to the Office of Singareni Collieries and the person there was shocked at seeing me. He asked me whether I had been asked to come. I said no, I came on my own.He told me never to come unless I was called and also said that, in that case, the company would make arrangements for transport and stay in their guest house.
I finished my work by 10 AM and scooted out of the place.
In June 1976, I went on a tour of Trichy, Madurai and Tuticorin and took Sudha along with me. We went to the Rock Fort Temple in Trichy, Srirangam, Madurai Meenakshi Temple and also to Kanyakumari.In Sriangam, I paid Rs.12 and bought a colourful saree for Sudha.
In August 1976, I went on a tour of Southern Tamil Nadu and almost got married a second time. Here's how it happened.
I had gone to visit a company called Kothari Phytochemicals which was on the outskirts of Madurai. I had gone there by a mofussil bus.After I finished my work, I came out and was waiting at a bus stop for a bus.I had a newspaper with me and was busy reading it.A few minutes later a woman in her twenties came and stood next to me.After some time, she asked me " Are you coming from Palani?"I did not want to enter into a conversation by saying yes or no, so I buried my face in the newspaper and gave a grunt.She took this as a yes and then asked " Are you going to Madurai?" Grunt.
"Weather is very hot , no?" Grunt.This went on for quite some time--- she asking questions and my replying with grunts with my face buried in the newspaper.
After some time, I realized the incogruity of the situation and thought I would get rid of her by walking up to a nearby teashop. She came behind me. I asked for a cup of tea and she said " One for me also". The shopkeeper looked at me and I nodded yes since it would be churlish to refuse a cup of tea to a lady.
The bus came and I got in and sat in the back seat.In Tamilnadu, the entire left side seats of any bus are usually reserved for women and a few seats were empty. Still the lady came and sat next to me.By now, alarm bells were ringing in my mind.
The conductor came around and I bought one ticket.The woman immediately said "One more ticket for me".The conductor looked questioningly at me and I shrugged my shoulders indicating I did not know who she was.Surprisingly, he did not ask the woman for any money but gave her a ticket anyway.
By now I was certain that something funny was going on.As the bus neared Madurai bus stand, I casually got up and edged my way towards the exit.The lady immediately got up and came behind me.
As the bus slowed down near the bus stand, I got off and ran to the nearest cycle rickshaw and told the driver to move.He asked me where to go.I told him to just start and get away.
The lady ran hard behind the cycle rickshaw and caught hold of a bar at the back and did not let go. I kept urging the driver to cycle faster but she did not let go.By now, we were going through the main street in Madurai and a crowd was looking on.In between gasps of breath, the lady kept shouting " Enne vittitu povadeengo"--- Don't leave me and go.
I asked the rickshaw driver to stop near a traffic policeman.
By now a big crowd had gathered. I went up to the policeman and told him that the lady had followed me all the way from the suburb.The policeman asked her why she was following me and she replied" En purushan saar. Enne vittitu poyitanga"--- " He is my husband.he has left me and gone".
I told the policeman that I was already married and from Madras and produced my visiting card. He took one look at it and asked me to get away as soon as possible.I got into the rickshaw again and told the driver to move fast. The lady broke away and again started running behind me but we had already covered some distance.I was staying at The New College House and decided to cut short my Madurai visit and proceed to Tuticorin. The problem was that I had to catch a bus and therefore would have to come to the bus stand again.
I changed my clothes, put on my sunglasses and very warily came to the bus stand.Fortunately, the woman was nowhere to be seen and I made a smooth getaway.
End of story.
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)
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