Life Back Then

Jatinder Sethi was born in Lyallpur, now Faisalabad, in pre-Independence India. He finished his M.A. (English) from Delhi University in 1956, and went off to London to study Advertising in 1958. He passed his Membership Exam of The Institute of Practitioners in Advertising (M.I.P.A) in1965, and joined Rallis India in Bombay. Later, for over 20 years, he worked for the advertising agency Ogilvy &amp\; Mather. Now retired, he helps his son in his ad agency in Delhi.

My Nanaji, I think his name Mulakh Raj Ahuja, was a Surgeon and headed the administration in Sargodha (now in Pakistan) in around 1910.  In those days, Civil Surgeons were also the Head of all District medical administration-it was a very powerful job. He married his older daughters in Bhera and Khushab to men from big Zamindar (landlord) families.

His youngest daughter, Lajwanti, my mother, got married to a man from Jhang who lived in Lyallpur (now Faisalabad, Pakistan). He was my father, Chaudhry Jai Ram Dass Sethi, BA LLB, who was a lawyer.

My eldest Mamaji, Shanti Narain Ahuja, who lived in Sargodha, was Punjab's leading criminal lawyer\; he had studied law in London. He had a big convertible car. And he was a very close friend of the Turray Waalay Khizar Hayat Khan and Sir Sikander Hayat Khan.

Sir Sikandar Hayat Khan with a turray pugree

Dr. Anand - an unholy person born in 1932 in the holy town of Nankana Sahib, central Punjab. A lawyer father, a doctor mother. Peripatetic childhood - almost gypsy style. Many schools. Many friends, ranging from a cobbler's son (poorly shod as the proverb goes) to a judge's son. MB from Glancy (now Government) Medical College Amritsar, 1958. Comet 4 to Heathrow, 1960.
Widower. Two children and their families keep an eye on him. He lives alone in a small house with a small garden. Very fat pigeons, occasional sparrows, finches green and gold drop in to the garden, pick a seed or two and fly away.

Ed. Note: The text has been extracted from an extended informal email discussion with Jatinder Sethi. Some of what Mr. Sethi wrote is available in Pre-Partition family memories.

Shahukaar. This spelling reflects more accurately, the pronunciation of the local Punjabi word for moneylender. I am sure it was also called Sahukar.

The Shahukaar would generally speaking, sit or rather lie, on the rich Persian carpet, propped up on big, fat, round, pillows. Possibly smoking a hooka. The clients came, requested help, addressing him as "Shah Jee" or "Lalla Jee."

Shah Jee also very often did Aarhat (acted as a middleman). 

Shah Jee had the most impressive house in the town. With a two-horse carriage. Forget what it was called. A few cows, and perhaps a buffalo or two in the courtyard at the back. Generous with lassi and even milk for anyone.

Gautam Banerji has a Master's from St Stephen's College, Delhi, an LL.B. from Delhi University, and an M.Sc.(Econ) degree from the London School of Economics.  He taught at an undergraduate college in Delhi, 1973-85, and worked for UNICEF 1985-96.  Then he moved to London to practice law. He served as the Judicial Advisor to the Judicial Development Institute, Baghdad, 2009-10 as a U.S. government contractor. He was a member of Commission for Sustainable London (2007-13). He continues as a Trustee and Board Member of Hindu Council, UK. Now fully retired, he lives in Dilijan, Armenia, with his wife, who teaches at United World College, Dilijan.

Mandalai, where I was born, was a quaint village fringed onto the outskirts of an equally small town in rural Bengal. Pandua, the nearby town, has a claim to connections with epic heroes of a bygone era. The Pandavas, according to legend, passed through it in their sojourns. Ruins of an old monument, rebuilt several times through its history, stand testimony to this tall claim of local residents. It’s a somewhat miniature version of the Kutub Minar and cannot be missed as the train approaches Pandua. Mandalai is only three miles away from Pandua but it’s a world apart.

Gautam Banerji has a Master's from St Stephen's College, Delhi, an LL.B. from Delhi University, and an M.Sc.(Econ) degree from the London School of Economics.  He taught at an undergraduate college in Delhi, 1973-85, and worked for UNICEF 1985-96.  Then he moved to London to practice law. He served as the Judicial Advisor to the Judicial Development Institute, Baghdad, 2009-10 as a U.S. government contractor. He was a member of Commission for Sustainable London (2007-13). He continues as a Trustee and Board Member of Hindu Council, UK. Now fully retired, he lives in Dilijan, Armenia, with his wife, who teaches at United World College, Dilijan.

I was eleven years old when my father decided that my English was not English enough. So, he decided to send me to St. Paul's School Darjeeling to be groomed into a gentleman in the best of English public school tradition. In those days, St. Paul's was rated as Eton of the East, served by Scottish matrons and Irish nurses while Oxbridge graduates were tasked with ‘educating' young Indians for higher aspirations in life.

Moniti Meliora Sequamur ran the school motto: having been taught the higher ways, we followed. And the school song echoed much the same sentiment: "From the low and steamy plains, upward the old school calls!" rising to a crescendo with "Upward the old school calls, St Paul's! St Paul's! St Paul's!"

Subhash Mathur is a resident of Jaipur after superannuation from Indian Revenue Service in 2007. Presently, Subhash is engaged in social and charitable work in rural areas. Subhash is also Editor of http://www.inourdays.org/, an online portal for preserving work related memories.

My late father, Khem Chand Ji (1911 -2004) joined the Indian Administrative Service soon after Independence. He, along with a few others, was selected through a special recruitment process. He was the first Collector and District Magistrate of the newly formed Alwar district after Independence, which became part of United States of Matysa, and then was merged into Rajasthan

Khem Chand, my father. Circa late 1990s. Jaipur. He was about 85 years old at that time.

My father was tall and handsome. Every inch an imposing personality. He exuded the St. Stephen's confidence (see his college photos here) with a camouflaged snootiness. He was widely read and up-to-date on all matters.

He not only spoke impeccably and but also wrote sharply. He surprised most with his fluency in Urdu and Farsi. In fact, he made all his personal jottings in Urdu and Farsi.

Narendra Vashisth grew up in Jaipur. He got his medical degree from SMS Medical College, Jaipur. As a doctor, he worked in TB control, Pulse Polio immunisation, and rural health programs. He retired in 2011 as Senior Specialist (Medicine) and Principal Medical Officer, Jaipuria Hospital, Jaipur, and is now in private practice. He played cricket in school and college, and was a member of his college swimming team. He lives in Jaipur with his wife.

I joined St. Xavier High School, Jaipur in 1957 in Class Prep B, and left in 1966 with the Indian School Certificate high school graduate degree. The school Principal all these years was  Reverend Father R. J. Pereira, S.J. (Society of Jesus.

I enjoyed my school days thoroughly.

Narendra Vashisth - from a school magazine. 1966.
ISC - studied for Indian School Certificate degree
N.C.C. - participated in National Cadet Corps activities
Social Service - participated in activities to help poor people
Dial M - School production of Dial M for Murder
First. Div. All India Gen. Knowledge - high score in national general knowledge test
Passed Jr. Air certificate exams - a typo\; did not do this

One part of the fun was playing handball - American handball, one-wall style.

Subhash Mathur is a resident of Jaipur after superannuation from Indian Revenue Service in 2007. Presently, Subhash is engaged in social and charitable work in rural areas. Subhash is also Editor of http://www.inourdays.org/, an online portal for preserving work related memories.

My wife and I were visiting our son Gaurav and his family at Ahmedabad in 2012 for a few weeks. One fine Sunday morning, out of the blue, I announced that I needed a haircut.

Before anyone else could react, our DIL (daughter-in-law) Poonam took control of the situation. She immediately suggested "Papa, why don't you soak in some new experience?"

Reflexively I shot back: "Like what?"

"There's a new hair spa in town. L'Oréal. Why don't you give it a go? The ambience is amazing."

"Have you been there?" I asked

"Not personally but a few of my friends have spoken glowingly.

It's swanky. It's shiny. Fancy gizmos. New hair wash sys. Lovingly perfumed. The works!"

I went into a reverie.

When I was growing up in the 1960s, the family barber Sohan Lal would visit our home at B-87 Ganesh Marg once a month on a Sunday morning, generally in the middle of the month.

Before breakfast time.

We were eight male members to be tackled. Daddy, Chachaji, and six brothers. And the fiat of the household was that everyone had to submit to this discipline.

Satinder Mullick received his doctorate from Johns Hopkins University in 1965 in Operations Research and Industrial Engineering, with a minor in Economics. He was Director of Economic Planning and Research for Corning Inc., where he worked on different consulting assignments for improving growth and profitability for 30 years. Later, he helped turn around Artistic Greetings (40% owned by American Greetings) and doubled the stock price in four years. He received Lybrand Silver Medal in 1971 from Institute of Management Accountants.

I graduated from Banaras Engineering College in June 1958. In August 1958, I got a job with Larsen &amp\; Toubro for the construction of Rourkela Steel Plant.

Off I went from Delhi to Rourkela via Calcutta (now Kolkatta). It was over 900 miles, and took me 36 hours because I had to change trains in Calcutta. I arrived on Sunday. Then, I went straight to my Chief Engineer's house as I needed a place to live and eat, because Rourkela had not developed much. The Chief Engineer, Mr B D Malani, told his driver to take me to L&amp\;T quarters. It was a house with where the cook used one room to feed us and sleep. There were three others employees, who had come a few days earlier from Bombay (now Mumbai). One was the L&amp\;T Headquarters accountant, a second was the Rolling Mills accountant, and the third was in charge of Erections of Steel girders.

We got along well as all of us knew that there is no entertainment in this town except work and drink. Since I did not drink local booze or even brand names whiskey, I had to pretend that I am enjoying my soda and lime.