Life Back Then

Krishnan K. Sankaran studied metallurgical engineering at the Regional Engineering College, Durgapur, IIT Madras, and Massachusetts Institute of Technology, from where he received his Ph.D. degree in 1978.  In 2012 he was elected as Honorary Member of the Indian Institute of Metals for his distinguished services and significant contributions to the metallurgical profession and research. He retired in 2014 after working for 36 years in the aerospace industry.  He recently published a book titled Metallurgy and Design of Alloys with Hierarchical Microstructures (Elsevier, June 2017). He now devotes his time to learning Carnatic music, Sanskrit and Hindu scriptures, and to traveling.

My train travel experiences across India in the 1960’s and early 1970’s are etched in my memory.

While major railway routes were being electrified and diesel locomotives were being used increasingly, those were still the glory years of the steam locomotive. The decline and demise of the latter marking the end of a way of life for generations of railway workers is captured very well and powerfully in the National Geographic documentary "The Great Indian Railways"

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 &\; Mather. Now retired, he helps his son in his ad agency in Delhi.

Some old grannies, with lot of time on their hands, keep themselves busy by knitting, for their great grand (even yet unborn) children mojas (socks) and dastanas (gloves) using different colour leftover wool balls.

Similarly, I am trying to knit a tale of my family, especially my mother and sister Toshi (Santosh) from the left over tit-bits of talks with my brothers and sister in later life. It may seem disjointed but it will, like the grannies' mojas, come out colourful. I hope so.

It is a story of the turbulent times of India's Partition and after - late 1940s and early 1950s.  But it is NOT the usual gory tale of partition like hundreds of others.

It was the time when young Indian girls, including Hindu girls, had to wear long salwar, shirt and Chunni on her head, with long hair gut with, preferably, paranda. Yet, girls were allowed to study in co-educational colleges like Government College, Lyallpur. The concept of boy-friends was taboo, even in liberal families like mine, where girls went to Government College for FA and BA - but no boyfriends

Jatinder Sethi, shown with his granddaughter Abha, 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.

Editor's note: Mr. Sethi has contributed many stories to this website. Here are the links to his stories.

1.      My Memories of Layllpur

2.      Lyallpur is in their hearts - Part 1 with Sangat Singh

3.      My memories of seasons and the foods we ate

4.      Memories of Delhi 1950s

5.      Farewell at the Delhi Railway Station 1958

6.      A Journey Through Life-1

Chittur Veer Vaidyanathan was born in Churu (Rajasthan) in 1948, and grew up in Jaipur. After a successful corporate career, during which his work with his company led to an Export Promotion Award from the Indian Ministry of Textiles, he is now a developer of real estate near Mumbai http://www.universalbuilder.co.in/.  He lives in Mumbai with his wife Hemlatha; his son and daughter, both married, live in the U.S. His hobbies are swimming and traveling.

Editor's note: This is adapted from http://vaidyanathancv.blogspot.com/.

Dicky Rutnagar,known as D.J. and Dicky, passed away  yesterday the 20th June (2013) in London. Dicky was an Indian sports Journalist for the Hindustan Times during 1960's. Later on, he covered cricket as a commentator cum sports journalist for the Daily Telegraph,U.K.

In 1961-62, Dicky covered the tour of the English cricket team, which was called the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) team, to India. MCC was led by Ted Dexter.

MCC played a 3-day match against Rajasthan in Jaipur on November 22-24, 1961. (Ed. note: The details of the match are available at http://static.espncricinfo.com/db/ARCHIVE/1960S/1961-62/ENG_IN_IND/MCC_RAJ_22-24NOV1961.html)

Visalam Balasubramanian was born in Pollachi, on May 17, 1925. She was the second of three children. Having lost her mother at about age 2, she grew up with her siblings, cared for by her father who lived out his life as a widower in Erode. She was married in 1939. Her adult life revolved entirely around her husband and four children. She was a gifted vocalist in the Carnatic tradition, and very well read. Visalam passed away on February 20, 2005.

Editor's note: This is Part 10 of her memoirs, which have been edited for this website. Kamakshi Balasubramanian, her daughter, has added some parenthetical explanatory notes in italics.

Bal Anand was born in 1943, in a village about 20 km south of Ludhiana, in a family of saint-scholars who practised Ayurveda. Graduated from DAV College, Jalandhar, and did Master in English Literature from Govt. College, Ludhiana. After a stint for a few years as lecturer, joined the Indian Foreign Service. Served in nine different countries and retired as India's High commissioner to New Zealand. Now reading, reflecting and writing in nest in Greater Noida.

I consider myself singularly lucky and blessed that the lessons in history - and poetry- started for me much earlier in life than for most people. I was myself, however, innocently unaware about all this at that time.

To begin with, take the case of the date of my birth. It was determined as 15^th November, 1943 -perhaps, a year less- at the time of my admission, in October 1949, in the District Board (soon changed to be ‘Government') Primary School of the neighboring village, located in what was still called the Angrezi Ilaqa (British Territory). It was a school with one kutcha (made of mud) room\; a small court yard which had low (less than three feet high) mud wall around it\; two teachers and four classes. The school had about forty students from the surrounding villages.

Bal Anand was born in 1943, in a village about 20 km south of Ludhiana, in a family of saint-scholars who practised Ayurveda. Graduated from DAV College, Jalandhar, and did Master in English Literature from Govt. College, Ludhiana. After a stint for a few years as lecturer, joined the Indian Foreign Service. Served in nine different countries and retired as India's High commissioner to New Zealand. Now reading, reflecting and writing in nest in Greater Noida.

The people of my generation – now on the threshold of striking six score and ten years– in the Indian Punjab remain deeply fond of digging into our rural roots.

Interestingly, by tradition, the Sikh leaders have often preferred to make the name of their village as their surname- Kairon, Badal, Barnala, Tohra, etc. The ‘re-awakening’ of the long asleep memories of the Pind (village) often arouses complex and strange feelings-full of awe, romance, mystery, wonder and melancholy too. The village, at times, could be quite another planet, figuratively ‘electric-light-years’ away in the past. The overall life itself could be several quantum jumps different for many. The media these days carries tons of real life accounts of the NRIs who are dead set in their ripe old age to do something for their ancestral Pind, the land-space where they had been playing and running about without Langoti (under wear) even when they were not so innocent children!

Born in 1933 in Dijkot, a small hamlet in district Lyallpur (now Faisalabad, Pakistan), I came after about eight attempts, including miscarriages. I grew up in Lyallpur as a pampered child. At the age of five, I was sent to nearby one roomed primary school where spartan old Jute Hessian bags (borian) were used for mats.  I refused to study there, and was enrolled in Sacred Heart Convent School for the next 9 years.  After getting his college degree in India, he moved to Singapore in 1954, and then to Malaysia in 1957, where he worked for Guthrie &amp\; Co., a large Scottish plantation company. He retired in 1988. He lives in Malaysia with his wife.  More about him at this link.

The India Coffee House in Connaught Place was an institution in Delhi.

In 1947, during Partition, I landed in Delhi, and lived for a while in 27, Queensway (later Janpath).  It was next to Imperial Hotel, and also the famous Easter and Western Courts.  At the age of about 14, wearing shorts, the Coffee House would not have me stray in.  It seemed to me for a special class of people.

No matter. Years later, when I visited Delhi, I did cross the Coffee House's threshold. It was a convenient place to meet people. And, of course a place to impress your girlfriend.

Visalam Balasubramanian was born in Pollachi, on May 17, 1925. She was the second of three children. Having lost her mother at about age 2, she grew up with her siblings, cared for by her father who lived out his life as a widower in Erode. She was married in 1939. Her adult life revolved entirely around her husband and four children. She was a gifted vocalist in the Carnatic tradition, and very well read. Visalam passed away on February 20, 2005.

Editor's note: This is Part 9 of her memoirs, which have been edited for this website. Kamakshi Balasubramanian, her daughter, has added some parenthetical explanatory notes in italics.

Editor's note: This is a listing of stories related to Mysore.

PRINCELY MYSORE

On this website

M P V Shenoi

The bullock cart salesman in Mysore

Chikka Narsappa

How Dalda mesmerised us in the 1940s

Navamaniyamma: The jovial stork that came walking

Capturing and Taming Wild Elephants (as told by Ali)

Medical Services (?) in Princely Mysore

Shamu, our barber in Mysore

Buddan Sahib and the Mysore Tonga

Seethamma Madam and My Mother: A Tale of Two Widows