Life Back Then

55 photos of Maharajas' cars. http://www.indiaclassics.com/The_Rajas/

Several photos of Maharaja's cars

Nizam of Hyderabad's cars

Official Indian Railway Website. http://dhr.indianrailways.gov.in/ Includes history.

Darjeeling Himalayan Railway Society. http://www.dhrs.org/ Promotes awareness of, interest in and support  for the Darjeeling Himalayan Railway. Extensive collection of photos, history, stories, and other material.

Official website of Darjeeling district. http://darjeeling.gov.in/dhr.html. Brief description.

E.R. Ramachandran was  born in 1942 in Belgaum. He has settled in Mysore after working in Government and Philips Organizations. He has contributed to the Hindustan Times, Cricketnext.com, and is a regular contributor to Churumuri and humour magazine Aparanji in Kannada.

Editor's note: This is a modified version of an article that was posted here http://churumuri.wordpress.com/2008/12/07/once-upon-a-time-in-bangalore-on-route-no-11/

I remember that in the 1950s and 1960s Bangalore was still a Pensioners' Paradise and very much a sleepy town. It was mostly divided into "City" and "Cantonment" areas, with Basavanagudi and Malleshwaram the best known among its residential areas. Probably R.K. Narayan's famed town, Malgudi, grew from an equal mixture of Malleshwaram and Basavanagudi.

Indira Kumar, born Indira Anand in 1929, was the daughter of C. L. Anand, constitutional lawyer and principal of the Law College of Lahore. She married Rajendra Nath Kumar, Colonel in the Army Corps of Engineers, and professor at the College of Military Engineering in Kirkee, Pune. Indira has two daughters, Nalini and Anjali, and two granddaughters, Manali and Ananiya.

 

Lahore - 1929

I was born in Lahore, in 1929, in a large joint family. Lahore was the seat of the British Governor of the Punjab, and was considered an advanced and progressive centre of the richest state in Northern India.

It was indeed a fashion and culture centre as well and had a number of theatres, libraries, cinema halls, museums and an Open Air Theatre for the Performing Arts. All sorts of persons would converge on Lahore in the winters for its cultural season. The British visitors would stay in hotels, but the Indian visitors stayed with their friends or relatives.

Jatinder Sethi was born in Lyallpur, now Faislabad, 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: Another version of this article first appeared as TRIGGERS THAT SUDDENLY AWAKEN THE OLD, LONG FORGOTTEN, MEMORIES, which is available at http://apnaorg.com/articles/jatinder-sethi/

Move to Lyallpur

My father, Chaudhury Jai Ram Das Sethi, was the second of three brothers who were all born in Jhang, Pakistan. All the three brothers were practicing lawyers. My father was the only one to move out to Lyallpur (now Faislabad). It must be around 1909 when he moved to Lyallpur after his wedding. 

The oldest brother, Tayaji, Chaudhury Jinda Ram, and the youngest, Chaudhury Jagjiwan Ram, continued to live and practice at Jhang. These brothers also managed the huge agriculture land – almost 500 acres – that my family owned.

Jatinder Sethi was born in Lyallpur, now Faislabad, 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: Another version of this article first appeared at http://www.apnaorg.com/articles/sethi-2/

Recently, I bumped into some very old college friends while roaming in the inner circle of Connaught Place (CP), New Delhi. More than 50 years ago, we used to stroll around CP after spending hours in the India Coffee House discussing everything under the sun. I had left Delhi in 1958, and had recently relocated myself in nearby Gurgaon after about 50 years. We decided to have dinner together in Delhi ‘O' Delhi restaurant in the Habitat Centre.

Editor's note: These stories initially appeared on www.koi-hai.com. They were collated by Roy Church. They have been edited and revised for this website.

Roy Church worked in Assam tea estates over 1959-67, after three years in the British Army. He is married and his eldest son was born at Panitola Central Hospital, Dibrugarh in 1965. For the last 20 years he has travelled extensively in the Central Himalaya leading groups of friends.

1962 War Background

Anyone who has travelled in the higher areas of the Central Himalaya will appreciate that just where the boundary is between India and China/Tibet has been a problem for many years.

Historically The Great Game revolved around moving or defending boundaries dependant on the relative strengths and subsequent threats of hostility between Britain, Russia, Tibet, China and, to some extent, Persia. For much of the boundary with India, while there were occasional border posts at well-frequented passes, only a very small length of the border was actually marked.

In such circumstances, in 1914, McMahon of the Survey of India was instructed to undertake to survey and mark where he considered the boundary should be. Despite a long history of offers and negotiations between the various parties, total agreement was not, unsurprisingly, ever reached, and, despite the huge effort, the McMahon Line was largely ignored.

Bridget was born and brought up in Kolar Gold Fields, a small mining town in Karnataka. She got her B Ed degree in Bangalore, taught for two years, and then joined Canara Bank, from where she retired a few years ago. Now she is a self-published author of six cookbooks specializing in Anglo-Indian cuisine, and works as a consultant on food related matters. Bridget has also published a nostalgic book on KGF entitled Kolar Gold Fields Down Memory Lane. For copies of her books, contact her at bidkumar@gmail.com or visit http://anglo-indianfood.blogspot.com

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My family

I was born and brought up in Kolar Gold Fields (KGF), a charming little mining town in the erstwhile Mysore State, which is now a part of Karnataka. I was the second born child to Sydney and Doris White. My brother John was born two years earlier than me, and my younger sisters Maryanne and Bernadette were born two and four years after me, respectively. We were a well-known Anglo-Indian family, which traced our roots to British ancestry on my paternal side and Portuguese and Dutch ancestry on my maternal side.

Bill Charlier worked in Assam’s tea gardens for many years. He eventually retired to live in Spain. He passed away in 2012.

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Editor's note: This is a slightly reformulated version of material that originally appeared at http://www.koi-hai.com/Default.aspx?id=570017.

A Journey into the Unknown

When the war ended in 1945, everybody was trying to find a job as most of us were going to be demobbed. Fortunately, through family connections, I heard of some jobs, which might be available. Whilst still in the RAF, I went to London to meet the Chairman of the Assam Company. He said that there was the possibility of a job in Tea in India. Other choices included openings in Africa and in America. I chose Tea.

He asked whether I could get immediate release from the Air force, but I preferred to wait a few months until my proper group number came up. He then told me that I would have to go before the Board of the Assam Company in London.