Life Back Then

President of the Indian Peoples Theatre Association and a Fellow of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland, Ranbir Sinh has lived a multifaceted life as an actor, director, playwright, historian, author, and public intellectual. He resides in Jaipur and is still going strong with his research, writing, and theatre.

Each Princely dynasty in erstwhile Rajputana has its tradition for the coronation of a Prince. The common part is that it takes place twelve days after the death of the ruler, and his eldest son succeeds to the throne. Who should apply the tilak is decided based on political compulsions and historical events. In Bikaner, it is a Godara Jat who applies the tilak. In Jaipur, it is a Susawat Meena who does it, and in Jodhpur, it is the Thakur of Bagdi.

As a young man, I was fortunate to witness the coronation of Hanuwant Singh of Jodhpur in 1947. At that time, Jodhpur was still an independent kingdom, functioning under a treaty with the British. I am sharing my memory of the occasion, with all its twists and drama, below.

Coronation of Maharaja Hanuwant Singh of Jodhpur.  June 1947. Jodhpur.

21st June 1947, Mehrangarh

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.

This image is from a black and white picture postcard - I came across it in my old papers, a few weeks ago.

The postcard is of a "hill station", as it was known in British India. My father, Shri Amar Nath Anand, a lawyer, was in the habit of going to the hills every summer. This post card, I thought, was of Simla or Mussoorie. Vintage:1930s.

A niece living in India has searched (or researched?) through the internet, and concluded that it was Mussoorie of long ago.

My father was of course a Punjabi, a plainsman.

But he was fond of walking in the hills of the Punjab - Murree - (known in the vernacular as Koh Murree, though there was no Murree in the plains), Dalhousie, Solan, Simla, Kasauli, Dagshai. Then there was Srinagar, in Kashmir. And Dehra Dun (Shivalik Hills or the Lesser Himalayas) and Mussoorie (the Middle Himalayas). I and the rest of our family also enjoyed the Himalayan outings.

Jamil Urfi's book 'Biswin Sadi Memoirs, growing up in Delhi during the 1960's and 70's' which is a nostalgic, personal remembrance of the bygone 20^th century or the Biswin Sadi was published last year. Urfi was a campus correspondent for the ‘Times of India' Publication Youth Times during his student days in the 1980's. He has an abiding interest in history, architecture, period publications and popular cinema of the 1960s and 1970s-themes which figure prominently in his latest book. He is a teacher at the University of Delhi.

Editor's note: This is an extract from the author's book 'Biswin Sadi Memoirs, growing up in Delhi during the 1960's and 70's. CinnamonTeal Publishing, Goa, 2018.

Author's note: My family settled in Delhi in 1967. We lived in Nizamuddin East, a residential colony of South Delhi. My neighbours included several Punjabi families, who had been displaced by the Partition, and one Anglo-Indian couple, Mr. &amp\; Mrs. Andrews.  I write about our interaction with the Andrews family in this extract from my book. They lived in the flat just above our house. Though we were reserved with them in our initial communications, with time, living together for nearly two decades, we became close to the Andrews Family.

President of the Indian Peoples Theatre Association and a Fellow of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland, Ranbir Sinh has lived a multifaceted life as an actor, director, playwright, historian, author, and public intellectual. He resides in Jaipur and is still going strong with his research, writing, and theatre.

In the British period, the golf course in Jaipur was situated where Hasanpura is now. However, over the years, it disappeared. It was Maharani Gayatri Devi, a tennis player of the standard of Davis Cup, and an excellent, keen golfer, who thought of having a new golf course.

Being a hockey player of the national level, I had always thought that golf was a game for retired older people. I learnt it after I  got married. My father-in-law, Rana Prakaram Jung Bahadur, was a very keen golfer. I had gone to the Allahabad golf course with him, and there he told me to hit some shots. Not knowing anything about golf, I took a No.2 club, which was nearer to the hockey stick, and asked him what I should. He told me that I should place the golf ball nearer to the flag. The first shot was an air one, and the second shot sent the ball miles away. I became a golfer.

One day, Maharani Gayatri Devi expressed her desire of having a golf course. I volunteered to plan the course.

Maharani Gayatri Devi of Jaipur playing golf. 1940s or 50s

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.

Turbulent times have affected many all over the world. Having met some people from Europe and USA, I realized that some hard times are forcibly imposed, like Holocaust, and some were economically imposed like depression of 1930’s.

Upon reflection, I realized that my family, specially my father and mother, experienced the worst of times during the 1940's -first with World War II, and then with the political change in 1947.

In this article, I write about my school days in Lahore and Delhi, both of which were sweet and sour.

Dharampura

Born and brought up in Jaipur, Chandralekha Mathur received her education at Maharani Gayatri Devi Girls School, and Maharani's College, Jaipur. Married to a tea planter, she lived in the tea growing area of North East India. Reading and writing have all along been my hobbies. After three decades on the plantations, she relocated to Jaipur. Along with some social welfare activities has authored a book on her life in the North East.  She has also been actively involved in the activities of the alumni association of MGD school, and has been the Editor of its newsletter 'Guild Today' for the last 15 years.

Editor's note: This memory was originally written for the coffee table book "70 Glorious Years - MGD Platinum Jubilee" published in 2013.

The Maharani Gayatri Devi Girls School, or MGD as it is usually called, was born on July 4, 1943, amidst the chanting of Sanskrit shlokas invoking the blessings of Lord Ganesha and Goddess Saraswati. It was a significant and auspicious event, and a royal gift from the Maharaja and Maharani of Jaipur to the daughters of the aristocratic families was unwrapped! It was temporarily housed in Madho Vilas, a garden retreat of the Jaipur rulers outside the walled city, with 24 girls of various ages on its rolls.

Being one of the 'First 24' has always been a matter of pride for those who were fortunate enough to enjoy that status.

President of the Indian Peoples Theatre Association and a Fellow of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland, Ranbir Sinh has lived a multifaceted life as an actor, director, playwright, historian, author and public intellectual. He resides in Jaipur, and is still going strong with his research, writing and theatre.

At the end of the Second World War it was decided to host the World Jamboree of Boy Scouts. The battlegrounds where the fierce battles were fought in north of France were selected as the venue. In all about 70,000 Boy Scouts from all over the world attended it. The Indian contingent consisted of 165 Boy Scouts from all parts of India. The Rajasthan contingent consisted of seven Boy Scouts from Mayo College, Chanchal Singh, Nahar Singh, Prithivi Singh, Bhim Singh, Guman Singh and myself, and Aftab from Jamia Miliya of Ajmer. Jasdev Singh and Kaul (I have forgotten his first name} from Jaipur State, and in Nasrulla from Bombay's Daly College joined us. Mr. Dhanmal Mathur of Mayo College was our Scout Master. Mr. Thadeus was the leader of the Indian contingent.

Mira Kathuria Purohit had her early education in Presentation Convent, Delhi, MGD, Jaipur and Hindu College, Delhi. She is a Pediatrician, having pursued her medical studies in SMS Medical College, Jaipur. She served in Rajasthan Government devoting her working career to treating children and teaching budding doctors to treat kids. She retired as a Professor, and now leads a retired life in Jaipur.

My Bhupi Mama (mother's younger brother, Bhupendra Hooja) was working for BBC in London in 1949. He met his soul mate, Usha Rani Joseph there.  She was studying sculpture. They got married there the same year. In 1954 they decided to relocate to India. Their first home was a spacious apartment on the first floor of a building called Exchange Stores, in Civil Lines of Old Delhi. It was also their son, Rakesh's (who had been born in London) first home in India.

At that time, my father, an officer in the Posts and Telegraph Department was posted at New Delhi. We were living in a government allotted house on Baird Lane, off Baird Road, in New Delhi. We were quite close to the Lady Harding Medical College, and Connaught Place.

Meera was born and brought up in Madras, Tamil Nadu. She graduated from Stella Maris College with a BA in Sociology, and got her MBA from the Asian Institute of Management, Manila. She has enjoyed living in Manila, Istanbul and Hong Kong, and currently lives in a suburb of Washington, D.C. with her husband.

Editor's note:  Lakshmi Raman, the author's mother, was born in 1922. The memories in this story are of mid-1960s to early 1980s.

L to R: Lakshmi Raman and Meera Raman. Madras (now Chennai).1982.

Mother's Day - I am trying to put together a meal for some dear friends and am hard pressed for choices from my limited range of capabilities. I would never have imagined the need to plan and plot a dinner - I had never seen Amma (mother) cook by design - she just cooked - it was supposed to be natural! As usual, with my lack of focus, I let my mind wander - and I find myself in my comfort zone - Amma's blue kitchen. I get lost in its aromatic flavors, feel the vibrancy of its high level of activity, its constant stream of visitors and warm embrace.