Beautiful article on Deepak Chacha

https://ramramaswamy.wordpress.com/2016/01/27/a-physicist-and-a-gentleman/

Pradeep Chacha's Thoughts

Sunil dada has written the right tribute for the great man which my Mamaji was.he was very fond of me  and was a great supporter of me.because in our house where i was always used to be compared to Deepak dada,who was very good in his studies and always a topper and scholarship holder. My mama used to say what if he is not good in studies, but he is good in sports, and he used to encourage me for sports, every evening at market road he used to sit down with a cup of tea and observe all of us playing badminton, and use to clap when ever i used to dive on the ground to save a shot or jump 3 feet to hit a shot,and than he would tell my mother( he used to call her PUCHHI) "the boy who has such a good sportsman spirit will always succeed in life,because of his fighting spirit,and which proved true in my entire career. Till today. He wrote me a wonderful letter when i joined medical college in varanasi,which i preserved till my entire stay in varanasi and gave it to my mother when icame back after completing my course in varanasi. he had written that "pradeep i am very proud of you and can predict that you will come out very succcessfully from medical college", which i did,I must admit that his inspiration was a great morale booster

Dr.Pradeep Mathur 

Mummy about Meenu Chachi

So heart warming and informative Deepakji - 'Sone pe Suhaga'

Id like to share something about Meenu today that most people may not know. When we were all sitting by the fire on New Years Day in Corbett park lawns, she was talking to a lady sitting nearby, who asked her 'Have you come on a holiday with your friends?'. She said 'No, they are all my husbands brothers and their families'. In a horrified tone the lady said 'You mean to say you are on a holiday with your sisters in law and their families?' Meenu's reply 'They are not just my sisters in law, they are my friends'. So simple. So profound.

We are so lucky that we have found friendship in relationship. May this bond get stronger and stronger with time and travel down the generations.

Today has been a very unusual and luminous day. Just what dadaji would have wanted.

Nalini  

Thanks a lot, Sunil Dada for opening out so beautifully on Mama. I have also felt that we have rather painstakingly shied away from talking about him and the other family, as if all the pleasant memories have been overshadowed by certain  tragic events. I am so glad that you have taken the lead by focusing on the most wonderful and cherished experiences of our childhood.

Mama was the brightest star of the family and the younger generation should know what a wonderful person he was. It is a heritage which makes us proud
and should continue to inspire grand children, great grand children and so on. Even all the Bhabhis could not get a chance to know him, the man who was so lively, cheerful and great fun to be around.

I remember our evenings in Daryaganj, he would walk in around six and the whole scene would be charged by his presence, his jolly talk and plans for the evening. He would visit us in Arambagh and all of us would be laughing our heads off on his stories and repartees which spared no one. Indeed he had something to say to every one, younger children getting most attention. I got career advice from him, which had elements of hard reality so typical of him,  at all stages in school and college. There was no dull moment  with him around. My mother doted on him like a hero and with his loss, she too lost something of herself.

I am so glad that you showed me the report on East Bengal refugees that he
wrote for the government in fifties, another example of his all round abilities. Behind the playfulness was an astute mind with a firm hold on reality and practicality.  It is no wonder that so many people knew him, sought his advice and made friends with him.

I hope your beautiful and touching piece will evoke more memories, which we should continue to share.

Todays Ad in TOI

Here is a link to today's Ad in TOI 

Remembering Dada

Today is Dada's Hundredth birthday - We lost him almost half a century ago. His passing away suddenly after a brief illness was a tragedy which shook all of us. It is strange but true that such a startling event never got talked about by any of us earlier. I do not remember discussing him or our life with him except for once. On my first birthday after his demise I wrote to Bhai Saheb in Calcutta that I expected Dada to walk in from the door carrying a volume of Readers Digest Condensed Book which he presented to us on our birthdays with unfailing regularity. Bhai Saheb wrote back saying that he too kept waiting for the telephone to ring on his birthday a month earlier. On the first anniversary of his death 17-01-68 we sat absolutely quiet not doing anything. Attempts of Bhuaji and others in Daryaganj to cheer us failed. Was our inner sense not accepting the unpleasant fact of his demise or was it due to the desire to protect our younger brothers and to leave the incident behind and get on with the challenges of life that were awaiting them and us.

I feel that our response to his death was scripted by his handling of Mummy's passing away at the young age of 39. He was shattered but never talked about her for seven and a half years that he survived her except for two occasions, that too when provoked by others. Once when Anand uncle, one of his unabashed admirers and who would invariably come for 'Drinks and Dinner'on new years eve and bring 'Phatake' for us every Diwali, commented that Dada was surrounded by pretty girls when he was a Professor of Mathematics in Girls College Lahore. Dada nodded and said "but my wife was the prettiest of them all". On another occasion we were invited to his colleagues house.  His wife, Professor in Economics and a junior colleague of Dr. VKRV Rao (Vice Chancellor of Delhi University) asked as to why he did not keep a photograph of Mummy in the house. This question was in context of Dr. Rao displaying a massive portrait of his deceased wife Promila at the entrance of his house (Dr. Rao later married Ms. Achaya of Miranda House). Dada's pleasant but curt reply was "we cannot afford to see her so often". Perhaps at the back of his mind was that his young sons should leave the mishap behind and get on with their lives.

Dada was a keen sportsman, full of fun and a tremendous zest for life. At Holi, family weddings and other functions he kept everyone enthralled. He would play a competitive hockey match and then go on to a tennis court for two singles sets. He once played a hockey match with Hockey Wizard Dhyanchand as one of the players.

In Agartala, at a sports event for Government officials, at the age of 44 he came second in a 100 meters race, beating the likes of Mr. Omesh Narain (Indira Andley's husband) aged 26 years and Sardar Dada (his cousin) aged 30 years. The person who came first was a Physical Instructor almost a decade and a half younger than him.

It was quite frustrating to see such a physically fit and strong person become a Diabetic within a few years after Mummy's death. 

Dada was also a dare devil with a great presence of mind to handle any tricky situation. One incident that Sardar Tauji used to to tell us with a twinkle in his eye comes to my mind. In the early thirties cycles were the main source of local transportation. Since roads were poorly lighted and traffic was beginning to pile up it was mandatory  for cyclists to use flash lights on the handlebars at night. Once a cyclist was coming from Chandni Chowk and taking a right turn on the Red Fort road leading to Darya Ganj. A policeman who was on duty at the crossing waved the young cyclist to stop as the cycle was without any flash light and it had become dark. The cyclist instead of stopping, started pedalling furiously. The policeman ran after him and managed to catch the rear of the cycle with his right hand. Either by accident or by design the rear tyre did not have a protective guard. The policeman felt a sharp pain as his fingers touched the rear tyre of the cycle. He withdrew his hand with a jerk. Recovering from the shock after a few moments he threw his cane (approximately 2 foot baton that policemen used to carry in those days) at the cyclist who had moved some distance away in the meantime. The young cyclist ducked and stopped his cycle. He picked up the cane and sped away. Sardar Tauji was watching the incident from a distance with his friends. They all laughed at the predicament of the policeman. At dinner later in the evening Sardar Tauji narrated the incident to the younger team of brothers and cousins. They all laughed. Dada who was also part of the group quietly went out and came back. He produced a cane and asked Saradar Tauji if this was the same cane that the policeman threw. Sardar Tauji exclaimed in admiration - "Arrey badmash - it was you?" 

This was the spirit Dada tried to inculcate in us. He made Bhai Saheb and me travel alone at the age of 14+ from Agartala to Delhi (Air travel to Kolkatata and then by train to Delhi). His motto - Study, work hard, play games and enjoy. I wonder how much all of us have lived by the guiding principles he set for us. 

It in the fitness of things that today on his hundredth birthday we come out of our reticence and express how much we have missed him and how he has all these years inspired us and how he continues to inspire us.

Sunil