opening or opportunity are same thing ,the only difference between them is of connotation . They come few & far between in life . Some say it is opening & some say it was opportunity . Whether one is commoner or a celebrity ,every body has a story on his sleeve to say ,how he converted an opening into an opportunity & never looked back in life . The crest & trough in a long life span is normal thing so not to worry for it .Either one sits on the cusp where galore of opportunities float around or wallow in depressive abyss . But all are ephemeral so, who cares for it ,at least I am not ! I was keen observant of events & after elapsing many decades , I analysed in retrospect , how a single decision of my Nanaji taken in Purnea prompted by my mother changed the fortune of every member of the family !
In my stay of Purnea daily a new event was conjured & I looked over them with admiration ,astonishment,amazement ,all mingled , as I had ample time at my disposal to spend with my pal ,my fifth maternal uncle . Only my mother castigated me some time in a day but she was over vetoed by every body in my Nanihal & I simply made my facial expression facetious enough because she can't dare to beat me in my Nanihal. What a childhood !
The serious conversational duet between my mother & Nanaji was a treat to watch ,as he liked the advice of somebody ,which was not a mundane chit-chat for him but a new awareness of thinking to upgrade himself & his family. My mother was his first child, already married ,so carried lot of conviction & weight in her views . Nanaji was a government servant, had a commanding persona, lot of contact , a peculiar magnetism in him but easily gullible. His was having a transferable job & he liked to be in Deogarh,Bhagalpur or Purnea & repeating it in cyclic order where old bonhomie with the gentrified public & elites made his day to day life easier & smooth . Typical Raj days native mentality ,who never thought for big cities himself.or for his family ,but of his own importance in the society !
One evening mother was haranguing him vociferously of getting him transferred to Patna ,as it is happening city . Patna is capital of Bihar, endowed with good colleges whose alumnus have generally made name for themselves , seat of power is in Patna ,opening new vista of opportunities whether of business or of service . Strings of power will be so near , one can touch & manoeuvre it in ones favour with slight effort. New roads are coming, new housing colonies are planned & wisp of all round development was in the air everywhere as if Patna was El Dorado or paradise.
Nanaji was listening sitting on his settee puffing his hookah fastly & furiously with water pipe attached to it ,emitting sound of 'gurr-gurr' which was sure sign of his intent thinking. His look & body language was of patriarch & his famous proverb was " खिलाओ बेटों को सोने का निवाला ,लेकिन उनको देखो शेर की आखों से ' perhaps this dialogue was taken from some by gone Hindi film & when I remember it , I simply chuckle ! My 3rd & 4th maternal uncles were on the verge of passing matriculation examination so, good college was necessary for them & my mother was herself desirous of taking admission in Patna Women's College in intermediate ! The convincing argument had got rapt attention from all the house hold members . The year was 1956 or 1957 !
The frequency of letters from My father serving in Siwan had increased , the summer vacation of the school was coming to the end & me along with mother returned from Purnea to Siwan. After two months a letter came from Purnea informing us ,Nanaji has been transferred to Patna. A new vista of opportunity opened to every body . About sixty years have elapsed . All my maternal uncles are dead & their progenies & residual family have their living anchorage in different metro cities of India . How destinies are changed by single innocuous decision of life !
We travelled to Patna from Siwan by crossing the river Ganges boarding a steamer & what a joyful experience it was . The journey by train pulled by steam engine is nostalgic but crossing a mammoth river like Ganges by paddle steamer is more nostalgic !
Continued...............
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| Steamer in river Ganges |
The serious conversational duet between my mother & Nanaji was a treat to watch ,as he liked the advice of somebody ,which was not a mundane chit-chat for him but a new awareness of thinking to upgrade himself & his family. My mother was his first child, already married ,so carried lot of conviction & weight in her views . Nanaji was a government servant, had a commanding persona, lot of contact , a peculiar magnetism in him but easily gullible. His was having a transferable job & he liked to be in Deogarh,Bhagalpur or Purnea & repeating it in cyclic order where old bonhomie with the gentrified public & elites made his day to day life easier & smooth . Typical Raj days native mentality ,who never thought for big cities himself.or for his family ,but of his own importance in the society !
One evening mother was haranguing him vociferously of getting him transferred to Patna ,as it is happening city . Patna is capital of Bihar, endowed with good colleges whose alumnus have generally made name for themselves , seat of power is in Patna ,opening new vista of opportunities whether of business or of service . Strings of power will be so near , one can touch & manoeuvre it in ones favour with slight effort. New roads are coming, new housing colonies are planned & wisp of all round development was in the air everywhere as if Patna was El Dorado or paradise.
Nanaji was listening sitting on his settee puffing his hookah fastly & furiously with water pipe attached to it ,emitting sound of 'gurr-gurr' which was sure sign of his intent thinking. His look & body language was of patriarch & his famous proverb was " खिलाओ बेटों को सोने का निवाला ,लेकिन उनको देखो शेर की आखों से ' perhaps this dialogue was taken from some by gone Hindi film & when I remember it , I simply chuckle ! My 3rd & 4th maternal uncles were on the verge of passing matriculation examination so, good college was necessary for them & my mother was herself desirous of taking admission in Patna Women's College in intermediate ! The convincing argument had got rapt attention from all the house hold members . The year was 1956 or 1957 !
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| Patna Women's College |
We travelled to Patna from Siwan by crossing the river Ganges boarding a steamer & what a joyful experience it was . The journey by train pulled by steam engine is nostalgic but crossing a mammoth river like Ganges by paddle steamer is more nostalgic !
Continued...............
Interesting memoirs. It must be fun to watch your mother talking to her father,giving him serious advice to shift to a bigger city. I can see sense in your mother's advice to him. I was borne in Lucknow (so were many generations of my ancestors). Being in Lucknow,the state capital, I could study in local schools, until I moved to Surat. Many boys from smaller cities of hinterland, used to come to Lucknow and lived in hired rooms, away from their parents. Sometimes,I used to envy these free birds, as they had all the freedom to live the life of their choice. Soon I got that freedom, by reaching Surat. A long desired cherished freedom which I used, misused and abused. I cheated my poor parents on money matters. But it was first time in my life, that I started enjoying education,particularly the topics of engineering.
ReplyDeleteYour use of words 'use ,misuse & abuse' is fantastic ,at the same time it is a statement ,which is in sync with present time. In our time ,the financial support given to their wards were generally used & we are product of that syndrome . It is different matter you say it is misused or abused , speaks of honesty only because net result was you turned into professional engineer taking any professional challenge which came in your way & I am product of same syndrome .
ReplyDeleteMisuse & abuse of financial support given to wards has increased manifold in present time . Now it is common to see how wards fritter the money given by their guardian having no qualms what ever . They are real cheaters ,whether boy or girls. I live in small town in Patna & when I go for evening walk in a park near by ,I found not a single bench empty ,all was engaged by boy & girls romancing in different postures & I simply pass by . They are all teens reading in Patna ,but in true sense they are cheaters.
In comparison of this we were angels Sir !
"Angels" - not really. We had no opportunity to indulge. The college had no girls. Now it has so many. The road crossing after entrance gate, which leads to girls hostel of SVNIT is known as "Piya Milan Chowk",because that is the first meeting point among boys and girls,which often leads to matrimony. Alas we had no such arrangements and remained limited to ogling at girls at Chaupati park.
DeleteYes, we were angels compared to present lot, going from the same process of entering from callow instinct to responsibilities of life heaped over them .Everybody goes from this phase of life . From our struggling days ,we came out with flying colors & casualty were few names ,but what about now ?
DeleteWhy your arguments veer around Surat . You live in Delhi & I live in Patna. Yes, eye candies are there to ogle around ,but I find only frittering around the money with lot of libido attached to it
बाप के पैशे पर एश करना कहाँ तक मुनासिब है I हम भी अपने ज़माने में एश करना चाहते थे लेकिन जिम्मेदारी का बोध हमेशा रहता था I अब के बच्चे केवल एश करना चाहते हैं और डरते भी नहीं हैं I In this context don't you feel we were angels !