23/08/2022

Autobiography - "Unafraid Unedited Unrelenting"

• This starts from Gurgaon now off course Gurugram. The high energy period reminded so much by my own Amritash. That was when I was in Nursery studying in Blue Bells School I think. I used to play in the park in front and my father used to serve in NSG (National Security Guards) the elite Commando force of the Indian Army. I remember driving my three wheeled toy cycle all around. Dancing on Oye Oye Owwa. Getting lost in evenings with friends etc, Sleeping in a red quilt between mother and father, playing with a plastic bat and ball and having a wonderful dog at home, then those sunday afternoons making the tomato chicken got via our faithful Yezdi bike. Single Stroke and that beautiful sound. I remember eating Aaloo Pranthas with sweet curd getting home a litter of stray dogs. Nisha ma’am our Neighbours were my Maam and my class teacher was Basu ma’am and that trip to rail museum and play with my fellow friends - one of them used to eat nose and there was a cute girl i liked a bit. I looked innocent and was like any other kid just a little with extra energy and something of seeking fun — AWARA was I named due to my local wanderlust.
• I remember fighting kushti with Bhuwan Fufa ji going to Mirzapur pili khoti, visiting Aliganj Lucknow, My grandparents houses visit was so much fun. I remember the different attitudes at both the places a joint family type in mirzapur and Aliganj was a little different. That Kulfi wala in summers in aliganj lucknow, That Aaloo by Naani ji, Those stories of krishna by Naani ji, Daadi’s Chana and white butter reverse thaali and play on the terrace. Fascinated by switching off water motor and taking bath with lots of water by pipe. That outdoor baths were simply fabulous and those terrace toothbrushes or rather dent manjan were really something. i used to cough out a bit during brush. Cricket with neighbours in Mirzapur. 
• Mirzapur was all dusty in the front space with a busy road on the auto market there. The Surd neighbours were like 3-4 houses away. front staircase used to take us on the first floor, the rickshaw from the railway station in mirzapur was a bit raised had to make me think of keeping my bodyweight on the backside so as not to fall off in front. The yard next to us had a garden almost like a farm. on the other side we had Eicher tractor Agency.
• The days in Mirzapur were spent between playing cricket on terrace, Studying with pencil and paper Mathematics with Grandfather, Sleeping on Terrace, really tension free and care free days were those. I look back and sense a serenity. very little TV and other forms of entertainment a few comics maybe. WWE had just entered India I remember and was a rage among young people. The Food was simple yet nice. I remember the lifebuoy soap that was so popular back then. Taking bath with pipe. The top terrace had an empty water tank. I remember once kaushal fufa ji hanging me from the front balcony and everybody felt it was equivalent to danger of Bungee Jumping. though I am very sure nobody knew Bungy Jumping then. Grandfather or Baba ji used to show fathers certificate where he had marks more than 96% in almost all classes and all subjects.Watching the night sky was really a attraction in those days and i still remember those nights. life was simple and beautiful in those days.
• In lucknow I remember a prominent Cycus and Lemon tree in the front and i used to play mini squash on the wall. Go to terrace and cycle on top and then climbing the stairs was really a thing then. naani used to have a maarhin or maharajin coming for work and the kitchen was always full with stock of potatoes and i was like wow for all the things cooked even the slice box of bread and butter was something i looked forward to. The landline I still remember a green coloured one was really fascinating and the fiat outside and the garage were interesting places. I really loved it next to the desert cooler placed in the drawing room the smell of khus khus grass was really something and i used to like the smell. Having kulfi next to cooler was real fun and the sofa was also good and fluffy.
• I used to play cricket or football in the nearby park and i remember purchasing small stuff from small grocery shops and getting bread from the near Harsh Nursing home. Sometimes Nana ji used to get ghee and curd from village and those mangoes were really a rage with the family with wooden cartons containing Dussheri, Chausa and what not - only mango and cold milk were really welcome. Then the potato veg by naani and the butter toast simply wonderful. Naani ji had a fiat Padmini car considered very elegant and nice boasting a Italian engine and that complex gear operation by the hand. My Naana ji used to watch lawn tennis specially Wimbledon and cut up those mangoes slice by slice for us to eat. I remember playing squash against the wall on the verandah and imitating tennis matches i watched.
• Father getting posted to Ambala where I stayed in this old british era colonial bungalow which was believed to have ghost (a good one though) here I met Arjun and Ojaswini of which Ojaswini being my age shared a friendship lasting till date. I was famous for climbing rope and trees and was very agile and adept at the art. The single leg push scooter with Arjun was something we love to play around with. In that compound a neem tree had this swing installed by Arjun’s father Col Thorat and i used that to climb the tree. We had lot of fireflies in the evening and we used to catch them and play around. As kids we were totally in awe and these days you rarely see a fire fly. One day I decided that we work collectively and catch all the fireflies and fill the drawing room - a dreamy idea that to my amazement was real fun - because sleeping at night that day i remember the fireflies flying in the bedroom we inside our mosquito nets - just dreamy!! I studied in Convent of Jesus and Mary Ambala Cantt. Went to have chicken at Maharaja Dhaba - I remember riding bullet motorcycle with Capt SPS Sidhu (Later General ) One day we fell also from the bike due to the sudden punctured tyre but luckily no injury was caused. The small Mahraja dhaba had a neighbour called deluxe dhaba which overtook Maharaja in times to come - the Sandhu Dal and Butter Chicken were the best I have had. I also remember travelling to Kasuli and staying at Holiday Home there and enjoying walks and simple cooking by mother. {{{ we went to Ambala where i took admission in Convent of Jesus and Marry - where i left the entrance test midway and had to be told to re do after my parents met the principal requesting her to allow me to take the test again. There we lived in this old british bungalow occupied by Indian Army. These bungalows with huge and high walls having ventilator windows and firewalls was a one of the kind experience. I was attached to this house as I shall be coming to this place once more in my life. }}}
• From there Father was posted to DSSC (Defence Services Staff College) Wellington (near Ooty) - A beautiful hill station in the laps of Nilgiri Mountain Ranges in Tamil Nadu. This period was fairly interesting and I made a lot of friends and had great fun. I studied there in Holy Innocents High School and made friends with Tarun whom I am yet to meet or find again (his father was in Indian Navy). A very interesting anecdote of Panther Hunting happened here - Let me share this interesting story : The DSSC had a nice arrangement of hills and quarters and being proximate to the Nilgiri Hills a man eating Panther had ventured into the Living areas and had already secured a human kill this terrorised the entire cantonment and curfew was imposed to avoid any further human casualties. With curfew also meant a restriction to our playing hours and those hours where we stayed in the house made it difficult and torturous for young kids like us and we decided to take the matters in our own hands and jointly decided to kill the man eating panther. Kids we were not more than 6-7 all aged between 7 -12 years collected our weapons like bats, badminton rackets , stumps and sticks (not a joke - but laughable) and at that point we decided to assemble around evening time which was the most probable time to find the panther and beat him to death. So we the dreamy kids army armed with our weapons set out to hunt the man eating panther. Our parents had no clue of our plans and after dark were frantically searching for us - only the mothers as the fathers were on a Bharat Darshan tour meant to give young military officers a idea of the vast Indian Sub continent. After many hours of frantic searching our mothers as a group were able to find us and what a scolding and thrashing we got for risking our lives. But that day we really enjoyed our search for the panther a little scared a little determined we were real fighters un afraid and care free. That man eating panther was ultimately put down after a few days near our school.
• In Wellington we used to have those horse rides near the park based on coupons being purchased. Everything was coupon based Milk Fresh Veggies and life was simple as a soldier and there family. We used to go to the valley with a beautiful meadow and stream having a horse stable and i remember chasing young ponies and enjoying to the fullest. There I first time was introduced to horse riding and also witnessed a dog show for the first time. There We had this special place in the hills which we treated as fortress and divided ourselves in to groups to fight for kingdoms created by us the real life version of Age of Empires being played - so much running around so much fun. In our school located on the hills we used to play on the steps share tiffin , come back in bus avoid a nuisance bull on our way to home from bus stop.
• Ooty being very near by we always used to visit the lake where sailing was so much fun - Once i fell off the boat also. Ooty was a beautiful place and many bollywood songs and movies had chosen that place as a shooting location. Also Conoor was near by and visit to the toy train was so much fun the idlis and sambar of the south and there language of Ingewa and pauda I had picked a bit.
• In Wellington I met my first crush - C (Only Initials to be used for Privacy Reasons) I was 7 years old and she was about the same age and I remember one day watching television and I guess it was a Hollywood movie hmmm I guess Blue Lagoon a story about a young boy and girl stranded on a island and there was this kissing scene and I proposed her that time and there had the first kiss of my life :) :) what a moment and then had it more - young kids we danced and kissed like lovers not even knowing what sex meant or physical intimacy meant. Just innocent and infatuated. The marriage games were popular and I remember the other kids pairing us up more often. 
• Once after wellington father was posted in Assam and we shifted to Lucknow - we meaning me and my mother there I took admission in Colvin Taluqadars School College - It was one of a kind of experience to stay in Lucknow with Grandfather and Grandmother. The warmth and memories of those days still make me feel loved inside. I used to play in the street football, cricket and what not. In school we used to go by those overloaded Rikshaws being pulled manually on the slope leading to school we would get down and push the rickshaw and help the poor guy pulling such naughty kids. In school i was in Sanchi House named after the famous place where we have the Buddhist Stupas. In School I had  friend called Thakur who used to get that lovely Chicken achaar and we used to play Raja Rani Chor Sipahi and other games. I took part in athletics and other sports but performed super averagely. One of the famous alumni of our school (all though many many) was Baba Sehgal the rap singer popular in those days.
• After Wellington father got posted to Assam in a place called Rangiya which was 200 kms from Guwahati. The year was 1992 where ULFA and BODO militancy was in its peak and the area was considered sensitive for the security forces. But as a child in 4th Standard it hardly mattered.

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