Album and Autobiography-2
Posted : February 6, 2010 at 8:21 pm [IST]
Deepak has finally joined BITS, Pilani for his M.Tech in communication engineering. Last year was a bad year for fresh engineering graduates with slowdown in the industry. I really liked his decision. The news made merevisit down the memory lane when I was talking to Ashok, his father and my cousin.
My Nand Kishore uncle had also spent some months in school in Pilani that Birlas ran, perhaps sometime in 50s. Hegot into the school there under a scheme for education for the children of the employees of the Birla companies. It was free education with all expenses paid by the trust of the companies including some pocket money. My grandfather had also sent Late Mukteswar uncle, the son of his younger brother to Pilani under the same scheme.
I dont know why my grandfather didnt send me there. Was it because he loved me too much as I was the only grandchild or because I was doing fairly well in my school in Birlapur?
Unfortunately both of my uncles couldnt take advantage of the scheme that many of my acquaintances in Birlapur successfully did. They completed their studies up to post graduate level, returned and got respectable jobs in the factory.Can we call it destiny?
My uncles couldnt avail the facility that one may envy even today.
Everything was going alright with Nand Kishore uncle. Phones were unthinkable in those days. He had been writing letters regularly with many good things of the school life. But suddenly, we received one day a long telegraph. The uncle was sick for some time there and that was taking time to cure. But as I remember, the telegrams in those days used to be considered as something very serious. My grandmother insisted my grandfather to go and bring back my uncle. My grandfather had to yield. While returning from Pilani, my grandfather perhaps moved around New Delhi and visited some New Delhi landmarks of the time. I have one photograph that was taken in front of Birla temple in New Delhi with my grandfather on extreme right side and my uncle on the left.
My grandfather was really shore with all that had happened and he never tried to send him back to the school. My uncle who was as good as me in early years couldnt pursue his formal education. He was a voracious reader and tried hand on writing poems too. He set up a very good library in our village. Let me confess when I look back, I think he would have a very good engineer. He had a wonderful mechanical mind to repair any gadgets in domestic use. We used to call him engineer if I dont forget. My grandfather got him employed in the Birla Jute Mills.I remember he had bought a costly wrist watch out of his earnings. My grandfather made him part with that when I joined HM.
After my grandfather retired as teacher from Birlapur Vidyalaya, my uncle got the job of a teacher in the primary section. But very soon he came out of teaching. He had a mind of starting some business in village. He set up a rice and flour mill.I had some money in saving account that my mother had given after the death of my maternal grandfather. I gave that money to my uncle to start his mill business. Unfortunately, he didnt succeed because of some unavoidable village politics.
As my grandfather was pretty pained with the affairs related to the farming in village, we all concluded that as young man my uncle can take up the responsibility. He started very enthusiastically and did well. He bought the first tractor in the village. The yield improved. He started taking interest in village politics. Ultimately he won Panchayat election to become Mukhiya the headman.Today Alok has taken over. My uncle also supports him.
- Indra
Category: Personal |
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