Tuesday, April 29, 2008

Bittu's Visa and Trip down North in 2003



The beautiful hills of Uttrakhand filled with morning mist



With Anil Mausaji, Baby Mausi and Mamaji and mami ji and Avikal and Avani




With Dadji and dadiji and Mamaji in Dehradoon







Bittu with Nanji and Naniji and at Godhakhal temple




Bittu at home in Survasant before leaving for Delhi to get his Visa







Bittu had finished his B. tech and had got a job in GE. He was enjoying his job and would get ready every day and go in his scooter. Soon with in a span of two months he got admission in to Governor State University. He had to then travel to Delhi to get a visa. He dressed up in the morning and left with his dad to go to Delhi. They planned that if he gets his visa they would travel North and meet all the relatives before he flies away to the US. It was early morning that he stood in the que before the American Consulate. Soon he was out in an hours time waving very happily that he had got his visa. Then he and Papa travelled first to Haldwani and met his Nanaji and Naniji. From here they went to Ghodakhal Temple and worshipped there by tying a bell. Next they went to Dehradoon where he met his dadaji and dadfdiji and Kusum Bua and Phuphaji. On his return they met papu mama and Anil mausaji and Baby Mausi. They also spent some time with dev and deva Bua. hence bittu had a very nice trip where he met every one from the extended family. Uttrakhand was beautiful and in the morning when there was mist in the mountains the whole environment looked very serene and beautiful.






Monday, April 28, 2008

Tarun Varun's Nepal Trip with Suresh, 1998







The children travelled to Nepal with Suresh and this was a very beautiful experience for them. They took the long journey by road and stopped on the way to admire nature a lot. Somu has been doing a lot of Projects in Nepal and travel there very often. , Nepal is a land of sublime scenery, time-worn temples, and some of the best hiking trails on earth. It's a poor country, but it is rich in scenic splendour and cultural treasures make up for waht it lacks in terms of material wealth. Nepal has a strip of level land that is partly forested, partly cultivated. North of that is the slope of the main section of the Himalayan range, including Everest and many other peaks higher than 8,000 m. Nepal has a very long and turbulent history.In 1951, the Nepalese monarch ended the century-old system of rule by hereditary premiers and instituted a cabinet system of government. Reforms in 1990 established a multiparty democracy within the framework of a constitutional monarchy. A Maoist insurgency, launched in 1996, gained a lot of following and threatened to bring down the regime, especially after a negotiated cease-fire between the Maoists and government forces broke down in August 2003. 2001, was a very violent period in the history of Nepal . its crown prince massacred ten members of the royal family, including the king and queen, and then took his own life. The whole world reacted with a lot of surprise and many in nepal found it very difficult to come to terms with this incident. In October 2002, the new king dismissed the prime minister and his cabinet for "incompetence" after they dissolved the parliament and were subsequently unable to hold elections because of the ongoing insurgency. Again in June 2004 , the King Gyanendra, reinstated the most recently elected prime minister who formed a four-party coalition government. Citing dissatisfaction with the government's lack of progress in addressing the Maoist insurgency and corruption, the king in February 2005 dissolved the government, declared a state of emergency, imprisoned party leaders, and assumed power. The king's government subsequently released party leaders and officially ended the state of emergency in May 2005, but the monarch retained absolute power until April 2006. This was followed by large scale mass protests organized by the opposition and the Maoists and the king was forced to allow parliament to reconvene in April 2006. Following a November 2006 peace accord between the government and the Maoists, an interim constitution was promulgated and the Maoists were allowed to enter parliament in January 2007. The peace accord calls for the creation of a Constituent Assembly to draft a new constitution. The Constituent Assembly elections, already twice delayed, were held in April 2008 and the Maoist swept the polls forming the Government. This was a very good example of a group which was labeled as a terrorist organization coming to the table to discuss power and then succeded in exercising it through the ballot. i wish all the other terrorist groupsd could also come to the table to discuss problmatic issues and search for solutions not through the bullet but through the ballot.

Birth of Twins






We had all gone for my brothers wedding in Haldwani and after the wedding we were all sitting and talking with Chandola Uncle who was a principal in D.A.V Public schjool but we knew him as Uncle and a pamist. All of us were in a great mood and started showing him our palms asking him to read and tell us our future. When he looked at my hand he sauid there are three boys in you hand and we all started laughing. With my job it was difficult to manage even one kid and to think of three. i told him, Uncle now adays who goes for three and do you think children are in the hand. We all made fun of his pamistry and joked a lot. When I returned to Hyderabad and had some doubts and went for scanning I discovered that I had twins. I had started crying on the scanning table only and asked the technician to look properly. He brough in another person and told me Madam why are you crying, it means only two chaddis and two baniyans instead of one. I was very upset and kept wondering how I will mange with two. My University was nearlly 15km away and I kept wondering how I would manage. I was advised bed rest by the Doctors. My due date for the kids was june mid but they were born premature on 4th April. I also got full summer vaccations and could join the University when it reopened in June. For this period I own a lot to Lakshmi. A Nepali couple came looking for a job abnd since Somu could speak Nepali he spoke to them and they agred to work for us. They stayed in outr garage down stairs and Bahadur was given a job of a Cowkidar in our Flats. I own so mucvh to Lakshmi . She stayed with me for five years and brought up the kids so well. I found her very sincere and she really relieved me of the burden of child care and took care of the house and the Kida. She was very fond of dressing them up and in the evening as we got home after work, the kids would be neatlly dressed and playing in the flat. Soime times she would tie a single pony tail and some time Tarun would have two ponuy tails. it was primarily due to Lakshmi who would dress up Tarun and Varun so neatlky and put a lto of Baby poweder that the kids became great favouritews of every one in the flats. It was fun with two kids. After my initial worry about managing both it was really fun bringing up twins and now I feel that it is no fun bringing up a single kid. Bittu adored his twin brothers thaough they would often fight. We were staying in the fourth floor and the flats at Vijaya Towers had huge corridors which are not found in todays flats. The kids grew up here playing football, running,, skating and making a lot of noise. They ahd favourite aunties like Shorey Aunty, Reddy aunty, Rizvis. Their favourite friens were Vikki and Chetan.

Saturday, April 26, 2008

My Lucknow Trip, 1973






I had given my intermediate exams and was free , so during the summer vaccation I visited Lucknow to visit my Mausi and Mamaji, who lived there. This was the first time that I was travelling and staying at a placew on my opown with out being chaperoned by my parents. I had a lot of fun with Deepa Mausiji, Hem Mamu,. Vijay and Jayshree. Though it was hot we travelled all over the place and took photographs with our black and white camera. The beauty of Lucknow and the happy time I spent there has always left a very memorable mark on my mind and remains for ever fresh.


The courtly manners, beautiful gardens, poetry, music, and fine cuisine and the rich life styles of the royals had already maade an impression on me when I had read some books related to Lucknow and later on saw Satyajeet Rays, Satranj Ke Khiladi. I longed to see this place in person for it was the city of Wajid Ali Shah, a very loving , emotional and caring nawab who had an artistic bent of mind. It is believed that the city has been named after Lakshman, the younger brother of Lord Rama. The city was earlier called Lakshman Pore that later turned in to Lucknow. The city later passed to East India Company after Nawabs lost the battle of Buxar in the year 1764. The city remained the capital of Awadh or Oudh province of the British and went on to become the capital Central Province and in turn Uttar Pradesh.

In Lucknow we travelled all over the place visiting the Imambara. There are lots of Imambara in Lucknow but the most famous ones are Chota Imambara, Bada Imambara and Shah Najaf Imambara. These are the sites of annual 'Azadari' or mourning sessions that occur in the Islamic Month of Mohharum and called 'Asura'. The Tazia processions and Marsia sessions of the old city are trademarks of Lucknow. We would keep roaming around, chatting till tweleve or one o,clock at night. We would eat a lot of Dushari mangoes . We remebered Mirza Galib who was very founfd of Dushari Mangoes and would say that dushari mangoes should always be eaten alone and no one should be watching for it is ibn eating the dry part of the seed that one really gets the taste of the dushari. India produces many diifferent varieties of mangoes including langra, chosa, malda, sipya, malka, amarpali, ratoul, Baganpally, Rasaal but is is dushari which has a special corner in my heart, not so much due to the taste but all the fun and happy times associated with it in Lucknow. I remember that my first story which was published by a Allahabad Newspaper came out when I was in Lucknow. My inter results were also declared when I was here. I was very nervous and kept walking up and down but at around two thirty in the afternoon Harish mamaji brought the nwespaper and we looked for my roll number. I saw that I had got a first division. This was a very happy day. i will always chrish the memory of my travle to Lucknow and all the love and affection which i got from ChChachi ji, Buwan Mamu, Hem and Papu Mamu. I met Deepa Mausi after a gap of nearly thirty years in Toronto Canada, which she has now made her home. We could still chat and pick up the threads from the past. We spoke of all the fun that we had in Lucknow when i was a girl and had just pased my intermediate.

Thursday, April 24, 2008

Life in Allahabad in the late seventies

In the seventies we lived in Allahabad. I had entered the University of Allahabad in 1974. So much was happening around the world and it was an exciting period to be a student. In a sense, the ideas and philosophy of the 60s continued well into the 70s - sexual freedom, the end of the draft, legalisation of abortion, gay liberation. England was not having the best of times. There were strikes all over and one read in the daily newspapers how they had to manage without electricity, petrol, heating, coal, milk, television, hospitals or having their bins emptied. The IRA continued its bombing in Northern Ireland and mainland Britain. The CIA engineered a coup in Chile. War finally came to an end in Vietnam but it opened in newer fronts like, Cambodia, Lebanon, the Middle East, Cyprus and Rhodesia. On the fashin scene jeans became tighter and bell bottoms also made their entry. In the film world Rajendra Kumar, Sunil Dutt, Rajkapoor were now being seen along with Biswajeet, Joy Mukerjee also.

In India this was a period of war with Pakistan and Daddy being in the army participated in the Bagladesh war. Every day was filled with dread, there were night outs, sirens blaring but life went on peacefully in the small and holy town of Allahabad. We all waited anxiously for the morning newspaper to find out what ever little detail was published about the war. The only solace was that once in a while we would get the military dak and there would be three or four letters together written by my father during different intervals but all reaching us together.
The government controlled every thing from railways to telephones, to media, to food stuff and not many things were found in the markets. Dalda became a prixed commodity. There was a deep fear that the country’s independence would be jeopardized if foreign companies were allowed to grow. As a result there was strict governemnt control on every thing.
However the social life in Allhabad was very much tied to the festivals and fairs. Allahabad or Prayag is also called the "Tirth Raj", the king of all pilgrimage centers. There are many references to Prayag or Allahabad in Indian epics, Vedas and Puranas. Allahabad stands at the confluence of the Ganga and Yamuna (two of India's holiest rivers) and Saraswati River (a mythical river which is not visible). The place where river Ganga and river Yamuna meet is called Sangam (union). Sangam is the venue of many sacred fairs and rituals, and attracts thousands of pilgrims throughout the year. The most important event at Prayag is the Kumbha Mela. Millions of people from all over India and the world gather at Prayag to take a holy dip at Sangam. Kumbh Mela is the largest religious gathering in the world performed by the Hindus and is the greatest of the Indian pilgrimages. It is the largest bathing event in the world which is celebrated four times every twelve years, once at each of the four holy destinations - Prayag (Allahabad), Haridwar, Ujjain and Nasik. Each twelve-year cycle includes the Maha (great) Kumbh Mela at Prayag and and others are termed as Ardh (Half) Kumbh Mela, attended by millions of people. The fair is also renowned for the active participation of the sadhus and mahants coming out from remote hideaways of forests, mountains and caves. We would also religiously go and have a dip in the sangam. What was significant was that in every house there would be many many relatives who would drop in and stay for taking this holy bath. None of the conversation among friends would be complete till we spoke about Prayag, the holy dips and the hordes of relatives that came and stayed with us.
I can trace my getting into women's issues from this time though I was always interested in this issue but never realised at this moment that it could be an area of study. Right from my teens I used to get very agitated when I saw a lot of disparity in families and the attitudes of boys and men but then I could never comprehend the situation in terms of the structures and systems in our society. It would be right to state that I was not politically conscious that women's studies could be a discipline with which I would be involved in future. I still remember one of the many incidents, from Allhabad. I was a student of eleventh class and lot of relatives would come down during the Kumbh Mela to have a bath in the ganges. Once a relative brough an aunt who was about seventy and a widow. She lived in an Ashram at Brindavan and she would eat nothing through out the day except at twilight, when she had two small chappatis ( the dough made with mixing little milk and salt )with out any curry. She spent all her time in reading religious books and she had been leading this life since she was eleven years and became a widow. I had big arguments with my mother and other relatives as to what was her fault and my mother answered as she would often do, ”you talk and argue too much. This is how it is”. Today I keep thinking I wish I had spoken to her in detail and asked her questions but this image has stayed with me.
As a student of class tenth in our school boys did interesting things in their craft class with repairing a fan, a press a scooter but we had to do knitting and embroidery. I got all the girls together and asked the principle that we would like to do what the boys were doing but were refused stating the Board did not allow it. I think women ’s studies places a woman’s own experiences at the centre of the process that establishes women’s reality.

Bittu's First Birthday





It was with great excitement that we celebrated Bittu's first birthday on 15th April, 1983. We invited about one hundred and fifty people. This was in Srinivas, East Colony which was our first home. Now I cannot recognise the landscape around this place. Once in a while when I pass the main road there seems to be nothing but a jungle of concrete, large number of vehicles and a lot of souind and dust. Those day in 1983, there were some fields around the place. There was a lot of open spaces and many people did not own four wheelers. Most of the people came by walk and it was a nice gatering of friends. Mrs. Pundeer had helped a lot in making the arrangements, a large part of the cooking being done at home. Dr. Bandopadhyay had brought the birthday cake and Seema and Bharatans, Jagdish Gupta's and Taneja's our other dear friends were all there to share our happiness. The evening passed away and there was a lot of merry making though Bittu kept crying most of the time and wanted to be left alone.
I had still not found a permanent job and though bringing up a child was fun I wanted to do some thing else. I had found part time teaching in Stanely College and Saint Ann's College where I was teaching students of the intermediate clasess. There was a lot of comaradeship between the teaching faculty and what really disturbed me was the fact that in many colleges arts was not at all gicven importance and all the emphasis was on the science subjects. It was as if all the left over stuff came to arts. There was a total negelct of sciences. I continued in these tow coolleges. In these days creches had not yet become popul;ar and hence I had made an arrangement with a family wjhere I would leave Bittu at 8 o, clock. I would then pick him up in the evening and as we walked back to our home I would buy some vegetables . Somu would reach home by six thirty and then we would play with Bittu for some time till he slept. There was no Telivision to disturb us and outing meant going to the movies. We really saw some very good movies during this period, One flew over the Cook's nest, Van Rayan's Express, Great Escape, Wild Geese, Ben hur. Bitu would accompany us to the movies and after some initial interst would fall asleep.

Tuesday, April 22, 2008

My First Born




When I was carrying Bittu I left the job in the University of Allhabad and came to join my husband in Hyderabad. I found a lot of time in my hands and would spend this reading books and magazines. One memory which is very much there is of my starting the novel, Of Human Bondage by W. Somerset Maugham. This was a 1915 novel about a crippled doctor's destructive and compulsive passion for a coarse waitress . Philip goes through various ups and downs in his life. He is is sent to a boarding school. His uncle and aunt would like for him to eventually go to Oxford to study to become a clergyman. Philip's shyness and his club foot make it difficult for him to fit in with the boys at the school, and he does not make many friends. Onc can always feel his pain and one gets very moved when we hear about his changing many jobs and wanting to become a chartered accountant, an artist but giving them up realising that he will only be a mediocre. I was pregnant and while I was reading this book I felt very afraid. I was told to read spiritual books so that the child is born with good values and attitudes. I kept this book aside and picked up many other novels but some how it was very difficult to forget Philip and his club foot. I was filled with a lot of dread and try as I would I could never forget Philip. There was a fear of the unknown. I* could not share my unnown fear with any one. I still remeber that when my son was born as I held him for the first time I quitely turned to his feet to see if it was nornal. I turned around his fingers and till the time Bittu started walking I always had this fear in my mind. It was again after a gap of two years that I could again pick up this wonderful novel anbd finish it. This novel has always stayed wiith me for its beautiful story and the struggles of its main character as he goes through life.

Those Good Old days

I would like to start this blog with a very good forward which a dear old student of mine, Mahalakshmi , who is now teaching in the history department in the Jawahar lal Nehru University , has passed on to me. Though based in a western context many of the things that this forward is talking about are real. The times that I am talking about was really an earlier time. This was a period , to quote this forward, was much before, television' penicillin' polio shots' frozen foods' Xerox' contact lenses' Frisbees and' the pill. There w ere no:' credit cards' laser beams or' ball-point pens. Humans had not invented:' air conditioners' dishwashers' clothes dryers' and the clothes were hung out to dry in the fresh air . Man had put his first step on the moon . People got married first, . . And then lived together.Every family had a father and a mother.Until we were 25, we called every man older than us, "Sir" or "Uncle"."We were before gay-rights, computer- dating, dual careers, daycarecenters, and group therapy.Our lives were governed by good judgment, and common sense.We were taught to know the difference between right and wrong and tostand up and take responsibility for our actions.Serving your country was a privilege; living in this country was abigger privilege.We thought fast food was what people ate during Lent.Having a meaningful relationship meant getting along with your cousins.Draft dodgers were people who closed their front doors when theevening breeze started.Time-sharing meant time the family spent together in the evenings andweekends-not purchasing condominiums.We never heard of FM radios, tape decks, CDs, electric typewriters,yogurt, or guys wearing earrings.We listened to the Big Bands, Jack Benny, and the President's speecheson our radios.And I don't ever remember any kid blowing his brains out listening toTommy Dorsey.If you saw anything with 'Made in Japan ' on it, it was junkThe term 'making out' referred to how you did on your school exam.Pizza Hut, McDonald's, and instant coffee were unheard of.We had 5 &10-cent stores where you could actually buy things for 5 and10 cents.Ice-cream cones, phone calls, rides on a streetcar, and a Pepsi wereall a nickel.And if you didn't want to splurge, you could spend your nickel onenough stamps to mail 1 letter and 2 postcards.You could buy a new Chevy Coupe for $600, . . . But who could afford one?Too bad, because gas was 11 cents a gallon.In my day:' "grass" was mowed,' "coke" was a cold drink,' "pot" was something your mother cooked in and' "rock music" was your grandmother' s lullaby.' "Aids" were helpers in the Principal's office,' " chip" meant a piece of wood,' "hardware" was found in a hardware store and' "software" wasn't even a word.And we were the last generation to actually believe that a lady neededa husband to have a baby. No wonder people call us "old and confused"and say there is a generation gap... And how old do you think I am now ?

Student Days

Mother Teresa admiring my watch

In the company of Mother Teresa
Prof. HansRaj Gupta:
One of the earliest memories , when I was eighteen, is of Dadaji, Prof. HansRaj Gupta who was in his seventies and had retired as a Mathematics Prof. He had worked on the theories of Ramanuja. We lived in Mudford Gung in the second floor and he lived in the next house on the ground floor. My mother had told him that he should take me for a walk with him in the morning. He would start tapping his stick at five in the morning and I would just shout wait Dadaji and go off to sleep. Some times this drama would continue till about six thirty but dadaji would refuse to budge. He would keep shouting Rekha, Rekha and tapping his stick. Half the neighbourhood would get up but there was no way Dadaji would keep quite till I got up and joined him. I had no alternative but to join him in his walks because meanwhile in between my sleep I would get a lot of scoldings and shouting from my parents and sister. When I joined him for the walk I refused to talk to him and made a very angry and gruff face for having had my beautiful sleep disturbed. After we walked for five minutes he would say, "Ab Theek ho" and then we would start talking about Politcs, economy, society, ideology. He hada view on every thing and i responded with my own thoughts. He emcouraged me to move beyond my immediate surroundings and look at the larger world. I enjoyed the morning walks but hated getting up in the morning. I had read some where and found this statement so appealing, I wish God had found some other way of starting a day than by asking people to get up. Dadaji introduced me to the writings of Vivekananda, Ramkrishna Param Hans. He made me read Vivekananda's address at the Chicago Conference loudly, more than ten times and as a result though I got very irritated at that time I could by heart it. He lent me many books on philosopy and marked portions which I had to read and explain to him what I understood from that. He would take me to Gandhian Philosopy clasess every wednesday. I was the only girl in a group of twenty to thirty. I tried to ask many of my friends to come but their interests did not move beyond the home and they did not find time to come out of the house. When I told this to Dadaji he would say, you are interested and this is all that matteres, Why do you bother about others. On our way back five to seven of Dadajis friends would join him , all were very old and had retired from various professions, some government services, some University Professors, some business man and some from the IAS. I was the youngest member in this group. I found a lot of interest in their conversations though my friends could not understand and often teased me about my friendship with all old men. My friends teased me and said, what else will these old people talk about except their frustration at the present day world and wth the present generation. However I could participate as an equal member in this group and when I said some thing all of them listened to it seriously and made comments. I became the grandchild of all these old men. I wish I had remembered some of their names. Today I do not know the names of any one except Dadaji but they have all played a very important part in the beginning and in the formative years of my life by making me see things beyond my immediate neighbourhood and inculcating a strict moral values, a sense of what is right and what is wrong. I borrowed a lot of books from Dadaji and what was interesting was that when I returned a book to him I had to tell him what I liked about the book and what I found difficult to understand. I think he was very lonely at one level and would love to talk and teach to who ever came in front of him. All the children were scared of going to him saying he will catch hold of them but I did not mind spending hours with him talking about any thing under the sun. My first interest in religion as an academic discipline really began with him. It was with him that I attended the World Conference on Hindu Religion organised at the Prayag Mela.

Mother Teresa:
Another interesting thing was that the Gandhi Bhawan had organised an International Essay Competition. I won this and got to spend three days with Mother Teresa. This was before she had received the noble prize. From Allhabad , in a car I travelled with Mother Teresa to Lucknow, Kanpur, Benaras. I think a Father from San Joseph also accompanied us. I was very much touched by Mother Teresa and her concern for people. We visitedf many orphanges, schools, homes and in between a couple was married and blessed by mother Teresa. I published an article in the daily Newspaper, Northern India Ptrika on my trip with mother Teresa.

Marriage and after



Initially life was ands is still blissful. We were based in the beautiful hills of Almora and one could walk in the Jungles for long distances amidst the Pine trees. We had got a house in the outskirats and coming from the city i found it very difficult that even if one had to purchase matchsticks or Salt one had to walk two to three kilometers. Sunday mornings were spent going to the temple at Doliri Danda and this was a beautiful walk amidst the Jungles. On return one could stop at the small tea stalls and have Pakodis and chai which was served hot.Another beautiful memory is of having travelled to Jageshwar temples and staying there amidst the deodar trees and then in the early morning walking nearly for three hours to Vridh Jageswar. I am sure now there must be a road there and one can reach in a short time but those were the days when tourism was not developed and one had to walk and admire the beauty of nature. After this we walked another fourteen kilometers to Mritula Ashram and on our return had to take a ride in a tobacco truck and reach Almora. I have fond memories of this place because it was here in the outer room which had all glass windows and looked into the valleys down I gave final touches to my Phd. chapters. Academically it was a very confusing period because one was not clear what was relevant to the chapter or not and there were many pages which were blackened with ink and then thrown away. There was a lot of trial and error but finally some sort of a plan did emerge and the chapters became clearer.

Today I see many of my phd students very confused and gropping about. Each has their own strengths and weknesess. I try to mentor them and give them advise and I often wish there was some kind of a trainning workshop for students to deal with all the stress they face while writing a Phd thesis .There is a proverb in Kumaoni that one cannot see heaven till one dies oneself, so may be this is a lonely battle and one has to go through this all by himself or herself.

Marriage





It was on 28th February, 1979 that this marriage was solomonised. As happened in those days the photos were all in black and white. This colour has its own charm and reminds one of yester years when life was simple and there was no multi tasking and multiple colors.

Life through a digital eye

Bittu and the twins Tarun and Varun
We were still staying in Amirpet and when we would visit Gachi Bowli area it was covered with rocks. The children loved walking around in these rocks. Hyderabad of yore and of tofday is recognised by its rocky landscape. These huge boulders are millions of years old and are more ancient than Indian civilization. Geologists date these rocks to 2,500 million years back, amongst the oldest and hardest rocks in the world.Today I see this heritage of million years old being demolished by construction all around. Most of these rocks are cut into small stone slabs and sold as granite but just two decades back one could walk around these. When institues like EPTRI. Housing Colnoies, and the games village and the Gach Bowli stasdium came up many of these rocks were destroyed for ever. Only tode that were far away from civilization could survive. We gave our own names to many of threse rocks from the shapes that they appeared to us. Hence one was a laddu rock, another a samosa rock, another a gun rock, another a drum, a mushroom rock,a sleeping rock , a dosa rock and an idli rock and so on. A fovourite game of the children was to identify the shape of a rock and give it a name. The person who named the rocck fist felt he owned that rock.

Early days at Nagarjuna sagar
(Nepal 1998)
The handsome trio


Life at the end of year 1995

Why Survasant Pande's




The title of this blog comes from Survasant Pande's. There are 5 Pandes who make this blog ,These include Su-Suresh,r-Rekha,va-Varun,sa-Sankalp,and t-Tarun.All five of us are very independent individuals and yet combine togeather to form the different voices and colours of vasant that stands for spring.We come from Kumaon the beautiful valleys n the Himalayas but have now made Hyderabad the most happening city in India our home.

We are today scattered in diffrent parts of the world for career,academics and jobs.This Blog shows you our journey through life...This blog is for my children, relatives, friends and my numerous students, from six different Universities and spread across different parts of India and the world.

Saturday, April 19, 2008

In Shimla

 We atteneded our  dear friends,  Sashi and Jagdeesh Guptas daughteres wedding in Shimla on 17th April, 2008  and then traveeled around the place and met many friends and relatives. It is always a pleasure coming to the Hills and breathing the fresh and crisp air.