Bittu in Dhule

Bittu had finished his Intermediate with a good percentage in Vignan Dhule and then the struggle started for getting a seat into an engennering College. I took him to Dharmapuri which was about two hours distance from bangalore. he was willing to study here but I decided that the culture was very different . We next tried for mahrahtra and here Bittu got a seat in Electronics in Dhule. I travelled to Dhule many times and felt very bad that Bittu had to struggle so much. The place was dusty, except during rainy season. Those days there were not many engeneerin g Colleges in South also and I had takebn a stand that we will not be paying any capitation fees. Here Bittu had got a seat based on his merit and he too felt that this was better than paying a huge donation. The District of Dhulia was previously known as West Khandesh district. The ancient name of this region was Rasika. Subsequently its name was changed to Khandes to suit the title Khan given to the Faruqi kings by Ahmad I of Gujrat. Dhule became part of the Mughal Empire in 1601, during the regime of Akbar. In the 18th century Dhule came under the Maratha regime. In 1818, after being taken over by the British. Khandesh is mainly comprising of two districts Dhulia and Jalgaon and the three talukas Malegaon , Nandgaon and Baglan of Nashik District with headquarter at Dhule or Dhulia . Bittu found some good friends here though his engeneering days were very difficult but he learnt the harder way and was very clear that Tarun Varun would study only in Hyderabad and not go out of the state.

Getting Tarun , Varun ready

It was always a big task to get Tarun Varun ready for school and there would be a lot of commotions in the house. Bittu though seven years elder to them really grew up fast and had to take care of himself and dress himself up. I had a lot of help from Lakshmi, Shaheen and they would also dress the children. They would dress up very smartly while going to school and would come back very untidy with shoe laces open, the shirt coming out of the nicker. It was a real difficult task to get them to do their home work. If I paid attention to one the other would try to run away and escape. Tarun was a little on the quiter side and he did

his work a little seriously but it was very difficult to make Chottu or Varun sit in a place and do hisa school home work. They would tell me many many stories and all that happended in the school. I had to listen to them other wise they would make a big rucus that i was not paying attention to them. I would have a tape of the nursery rhymes always ready for them to listen and they would sing the rhymes with me. They picked up a large number of rhymes while I did my cooking and continued to sing with them.

Visit to North with Children

I am today writing this blog after nearly a month. The month of May was spent in going home to the North visiting Mummy in Haldwani. Mummy is now alone but she is managing quite well with out Baooji. I think we get our inner strength from mummy who has always been a very strong person in her life. Going back to North today brought back many memories of visiting North India earlier with Somu, Bittu, Tarun and Varun. It was always fun and we would visit Haldwani, Nainital and Dehradoon. We would stop in small dhabas to have food. The vegetation was so different that the children would be very excited and find every thing new. Once we went to Rishikesh, Haridwar, Ranikhet and Nainital. The children loved Nainital and the lake but we enjoyed Ranikhet with all the beautiful trees of Cheed , Cedar, Deodar and the lovely smell of its leaves.

Somu is very much a nature lover and he made us walk in the deep jungles of Ranikhet. Ranikhet is a small town in the Kumaon region and the peace and tranquility here takes us to another world. As one enters this place the green and yellow gateway of the Kumaon Regiment Centre (KRC) stands out. Since the time the Britishers discovered this celestial piece of earth to the outside world, the ambience of the place seems almost unchanged. Norman Troupe, who built his homestead, Holm Farm, here, would probably agree. This estate, now converted into a heritage hotel, maintaining its old world charm, still stands atop a hill surrounded by coniferous forests. What strikes one about Ranikhet is that it has still not been commercialised and unlike the other hill stations there is no hustle-bustle and no one cajoling for a sightseeing tour. One is very close to nature and being close to nature one can feel being close to God. Here nature is at its best, in all its purity and grandeur. One can watch the sun, slowly turning orange, slipping from behind the clouds down towards the last leg of its journey for the day, saying goodbye with a splash of geometrical designs filled with different hues of orange and white colors across the sky. One can only thank God for having witnessed this great moment in all its glory. The pines, deodhars, oaks, tiny mountain flowers, the jungle shrubs, the undulating hills, the tree line, soothing breezes, and last but not the least the unpoluted air, all add to the magic of this place.