25 April 2012
It seems so ominous now that the book of memoirs of dear Suneel that Aunty wanted compiled for his 50th birthday would turn out to be a tribute in memory of him within just two years!
14 May 2010
It seems so ominous now that the book of memoirs of dear Suneel that Aunty wanted compiled for his 50th birthday would turn out to be a tribute in memory of him within just two years!
Rest in peace dear Suneel…..
We’ll
miss you here.
Thanks for all the fun and laughter we shared in Salem.
A few days back Aloka
received a call from Nirmala Aunty in Hyderabad requesting her & Papu to
pen down their memories of Suneel as a young boy, to make a befitting book of
memoirs on his fiftieth birthday. It opened up a floodgate of memories of our
childhood together in a small, then non-descript sleepy town of Salem, in
Tamilnadu.
The following reminiscences (in third
person) are a joint effort of both Papu & Aloka, for, more than just Suneel,
it was a bonding of the Purkayasthas and the Lakshmans as a family!
The
time period is between 1969 and 1973.
Aloka-Papu-Suneel-Babloo-Bachoo-Praneel,
that is how the gang looked when put in descending order. Ever since Aloka and
Papu can remember, Nirmala aunty and Lakshman uncle were just there and with
them was their package of two extremely naughty, roly-poly boys. While Suneel
& Praneel took great pride in calling Aloka ‘Fatty’, they accepted the
nickname for themselves with equal élan too! And so it was that we were in and
out of each others’ houses in Fairlands almost every day, laughing at silly
jokes, poking fun of neighbours just as all youngsters do (remember Paddu?), playing rough games trying to
act ‘tough’ and generally having fun.
Suneel & Praneel went
to Holy Cross School like Babloo and Bachoo; they wore identical clothes and
looked more like identical twins except that they were five years apart in age.
Both aunty and uncle pampered us –we were like the daughters they never had I
think, and uncle always invariably made Papu giggle for anything and
everything! She was his ‘girlfriend’ as he so affectionately called her. Aunty’s
tasty food was always at par with Ma’s cooking –the taste of her soufflés,
cakes, biryani, kesari and ice cream still lingers fresh on our palettes!
Ma, Baba, Uncle and Aunty
were great friends too. We went on picnics to Yercaud and Mettur Dam and also
saw many a movie together. Birthdays were good fun also. Since aunty and Papu
share the same birthday (19 Feb), it was always a double celebration. Every
birthday Suneel would be at our place early in the morning with a beautiful
gift from the family for the birthday girl/boy. On one birthday, Aloka got a beautiful yellow ‘top’ while Papu got a
set of classics by Emily Bronte, and Suneel promptly told Papu, “Well, serves
you right; you read so much so you get only books!”
Another time, uncle and
aunty went out of their way to hunt for and gift an LP record of the film ‘Hum
Dono’, to Baba, since he was so fond of the song “Abhi na jao chodd kar”. Baba was ecstatic and enjoyed listening to
his favourite song for years thereafter!
Babloo & Bachoo left
for a stint in Rishi Valley school and it was decided that all of us would drive
down to drop them the first time. And so it was that all the children were
packed in one car while the adults were in the second one. What fun we had! We
cracked jokes, teased each other, stealthily ate up the delicious coconut barfi that was meant for Babloo and
Bachoo and played games. In one of the games, we divided ourselves into two
groups –‘Tata’ and ‘Fargo’ and for every vehicle of these two brands that passed
by, we gave ourselves a point. Praneel, Bachoo and Aloka were in the ‘Fargo’
team while Suneel, Papu and Babloo were ‘Tata’. Now, when Suneel decided to
call every ‘Fargo’ truck as ‘Aloka’ or ‘Praneel’ because of their humongous
size, it was hilarious for us but nothing short of murder for the poor victims!
The fun was short lived
for, very soon, Uncle went on a transfer to Madurai. We missed them greatly and
kept in touch. One morning we learnt that uncle had suffered a heart attack and
so we rushed to Madurai to look him up. Praneel very gravely told us that
Suneel was the cause of his father’s heart attack. When we asked him why, he
said, “Suneel is very naughty. He never listens to Daddy. When Daddy tells him
to close the windows, he doesn’t do it. That’s why Daddy’s got a heart attack”.
We promptly advised Suneel to please close the windows whenever his father told
him to do so and save his father any further attacks!
On two occasions both
Aloka and Papu spent their summer vacations with aunty and uncle in Madurai.
When the family shifted to Hyderabad, they spent a few days there too.
Thanks aunty and uncle
for everything you did for us especially taking the responsibility of looking after
the four of us when Baba and Ma went to Delhi for the Asia ‘72 Trade Fair. We
remember it was you who persuaded Ma to join Baba since his company was putting
up an exhibit at the Fair. It was quite a responsibility cooking for six
perpetually hungry children!
Today, Aloka is 52, Papu
& Suneel are 50, Babloo, Bachoo and Praneel a few years younger – those
beautiful memories of a fun-filled childhood are frozen in time. Whenever we
speak to Suneel we always imagine him as he was as a young lad of 10, with
impeccable manners in front of the elders but a brat behind their back, a
bundle of mischief and pranks!
There’s still so much
more to write but it’s just impossible to describe the affection and bonding
that we shared. Life in Salem indeed would have been dull without our cherished
friends. It still remains a mystery to us that amongst ourselves, the six of us
never, ever fought or even argued! It was laughter and fun all the way!
Well, here’s wishing
Suneel many, many more years of good health and happiness!
