86th Birthday

Tara Chand (centre) celebrates with a box of eggless pastries

Sixty-eight years ago, at Jalandhar Railway Station, an 18-year-old boy would stand at the edge of the platform, craning his neck out each time a train steamed in. Through the milling crowds, he anxiously scanned the faces of passengers disembarking. They were all casualties of the horrific Partition riots. Thereafter, he would check the luggage compartment at the rear of the train -- stacked with dead bodies.
Tara Chand does not remember for how many days he had performed this drill. Uprooted from his ancestral home at Sargoda (on the other side of the border), he joined the stream of refugees to India and somehow managed to reach Jalandhar, totally exhausted and penniless.

With his brother, sharing a bite

Like many others, he was separated from his family. With no place to go, he slept on the railway platform. And every time a train arrived, he would rush to check if his parents, brothers and sister were there.
“I didn’t even know if they were alive,” Tara Chand laughs today. “There was no way to find out then.

Nahid celebrates her return from Lucknow with gajak

The only consolation I had was that I was not alone. There were hundreds like me, even women and kids, all having lost their way in life and waiting for the next train to arrive, carrying some hope. For me, things changed the moment I heard my elder brother had reached Old Delhi Station and was looking for me.”
From then till today has been a phenomenal journey and Tara Chand remembers every milestone along the way – his settling down in business, getting married and starting a family, moving from Delhi to Mumbai, then losing his wife after prolonged illness 30 years back and staying a widower, now watching his grandkids grow…
The biggest blessing he considers is being in a closely-knit family and that he has his brothers especially to fall back on, even now.
“You look good for a 25-year-old,” Srichand Arora joked, giving him a bear hug today. “Should I look out for a suitable girl for you to marry?” Pat came the reply: “Depends on what you call suitable… a 50-year-old girl shall do fine for me!”
That is Tara Chand Seth – still very alert with quick reflexes, a splendid gift of repartee and above all, a fabulous sense of humour. They don’t make such men any more.
Kiran Prakash:
* Excellent description of events that happened 68 years ago. The sequence of events has been described so vividly, as if happening now right in front of my eyes. Blog Monster, you deserve a pat on your back.
* Happy Birthday and many happy returns of the day, Tara Chand-ji. With your energy, alertness and humour, you are indeed an inspiration for all of us at the Club.
Ajit Choudhary and family:
Tara Chand-ji, janam din ki hardik badhai! You are a great inspiration to all of us. May God keep you healthy, busy and happy.
Bhaswati Bose:
I agree with Kiran Prakash-ji. Today's blog is well-written and interesting but ends rather abruptly. Wish it was longer and covered more of Tara Chand-ji's eventful life.
Lt Col Angad Singh (retd) from Mohali:
The blog monster (master) is doing excellent work. It is nice that Tara Chand Seth is very alert, physically fit and maintaining a very healthy mind. This is because of a cohesive joint family which has a built-in system that takes care for the elderly members. Sadly, this system is falling apart because of changing social and economic requirements of nuclear families.

Festive Fervor

A CELEBRATION OF WEDNESDAY GREEN

NAVRATRI, the festival of ‘nine nights’ is already upon us and oddly enough, there is still no sign of any festivity or celebration anywhere among members. Nobody is even getting us prasad -- or any sweet by any other name.
By Navratri every year, the road outside the Garden would be decorated with streamers, ceremonial arches, banners and buntings for the Durga Puja celebration in the garden adjacent to ours. This year, all seems to be quiet and deserted on that front also.
Furthermore, by this time every year, at least half a dozen members would have left for their ‘native place’ to celebrate Dussehra with folks back home. Among them would be Shekhawat, Sunita Jajodia, Sitaram Hivarkar and Santosh Tyagi among others. Their absence made for what we called the ‘festival exodus’, thus forcing a lull in Club activities.
This year none of this has happened. But that has not in any manner dampened our spirits because attendance remains consistently high. With more than 30 members present every morning for the exercises, there cannot be a dull moment in the Garden.
Another factor that has helped in keeping things upbeat is that none of us cares to wear our religion/ faith on our sleeves. Navratri or Dussehra is as important to all of us as Muharram and Eid – or Gurpurab or Christmas. In that sense, Big Laaf has always stood for a robust secular and cosmopolitan culture – even as there could be occasional jibes made by pranksters in jest about some godman or the other.
For instance, Shekhawat has been teasing Ram Shankar Shukla for his reclusive nature, often comparing him to the controversial godman, Asaram Bapu. Now Shekhawat himself is the target of Bijoy Gupta’s barbs for being an “ardent devotee” of Radhey Maa, another tainted religious figure. We all know that there is no truth in all this. But still, we can never have enough of their mindless leg-pulling... well, just for kicks!
Lt Col Angad Singh (retd) from Mohali:
The presence of members in large numbers is an indication of the magnetic attraction Big Laaf exerts. This is a healthy sign. Keep it going.

Star Attraction

Akshat Choudhary sets the pace for Shekhawat and Mohar Singh

Six-year-old Akshat Choudhary is today the cynosure of all eyes in the Club – his popularity far exceeding that of Shekhawat, Mallika Kagzi or Srichand Arora. Over the past 10 days -- since he first made an appearance at the Garden with his father and grandparents -- he has proved to be both regular and punctual to a fault, extremely easy going, quick on the uptake, self-driven and disciplined, obedient, respectful towards elders… in short, everything every child ought to be.
So when he was late for the exercises this morning, at least a dozen queries went out on whether all was well with him and if anybody knew whether he would be coming at all. The look of joy and relief on everyone’s faces when he turned up and took his position in the exercise circle was an indication

Bhaswati Bose (l) returns from Dibrugarh

of how he was being missed. And when he lost his balance and fell during the 'kissa kursi ka' exercise, many hearts skipped a beat. Luckily his father was close-by and he promptly whisked the sobbing boy away.
What makes Akshat so special? How could he become such a star attraction at the Garden so soon? Why does he merit a full blog post for the second time in less than five days?
Well, kids have been dropping by during our exercises, some invited, some not… but no one has ever made an impact the way Akshat has. Many of the kids were grandchildren of members -- brought in during birthdays or on special occasions – as did Monthi Serrao, Santosh Tyagi, Sunita Jajodia and Nahid Khan in the past. Those were more in the nature of fleeting visits or guest appearances, only to be forgotten the following day. But then, nobody can be blamed for this -- least of all, the kids.
Akshat is the first child we know who has no qualms suffering oldies like us and if his father is to be believed, actually enjoys this experience first thing in the morning every day. We too love his company, because it can only make us feel so much more young. And the fact that we have been meeting him every morning without fail has effectively strengthened our bonding.
It therefore comes as no surprise that Monthi would now be bringing her grandson, Tian more regularly to the Garden. Or so has she promised. And soon, for all we know, all the other grandkids would follow suit.
Harish Wadhwa:
Nice to see you back, Bhaswati-ji. Hope your mother is on the road to recovery and that she gets back to normalcy soon. May God bless her.

Simmering Discontent

Arora enforces discipline -- with folded hands

Just when everything looked hunky dory in the Club, a new problem has started to fester. Somehow, not everybody is happy with the effusion of gregariousness and bonhomie during the exercises. For them, exercising means serious business. And to enjoy during exercises amounts to gross indiscipline -- if not blasphemy.
The first noises of disapproval came from Ved Prakash Grover.

Ved Prakash Grover

A no-nonsense person, he could never be amused by Shekhawat’s waywardness or Bijoy Gupta’s silly antics. Soon he was joined by Sitaram Hivarkar, who is just as intolerant towards the sundry chatterboxes and general tomfoolery. There were others as well, like Harbans Kaur and Santosh Tyagi, but they wisely changed tack and adapted to the general drift quickly.
The predominant approach of the Club has always been to mix work with play, i.e. combine exercising with some fun and frolic. Otherwise the mornings would be very dull – something inconsistent with a laughter club. Luckily we have been able to strike a happy balance between work and play, without ever compromising on the essence of the exercises.

Laxmi Naidu distibutes sweets from Satara

This is what accounts for our popularity and the sense of bonding that has grown over the years.
But now issues of public pretence are being raised in order to eliminate all enjoyment and instead, stay focused on the exercises. “There are people watching us from the sidelines,” warned Arun Patil this morning, as though we were up to something vulgar or criminal. “What will they say? Just for a handful of members, the entire Club gets a bad name!”
Srichand Arora upheld the view, but with the intent of enforcing stricter discipline. “Isn’t it time we put a check on all this masti-mazaak?” he asked. “It can be very distracting, especially for the person in the middle who conducts the exercises.”
This is bound to touch many raw nerves if and when brought up and would lead to needless confrontations and defiance of authority – something we can do without. For it is too late in the day to change anybody’s nature and more importantly, there is nothing the Club can do to members who persist in fooling about and enjoying themselves -- the way they have always done.
Harish Wadhwa:
Go for the sweets. And celebrate!!!

Day 1776

Pic of the Week

OUR LADY ON LAMBY... HITCHING A RIDE HOME