Memories of A House -RB 506 -Part 2

We also interacted with Mr W.Pradhan who was the Chief Workshop Manager  in the Railway set up at Nishatpura .Bhopal.The previous CWMs were one Mr Anil Mishra (who i could neither respect nor abhor),and Mr Sinha who was a blunt and intelligent man ,who compromised more than needed in the job i felt .But Mr Pradhan was a great guy -very grounded and tough. .I have never come across such a fine and honest officer as him .He was pedigreed –Don Bosco School ,and IIT Delhi .And his father was a retired MD of a British firm .We spent some wonderful evenings with him .My only problem was as how to serve him Scotch –it was not available  easily those days and though he never made a show of it –I knew he only drank Scotch !!

I also made friends with Dr Mishra and Dr Srivastava who were my neighbours .Dr Mishra( and his very charming wife Manisha ), was a nice middle class man and  a terrific badminton player. One of the saddest moments of my life was when his young  son Raja, died in a accident , while travelling in a local train in Mumbai after Dr Mishra was transferred there .The Correas  moved into his house –and were a fantastic couple.Both are doctors  .Tilden  was never short of tales and words and I wondered  how the pretty and gracious Marylou could smile so much all time .Wonderful couple –with two wonderful kid boys .Just behind my house (you can see it in the photograph ),were the Thoasens –Ajitha and Sujoy .Ajitha is a doctor in the Railways and Sujoy is a IPS Officer of MP Cadre (now a ADGP level man ).They were great company as well and we shared  many evenings with them .Sujoy was the SP of Bhopal , a product of JNU , and hence  there was plenty to talk about  Flanking the Thaosens were Amar Singh and Mr Saxena who had a Alsatian dog who barked quite a lot!!  .I am in touch with most of  them –though I have lost track of Dr Mishra .

I tried to beautify the house .I  remember planting each of the Ashok trees that you see in the photograph .They took a long time to grow up .In particular the second one on the left as you enter the gate .It never grew .Then Jagdish dug a deeper pit –only to find a lot of rubble buried under the spot which was hampering its growth .It still does not seem to have grown to its full potential .I planted a Ashok tree over the grave of Sneezy –but its on the other wall which cant be seen in the photograph .I hope it is still there –it was planted because Sneezy was allergic to heat and sunshine –it was meant to provide a shade over her final resting place .

There are many memories of RB 506.I spent 5 years in it . It’s not that I quit Bhopal  one day, but it’s how many things that I had  to quit all at once: friends ,students ,teachers , music, laughter,the beauty of  falling leaves, ,holding hands,the scent of rain , the concept of  trains... if only I could leave Bhopal slowly and leave one thing at a time!!
Obviously it was very special because it was a residence of a Founder and first time Principal .It was also special because I was a young man when I moved into it .We used to socialize a lot and made a lot of friends –Sharmaji (MBD Books ),the Pondas ,the Trisals (Jawaharlal Nehru School),my only relatives in Bhopal- the Berrys(Baghira Apartments )Jugal Sharma (from Sonipat )the Vermas (from Sanchi )and many many more .We have memories of Pratique growing up and going to school for the first time  from  RB 506 .It was also the house in which we had his "mundan" ceremony when Sangeetas Dad came for the first and last time .I also  remember staying up 2 whole nights swabbing Pratique as his temperature would not drop below 102 and he became delirious.I remember the intense pain when I lost my pet companion Sneezy .RB 506 made me experience  agony and ecstasy .

But the one memory that stays etched in my memory is of the Shatabdi Express which connected Delhi and Bhopal and on which we usually travelled  .From RB 506 ,the railway track was about 200 metres away .And whenever we travelled ,  we never had to ask the railway inquiry about its arrival and departure status.We would sit in our drawing room and look out from its huge window .Its arrival time was 2 pm everyday .We would wait for it to thunder in –huffing and puffing .With a piercing whistle we would see it make its way into Bhopal Station(Habibganj Railway Station was being built at that time ) .Only after that  would we put our luggage into our car and drive to the station because the same train would leave at 2.40 pm .And by the time we would settle down it would start to chug away in the opposite direction to make its way to Delhi . I would always  look out of its window in its first minute of departure .Through the glasses I could see a big huge bungalow .It was RB 506 !!I can still see it as I write .I hope I am able to see it once again –especially from the Shatabdi Express .But I am sure some building must have come up blocking the view .After all –I left Bhopal 15 years back .However there is hope that the view hasn’t changed –because RB 506 has not changed –the pillar of the gate is a testimony to the fact !

( Concluded )