Manu & Money

Half of Hardwar is filled up with temples, ashrams, dharam shalas & hotels and other half is also filled up with temples, ashrams, dharam shalas & hotels! Variety of names of dharam shalas are there based on castes, sub-castes or name of native place of the founder for example: Khatri Samaj Dharam Shala, Gauriya Brahmin Dharam Shala, Bharara Dharam Shala, Bahawal Puri Dharam Shala, Sindhi Panchayat Dharam Shala & many more.

As regards ashrams Hardwar has hundreds of them with a variety of names: Thanaram Ashram, Ajar Dham, Kamal Das Kutiya, Avdhoot Jagat Ram Udaseen Ashram, Nityanand Brahmchari Ashram & many  more.

Most of these remain occupied by pilgrims for a day or two. But some people stay there for long. Some of them poor singles or couples not able to make their ends meet. Some of them are aged  who are unable to adjust with their adult children or their spouses. Some sick of family feuds or property disputes back home. Some are genuine seekers of peace. Lot of foreigners can be found roaming with rudraksh garlands, long unkempt hair & or some with shaven heads looking for kicks, chillum, ganja, solace, yoga, meditation, moksha or some such.

Manu or Manuji as ashram people called him, was one such seeker staying in ashram. He said that he was a post graduate in English & had left teaching job to ‘find out the self’. For a while he had toured various temple towns of India, studied various religious & philosophical books, met various gurus & moved on not fully satisfied. He said that he hailed from a suburb of Mumbai & had joined this ashram as he was getting tired of vagabonding. No regular timings for food & sleep, no fixed place of stay & no income. He had weakened & felt as if the journey had to stop now. He said that he felt uneasy inside after nearly three years of nomadic life & wanted to get back to normal life. He felt that normal life includes spiritual life & that perhaps he was ignoring it.

The ashram had assorted inmate’s old aged couples, singles, a few foreign middle aged persons besides guards, cooks, office staff and personal attendants of guruji. Ashram had well equipped office, well maintained lawn & kitchen garden, nice clean rooms & dining hall. Manuji was entrusted with job of bank reconciliation etc & public relations work with foreigners. He had more than full days job in his hands. Besides early morning yoga, office work & arrangement of foreigners kept him occupied. Occasionally Manuji visited bank & informed that his efforts had boosted the image of the ashram overseas & compared to previous years arrival of foreigners had increased & of course funds flow was up.

Life in ashram was disciplined. Wake up call was at 4.30 am & lights were off at 9.30 pm. Simple, wholesome & sufficient veg food was available at fixed timings. Manuji slowly regained his weight, his face gleamed & he was more confident. In very short time he had become sort of CEO of the ashram.

Couple of day’s back he informed that a grand function was being organised on the occasion of birthday of guruji & for which large amount of cash was withdrawn. Two days after the cash drawl accountant from ashram accompanied by police inspector came enquiring about various accounts of ashram.

While they checked the statements, Inspector informed that so called Manuji had disappeared with Rs.23 lacs.

                                                                                                                                                         

Vote comrade vote!

USSR was a superpower after the World War II & only other competitor was USA. It was a role model for newly liberated & developing countries including India. It was largest country spread over 2 crore sq kms across 12 time zones having longest boundary over 60,000 kms including coast line. Soviet Union had made significant achievements including first ever satellite & manned spacecraft. Russian literature had fascinating array of writers like Dostoevsky, Tolstoy, Pasternak, Gorky, Pushkin & so on.

Enjoying the literature in original writing rather than politics, made me take up study of Russian language in evening classes. Under Cultural Exchange Program I got selected with 9 others for a trip to Moscow Friendship University for 45 days in July, 1979.

Church in Red Square Moscow

All this led to frequent & lengthy discussions with friends & colleagues on communism, socialism, imperialism, capitalism, unionism, naxalism  etc. etc. Colleagues like Com T A Virmani & Com S P Nanda who prompted & persuaded me to join CPI though I was not very keen. On a Saturday we went together to attend a meeting with office bearers of Delhi State unit in Urdu Bazar, Darya Ganj, Delhi. Com Farooqui, Com Manna & certain others were present. As soon as Com Virmani introduced me there was an objection that before bringing in a new person, matter should have been discussed. My suggestion that I wait outside was waived & Com Virmani cleared the issue. Thereafter I attended a few meetings there & on two occasions in Ajoy Bhawan as well.

During ‘79 the ruling alliance of Janta Party broke up as some constituents like Bhartiya Jan Sangh withdrew support & Morarji Desai lost trust vote & resigned. Charan Singh became PM but he also could not muster the number as Congress backed out. He declared elections which were held in Jan, 80.

Com Prem Sagar Gupta had filed papers from Delhi Sadar & was pitted against Jagdish Tytler & 20 others if I am not wrong. Volunteers for canvassing were required & I reported to a makeshift office in a workshop in Karam Pura. They had only one banner, no posters, no fancy handbills & no sumptuous lunch. Not found suitable for industrial area, three of us were assigned Rajouri Garden. This area was dominated by Punjabis & was much more posh compared to Karam Pura.

Pressed the call bell. There came out a gentleman who graciously listened, accepted the handbill, read it & politely refused to vote to any communist candidate & returned the handbill!

Another bell & out came an old lady. She immediately started complaining about overflowing drains about which authorities did not care. Her middle aged son also came out & listened to us. He told his mother that these poor people had never won any election so how could they get the drains repaired?

Name plate on the gate indicated that house owner was SBI employee. He came out & answered that to be in union of comrades is one thing & to vote in election for a comrade is another. No vote sir!

Next one gave us a sermon that communist philosophy is not of Indian origin & therefore does not deserve to be voted for!

One of the responses was ferocious indeed. The gentlemen asked us to move away immediately or else he would unchain his bulldog!

One response was that commies are out to destroy all religions of the world which is not good at least for Indian society. Therefore no vote!

One gentleman was surprised on seeing communists asking for votes. He said that commies wanted guns & not votes!

Barring a few houses general response was not very favourable & result could be anticpated in advance. Com Gupta could gather about 10,000 votes & lost of course.

Soon thereafter got promoted & with promotions came frequent transfers & I lost touch with party comrades. As they say bye in Russian-Dusvidania!

Solution by Mantras

Solution by Mantras!

It was Jan, 11 and the annual closing 31.03.11 was not far off. It was Jan, 11 and the retirement date 30.06.11 was also not far off !

The plan was to concentrate on targets, take leave thereafter, avail last LTC & say good bye to the bank. Fair enough you will say. Fair enough said better-half who at that time was in Delhi as I was living alone.

With considerable zeal entire town was scoured for deposits & the effort was getting rewarded. The begging-bowl-of-deposit was filling up!

On the night of 1^st Mar there was slight drizzle & in the morning the grass in park was wet. While performing yogasan I slipped & hurt my back. Anyway ignoring the pain went to office only to be surprised to find a letter calling explanation to lapses pointed out in inspection report. Prepared the reply & submitted along with various photocopies next day. Meantime the backache intensified.

Prompt came the fax that reply is unsatisfactory & that charge sheet is enclosed. After consulting juniors, seniors, experts & well wishers reply was submitted. Their advices varied from left, to right & to center but everyone agreed that this thing should be cleared off before 30.06.11. It was learnt that enquiry was being constituted. Annual closing & LTC evaporated from the mind. 

On my visit to Delhi the story was narrated to better half who incidentally was also a fellow banker. She decided to submit her resignation without second thought. Kids also got sad & anxious. Backache continued & prolonged sittings & sleepless nights compounded the problem.

Seeing my predicament my landlord tried to help. While I was sitting in office at 8.30 pm with two colleagues preparing to face ensuing enquiry landlord brought one punditji with him. He said that punditji would like to talk in private. Me & punditji went in secluded computer room. There punditji informed that he had learnt of unfortunate happenings & submitted that he had come to help without wanting to earn anything as he was employed in a local govt organisation. He enquired about & noted date of birth, place of birth, family details & drew sketch of planetary position on his pocket notebook.

    

As instructed by him silence of two minutes was observed with eyes closed. Punditji proceeded to inform that the period up to coming birthday is going to be tough due to such & such planetary position but that everything could be settled gainfully subject to observance of certain rituals.

He stated that present state of affairs was due to ‘young’ untimely death of a close relation of father or of mother. The present difficulties are brought about by some spirits which were not given proper & appropriate last rites. To mitigate the present worrisome status & to make the spirits move away peacefully certain steps were essential to which he would guide.  

  

I told him no such thing had happened on father’s side. As regards relations on mother’s side I told that she, along with her parents & four siblings was trying to migrate to India during partition. Except my mother & her younger sister whereabouts of five others are not known till date.

Punditji listed out: (a) six live small golden fish have to be purchased- he could arrange that against payment of course, (b) these fish have to be released in Shukra Taal before day break or after sunset while he would chant mantras, (c) after 9 pm an hour long pooja shall be performed in a Shamshan Ghat(crematorium). For pooja requisite items would be arranged by him & for which advance payment was needed.

I interrupted & told him that I was a non-believer & did not subscribe to such views but as far as releasing fish in Shukra Taal was concerned it was okay. Going to Shamshan Ghat in the night was not acceptable & I excused myself. Punditji said that release of live fish was only a part measure but I refused any further discussion on the subject & we parted. Landlord was informed of it.

May all the departed souls rest in peace.

Friends & well wishers played vital role in settling the issues by 29.06.2011 and the bank service ended with a farewell party on 30.06.11. 

As per Rules!

It was a large office complex in Connaught Place, New Delhi. On 4^th floor of the building, we had two doors facing the lifts. The left door led to Delhi Zonal Office & the right one opened to New Delhi Zonal office. 

It need not be construed here that those working on the left side office are leftists & those working in office on right side are rightists!

The left side office or the Delhi Zonal Office is headed by a Zonal Manager Mr Goel. He is short, beer-bellied and rather old fashioned boss. His hairs have dissolved in thin air and as of now a few strands of hair are visible. Hence the staff of left office have an affectionate name for him ‘The Baldy’.

On the right side is the New Delhi Zonal office which is headed by Mr Narula. Compared to Mr Goel 'The Baldy', Mr Narula is younger & more informal. He has recently taken charge of the office and so far relations with office people have been cordial. It seemed that he was more of a motivational man & less stickler of rules in contrast to Mr Goel The Baldy. Mr Narula was affectionately called Sweety by the staff.

We three members of staff used to commute together daily in Haryana Roadways bus from Gurgaon to Connaught Place. Two of us are working in right side office headed by Sweety. Our friend Garg was working in left side office headed by The Baldy. 

On 24^th January we were in Haryana Roadways bus going to office in Connaught Place. Now you see Delhi is capital of India & Connaught Place is capital of Delhi so to say. Capital holds a Republic Day Parade on 26^th January but full dress rehearsal is held on 24^th January. The full dress rehearsal passes thruough Connaught Place also. Delhi Traffic Police publishes routes & diversions for the dress rehearsal for commuters. You take this route, don’t go this way etc.

So our Roadways bus took this route and that route, turned this way and that way. Anyways the bus finally dumped us on Sansad Marg one km away from the office at 9.55 instead of normal time of 9.15. Clutching our brief cases we made a dash to our offices. We three ignored the Q for lift and instead rushed towards staircase. We reached inside our offices at 10.10 huffing & puffing totally out of breath. 

Manager-HRD directed two of us to meet Mr Narula before marking attendance. Mr Narula aka Sweety, patiently listened to our story and said that such incident must not get repeated. This dress rehearsal was known to all and we two should have planned the journey accordingly. We apologised, assured him of non-recurrence of such incidence in future. He told Manager-HRD on intercom to allow us to mark attendance and resume duties.

Don't be late 

Meantime our dear friend Garg was also asked to meet Mr Goel The Baldy and seek his permission to mark attendance. However our friend Garg was told ‘No. As per rules you are to report for duty before 10. You are late by 10 minutes whatever be the reason.’ So  Manager-HRD of Delhi Zonal Office did not allow him to mark attendance  and he was treated on leave for that day. 

Dejected Garg went off cursing The Baldy, Manager-HRD, the organisation and even himself. He roamed about in Connaught Place for a while & had his lunch sitting on green grass of Central Park. He then boarded 1’o clock bus to go back to his home in Gurgaon.

This incident happened long time back. I have narrated the story to lot many colleagues and asked as to which executive was right – Mr Narula The Sweety, who allowed us to join office or Mr Goel The Baldy, who did not allow the staff to join the office 10 min late despite genuine reason. But the debate remains inconclusive.

What do you say?

Second Marriage

Only bachelor in our branch was Nafe Singh and he too was getting married soon. Nafe invited all staff members of the branch to his wedding. As marriage was to take place on Sunday noon so all of us proceeded to groom’s place in a village off Meerut - Roorkee Road.

The village was as good as any other in UP. Small zig zag lanes lined with red bricks with overflowing waste water here & there. In between pucca houses there were Kuchha houses as well. Some houses just over the edge of lane with their balconies hanging over your head. Why these lanes can’t be in straight line is beyond me.

If you blow horn to request the villager walking ahead of your vehicle in middle of the road to give side, he will slowly turn his head around, have a look on your face & then get to a side & let you pass. After you have passed him, he will continue to glare at your back for a while muttering - Why are you disturbing me? Perhaps he would like to understand your presence in the village first. Or he might have been an auditor in his earlier avtar!

Two dogs sprinted behind the cars barking all the way for approx 50 mtrs. Finding nothing unusual dropped back. Even otherwise we bankers are used to them because of late sittings in the branches. Buffaloes tethered to pegs were lazily munching grass & were not interested in banking matters & a standing cow looked at us with half-closed eyes.
 

Chasing the source of sound of music we reached Nafe Singh’s place. Large tent was pitched in a vacant plot & decorated with buntings. Local DJ with huge loudspeakers was blowing away filmy music to the delight of the small crowd of dancers. Lunch was getting ready in one corner. Lots of guests, kids & ladies in colourful dresses were scattered all over the place. Ladies had their heads covered & avoided elderly gentlemen.

Nafe Singh the groom, greeted us a bit shyly & took us to his father sitting with friends on cots, takhats & chairs. Practically all of them dressed up in white dhoti-kurta & Gandhi toupees. They were enjoying Gurguri (Hukka), mattha & liquor. His father greeted us & called for drinks. Besides desi liquor bottles like Santara & Malta, beer & rum was also available. He ordered for ‘english bottle’ specially kept for us Babu log from bank!

I congratulated him on the marriage of his son Nafe Singh & asked for further programme as to where the Barat was supposed to go. He gave a cryptic reply,

- Nowhere! Barat will not go anywhere. 

A bit puzzled I enquired again. He put a counter question,

- Nafe Singh has not informed you I suppose?

 

We waited for his explanation.

 - See Manager saab with your blessings & with blessings of God I have three sons & three daughters. All except Nafe are married. Unfortunately as per God’s will, elder brother of Nafe died in road accident thirteen months before this day. He was two years older to Nafe. He has left behind his wife & six month old son.

- See saab with your blessings & with blessings of God, I had four brothers & three sisters. There was family fight over land & then division took place & I was left with only two acres. And now I don't want to divide it further. If we go on dividing our land one day there shall be no land left. How will children survive tell me Manager saab?

- Understand Manager saab that this earth is like mother to us as she provides food, shelter & life. We are part of mother earth & we go back into it. So I decided no more division of my land. 

- Therefore saab I talked to all concerned in the family. Everyone agreed to marry Nafe to his Bhabhi.

- So Manager saab I am grateful to God that Barat is starting from this house & reaching this very house as both groom & bride are present in this house.

- With your blessings Manager saab & with blessings of God the assets of this house shall remain in this very house!

Towards a New Journey 

The Feast

It was time to leave the branch & I had packed up. In came an old man along with a teenager boy. He introduced himself as Samey Singh & said that a part of his land holding has been sold & that he shall be receiving payment of Rs.27 lacs the next day for which he needed help.

Deposits are always welcome 24*7*365 by any banker worth his salt. And so I spent another half an hour with the old man with pleasure. Cash van was organised, Sh Raj Singh cashier & Sh Arora officer were informed about programme. The team was in place.

Next day things went on smoothly. Payment in drafts & cash was collected & brought to the bank. Savings & fixed deposit accounts were opened in the names of daughters, grandchildren & (sighed Samey Singh) sons in law etc as per wishes of Sh Samey Singh.

I then learnt about his family. He had four daughters & ‘regrettably’ no son. All four daughters were married & two of them had two daughters each. Third daughter had two daughters & a son. This son had a handicap of a twisted ankle since birth. Fourth daughter was recently married & had no child as yet.

Samey Singh narrated that he was looking after grandson as his own son & was spending for his schooling, clothing etc. He said that God had been kind to him & blessed with sufficient land & cattle to feed his family & to spare. But he must have committed some sin as Almighty did not favour him with a son. The punishment of Almighty unfortunately continued with his daughters also as two of them again had no son but daughters only. That the daughters could not beget sons was not fair on His part as they were innocents. God should have restricted the punishment to Samey Singh alone he lamented.

Having received Pass Books & FDRs he profusely thanked all & promised to bring in more deposits in case he decided to sell more land. As it is he was under pressure from sons in law for selling remaining land.

After a fortnight Samey Singh came again & I thought more deposit was on its way. But no, he had come with an invitation to attend his function ‘Kaaj’ at his residence on Sunday. I immediately agreed keeping in mind future sale proceeds of land!

On Sunday I took along Sh Arora officer & Sh Raj Singh cashier. On the way cashier informed that ‘Kaaj or Dharam ka Kaaj’ is a feast organised after the death of a senior person. He also suggested that we all give cash individually in envelopes as Shagun or our contribution. This was news to us as we did not know of any death which occurred in the house of Samey Singh. I was not sure if we should attend this function or not. But then we decided to proceed as we were almost near the village.

To our surprise his house was well decorated with flowers & buntings. There was no sign of any death.  Loudspeaker was blaring filmy dance numbers & kids were having gala time. Arrangement for sumptuous lunch was there. Menu included Makki / bajre ki roti, kachori, rice, aloo ki subzi, palak ka sag, gobhi aloo,  chhach, milk & hot jalebis! Drinks were also served discreetly to selected few.

We were photographed & video recorded with Samey Singh. Cashier hinted at handing over Shagun envelopes. But Samey Singh did not accept & asked us to wait. He then called his grandson & asked him to accept our envelopes.

Then he informed in philosophical tone that who knows when he shall die. Also there is no son to bid him last farewell by putting Agni to his mouth on the funeral pyre. This job now shall be performed by his grandson. And who knows the Kaaj or the feast after death may or may not be organised by these sons in law (who are becoming greedier by the day).

That is why this Kaaj was organised by him on lavish scale to commemorate his own death!

                                                                                                                    jogharshwardhan@gmail.com 

Maruti Car

Once Sh Sanjay Gandhi visited Parliament Street branch of PNB. After pleasantries, there was discussion on proposal to manufacture small cars. License had been issued to him in ’71 & central govt had awarded the contract to manufacture ‘peoples’ car’. He had reportedly undergone apprenticeship in Rolls-Royce, England.

They came out after discussion & proceeded towards a car parked outside the branch. Car was very small, somewhat crude & unfinished. They had a ride in prototype of Maruti around Patel Chowk.

Subsequently, the loan of Rs.1cr each was sanctioned by PNB & Central Bank. It was to be seen whether new car could compete against Ambassador & Fiat of that time.

Project could not take off fully for one reason or the other. In June ’80 he died in an air crash. In ’81 Suzuki stepped in for collaboration & rest is history.