Many a times, we wanted to categorize the different Indian cities on various parameters like population, convenience, weather, civic amenities etc & all the time, we have come to a definite conclusion that Bombay stood head & shoulder above the others from ‘civility’ point of view. The city may have umpteen numbers of inherent problems, but at the same time, the place had a unique character and capacity to follow rules & abide regulations. In spite of a much longer route in Church gate station, I have never seen anybody using the ‘exit’ gate for entrance purpose or vice-versa. This was not a common occurrence, anywhere else in India even at that time! In early 80s, I shifted to Bombay from Lucknow to join the ‘Training’ department of Hoechst at RTC, Kasturi Buildings, Churchgate, under Mr.J.K. Singhal. I went there six months in advance to join the “Bajaj Institute of Management” for a course named ‘Training the Trainers’, as per advice of M/s, Singhal & Menezes. My family joined me later as per the academic session of Bombay. During my ‘forced bachelorship’ days, I stayed at ‘Nibana’ in Pali Hill, Bandra, jointly with M/s, Jaganmohan, Manuel, Parmanand & VGP. Those were the days of camaraderie & friendship. All of us enjoyed it thoroughly. Later, my family joined me at Bombay & we moved on to the Lovely Villa, LIC Colony, Borivilli. In real sense, this was a ‘lovely’ place under the shadow of a mango grove. Gentle, serene & calm. My children got admission in some good local schools. Mr. Variahva of Bombay branch helped us in this effort quite a lot. The schools suited them well & they started enjoying. My wife took a liking for the mixed crowd of the place, a peaceful group of people, belonging to all caste, creed & religion. There were local electric trains plying between Borivilli & Churchgate stations. I used to travel by those. It was a highly effective & efficient mass-transit system. In fact, I used to spend almost about 4 hours a day in the train & at the platform & finished my “Marketing Management” course there itself! I used to do most of my studies, sitting over there! Would you believe, my co-passengers kept a side seat reserved for me in the train, taking pity at my condition! The timings for the classes were Tuesdays/Wednesdays evenings & Saturdays/Sundays mornings! When I look back & start thinking now, I shudder. Only because of Bombay, it was possible to complete the programme. Mr. Singhal also helped me a lot with my studies. I fondly remember the short ‘pau-bhajji’ and ‘brun-maska-chai’ sessions with him in the nearby joints! My memory also rings a bell for Prof.Jaie, Balan, Valerie & Vaghella in the training centre! Later, I was shifted from ‘Training’ to ‘Pharma Promotion’ under Mr.Bishnoi & Dr. A. Sengupta. That was another time, another story! I still recall the famous song of C.I.D. The first line of the lyric was “Yeh hai Bombay meri jaan...” The tune still haunts me & I hum it...
Posted on: Tue, 25 Mar 2014 01:36:09 +0000
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