Mere Papa

Mere Papa 

28th August 1981..The Day Papa Departed while he was at Hardoi.. Far off from us. We were At Kanpur.! 

It was after three months after the Departure Of Our mother.. 

He had gone to see our Ailing grandmother.. Who was In her Late 80's..!

Scores of memories..Throng.. 

Decades have elapsed.. Since then. 

Childhood days.. Papa telling a story.. Of Sue and Johnsy..' The Last leaf..' and some others. Poem.. Rajni odhe jati thi. Jhil-mil Taron ki ujiali..! He used to slip away.. While I was asleep.. In Those childhood days we stayed at a Hardoi, with Mother , Papa Teaching at Kanpur. Living with suresh chacha at, . Who was city - Magistrate Of kanpur living At '' Chhai - Bungalia, Arya Nagar. Kanpur. 

Later we all shifted to Kanpur. 

We spending, the Summer Holidays at Hardoi.. And with a heavy heart, return to the Loneliness of kanpur.. 

Train journeys from Kanpur to Hardoi.. One train - change at Lucknow. Of course I liked train journeys very much.. 

A memory of Hardoi, I go to wake up Papa for tea. On the 1st floor room. Of our big ancestral house.

A Monkey Tries to intimide. Me., I recite ' Twinkle Twinkle Little Star.. How I wonder..what you are.. '!! 

with sobs.. And fear. as someone told me.. That if you recite it, Bunder will run away.. But I saw no effect on monkey. I Ran sobbing from there.

Papa. Playing cricket with all of us, at our Ancestral house at Hardoi.. Where our all joint family members and Baba and Dadi lived.

Papa, taking me to Green Park with him to watch cricket Test matches.. Of India with Pakistan, West indies, England and Australia.. Around 1959-60.. Or so.

We used to leave home in the morning. With packed Lunch and water bottle..

Delicious puris, Sabzi..!

Papa teaches me maths. Which I used to dislike..

He used to teach Hindi to Inter classes-Students, at Our BNSD College of Kanpur.. One of the biggest colleges of U. P.

Sections in Intermediate ran up.. To R., S.

 Two canteens.. In college.. 

Stormy. Elections Of College Students' Union. The president. Often used to be A body - Builder.. 

Annual Sports used to Take place for 3 Consecutive Days.. Papa played many sports.. Used to be an Active Supervisor, along with his other Colleagues.. 

We had A '' play Ground '' Of our College, adjacent to College- Hostel. In Brajendra Swaroop Park. 

Papa used to read English Novels of Agatha christi. And many others. 

I used to bring Hindi Detective novels , on hire from one ' Harsh book Stall' at Harsh Nagar kanpur.. ' Jasusi Duniya' By Ibne Safi.Featuring ' Vinod - Hamid, Kasim.. And many other Detective series of Vijay -Raghunath '' " Khan Baley'' 

Russian books, translated in Hindi from' Current - Bookstall. Of Mr Khaitan. At Phool bagh Kanpur.. 

He was very fond of All games.. Those were the days of ' Radio - Commentary' Cricket Commentary by Legends.. Vizzy.. The Maharaj Kumar of Vijaya nagaram.., Vijay Merchant, Raj Singh Dungarpur.. Whose name was associated with Lata Mangeshkar ji.. Raj Singh remained a Bachelor. All his Life. He had also been president of Cricket control board of India. 

Jasdev Singh ji famous for his Legendary, Hindi Commentary Of Cricket and Hockey. 

And also Independence day and Republic day of our country.. His voice was majestic..! 

Many other commentators .. In those days, Players, Umpires, commentators. All were, comparatively low paid.. Unlike present era. Of Prosperity Of Cricketers. 

Only memories of bygone days.. Remain.. 

Years roll on.. Life flows..