GRATITUDE: Newsletters from a Grandfather to his future generations, family n friends. Newsletter No. 6

Copyright reserved for Text and Pix.

Newsletter No. 6

April  2016.

It has only been a week since I last wrote. Yet I have a lot to share. That was written even as I was in the midst of another episode of fever, congestion etc. So I quickly wrapped up the loose ends and hot footed to Ashiana Utsav Lavasa.

Within couple of days, the symptoms relented and am feeling quite fit and energetic.  Of course I completed the course of medication. The doc had reiterated the importance of Physiotherapy i.e. deep breathing exercises to literally vacuum the lungs. I confess I had neglected that and given myself an alibi: I am now fed up.

I am Not.

The clean air of Lavasa, does me good. My lungs are happy.

Of course I came here alone.  Our house maid is getting married and we had to find to another. Sukhjit thinks she has got the right one. She would like her to work for a while before closing the house n joining me in Lavasa.

So I am here on single status and am mingling.

I have become familiar with almost a dozen families. They come from all corners of the country and with diverse backgrounds and interests. The Club is a focal point where we run into each other. There is the Gym, Pool, card room, etc.

I have a neighbor giving me lessons in playing Bridge. Another is helping with accu-pressure to heal my lungs.

Yet another (asthmatic) demonstrated how he is doing deep breathing and that has reinforced my resolve.

Baisakhi was a great occasion for meeting people and spending time with them. I requested a neighbor to bring  sweets from Pune. I went around sharing them with our neighbours. Then I was at the receiving end of their hospitality: Take something they would say: It was anjeer barfi at one place; nice juicy melon slices in another home; home made chewra and chhas at another and topped it off with a beer n lunch at yet another neighbor’s.

I made a bold attempt to host a drinks party for 9 of our neighbours on my own. I managed to make Gobhi Pakoras and cheese sandwiches and ordered Chicken Sate from Venky’s Exp’s. Had earlier requested a neighbou to buy me from Dorabjee’s in Pune, beer and munchies. On the day of the party, I had requested another neighbor to buy me some desi whiskey. Pune is the place from where all these goodies come. I do believe the guests had a good time and had a good word for my ‘bachelor’ effort.

Hospitality apart, in these interactions, we were able to get to know each other and a bit of their life’s journey that brought them to Lavasa.

And they are a fascinating mix.

I learned my lesson and have been reasonably regular about my deep breathing exercises. Also on most mornings I enjoyed a 2 km long walk along the lake front in the company of another neighbor.

Our sister Jasbir had turned 75 last year. We got the family together and had a great meal together at home.

Back in Lavasa on 2^nd May.

Come the Mothers’ Day, the ladies decked out in party clothes and had a ball of their own. Me, the escort had to chill in the chill air off the Lake while the girls partied.

Sukhjit and I spent ten days as Lavasa and returned on 12^th May ahead of our 55^th anniversary. While in Lavasa, We hosted a few neighbours; and in turn were invited to a couple of homes.

While the physical environment of Lavasa is quite inviting, the warmth and love of the neighbours makes us a great community.

May 14 onwards

This was our 55^th marriage anniversary. I marvel how it seemed only yesterday that we had a great celebration of our 50^th. Thank you Lord for your Mercies and the Love of our Family.

Anu n Vicky hosted us to a fabulous dinner at the Salt Water Café nearby. For once we had four desserts on the table. That was a huge meal. It got followed up with another on May 15: our neighbours in Lavasa, Kochhar family had been asking us out; and this time the timing worked for us. Another heavy meal and even half portion of dessert was …uff… heavy.

More importantly: the event that we have been waiting for happened on May 15: Simran, our elder grandson, graduated from Wharton School UPenn. Much as we would have liked to be present, the long journey was too intimidating.

Fortunately Mickey, Venus and Harkirat were there in full force to applaud Simran’s walk up the ramp. He was the No. 2 to be called up. First up was someone with surname Adam. That is the alphabet roulette.

Mickey sent us a video clip and our hearts beat faster seeing Simran stride up the ramp, collect his Certificate and lead the procession back to their seats. Mickey also sent a whole lot of pictures including Venus and Harkirat. These gave us a proxy sense of participation.

We Love you Simran. Hark is coming up right behind you.

Hurrah for our Side. Three cheers of Mickey, Venus, Simran n Harkirat. 

And within a month of the Graduation Ceremony, Simran came visiting us in Mumbai. That gave us another occasion to get the Khandan together to celebrate his achievement.

  

Picture Gallery Follows:-

Please pardon any errors in captions.
Please do point out any errors.

SOCIAL LIFE IN ASHIANA UTSAV LAVASA

With Mr. Malhotra, our host for Ram Navmi Priti Bhojan

Joke session at the Activity Center

Party at Koshals' home. Arun Dhindsa n Vanita Koshal

Mothers' day out

Breakfast group at dinner.
l-r me, Vanita Koshal, Neena Mathur, Indu Dhanjal, Satish Koshal n
Yogesh Mathur (old Forbes connection)

Cocktails at Home
l-r Doc Kersi Hozdar, Kuljeet Ghelot and Suresh Goswami

l-r Suresh n Savita Goswami, Indu Dhanjal, Vanita Koshal, Mehroo Hozdar,
Pankaj Mehrotra, self n Kuljeet Ghelot

With Satish Koshal at our home

Dinner at home
l-r Ajay Singhania, Vijay Dhup and PK Chaktravarti

Cheers!
Shree Natekar n Anand Damle

Dinner time
l-r Hostess Sukhjit, Shree n Vrinda Natekar n Ajay Singhania

Family time
r-l Shashi Singhania, Bala Dhup n gr'daughter Palak.

 FAMILY EVENTS

Celebrating 76th birthday of our Sister Jasbir
l-r Harsimran, Guljit, Jagjeet, Sukhjit, Jasbir, Mini, me, Amrik n Harjit. 

Family at Lavasa.
Amrik Singh seated with us.
standing l-r Jagjeet Singh Guljit and Harjit. 

Our 55th... Thank you God.

Our Jamai raja, Taranjit Singh.. chance meet at KP on Expressway.

With Rashmi and Reana
good wishes for another shift

Cousins, Vicky n Vinu at Delhi airport

Graduate
Simran Singh Ahluwalia

Men of our Family
Mickey, Hark and Sim

Proud Family
Hark, Venus Sim and Mickey

Sim with Sofie n Vineet

Third Generation
l-r Ranveer, Rishik n Naisha

deep in though Nikki, aka Asmeet

Power Girls - Namita n Sofie with my sister Swarnjit

Pride of Khandan
l-r Honey, Bittoo, Vineet, Vikas, Manpreet and
tots Rishik n Ranveer

Celebrating Simran's success
Aunties n Cousins

GRATITUDE: Letters from a Grandfather to his future generations, famiy and friends. Newsletter No. 5

Newsletter No. 5.

April 6, 2016

Dear Family n Friends:

The inevitable happened. Our Sambandhi, Ranbir Singh ji breathed his last in the early hours of March 3, 2016. He had been ailing for a long time. He had been in and out of Hospital several times. We thought that he would win out this time too. Alas it was not to be.

Simran, Ira, Harkirat, Rohan  your beloved Naanoo went away to a better world.

The earlier day, Mickey had texted that he was on his way to Delhi. The funeral was set the same after noon. I took a late morning flight and was able to attend the cremation. The family had taken his passing away bravely. Family and friends surrounded them. Yet, they were able to hold their grief within themselves.

Next day Anil n Mickey, did the duty of immersing the mortal remains in the Yamuna. The same morning Akhand Path Sahib Paath was started and culminated in Bhog on Sunday and a public Antim Ardas later the same afternoon.

Vicky landed Sunday morning accompanied by Anu and Sukhjit and they joined the Bhog ceremony. Anu n Vicky left the same afternoon since they had commitments in Mumbai. Sukhjit stayed over and both of us returned on Monday after marking our attendance at the revered Bangla Saheb Gurudwara.

The attendance at the public prayer was tremendous. Most of his erstwhile colleagues n friends of Tea Industry in Assam had turned up as they got word of his passing away. Having worked and played together, these loyalties endure a long time. A few of our nephews/nieces showed up too.

All this while, Dimple,  and her household did the hospitality duties admirably.  Manju n Venus had kind words for my humble efforts. But then what is Family for.

It was a fitting farewell to a fine gentleman, a great sportsman, and a tall member of our extended Family.

Rest in Peace, Big brother.

………………………………………………………………………………………………

Whilst in Delhi, my Twitter friend, Ravinder Singh came out to spend some time together. He stood lunch at the Mainland China nearby. We were able to take our relationship from the  e-world to the real-world. Ravi is a  gem of a gentleman and good friend. Thank you Ravi for the interlude.

The rest of March went away in humdrum daily life. Sukhjit and I spent some time in Lavasa.

Then suddenly a project that was in the mill for a long time, came to fruition. Our friend Ratnesh Mathur had long ago suggested that I participate in a project to preserve the history of India’s partition in 1947. The Archives’ management deputed Aalisha Sheth, a bright young lady to interview me and do an audio visual recording of my recollection of Partition, life before and after. She is a multi talented young lady: a writer, in Theatre, TV n so on. The actual story telling happened on 4 April. It was a longish session, albeit with breaks. Yet the actual recording time might have been long two hours. The Archives will upload an excerpt on their FB page in due time. I shall share with you, when I know that it is up there for us to see.

 Of course, Sukhjit’s family had a much closer brush with Partition. But then that is another story for another day.

Aalisha Sheth - the hard working Interviewer

Aalisha Sheth - the glamour quotient
The truth is somewhere in between. 

Essence of my Life : Two great ladies and one spoilt brat. 

I recap briefly, for those who came in late:

Our family history is recorded in my Blog and can be seen at

https://rajahluwalia66.wordpress.com/category/family-tree-of-hardit-singh-n-descendants/

Our small family, ie papa ji, bibi ji and I were located in Singapore. Around 1938, with  WW II looming ahead, Papa ji  relocated the famiy to Quetta Balochistan. We had my grandfather and grandmother join us over there. Bhabi ji passed away in 1942. We had a peaceful life in Quetta. The family grew: two sisters came around. A brother died in infancy. Quetta had an early warning of the things to come: Hindu Muslim riots had broken out in Quetta in August 1946; the same as in Calcutta. Papa ji and my cousin Manmohan Singh were caught up in that turmoil and had taken shelter in the Sikh Jhatka Market. We in the family were worried to death not knowing about them. We could hear gunfire and explosions. Rumours had filtered in to us of the happenings in town. We were relieved when both of them showed up late night. Earlier we could see military trucks moving around.

Those riots must have made up papa ji’s mind and he decided to move. So the family moved out of Quetta early months of 1947 and relocated to another cantonment; Dehra Dun. I spent a few months studying in Multan and then in Sialkot with my grandfather.  Bhaiyya ji, brought me to Dehra Dun to join the family some time in July 1947.  And, he went back to Sialkot. Hope was around that Sialkot and Gurdaspur may fall within India and that must have driven him back.

Alas it was not to be and he was in the thick of Partition. For months the family had no news of him and we were worried sick on his behalf.  One day in late 1947, he showed up at our Dehra Dun house with a bedroll on his head. What a relief. We learned that he had walked all the way from Sialkot to Amritsar and thence by train to Dehra Dun. Thankfully he knew where the family was.

This was our ‘direct’ brush with Partition.

Of course other branches of our extended family had taken huge losses of life n property. We know of lives lost in Harnam Singh’s family. We know of huge landed and other property lost by our own uncle Gurcharan Singh, father of Manmohan Singh and our other cousins, Harmohan n Billa. We had lost the family house in Siakot and its hoard of family’s possessions and memories. We did get a modest compensation years later.

In the recording we covered all of this and the journey of our immediate family to the 21^st Century. I confess I had some emotional moments when I recollected select tender memories.

Of course there were lighter moments too: like How Sukhjit and I met. You know of How I met your Mother? I bet,  given the Indian culture scene of 1960s, there is a movie lurking in that. I told the young lady: I hold copy right of that one.

There was some coverage of how life would have been if Partition had not taken place. Who can tell?

I have given them some pictures of our family. They are in the photo gallery below. You have seen most of them already.

Having got all this behind me, I plan to go to Lavasa in a day or two to recoup my health. Uff , Mumbai air is not for an asthmatic person.  But then Family calls.

Bi for now: more later.

Our Ancestor S Hardit Singh Ahluwalia

With my Bhayya ji: S Lehna Singh Ahluwalia

My parents: Bibiji Rajbans Kaur and Papaji S Mohinder Singh

Our Refugee ID Card - Oct 1947

in Bibi ji's lap

 

At college

Bibi ji n Papa ji in 1988

 

Dr Ranjit Singh (r) n Baldev Singh - the Penang Connection

Our Family at Diwali 2016.. The Male Order

and the Women Power

Satinder with Venus, Simran and Harkirat.
missed Diwali 2015

Decked up

A proud epilogue:our niece Babli and her husband Viney Sehgal
with our PM in Brussels.
Viney is the current leader of the Indian community there. 

GRATITUDE: Letters from a Grandfather to his future generations n friends. Newsletter No. 4.

Copyright reserved.

March 2, 2016

My dear Family n Friends:

Newsletter No.4

OMG. I last wrote on Gandhi Jayanti and already Gandhi Barsi has come n gone! It is five 5 months to the day.  I found this draft on my laptop and I shall let some extracts serve as preamble:

Quote:

I was happy to welcome Tejaswini Joshi, (a Twitter friend) and her son Bibhas on their first visit to Lavasa…..

The weather here (Lavasa) does get warm during the day, outdoors. But indoors it is cool n comfy. At the most I need slow speed fans. (it was valid when I wrote it in Oct and now in end Feb)

Sukhjit tells me that they have almost completed the job of breaking the affected areas.  …..Sukhjit plans to make a trip to Lavasa when they do the ‘Mono-par’ treatment, which lets out unbearable fumes and smell.

Meanwhile, Vicky is doing a yeoman job pampering his mother with take-outs from different outlets.  His mother feels for him, when she sees him all sweaty, bringing tiffin for her. That is Mother-son bond. ……

Here I am ‘learning’ to cook basic things e……. Though the first operation of pressure cooker was a disaster; today was ‘not bad’. I have managed to cook couple of veggies too.

The dhaba, Lake View Dining is a good find. The owner is an employee of the Lavas Corporation. He delivers whatever I need (or he suggests).

……I have learnt how to set the curds.

Unquote.

Let me now share with you the highlights of what has transpired in 5 months.

I had spent all of October in Lavasa and regained good health.  I returned to Mumbai end of October. Since the structural repairs had been completed, I undertook the task of making the house habitable. We rebuilt the bathroom in that wing; as per Sukhjit’s choice. With some heart-ache we got through rewiring, restoring the electrical fittings and painting. Finally, we had this wing habitable and moved in. Phew! That is done.

We then spent a few days in Lavasa; celebrated my birthday there and returned to Mumbai in time for Diwali.

Vineet and Sofia hosted the family Diwali party. They laid out great food, booze, and fun. In walked Anu n Vicky with a large bag. They brought red silk shirts for all male members and multi colored Bandhni dupattas for all the Ladies.  And surprise was that the shirts were verily bespoke and fitted all the recipients. This added more color and jubilation to the Party.

During last few months, my knee had been hurting quite badly.  I had over exerted negotiating the gradients and stairs in Lavasa. Ultimately, Dr Nirad Vengsarkar injected steroid into my knee. That has given considerable relief; though I am now conscious of not pushing my luck.  They say this relief lasts only 5-6 months. I hope and pray that I am the exception to the ‘norm’.  Encouraged by this, Sukhjit also got an injection into her painful shoulder. That does not seem to be of much help; though it might have reduced the severity of pain.

We have had our share of ‘guests’ to Ashiana. By now most of the family members have blessed our second home with their presence. We will get the remaining members when they can make it.  It gives us great pleasure to have ‘house-full’.  Details in the picture gallery.

We met Ajay Panot and his sister when Ajay came here for a wedding at their native place. We had a lovely lunch together. Ajay n Tram celebrated their 20^th wedding anniversary on Dec 26, last year. We could not join them on this happy occasion, since Mickey n his family were scheduled to visit around the same time. So we had to be content with sending a small gift with Ajay.  While on the subject: Rajbir n Mickey had their 25^th anniversary and Anu n Vicky their 20^th late last year.

We had returned to Mumbai on Dec 6 along with Eddie, since we had a wedding to attend: that of Anu’s niece. The bride’s father Anil Wadhwani had helped me to connect with Santosh Wadhwani, my colleague at Esso Bombay Refinery some 60 years ago.  Santosh was at the wedding and we had a great reunion. As ever, Santosh turned out to be well kept and well dressed. Meticulous as ever, he had brought a photo from our Wedding Reception and some other photos. Later, thanks to Twitter, we were  ‘found’ by  Saurabh Mehrotra, a neighbor in Lavasa who turned out to be a friend of Santosh’s son as well as of a young man in Asuda Kutir.  Small world, this.  We met Saurab again last Friday and he told us that Santosh lost his elder brother n Anil’s Uncle Kishen. Rest in Peace, Senior Wadhwani Sir.

We were happy to have Mickey and his family visit us in Mumbai around year-end.   First Harkirat landed in Mumbai direct from Toronto. Then came Mickey, Simran and Venus, one by one. We had a rare opportunity to have most of the  family together at dinner at the Sodawater Bottle wala in BKC.  Harkirat, you were missed. The last gathering of the full family had been in Raavi Dhaba in Dubai some 12-13 yrs ago. We look forward to the summer break expectantly.

Golf has taken a back seat since I spend time away from Mumbai. All the same I played two tournaments: Seniors conducted by the Western India Golf Association and Mercedes Trophy. My game is nowhere near competitive but there is great satisfaction in getting out there on the course and participating.

We lost Narjit Kaur, wife of my first cousin Harmohan Singh of Barnala after a brief illness. Last month, Harmohan himself was critical; but thanks to good medical care, he has recovered and is in good health now. His younger brother Billa had rushed from Holland to be by his side. Veena did a great job of looking after her parents while they were hospitalized.

And then my sister Swarnjit had a fall and broke her ankle. She is recovering nicely at home…

We arranged Akhand Path Saheb at the Citilight Gurudwara, through kind efforts of Jagjeet Singh ji and Guljit Kaur. This was to thank the Almighty for all his boons and seek His continued blessings for our family n friends. I had a special prayer said for the good health of our long time friend n neighbor, Bhagchandani, and our beloved Sambandhi Ranbir Singh, critically ill in Delhi. Venus is keeping a vigil there and we pray to Lord Almighty to give him the boon of good health.

Now I have brought you up to date on family n friends.

These last 5-6 months have seen many worrisome happenings in the country’s political scene. I shall write on that subject shortly.

Newsletter No.4

OMG. I last wrote on Gandhi Jayanti and already Gandhi Barsi has come n gone! It will be  over 5 months when this sees the light of day. I found this draft on my laptop and let some extracts serve as preamble:

Quote:

I was happy to welcome Tejaswini Joshi, (a Twitter friend) and her son Bibhas on their first visit to Lavasa…..

The weather here (Lavasa) does get warm during the day, outdoors. But indoors it is cool n comfy. At the most I need slow speed fans. (it was valid when I wrote it in Oct and now in end Feb)

Sukhjit tells me that they have almost completed the job of breaking the affected areas.  …..Sukhjit plans to make a trip to Lavasa when they do the ‘Mono-par’ treatment, which lets out unbearable fumes and smell.

Meanwhile, Vicky is doing a yeoman job pampering his mother with take-outs from different outlets.  His mother feels for him, when she sees him all sweaty, bringing tiffin for her. That is Mother-son bond. ……

Here I am ‘learning’ to cook basic things e……. Though the first operation of pressure cooker was a disaster; today was ‘not bad’. I have managed to cook couple of veggies too.

The dhaba, Lake View Dining is a good find. The owner is an employee of the Lavas Corporation. He delivers whatever I need (or he suggests).

……I have learnt how to set the curds.

Unquote.

Let me now share with you the highlights of what has transpired in 5 months.

I had spent all of October in Lavasa and regained good health.

I returned to Mumbai end of October. Since the structural repairs had been completed, I undertook the task of making the house habitable. We rebuilt the bathroom in that wing; as per Sukhjit’s choice. With some heart-ache we got through rewiring, restoring the electrical fittings and painting. Finally, we had this wing habitable and moved in. Phew! That is done.

We then spent a few days in Lavasa; celebrated my birthday there and returned to Mumbai in time for Diwali.

Vineet and Sofia hosted the family Diwali party. They laid out great food, booze, and fun. In walked Anu n Vicky with a large bag. They brought red silk shirts for all male members and multi colored Bandhni dupattas for all the Ladies.  And surprise was that the shirts were verily bespoke and fitted all the recipients. This added more color and jubilation to the Party.

During last few months, my knee had been hurting quite badly.  I had over exerted negotiating the gradients and stairs in Lavasa. Ultimately, Dr Nirad Vengsarkar injected steroid into my knee. That has given considerable relief; though I am now conscious of not pushing my luck.  They say this relief lasts only 5-6 months. I hope and pray that I am the exception to the ‘norm’.  Encouraged by this, Sukhjit also got an injection into her painful shoulder. That does not seem to be of much help; though it might have reduced the severity of pain.

We have had our share of ‘guests’ to Ashiana. By now most of the family members have blessed our second home with their presence. We will get the remaining members when they can make it.  It gives us great pleasure to have ‘house-full’.  Details in the picture gallery.

We met Ajay Panot and his sister when Ajay came here for a wedding at their native place. We had a lovely lunch together. Ajay n Tram celebrated their 20^th wedding anniversary on Dec 26, last year. We could not join them on this happy occasion, since Mickey n his family were scheduled to visit around the same time. So we had to be content with sending a small gift with Ajay.  While on the subject: Rajbir n Mickey had their 25^th anniversary and Anu n Vicky their 20^th late last year.

We had returned to Mumbai on Dec 6 along with Eddie, since we had a wedding to attend: that of Anu’s niece. The bride’s father Anil Wadhwani had helped me to connect with Santosh Wadhwani, my colleague at Esso Bombay Refinery some 60 years ago.  Santosh was at the wedding and we had a great reunion. As ever, Santosh turned out to be well kept and well dressed. Meticulous as ever, he had brought a photo from our Wedding Reception and some other photos. Later, thanks to Twitter, we were  ‘found’ by  Saurabh Mehrotra, a neighbor in Lavasa who turned out to be a friend of Santosh’s son as well as of a young man in Asuda Kutir.  Small world, this.  We met Saurab again last Friday and he told us that Santosh lost his elder brother n Anil’s Uncle Kishen. Rest in Peace, Senior Wadhwani Sir.

We were happy to have Mickey and his family visit us in Mumbai around year-end.   First Harkirat landed in Mumbai direct from Toronto. Then came Mickey, Simran and Venus, one by one. We had a rare opportunity to have most of the  family together at dinner at the Sodawater Bottle wala in BKC.  Harkirat, you were missed. The last gathering of the full family had been in Raavi Dhaba in Dubai some 12-13 yrs ago. We look forward to the summer break expectantly.

Golf has taken a back seat since I spend time away from Mumbai. All the same I played two tournaments: Seniors conducted by the Western India Golf Association and Mercedes Trophy. My game is nowhere near competitive but there is great satisfaction in getting out there on the course and participating.

We lost Narjit Kaur, wife of my first cousin Harmohan Singh of Barnala after a brief illness. Last month, Harmohan himself was critical; but thanks to good medical care, he has recovered and is in good health now. His younger brother Billa had rushed from Holland to be by his side. Veena did a great job of looking after her parents while they were hospitalized.

And then my sister Swarnjit had a fall and broke her ankle. She is recovering nicely at home…

We arranged Akhand Path Saheb at the Citilight Gurudwara, through kind efforts of Jagjeet Singh ji and Guljit Kaur. This was to thank the Almighty for all his boons and seek His continued blessings for our family n friends. I had a special prayer said for the good health of our long time friend n neighbor, Bhagchandani, and our beloved Sambandhi Ranbir Singh, critically ill in Delhi. Venus is keeping a vigil there and we pray to Lord Almighty to give him the boon of good health.

Now I have brought you up to date on family n friends.

These last 5-6 months have seen many worrisome happenings in the country’s political scene. I shall write on that subject shortly.

This has been a long letter; therefore Picture gallery will follow in the next Newsletter.

 Picture gallery follows.

                                                   …..oooooOOOOOooooo…..

With Tejaswini Joshi n Bhibas

Sukhjit with Jasbir n Mini

My 80th birthday at the American Diner Lavasa

Red Army Amrik Singh ji, Vicky and Mintoo

the Clan in Red - courtesy Anu n Vicky

Many splendoured side of the Clan

At home with visitors Amarjit Singh ji, Inderjit Singh ji and Nini

Witth Ajay Panot and his sister Varsha

Anuvicky at Darbar Saheb - blessed

with Nini at Lavasa. Inderjit not in pic

At last reunion with Santosh Wadhwani - my colleague from 1955

Cheers with Ajay

With Suresh Mehta at Wiga Seniors Tournament

Dinner at Willingdon Club for Wiga Seniors

Sukhmani Saheb Path at our 2nd home in Ashiana Utsav Lavasa

Family at street food festival - Lavasa
courtesy Vineet, Sofie n Naisha who brought their Mom n Massi's 

With l-r Sofie, Naisha, Swarnjit, Sukhjit, Jasbir n  Harjit 

With Hark Dec 2015

Venus with Vicky n Anu

The Family together... but for Harkirat . 2 Jan 2016
and the Compleat Family in May 2004 pic below

Our Three Generations

The extended Family at Gurupurb of Guru Gobind Singh ji at Malad Gurudwara

Jagjeet Singh n Guljit at Lavasa Dam

at night at the local Flea market

With neighbours at Republic Day Function at Ashiana Utsav Lavasa

with Shekhar and Sudha..Pic by Aditya
old colleagues at Thakral Viet Nam
They have taken steps to acquire an apartment at Ashiana

Sukhjit with Anupama n Vicky at the Lake front at Lavasa

With Swarnjit on her birthday. Her mended ankle in a cast.

with Dilip Madan on his 21st Birthday. Born on 29 Feb.

at the Leap year born birthday boy's party
Sukhjit with my senior Devoo Kothari and Indu behn.