BLURRED VISION: GRATITUDE: Letters from a Grandfather to his Future Generations. Chapter 20.

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Chapter 20

Dear Family n Friends:

Did I mention Facit Asia? Now that was the Swedish part of the Forbes Group. A neatly laid out Typewriter manufacturing factory in Madras (decades before Chennai). It was crisply managed by the in-house Swede Gosta Rundberg. The Personnel Manager was another methodical person, VS Vasan. In course of time very warm ties prevailed with both of them. On a visit to Sweden some years later, I was invited to Gosta’s home in the interior of Sweden. We had had our clashes, but friendship prevailed, thanks to finesse exhibited by the Chairman in resolving one major conflict.

In later years, I was the coordinating director between Facit Asia and Eureka Forbes. It felt awkward to sit at the head of Gosta’s Table. I moved the chairman’s seat to the middle of the long table. Respect for the man. He and his wife were great hosts. A visit to Madras was never complete without a meal at their place and couple of meals and outings with Vasan Family. I was the favourite uncle for their children, Ammu n Srinath. They were and are our extended family. They travelled to Bombay for the marriage of Mickey and then Vicky and stayed with Dr. SS Rajadhyaksha. (More of him later). I remember travelling from Viet Nam to Madras for marriage of their daughter Ammu. She now lives in US and has two lovely n talented daughters. Vasans' son Srinath has just moved to Mumbai and his wedding is the next excuse to travel to Chennai, couple of months later.

My dear folks, we have now arrived at the closing years of the eventful decade of the 70s. A very significant period for our extended family: Three important marriages took place during this time: Sukhjit’s brothers Rajinder (aka Tutu), her brother Gurbir (aka Fauji mama) and my youngest sister Guljit. The first time we set eyes on Gurbir’s wife was at Guljit’s marriage. And Tutu’s wife showed up at that wedding with a baby in her lap. Gulo’s marriage in Lukhnow was preceded by a huge Railway drama! All in n good order.

Tutu, my Sala married Surinder Kaur of Gurdaspur, in Gurdaspur. Tutu, a handsome man, lived a hard life. He worked hard n lived hard. It took a toll of his health and he passed away in 1988 leaving Surinder to bring up their two sons:

Jimmy married Anju and have two daughters Jasleen Kaur and Gurleen Kaur

Sunny married Rajni and have a son Karan jot Singh.

Now Fauji… that is a long story. Fauji had joined the Indian Air Force as an Apprentice like his elder brother Mohan. He made quick progress. However he got tired of it and left the IAF. Thereafter he hitched his star to us. Thankfully my colleague Bipin Desai arranged for him to work in the Mid East as Labour Camp Commander. He repatriated after some years and worked in Security Companies and other odd jobs. Fauji and his wife rebuilt the Family house in Gurdaspur and have done a good job of it using all the old bricks n wood that came out it. Of course what was brickwork almost a century old, is now RCC hopefully another Century worth. In 1979 Gurbir married Davinder Kaur and they have:

Daughter Baljeet aka Babya married to Kavinder Singh and have son Samarveer.

Son Veerinderpal Singh married Rubina. They have son Tejasveer.

And now the epic journey from Bombay to Lukhnow for Gulo’s wedding: Papa ji had gone ahead to Lukhnow to oversee the arrangements from the girl’s side. I had parked myself in Delhi on some business. Central Railway got embroiled in a farmers’ protest at Nasik area and there was terrible uncertainty whether the trains will run or not. The family then decided to switch to Western Railway. Twenty odd pax crammed into 4 seater First Class coach with First class tickets and spent a harrowing 36 hours to get to Delhi. That was a sleepless night for all and so many sets of tickets bought n wasted. Thankfully the Family reached Lukhnow hours before the Reception of Barat. All credit to Jagjeet’s Family for making excellent arrangements, though it was their right to sit back n enjoy the show.

Jagjeet is an energetic member of our extended Family and all of us rely on him at times of need. He is a good organizer and always willing to help. Quite recently he took the family members on a Gurudwara darshan in Punjab and they all have happy memories.

Jagjeet n Guljit have an only daughter Suprit aka Namita. She is a working girl. She is married to Manpreet Singh Chawla and have two sons: Rishik and Ranveer. Manpreet’s father n I got along famously. Unfortunately Chawla Senior did not have long to live. Fond Memories. Manpreet n his brothers Arvinder (aka Bittoo) n Kamal (aka Pawan) are a well-knit family and that is a boon in the 21^st century. Stay United Stay Happy.

Folks, God has been kind to our Families. Else it is so common to hear of brothers not on talking terms with each other or their sisters. Thank You God, this is the biggest boon we have.

Folks, Let us get back to work. I mentioned Bipin Desai. He and Nalin Thakor were the people who introduced me to Forbes Group via Devoo Kothari. I had not yet joined Forbes, and news came of Bipin having lost his wife. Although I had not met him, yet I had so much wanted to call on him. However I was advised to let it pass.

Bipin was a kind hearted man. He was in-charge of the Wine Div and Kay Distillery at Nasik. Not a hard-hitting man, he was always on the defensive vis a vis the Chairman on ‘results’. Not that his results were poor; far from it. He did not have the knack of presenting his performance and would often seek help. His daughter Julie lives in the USA; I visited her on my first US trip. Gods have not been kind to him; he lost his son Hiten at an early age. Hiten, an Environment Engineer, is survived by his wife n daughter. Bipin and I would meet frequently in the days when I was in GNP and we had a factory n transit flat in Ahmedabad. Bipin now lives out his retirement in his home town Ahmedabad. A good man and a good friend.

My work life story continues...

Ps: We are just about completing the repair/renovation of half of our apartment. We are eagerly awaiting arrival of our elder grandson, Simran who is finishing his 3rd year at Wharton. Welcome Sim. I am hoping to complete the process of Sim's attaining independent membership of the Bombay Presidency Golf Club. His mom, Rajbir is the one who brought golf into our family. Her name shows Handicap of 12 in the Ladies Roster. Great gal, Rajbir aka Venus.

…..oooooOOOOOooooo…..

PHOT GALLERY FOLLOWS:

Please forgive caption errors.

Please do point out the errors.