Family: Family has different meanings for different people. In the good old days, joint families were very common and normally ten to fifteen members lived together. In the present context, family is expected to include husband, wife and one or two children. Times have changed and the concept of families has undergone a lot of change from time to time. Whatever be the times and whatever be the number of persons included in the family, all members of the family are bound to each other by invisible threads of love, affection and concern for each other. Normally, every member of the family works for each other and for the overall growth, development, safety, security and happiness of the family. There is no written constitution for the day to day working of the families but the system works and has been working for thousands of years.
Our Family at Lucknow: Our father retired from the services of Bundi State in 1940. I was studying in intermediate final year at Kota at that time. Our younger brothers Jai Narain, Krishan, Hari and our sister Uma were all school going children at that time. As an interim measure, our father left us at Kota under the care of our mother for a year, to ensure reasonable continuity in our education. In the meantime, our father settled down in business at Meerut. We joined him at Meerut in May 1941. I completed B.A. from Meerut in 1943 and Civil Engineering from Roorkee in 1945. After a stint of six years in irrigation department of UP, I joined Civil Engineering School Lucknow as a lecturer in July 1951. Jai Narain completed his intermediate in 1946 and B.Sc I year in 1947 from Meerut and he joined us at Bareilly and was subsequently admitted to King George’s Medical College Lucknow in 1947. He was in the final year of M.B.B.S. in 1951. Krishan completed his High School from Meerut in 1947 and thereafter, he joined us at Bareilly and completed his Intermediate from Bareilly in 1949. Subsequently, he joined Birla College Pilani in 1949 and after completion of his B.Sc from there he joined us at Lucknow in 1951. Hari had his early schooling at Meerut. He joined us at Bareilly in 1947 and completed his High School from Bareilly in 1949. Thereafter, he spent two years at Birla College Pilani for his intermediate course in science. He joined us at Lucknow in 1951. Our sister Uma had her early schooling at Meerut. Thereafter, she joined us at Bareilly in 1947 and moved with us to Mohammadpur in 1948. She was married there in 1949. From the date of his retirement from Bundi, our father was deeply concerned about completion of education of all his children. After my marriage at Meerut in 1946 he moved to Bareilly and stayed with us, on tour from place to place, till he breathed his last in October 1979 at Jodhpur. Our mother Kalawati was a great soul. She spent her life for bringing up her children and to ensure that they were happily settled. She left us for her heavenly abode in December 1942.
Dr Jai Narain: Jai Narain completed his M.B.B.S. from King George’s Medical College Lucknow in 1952. Soon after, he joined Provincial Medical Service of U.P. and worked there for a year. Thereafter, he completed D.O.M.S. (Diploma in Ophthalmic Medicine and Surgery) from King George’s Medical College, Lucknow and joined Provincial Medical Service of U.P. again. He was married to Dr Shashi Mithal fourth daughter of Ratan Devi and Dr Prayag Chandra at Meerut in December 1954. Dr Shashi Mithal had completed her MBBS from Lady Harding Medical College Delhi in 1954. After the marriage, Dr Jai Narain continued to work in UP Medical Service for some time. Thereafter, he resigned from UP Medical Service in 1955 and joined M.S. (Master of Surgery) course in Opthalmology at King George’s Medical College Lucknow. After completion of M.S. in Opthalmology in 1957 he joined Provincial Medical Service class I in U.P. Subsequently, he resigned from UP Medical Service and moved to Canada in 1958, where he completed his FRCS and settled down as a consultant in Opthalmology. In the meantime Dr Shashi Goel completed house jobs at Queen Mary’s Hospital at Lucknow and subsequently completed a Diploma Course in Anesthesia from Bombay in 1957 and thereafter, after a short stint in Provincial Medical Service of UP, she also moved to Canada in 1958, where she completed FRCS and settled down as a Consultant in Anesthesia.
Sharad, the eldest child of Jai Narain and Shashi was born at Lucknow in 1958. He migrated to Canada with Shashi in 1958.
Dr Krishan Narain: Krishan Narain joined M.Sc course in Mathematics at Lucknow in 1951. Subsequently, he joined M.Sc course in Chemistry at Birla College Pilani. Thereafter, he moved to Jodhpur and completed his M.Sc course in Organic Chemistry from Jodhpur in 1954. This was followed by his marriage with Shashi eldest daughter of Baijnath Singh at Banaras in May 1954, where Baijnath Singh was working as an executive engineer in irrigation department of UP. After his marriage, Krishan completed a degree course in chemical engineering from Harcourt Butler Technologcal Institute Kanpur in 1956 and subsequently joined Solar Chemical Works at Kanpur. In the meantime, Shashi completed her graduation and was free to join Krishan at Kanpur. During his stint with Solar Chemical Works at Kanpur, Krishan had an opportunity to go to Germany for a study programme in chemical processes. Soon after, he was picked up by Gwalior Rayon at Nagda for a research job related to development of pulp for rayon fibre from different raw materials. Thereafter, Krishan moved to Sweden for a research programme related to development of pulp and paper, leading to Ph.D in the discipline. On completion of his Ph.D from Sweedon, Krishan moved with Shashi and their children, Meeta and Vivek to Canada in November, 1966.
Hari Narain: Hari Narain completed his B.Sc course from Lucknow in 1954 followed by completion of diploma course in civil engineering in 1956. Subsequently, he joined public works department of U.P. and worked there for about two years before moving to Jodhpur as demonstrator in civil engineering at MBM Engineering College, Jodhpur. He was married to Raj Rani at Delhi in 1958. After completing sections A and B examinations of the Institution of Engineers he joined Council of Scientific and Cultural Affairs as a scientist at Gauhati. Subsequently, he joined Government Polytechinc at Nainital in Uttar Pradesh as a lecturer in Civil Engineering. Thereafter, he moved to Canada in 1969.
Our children: Mohan was our eldest child. He was born at Bareilly in September 1947. He was a source of great happiness for our father. Generally, the children need company, care and attention. That is the time, when the parents are busy in building their careers. Grandparents happen to have all the time available to them and they are in that mode, when they get the greatest pleasure in providing a helping hand, love and affection to the kids, budding youngsters and aspiring young men. People find it difficult to realize, that, the children that grow under the loving care of their grandparents, cherish the memories of those happy days throughout their lives.
Rashmi was our second child. She was born at Jaunpur in November 1949. She was a toast of the whole neighbourhood. She grew up under the loving care of our father. Bringing up a second child in a household is generally hasslefree. Most of the modalities are already in place and there is always a desire by everybody to supplement all those things that happen to be missing.
Alok was our third child. He was born at Motinagar in Lucknow in June 1952. By that time we were reasonably well settled at Lucknow and everybody seemed to be happy to welcome the newly born child. He grew up under the loving care of our father. Mohan and Rashmi were happy to have a sibling to fondle with.
Nishith was our fourth child. He was born at Blunt Square in Lucknow in July 1954. We had a comfortable house and everybody in the family was excited to find the new addition to the family.
We got our first cow at Lucknow. Light brownish in colour, she was more like Kamdhenu. With about three kilos of milk in the morning and three kilos in the evening, the cow made a great contribution to the nutritional needs and wellbeing of the family. Our children are, what they are, for the unwritten and unsung contribution of the cow to them at a time, when they needed it most.
Marriages of Jai Narain and Krishan: Both of them were married in 1954. Jai Narain was married at Meerut in December 1954 and Krishan was married at Banaras in May 1954. Both the marriages were very well attended by all our elders and close relations. Those were the days, when marriages were more like family get-togethers and almost all members of the family made special efforts to participate. All close relations stayed with the family for ten to fifteen days and made themselves comfortable in whatever space and facilities were available in the house. There were no formalities and everybody enjoyed working and living with each other. Marriages used to be great learning experience for the children. They loved working and chatting with each other and when they parted, they carried with them some of the fond memories, which they cherished for the rest of their lives.