Move to Kota: After completion of my High School studies from King George V Jubilee High School at Bundi, the state of Bundi underwrote unqualified support for all my further education. I had the option to pursue studies anywhere in the country or outside the country. Kota was the closest available place from Bundi. Consequently, my parents decided, that, I should join intermediate classes at Herbert Intermediate College at Kota. At that time, classes XI and XII were known as intermediate classes and were a bridge between High School and Degree courses. Herbert Intermediate college was the only intermediate college and highest educational institution in Kota State and in the whole of Hadoti region. Located outside the city walls, it had a magnificent building, built in colonial style and had spacious grounds, which provided facilities for all types of outdoor games and sports. Looking to those times, the teaching staff was very qualified and was always keen to provide best of attention and facilities to the students. Education for the local students was free and the fees for students coming from other states were nominal. That was July 1939 and that was for the first time, that, I was away from the family and was free to think and dream and to carve out a little niche of my own.
Raghunath Hostel: Raghunath hostel was located outside the walled city a few blocks away from Herbert Intermediate College, across the main road leading to Kota Junction Railway Station. It was a single storeyed building with spacious rooms and all other amenities for comfortable living. The hostel had twenty rooms. All rooms were very spacious, neat, clean and very well ventilated. There was no room rent. Electricity charges were six annas per month for single occupancy and two annas per month, if the room was shared by three students. The total number of students living in the hostel at that time was about forty. Messing was through kitchens catering for groups of ten to twelve students. The monthly expenditure on messing was of the order of rupees three to four per month. The warden used to send a report card to the parents every month to keep them informed about the progress, attendance and conduct of the students as also the messing charges. The general environment in the hostel was very homely. The students were drawn from different places with different castes, creeds and socio-economic backgrounds. There were kids as old as eight years studying in class III and IV, right upto students studying for the high school and intermediate classes. The kids used to play and run about in the long corridor, without bothering about noise or disturbance. The senior inmates greeted them with a smile and in the process tried to lessen the normal fatigue and drudgery of their routines.
The hostel had two tennis courts and a few horizontal bars and parallel bars in the front court, under the shadows of banyan trees standing majestically with their heads high. The tennis courts and gymnasium bars were commonly used in the mornings and evenings. The trees provided all sorts of fun, adventure and climbing exercises and games on sundays and other holidays. Those were the activities that kept the energy level of the students in top gear and weaved close bonds between all inmates belonging to diverse backgrounds and widely different age groups. The messes were managed by the students by monthly rotation of the of the secretaries. The food was generally good and wholesome and was served hot in the kitchens, catering to the individual needs and tastes of students. Sunday specials had a single item on the menu consisting of some sweets or pudding like Kheer, Barfi etc. It is incredible to think to-day that the students consumed thalis (platefuls) of kheer or barfi and felt thoroughly satisfied with single item menu. Milk was supplied hot in the morning and evening in the milkroom of the hostel. That was also something unique. Every student had the freedom to pick up as much milk as he liked and the cost was shared equally by all students of the kitchen.
I was an inmate of Raghunath Hostel for a period of one year from July 1939 to July 1940. After the retirement of our father from Bundi in the year 1940, our mother spent a year at Kota with all the children, from considerations of continuity of their education. I left Raghunath Hostel in July 1940 and was given a touching farewell by the warden and all students living in the hostel. I spent rest of the session with our family in the rented house in the walled city.
Father bids farewell to Bundi: Our father joined the services of Bundi State in the year 1930 as state engineer. He had the satisfaction of building the department from scratch and for the construction of roads and bridges, which opened up the state and linked it with the neighbouring states. He was also responsible for providing electricity and watersupply to the town and for the construction of some of the prestigious buildings of the state. When he retired from the services of the state in July 1940 he decided to move immediately from Bundi, log, stock and barrel. Consequently, as an interim measure, he settled the family in a rented house at Kota and left for United Provinces for getting involved in suitable work, which could help him in supporting the education of the children and comfortable living of the family. Those were the times, when the Second World War had broken out and the British forces were facing the blitz unleashed by the German forces and almost all countries of the world were directly or indirectly involved in the war effort. India was a prominent member of the British Empire and was directly involved in the war, as the Indian troops were fighting side by side with the British troops in the middle east sector. That was the time, when our father got into touch with some people in western United Provinces, who were planning to get involved in business for supplies and other works related to MES (Military Engineering Services) and were looking for a working partner with relevant experience and expertise. Consequently, our father got into contract business, where he was responsible for the construction of temporary buildings for troops and prisoners of war and the supply of furniture and other pre-fabricated items required by the military engineering services during the war. His contract operations were centred round Dehradun, Meerut and Agra in United Provinces and Sagar in Central Provinces and continued for the duration of the war.
Bhatapara: . Bhatapara was a small locality within the walled city of Kota. The area was open, neat and clean overlooking the banks of river Chambal in the background. The house was two storeyed with spacious rooms and a big courtyard. We shared the house with the family of the owner, with whom all of us gradually developed very cordial relations. Our mother used to remain busy with them and other ladies of the neighbourhood. They chatted and worked to-gether and shared skills about common household crafts. Everybody seemed to be interested in knitting, sewing, stitching and modification of old garments to get them a new lease of life. That made our house look more like a community centre, where the ladies were regularly trooping in and out. Food was another item, which seemed to draw everybody. All types of recipes were discussed, followed by shared preparation of some of the common foods. The kids accompanied the mothers and provided all the noise, antics and excitement.
The family: Mother took everything in her stride. She had a retinue of attendants at her call at Bundi. She took over all the tasks on her person at Kota. All our day to day chores and comforts were looked after by her and we got all our meals on dot and ofcourse, steaming hot from the chulah, as we managed to rush to our schools. Perhaps the kids never realize, that, they are what they are, because, somebody had been thinking, dreaming and working to make sure that the children always had, what they relished and had all the time available to them for concentration on their studies and other day to day tasks facing them. Days and weeks were gradually slipping and as soon as our annual examinations were over, we bade goodbye to our make-shift habitat at Kota and moved to Meerut in May 1941.