Wanderers (37)

       

              Appa thinks it is prudent to shift house from Shillong. The younger two brothers are to go to school in Tura.  Seenu there on his holiday helps in the reception for Indira Gandhi's visit . She comes by helicopter.

                  Yesterday  I had posted about rosy cheeks. That is all okay. What you have to be wary of in Shillong is goitre. No iodine in the water. Till date I have a small swelling in my neck as a reminder . Well the all knowing Appa got me treated or I would have become  an imbecile.

                Here in college I join NCC and many college clubs. NCC so that I can attend camps instead of going on short holidays to the parents. First time I am getting to know girls from rural areas. First generation college goers. Hence their serious demeanour . Girls who have studied in RS Krishnan and KV are also there in my class. I naturally become friends with them but they are days scholars. On the whole a good experience in a good college. Yes Nirmala Seetharaman ‘s alma mater too. 

                   The situation in East Pakistan worsens. Now better sense prevails and the younger two are admitted to  KV IIT Chennai.  I am not getting my weekly letters and monthly cheque from Tura. Papers are talking about the situation along the border worsening. Only now the staff recognise my home address is the same BSF of the papers. Dec is a tough month. One letter from Appa but no cheque. Amma is in a trench with some other families. From the media we learn that India has recognised Bangladesh. 16 th Dec Bangladesh is liberated. Alls well on the eastern front. One more NCC camp and Republic day parade.  Meghalaya gets statehood. Capt. William Sangma is the first  chief minister.

                Summer holidays all four of us , 2 from Trichy and 2 from Chennai will go to .....no not Tura. To Hazaribagh. Where is it pray. From the atlas  I learn it is near Ranchi. Ofcourse you know Ranchi. It is after all  Dhoni's birthplace. Hazaribagh road station. It is a request stop. Appa has been transferred here. We meet up at Egmore . Keep our luggage in the Central station cloak room and have a gala day. Slightly guilty we have a bottled drink I think Fanta. Go to a movie, The secret of Santa Vittoria  , eat outside  and then train to Calcutta. Howrah to Sealdah. At  Sealdah the train is overcrowded. One coolie takes us to the yard and we get in through the window. Throughout we sit on the luggage rack .Luckily the TTI helps us get down  at our destination . Lorry to the BSF gates. Here we are met .Quarters have not been allocated yet. The parents  are living in two rooms .plus a huge tent. Yes the boys migrate to the tent.

             No they have not brought Sally with them. Appa explains that she was the company mascot for the past so  many months. The men would not let her go.

                While the brothers were in Tura they had learnt horse riding on those ponies from Bhutan . Bare backed. Also they learnt rifle shooting. Here I get to learn horse riding . The Anglo Indian colonel's daughter is already riding. I join her. On the whole we have a good holiday. 

                 Yes we have asked a lot of questions about the war.   Does it not merit a special  post.