Editor’s Note

Mahavir was born on 18 Sep 1955, and was amongst the youngest students, when he joined IIT Kharagpur in 1971. As he entered the portals of this great institute of technology, the cult of the awesome campus entered into his psyche, and became an integral part of his personality. He is also a prolific writer, and has sent a couple of pieces to us. It gives me great pleasure to share one anecdote with my friends. He has summed up his tryst with IIT Kgp, very aptly in the following one-liner,

“You can take a man out of IIT Kgp; but you cannot take IIT Kgp out of him!” 

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During my days at IIT Kharagpur, I had a wing mate, very handsome, fair and tall, a good left handed stylish cricketer, hence “BATS”.

 

BATS was from Calcutta, he came of a mixed parentage, a Sikh mother and a Punjabi Hindu father. We knew BATS was from a very well off family, one could make out from his living style, how so ever hard he tried to underplay it, he was never an exhibitionist.

There were no calculators those days and the complex engineering calculations were done using a slide rule. I had a German one, a FABER CASTELL, still  have it, as a  memento to the hard work put during the long sleepless nights, working out the numerical calculations at IIT, maybe these small things which I tend to cling on to, are my pearls of memories, which I keep on  trying to string.

BATS lost his slide rule in the second semester, but never asked for money from his parents for a new one, which cost Rs.75, a princely sum those days. Instead he stopped smoking and eating out for three months, to save money to buy a new one. During those three months he shared my slide rule, we became good friends thereafter.

All us wing mates were hard working and studious. When we graduated from IIT, we had scholarships to universities in USA and our parting handshakes, “Till we meet up again in the US, back home”.

I was to take the Kalka Mail to Chandigarh from Howrah station at 8pm for the final goodbye journey from Kharagpur. BATS called me over for lunch to his house, for the first  time.

We took the Steel Express from Kharagpur to Howrah in the morning and reached Calcutta around mid-day, took a taxi to his house, as we neared a big mansion in the New Alipore area (a posh locality in Calcutta)  BATS asked the cabbie to stop. A gurkha came up and saluted “Salaam Saab“, he opened the fortress like gate and what do I see, a row of Mercedes, BMW’s, Chevrolet’s, Fords in the foyer. There was a pretty looking lady swimming in the pool in the house. On seeing us she came out of the pool, wrapped a robe around herself and walked straight towards me and pointing a finger at me said very assertively … “Chick Surd”… it was BATS’ mother, she knew my life story till then, BATS must have kept on filling her with the details.

At the lunch table I asked auntie “We knew you were rich, but stinking rich, just couldn’t imagine” …. they had a private air plane for joy rides.

What she told me was equally fascinating … ”We were originally from Burma, Uncle had a roaring business there, when the Burmese threw out the Indians, we moved to Calcutta. We lived in shanties, uncle worked as a manual labourer to make both ends meet; we could not afford to pay him the bus fare to the school. He would walk or hitch hike behind the trams and buses to get to and back from the school, but he never complained. Uncle again started his business and re-established himself in Calcutta, but the childhood impressions stayed on his mind”.

When the time came for me to leave their house, auntie called for a driver and a Mercedes to drop me to the station (dunia alag hee nazar aa rahi thi Merc kay andar say). As I was about to leave, she held my hand and said these words, which are ingrained in my mind till date …

“Beta, tu sari zindagi yahin par tou nahin khara rahega, aage zaroor badhega. Aur jis din  tu aage barh gaya, kabhi peechay murh kar naa dekhna, peechay murega tou apni parchayee hee nazar aayegi, aur yeh parchayeeyan tujhe hamesha peeche hee kheechaingi. Zindagi mein apna sar jitna upar chahay kar lena, par apne paer hamesha zameen par hee rakhna, aur chor jana apne kadmon ke nishan, yeh duniya tujhe tere kadmon ke nishanon se hee pehchanegi“ ….. and I left for my journey, back home, it was to be Chandigarh only and not beyond.

BATS and my other batchmates went off to USA for their Masters, I somehow could not make it. We lost contact as I went into hibernation and stopped communicating with my batchmates in USA. Till the internet happened and one day I got a message in my in-box “Hi Chick Surd, what are you doing in India? You were supposed to be at Caltech?”  …. it was from BATS. I wrote back, explaining what my compulsions were and why I could not make it to USA, he was more angry than shocked.

He wrote back … “Chick  Surd, kabhi is yaar ko apni majboorian bataa deta, akhir tera slide rule use kiya thaa teen mahinay, airfare ke paise udhaar par le leta, aur mein tera woh slide rule ka karz adaa kar deta… But, knowing you, I know you would have never spelt out your compulsions, you were too upright, Mahavir”.

Hazaron khawahishein aiysee,

Ki har khawish pe gum niklay. 

Bahut niklay meray armaan,

Lekin phir bhi kam niklay.

Nikalna khuld se Aadam ka, 

Tou suntay aaye hein lekin, 

Bahut bay aabru ho kar,

Teray kuche se hum nikalay ……. 

Yes, that is how I felt ”Bay Aabru” on leaving the portals of IIT-KGP, a great institution indeed. All the efforts and hard work to get the high scores in GRE & TOEFL for the scholarship to Caltech came to naught and for how much? just Rs.18,000, far less than the amount I may now spend entertaining my clients in a single evening.

During one of my visits to USA, I met up with BATS at his house in Atlanta. He was the Vice-President of a company, must have been drawing over a million dollars, could make out from his huge mansion with tennis courts, swimming pool and the swanky cars. He was always articulate and class personified since the time I knew him, but with a subtle sense of subdued polish in his mannerisms and living style.

Over drinks in the evening BATS told me his life story …..

His father wanted him to finish his Masters and MBA from USA and join him in business at Calcutta, BATS never came back. His relationship with his father became sour to the extent that he stopped communicating with him all together, so much so, that he started hating India. He had not watched a Hindi movie for the past 25 years in States and never even visited India ……. ”He was truly back home” …. BATS never married, just kept himself engrossed in work.

I got back to India and went to Calcutta to meet his parents. The fortress at New Alipore was still there, so was the gurkha, though aged now. The swimming pool was dry and the swanky cars seemed to have been lying idle since eternity. Time seemed to have come to a stand still in their house since my departure in the 70′s. I went inside, the graceful lady was there, she had greyed, his parents were alive, par zinda laashon ki tarha, their only child and they had lost him. They seemed to have lost their very purpose of life.

As I went up to auntie and touched her feet she said ”Chick Surd, kahaan tak pahuncha zindagi mein? …. I told her my life story, she was pleased, but on my not having made it to USA she said something very touchy … ”Puttar, mainu ik waar keh denda, ki majburi si teri, shayaad meinu apna dusra munda wi mil janda”  …. how nice it felt, par kuch zyaada der ho gayee …..

Zindagi kay asli mahinay samajh mein aanay lagte hein jab tak,

Aadhi guzar gayee hoti hai zindagi tab tak.

On my next visit to USA, I asked him to pick me up at Dallas airport. I had brought his parents along, but had not informed him. He was at the arrival lounge, I stepped aside and asked his parents to move forward, what an emotional moment it was, the parents meeting their only child after 25 years, but the time gap seemed to have been filled in a single moment of re-union.

Bahar se dekhtay hein jo, samjhe ge woh kis tarha.

Kitnay  gamon ki bhir hai, is aadmi ke paas.

BATS wanted my elder daughter Simrit to come to USA for her MBA and said “Chick Surd, you gave my parents back to me, now give me a daughter too. Give me a chance to return your favours”. I told him  ”BATS, Life is an Ein Bahn Strasse” …. (a one way street) …. never return a favour with the sheer purpose of squaring up, instead pass it on to someone else, whenever you can, need not be to the same person. Your mother wanted another son and you want a daughter, yet want to return a favour”

Aayeena  mujhse  meri  pehli  si surat mangay, 

Meray apne hi meray honay ki nishani mangay.

That is why I sent my younger daughter Simran to NottinghamUniversity for her Master’s Degree …. to get My Master’s from Caltech with Honours, she did not let me down.

You might be wondering why “Chick Surd” … before I entered IIT, Kharagpur, there had never been a Sikh boy without a beard, at fifteen years of age, hence “Chick Surd” … the name has stuck on, till date, called so very affectionately by my R.K.Hall mates even now.

The “Chick Surd” was a diligent student. This is what his room looked like

 

 

By the end of his days in IIT Kgp, he had grown up. Notice the baggy trousers of those days.

 

 

Mahavir S Jagdev, in the IIK Kharagpur blazer

Tailpiece (by the editor)

The Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) are the dream destination of millions of young men and women. More than 13 lakh students compete for about 9000 seats in the twenty odd IITs each year. And those who manage to enter the portals of an IIT add to the growing number of proud IITians, who have made India proud by their achievements all over the world. Recently, I was discussing the special features of IITs with my elder brother, AVM Manjit Singh, who is a graduate of the third batch of IIT Kgp (1953-57), and also my younger brother Brig Surinder Singh, who joined the first batch of IIT Delhi in 1961. What emerged as a result of these discussions is the theme of a full story. It must be remembered that when IIT Kharagpur was raised in 1951, India already had some old and well known Engineering Colleges (like the ones in Guindy, Roorkee, Bangalore and Delhi). But within three years of its existence, IIT Kgp had acquired an awesome name, and it attracted the absolute cream.