Thousand
Moon: Shrikrishna Ramchandra Joshi 81+
Contributed
by: Rohini Abhyankar
Shrikrishna
Ramchandra Joshi (Nana as we call him) has had a long and successful career at
the Central Govt Secretariat, New Delhi. He currently lives in Ratnagiri and is
actively involved with the local chapter of Lions Clubs International. He also
has the Lion's share in the establishment of Lions Eye Hospital in the area.
I
took the opportunity to chat with him about some of his fond memories when he
and his family visited my parents in Pune during my recent trip there. After
telling me his full name and date of birth for the record, he began narrating a
couple of his fond memories. Here is what he had to say:
The
school education system in those days was structured a particular way. Our
education was in Marathi medium from grades 1 to 4 and after that we attended
English medium grades 1 to 7 (or say grades 5 to 11).After finishing Marathi
4th grade, my father was transferred to Guhagar and that is where I had to
study for another year in Marathi medium 5th grade which means I effectively
lost one year. The following year, after coming to Ratnagiri, I attended a
private school and did two English medium grades in one single year making up
for my lost year.
He
paused a little to make sure I was following what he was saying and then
continued again.
Not
only that, I had appeared at the State Scholarship examination while in Marathi
medium school without any specific preparation and when I went to see the
posted result at the Govt Teachers Training College at Ratnagiri, it was a bit
surprise to me that I had received the only scholarship meant for Forward caste
students in the Ratnagiri Revenue District. The Principal of Patwardhan High
School knew of it and he gladly granted me admission directly in English medium
Grade 3 after my one year in private school. It was a prestige to have a
scholar in the school, particularly when school inspector came to our school
for annual inspection.
I
remember once I had written an essay, the topic was "Seasons First
Rain" and the school Principal liked it so much that he read it to the
whole class. I had written about how little streams started to flow after the
first heavy rain and I would float little paper boats in them.
One more fond
memory comes to my mind. It was when I migrated to Delhi in 1956. I had
appeared for UPSC examination and had cleared it and I went to work at the
Central Secretariat. I was not too sure about how everything will be at Delhi
being so far away and in a new land, But there were others like me from
Maharashtra who had come to Delhi after clearing the UPSC examination. The
common link was Dada Sarpotdar's 'Poona Guest House' where all of us used to
take food. Some of us including me stayed together in a rented flat in
Karolbagh. We all became close friends and our group became known as BHQ-
Bachelors Headquarters. The ties of friendship continued even though after
marriage we lived at separate places - mostly in Karolbagh. Our group then
became MHQ- Married headquarters. I am proud to say that the bonds of
friendship formed all those years ago are still intact and we after retirement
now living in Pune, Mumbai and other places try to meet each other and such a
meeting is a very joyful occasion in our life. I am happy to say that our
children whom we called CHQ- Childrens headquarters were also friends with each
other in Delhi and I hope wherever they are at present, their friendship will
also remain and grow further like ours.
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