2. Marriage ,Life in Pune, Birth of Viki
It was time for Deepavali and I took my parents to Bangalore and from there to Coorg for Deepavali bath at Thalakaveri. It was a great outing especially for my mother. On our return from Thalakaveri to Bangalore by bus, I told my mother my decision to marry Rajnjana and told her not to hunt for a girl for me ! After reaching Bangalore, she disclosed my decision to Chandra and to my father. Though my father was greatly perturbed initially, Chandra and Seetharaman convinced him and agreed to meet with Banana’s father at Bangalore. I just had about ten days for the preparation to write my Part D promotion examination! I cleared all subjects in one go in my very first attempt!
Things happened very fast and by November end we were married at Pune. I brought my parents along with me and we broke journey enroute at Mantralayam Road and visited the Ragahvendra Swamy mutt. It was a simple wedding. I did not print even invitation cards. I invited only my brothers and my cousins who were at that time in Pune and Bombay .My office colleagues and friends in Pune were intimated personally. I accompanied my parents and went with them to Mantrlayam enroute to Pune. I took an advance of Rs 5000 from my provident fund to meet the expenses of railway tickets,their stay and to start my home . Perhaps I am probably the only groom who had to apply for Provident fund Advance for own marriage!
My parents went to Bombay for a few days to meet my father’s nephews at Amabarnath and Sion. I wanted to take fifteen days leave after marriage to visit Banagalore, Mysore , Coorg etc. My boss at HQ Southern Command then Brig. S N Bhaskar denied my leave but instead sent me on temporary duty to Goa for a week with an advice to avoid close relatives immediately after marriage! So our honeymoon trip to Goa was sponsored!
I was selected to face an interview for a post graduate course on Military Vehicle Technology at Shrevenham UK! The interview was at New Delhi headed by Prof. MGK Menon Scientific Advisor to Defence Minister and other eminent professors from IITs. I was declared selected and the course was to start soon. I was told that after the completion of the Course I was to starat a similar course of study at IAT Giringar on my return!Ranjana proved to be a lucky mascot agaian! But due to tardy follow up by Army HQ, they could not finalize my departure in time before the start of the course and I lost o a great opportunity to do this career course!! ( My Blog …… Refers)
I was permitted to keep my wife for a week in the guest room in the Southern Command Officers' Mess after my return and I had to hunt for an accommodation! To my good luck the DJAG HQ Southern Command was deputed on temporary duty to HQ Western Command to oversee the General Court martial proceedings of the infamous “Samba spy” case. He was staying with his only school going son in a huge bungalow just opposite HQ Southern Command and he wanted some reliable couple to take care of his son! He was prepared to give the entire first floor of the bungalow for the stay free of charge! He had his maid servants for cooking, cleaning and maintenance of the bungalow. I jumped at the chance and the case dragged on for months and years! By April of next year, I got a temporary accommodation of a converted barracks within the HQ Officers’ Mess!
We started our family life literally out of two bags of utensils, a tea set gifted by my friend and a set of ceramic dinner plates, forks and spoons from Dorabjees out of Gift cheque given by Hema! A primar stove and a kerosene wick stove were for cooking Gas connection would take a decade!
I was in charge of RSI Sports and was also looking after the HQ Southern Command Canteen. Those days the Customs confiscated items used to be sold to CSD Main Depot at Mumbai. It used to get distributed to Command URCS and major training institutions. Since there was a clam our for ‘Foreign goods “ , the items were sold on a lottery draw. I put my stake for a Sahamoo satin saree costing about Rs450/ ( almost half my monthly salary). To Ranjana’s good luck I got that. I am told that today it would cost upwards of Rs10000/- This was my first costly gift and Ranjana kept it in pristine condition till her life time. She used to wear it for special parties with a pearl necklace and used look stunning in that ensemble. The saree is now taken over by Archana!
Ranjana was carrying and we went on a month’s leave to Palamarneri. Ranjana got along with all my relatives with great ease and became quite popular in Palamarneri. My father and mother accompanied us to various temples in around Trichy and our Kuladeivam temple at Anbil. He took Ranjana to Saratha’s , then a fledgling new shop in Trichy and brought her a silk saree! I was greatly moved by his gesture and so was Ranjana! This was blue in colour and Ranjana used to wear it for official parties and get togethers for a long time. I even wondered whether he ever bought a new silk saree for my mother in her life time!
We also went to Madurai and places around it. Ranjana and me went to Courtallam and had nice bath under the water falls staying there for a couple of days. She bought a wooden statue of a pair of elephants which found a pride of place in our house! That was the first curio she bought for display in our sitting rooms! It is still there with both elephants looking at her photograph!
During the first week of October 1976, I was selected for doing a a course of study in Bulgaria on the operation and maintenance of Pilotless target Aircraft of Russian origin. I sought an interview with my boss Brig. SN Bhaskar. I told him that I was already selected for a post Graduate for more than a year’s duration in UK which stood cancelled and I accepted and did this short of three months course I may not be considered for the UK Course next year. He gave me a sage advice not to turndown this opportunity as a bird in hand is worth two in the bush! Next year DRDO sent its own Civilian officer to do this course in UK and no vacancy was given for Army HQ!
Vivek was born on 10th October and I had three days to complete my medical examination prior to my departure to New Delhi for onward trip to Moscow and Sofia! Ranjana stayed with her mother for a month and then returned to Pune.
For the foreign trip we were to take only Thomas Cook travelers cheque for Rs 5000/- . Though the Government paid for our hotel and an allowance in local currency of Liva for our food, we could not buy anything worthwhile. It was the height of Cold war years and both Liva and Ruble were highly inflated in exchange for rupee. Almost ten times to be exact! So while returning I managed to take a dollar remittance from my cousin as loan for 450 US Dollars. Withthat I managed to break my return journey at Rome, visit a few places in Italy, purchase items for Ranjana and dolls and clothing for Vicky. While flying from Rome to Delhi , I had a few dollars still left. I requested the Airhostess to suggest a good perfume for my wife. On her advice I bought a bottle of “Intimate” and “Moon Drops”. A bottle of Chives Regal as a gift to my brother Sundaram! Ranjana was so happy and possessive of these two perfumes that she retained them for almost two decades! And when I went to US on my official visits I made it it a point to bring her a couple of perfumes. Again when we went to foreign vacations to Bali, Sri Lanka, she used to buy perfumes of her choice! She had one of the most expensive and extensive collection of perfumes! These have been now taken over by Archana!
Ranjana came to Delhi to meet me on my return as I was to do a lot of technical documentation at Delhi. She stayed with Sundaram for a few days. She would never forget the way his children treated the baby during those few days! I returned to Pune after completing my work at HQ Technical Group. I was posted to an AD Regiment workshop at Ambala.
And this was a teue blessing for us too !!!
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