N.R.C. COLONY – A Casual peep into my childhood…..

                                A whirlpool of nostalgia crashes on the stratum of my cerebrum no sooner than the name of NRC is mentioned. The childhood days are special to everyone and I am no exception.  Hmmm…From where to start….OK…I know NRC since I was a toddler & we shifted to NRC when I was only 3. I have a faint memory of my parents and maternal uncles visiting the quarter (typical NRCites jargon…does quarter means housing???) and discussing about it. 

                              And my days in NRC began from nursery. Early school years passed away great & were mostly spent in exploring the nooks & corners of the colony with my primitive pals anurag and ankur.  Then we gradually made more friends & soon found ourselves in a well established cricket team of more than 12 members…..was only 8 yrs old that time.  We played and enjoyed a lot and our games changed according to seasons.  Cricket , kho-kho , lagori , flying kites , top spinning , chor-police , corner-corner (remember white steps??) to name a few were some of our fav games. Ofcourse we were also intelligent kids discussing GK and playing quizzes. At the tender age of 9, I remember we were smart enough to point out the difference between ‘who was the first man to land on moon’ and ‘who was the first man to go to space’

                               In the primary school our games changed and now it was the fashion of bicycles. It is an interesting social pattern to be seen in NRC kids that if one takes a bicycle everyone follows suit…..social thinkers can extract a good food of thought from this typical gait.  Seeing everyone buying rangers , rovers  etc. I decided to be a bit different and selected Atlas SLR (silver scarlet model). Whenever I think of ‘Hero ranger’ I remember babu and ninad (with his dog TIU—even RAW couldn’t crack the code of the origin and meaning of the word TIU….the name was so weird!!!). Whenever I think of street cat I remember neeraj shetty and dipen ambalia. So now you might had got an idea of our group & its stalwarts & their bicycles.

                                The CN ground was no less than the Olympic ground for NRC kids. Cricket , football , bad-minton & what not!!  used to be played, sometimes 2 or 3 teams playing simultaneously.  When thinking of cricket I remember  our senior friends…. Parag , Vijay , Munna (Ashish) , Venkat , Pritesh , Pratish , Santosh(Tilli)& group. Mostly we enjoyed cricket and whenever some Afridi lands on the pitch the window panes of the surrounding bldgs (mostly CN-2) must crumble down to the ground. Within seconds we used to vanish into the thin air & some uncle with raised sleeves used to come down but no one to be seen used to shrug off giving us the customary chance to resume our innings.  At sharp 4:30 pm our innings used to start & Arun , Chirac descending down the slope with bats & wickets followed by the pack of grey hounds (gauri , jimmy , blacky , Bruno etc). The scene is still fresh in my memory as if a matter of yesterday. Chirac had a great understanding with the dogs that he even used to enter their dog fights and sometimes  even used to be their arbitrator (maandavli king). Our innings were futile without those lengthy controversies over fours and sixes…….whether the ball touced chowdhary aunty’s bldg   , or whether ball crossed indraneel’s fence , or whether the ball touched gundi’s (sunil chandelkar) bldg full tossed or tappa …………or whether the ball caught by the keeper was really touched by the bat , or whether the bat reached the crease for run out etc etc………those never ending controversies often raked up slight funny scuffles ……most often between Chirac & manzoor (even his bros. javed & majid joining the scuffle in full swing from his side) or sometimes  between Chirac & Neeraj. Chirac with those charming gujju physical features (inherited from his handsome father) often used to be the wrong person in the wrong scuffle. I remember Chirac and myself practicing moonwalk of MJ style and he had a big poster of Madonna in his room. When Sachin used to bat the ball used to be tossed high & send unfurling beyond Gundi’s bldg. or sometimes even till officers club……..dont forget he was a lefty. In teenage years the group swelled even more joined even by Marathi and gujarati medium students. CN ground was so well situated between the CN bldgs that any girl downstairs and the concentration of the guys put to stake.

                              Plucking fruits from trees was an altogether different occupation depending on the seasons. Kairees , jamuns from jamun tree(near mala aunty’s bldg.), cherry tree (near bhoot bangla) , Chinch tree (near tekri) all provided a special thrill . And scaling those trees used to be a different fun. Nikhil(TT champ) , Kalpesh , Timir (chamunda fame) , Sanjay mudliyar(baygon fame….will u believe he literally drank baygon in 9^th std. and was rushed to hospital…..sorry sanjay if it was a secret), Roshan , Hareen , my bros (Asif & Ashfaq) all used to be the partners in crime. How can one forget the enchanting river  which used to be the best place for rest and relaxation & learning swimming was something which I can never forget.  Mote uncle and Lahande uncle helped me learn swimming & I was 13 that time.

                              During summers many of us used to leave for their native places & the games used to change to playing marbles , kabaddi , gilli danda etc. Playing marbles with Gundi , ashwin , prashant joseph , hareen , kapil , siddhu , used to be fun , playing chor police with diwali pistol toys was fabulous.   Ashish , my bros. (Asif n Ashfaq) , Gundi & Ashwin , Dipen and Ritesh (laurel and hardy) , Dollar & Duke (though they possessed deep sanskritised names Saptrishi & Bedanta) , Roshan & Rajan (the jha bros.) , Vipul  and the smallies(Papuli & Leechie) all used to enjoy the games thoroughly from morning to evening only taking breaks for FUN TIME (12 noon TV children programme). When felt thirsty of continous playing we used to rush to nearby homes mostly being Ashish’s , Sandeep’s & Gundi’s homes and not to forget mami’s home where we even used to get some bonus in the form of some south Indian traditional dish

                               And which NRCite will dare to forget the famous ‘ramashankar’ icecream hawker…..the taste ……don’t talk about it!!!…..I can sacrifice ‘mann salwa’ for it.  At 4pm the ringing of the ice cream bell could be heard distinctly and we bros running around peeping from one window to another …trying to manipulate the route to be taken up by the candy man. Then finally when he is down on our lane we are  rushing pouncing on the delicious cones and kulfis the taste of like I have never relished anytime later …..much to the hype of baskin robbins et al.

                                 During Diwali times the entire colony was used to be illuminated with sparkling lights, most of the houses hanging the beautiful candle lights in their balconies. Building killas used to be a favourite past time for NRC kids & the whole day used to be filled up with the sounds of crackers bursting or diwali pistols exploding those paper roll fireworks. The nights were bright with lightings everywhere.      

                                 Talkin about social life in NRC and not mentioning Navratri nights is something not done. Well, navratri nights were the best form of social networking for youngsters , religious gathering for elders & playtime for kids. As youngsters we were quite particular about putting on the best attire , a decent getup , gathering our boysband but reluctant to take any chances, who knows which navratri night the cupid strikes. Picking up the dandiyas and dancing to the tunes or even watching from a distance was a good experience. All uncles , aunties , boys , girls , kids used to participate …age no bar. Dave uncle used to really enjoy dancing & when he used to pick up dandiyas even the youngsters were put to shame. One navratri incident always flashes in my mind when I was 13 and while playing for some reason we hid in the Tikku uncle’s car in the car garage and suddenly an enraged Mr. Tikku emerged from no where and chased us away and we literally ran hard for our lives and Ankur really had a narrow escape, when our sprint finally ended from car garage to the garba ground as we all collectively collapsed gasping for breath and laughing to death. That small world of ours was so different & isolated from the busy surroundings.

                            My most awaited day used to be the day of eid. There used to be a different aura related to that occasion. My mother busy in the kitchen since some days, father busy in bringing food materials , rosaries , namaz caps , Jaa-namaz (prayer mats) , perfumes , scents etc. Well everything goes well and the D-day comes when the only problem is getting up early on a holiday to attend the eid namaz at the gate mosque. Putting on the traditional shalwar-qameez , or kurta-pyjama or pathani dress & leaving the house at 7:30 am fresh morning when unlike other days roads are empty , no auto rushes , not much pedestrian traffic & reaching the mosque overflowing with attendees , attending the religious sermon , performing the eid namaz , congratulating & embracing each other with the traditional ‘eid Mubarak’ greeting , giving alms to the poor , & there used to be a big queue of the needy outside the mosque , stepping out of the mosque and the destitutes rushing pushing pulling from all directions & to cross that disorderly mob was no less than an achievement. The rest of the day goes in sharing the traditional eid dishes with the neighbours & others , visiting or having visits from friends , relatives , near and dear ones Etc.

                              Gate has a different importance in the lives of the NRCites. All kids used to be crazy for the Kashyap bookstall comics. From diamond comics to archies , from chandamama to champak to thak-thak we might had read each and every story some hundred times still wanting more. When the passport size photos were to be taken the names of Santu & Salunke immediately used to flash in the minds. Substation , public bench (the infamous katta) ,Shivshrusti , Tekri , Guest house bldg , Officers club , NRC playground (the battles of panipat could had easily accommodated inside) , the Ayappa festival (the elephant show & that long chain of  bursting of crackers) , Society (our mini supermarket) , Kanchangunga (our hotel Taj) , NRC school…….all have a unique story to tell.

                               When the topic of tuitions arise how many NRCites would had missed attending lessons of Chowdhary aunty , Mala aunty , Mascrenhas teacher , Mr. & Mrs Joseph. When you wanted to master hindi/marathi who else could guide you better than Chowdhary aunty ( her cats kammu & bundu were a great amusement for the students ). Mascrenhas teacher taught me in 4^th std. The big mascrenhas family…uncle , teacher , vera didi , Michael(the hockey champ) , bosco(the soccer champ) , savio(the talented cartoonist & guitar player….I even has his b’day card preserved yet which he presented me on my 11^th b’day) , Bona(our maths cum timepass tutor) , guddi( the darling toddler of that big family) , Benjy (pet dog) & roger (pet rabbit).  It was coz of these bros. that I took up the sports field and gradually went up to win two gold medals at TT tournament in Birla college FYJC 11^TH std. Mala aunty used to pamper me a lot and soon I rose to become one of her favourite student. She was very lively in attitude but when gets enraged…we had it. The culmination point of tuitions of most of NRCites used to mature in Joseph sir’s tuitions. Mrs. Rosily used to take care of maths/science while Joseph sir taught socials/literature. We enjoyed Joseph sir’s class more as literature seemed more interesting than cracking our heads in cosine/sine or scalars/vectors. Joseph sir literally helped us a lot in developing communication skills & vocabulary. That chocolate box filling up whenever someone spoke in a non-english language was interesting & getting marks by answering his general knowledge questions was equally inspiring. I still have that pen which I got from him as an award for getting the highest marks in 9^th std.

                                        When we reached teenage the riverside reunions  used to be on the top list & never used to be fulfilled without the presence of Ranvijay , Sanjay singh , Imran khan , Sarfraz , Santosh  and my school group. And staying up all night with my school classmates was an awaited pleasure.  Our venue used to be my terrace or Ranvijay’s terrace but mostly Imran’s house as his new house was under construction that time and we got ample excuse to spend nights there ofcourse the condition was…..no one should sleep.

                                       Though every incident in NRC colony would fill up chronicles & chronicles but just one incident is worth mentioning here, when I was in 10^th std. It was the first day of the month of april & the board exams were near and as usual we were casual and I was just strolling alongwith  my classmate Sanjay mudliyaar in the evening time and getting bored as there was no other friend around and no play either. We called Timir and…… what to do next?? I hit upon an idea …..what about making our friends april fool??? The idea was so successful that within hours our whole 10^th std group was out.

                                      The trick was to make Sanjay mudliyaar give the message coz then it would look genuine (why??? …our batch knows the reason).  At first we called Ashish mittal & informed that Chowdhary aunty called him urgently. No ifs & buts , no whys & whats , Ashish rushed & in front of Chowdhary aunty’s door within no time. We stayed back at the corridor waiting to witness the opening of the pandora’s box…..a roar of laughter spread when after a brief interaction Ashish realized that he was fooled (thnx to Chowdhary aunty’s presence of mind that she immediately sensed that he was fooled). Then we became a group of four & what to do next. I suggested we send Anurag dwivedi to Joseph sir. Anurag left wondering as to why the school principal has summoned him at this unearthly hour. He somehow took time to groom up well & within sometime was sitting in Josph sir’s front room controlling his nervousness & even sipping some drink offered by Joseph sir. We as usual waited at the corridor for opening up of the pandora’s box. The interaction going lengthy , the conversation going nowhere , each party trying to anticipate the other’s motive , the suspense building up , finally the plot open , again a roar of laughter & Anurag left embarrassed to the core. Then a series started & we send Reena to Kulkarni madam , Siddhu to Dutta madam , Kiran to mukta’s house (not sure) , Darshan to Mala aunty , someone to Tikku madam and somebody to Chaubey madam etc etc. What started off as a dull evening ended up in the most hilarious and funny night. All we guys and gals were out & it was really a big group. It worked as a good stress buster in those stressful exam days. I doubt whether any NRC batch past or future might had ever attempted something so weird. The days were great and we were at the top of the world.

                                     Chronicles will end but the memories of NRC colony will not cease to provide the perennial supply of its long lasting & intoxicating imprints in our present day consciousness resulting gradually from the wonderful cast baked under the scorching rays emerging from the impacts of our times spent in NRC colony. Generations come & generations go ….but the time which has gone doesn’t return ….adding to the bankruptcy of our chances to experience the past, in present or future.

                                   I hope my batchmates and colony friends will definetly resonate similar feelings & cherish those times when we experienced same school , same tuitions , same surroundings , same happenings and spend the most wonderful span of our lives.