The days of Rajnandgaon

Writing blog is a fascinating thing you can express your feelings, put it on record probably some feelings at corner of your heart you have been unable to expressed to any body so far.
I am continuing recalling my memories of child hood turning in to adolescent. We the whole family for once and for all settled in Rajnandgaon in 1968 Baby (Rekha) used to go to the Kamala Collage (the correct name may be different but it was popularly known as kamala collage) Baby was students of arts I joined the maths class in the State School of Rajnandgaon There were two major schools one belonging to municipal council and other to the state called state school in which I got admission. That was XA the tenth standard, A used to be for mathss standard for engineering or similar courses and ‘B’ for the Biology standards who aspired for Medicare or similar courses. Here I continued to be cadet of junior division of NCC. Rajnandgaon is the place which laid the foundation of my personality which am I today. The reason being very simple, the age of 14 to 18 is the age where an adolescent grasps the thing which the family, social schooling etc provide to him. I had seen my father struggling to meet the needs of the family with his source of the income as clerk with the liqueur distillation company and the post was glorified by the company as were house manager. His income used to fluctuate with some commission he use get over the issue of liqueur to the contractor, a termed called ‘Nikasi’.With out going deep in to these issues I would recall the memories which are life time memories. Small house with a varanda of wooden mesh, a tiny room adjacent to the varanda which was called “Dilip wali kholi” is a termed used in that part of Chattisgarh for a tiny room. A small table, small cupboard and the table lamp which is still in my possession. Chacha my father thought that distributing milk would add to his source of income he started buying buffallows from the “Baila Pathra” the name used for cattle market of Rajnandgaon. We constructed a small unauthorized shed on the plinth of the where stands “Bidi Patta” Godown to day he started with couple of buffalows. The number reached to ten and couple of cows at one time.
I was in Rajnandgaon just for couple of years, ie tenth and eleventh standard. Baby me, Mukesh Pappu (Hemant) and Guddu were one or the other way involved in milkman’s business Baby used to distribute milk from house to the near by resident, some foreigners like Miss Bibby and Miss White, the two foreigner ladies care taker of the church were also our customers.
I used to go to. Hotels like Manav Mandir or Ganesh Halwai to delivered the bulk quantity along with Bisahu our servant who did the job of preparing cattle food and so also milking the cattle’s both the times. We did not have sanitation facility, the toilet attached to our house and had to use the common toilet facility near our house though not healthy but we had to manage with it.
Chacha bought a Railay cycle of olive green color for me which I used till my collage days. Dinesh Chacha was imprisoned for four years in some criminal case at Nagpur and used to come on parole to Rajnandgaon which he thought was a safer or better place to spend time.
All the three cousins od Chacha, Girish, Dinesh and Kumod (Satish) Chacha have lot of respect for Chacha as he was the person who supported them financially when in Nagpur of course the relationship bonds are always there.
I will continue the blog autobiography in next blog