Raleigh/ Eastern Star Bicycle - 680
Here i am , a Retired Person nearing the three quarters of the Century Mark , musing about the many childhood dreams . There are many things which have caught my fancy as a schoolgoing kid and later on in the teens.
It is only fair to say that Some of those Important Dreams , thanks to the lord above have been realized and and sadly there are parts of the same that are never going to see the light of the day .
The early part of my teens was at a place called Kharapur in W Bengal .Now, dont get me wrong , it was not at the IIT for which the place is obviously more famous for the World over , but the Railway Colony of which my Father was very much a part. I did my schooling at the Railway Mixed Higher Secondary School there. My fathers previous posting among a lot many other places was at a place called Chakradharpur in Bihar and my early schooling was entirely in the Hindi Medium.
The school at Kharagpur though had a sizable Anglo Indian crowd and the ease with which they would chatter away in English was something which i could never bring myself to be good at as my repertoire of the Language started with a YES AND ENDED WITH A NO .
Be that as it may , The Senior Cambridge Syllabus and ISC format left me with no other option but to learn the English Language and having started it late , be fast about it at the same time .
The school at Kharagpur was a fair distance from the Officers Quarters where we resided . A cycle was the sole mode of transport . What I yearned for was a Geared Raleigh Bike ( that is what a Bicycle was fondly called than ) , what i could finally get my Father to agree to was a Second Hand 24 inches Ladies Eastern Star Bike .
Radio was the only form of Entertainment other than the Cinema and as was typical of most youngsters of that age group in those days I too was addicted to the same . Ameen Sayani s Binaca Geet Mala at 8 pm on Wednesdays and Abhi To Main Jawan Hoon at 10 pm on Sundays , both by Radio Ceylon were all time favorites.
Cricket was played and keenly followed on the radio. Vijai Merchant and Dicky Rutnakars comments were like the words of the Gods to us . The hand held Transistor Radio was one item which we all longed for to keep us abreast of the happenings at the Brabourne , Eden Garden , Chepauk or Green Park Stadiums . These were the Stadiums where almost all of the Cricket was played in those days .
The years have rolled bye and having completed my schooling at Kharagpur and then Textiles at a College in What was then Bombay , by virtue of my job , i am now a retired Textile Professional settled amidst everything green in a village called Agasthiarpatty near Ambasamudram in Tamilnadu.
My daughter and son are both doing well and settled now with their own families in Canada . My wife dotes on me and we are an excellent support to each other .
But in spite of all these there are times when i still ponder upon those unfulfilled dreams . It is at moments such as these that the many fulfilled dreams come rushing in to soothe the pain .
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