11 The Mid 1950s

The mid-1950s began with the Samyukta Maharashtra Movement which basically espoused the bifurcation of the Bombay State into Maharashtra and Gujarat. The Government at that time was reluctant to do this, and this in turn caused riots in 1955 which led to the firing on the mob that had gathered at Flora Fountain resulting in multiple deaths. My Father was an eye witness to this event as his Office was just across the Flora Fountain, and he could see from his Office window the firing and hear the shots! That same Flora Fountain was later renamed Hutatma Chowk when Maharashtra State was finally inaugurated. I remember the curfew that was imposed upon the city and I recall Black Marias or the police vans, going up and down on our street in Mahim announcing the Curfew!

One day in September 1956, my mother told me that she would have to visit the hospital where she would be getting a baby – I was very excited at this prospect and dutifully trotted off to Dr Jhaveri’s Hospital at Matunga which was not too far away from our home in Mahim. Soon I discovered that I had a baby sister! For the next 5 days, I regularly went to the hospital in the evenings, more so that I could share the hot milk that the nurse would give my mother! My father had a penchant for naming his children with the names of well-known personalities of that time – I was named after Ram Gopal, a well known Ballet Dancer who was very popular in the West having performed at the Royal Opera House in London. Similarly my sister was named Suchitra after the popular Hindi & Bengali film actress Suchitra Sen!

Just before my sister was born, my father’s health began to deteriorate – initially he felt giddy often and had extended periods of indigestion and stomach upsets. This continued for a long time and I remember going with him to various doctors and x-ray clinics and pathologists for carrying out different tests. My mother became very much worried and being an extremely pious and spiritual person, she convinced my father to go for a short pilgrimage to South India especially to visit Tirupati and Palani: both highly respected holy sites for many Indians. Thus soon after in 1957, I left along with my mother and father for the south; leaving my kid brother and my infant sister in the care of our grandmother, at our Mahim home.