Nalla Manam Vaazhga !

"Seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened for you."

A few weeks passed since then.

Though resigned to fate and put back all my efforts to receding memory, I had the pinch that I could not do that what I wanted!

I could not recall, how it happened that I shared these problems with one of my office colleagues Mr SG Iyer.

Here I have to explain my Karol Bagh story a little bit for continuity purpose. Our NHPC office was in Nehru Place at that time and I used to travel in the DTC point-to-point bus from Karol Bagh daily. Mr Iyer who was working in the personnel department as Deputy Manager then, also used to travel with me often in that bus.

In the evening or morning trips, usually, I was the one who normally accommodate the fellow standing passengers in my seat making the 2 member seat for three members. That needs a special technique to sit in a half seat and still I can comfortably sleeping the one hour or so journey to Karol Bagh!

Old memories never die!

It was during one such occasions, that, I might have shared my musical search and failures to Mr Iyer.

But to my astonishment, he said that he knew one another NHPC colleague in Karolbagh, in whose house he had seen an upright piano (a compact vertical shape piano version)!

Her name was Penny, a Goan Christian, who was also working in NHPC’s Personnel department and occasional traveler in my DTC bus. That was sufficient for me to surrender totally to him requesting him to introduce me to her.

That also happened soon.

When I met her and made my request telling the background, she was so gracious in accepting my request and asked me to come to her house so that the modalities can be discussed with her parents.

Mrs and Mr Williams, aged parents of Penny, were living in a normal rented house, which was just 10 to 15 minutes walk from my place. The piano was housed in an adjacent room to the main drawing hall, which is normally their dining room.

I asked for time slot daily between 7 to 8 PM in the evening, after my returning from office. They have agreed to that. With tears in my eyes, I conveyed my gratitude to them.

Once the piano arrangement is made, my school admission was made easy and I joined the school, in the immediate period, hope that was last quarter of 1985! Till 1989, I could continue that classes and school. I will write those experiences soon.

Certain things are part of your destiny.

How come one think of a far away land which you never though you will land up for a job, and one family who has not even seen you ever in your life, agree to your request of such musical requirement ?!!

I have no answers till date.

But, in my life, I owe them a lot !

No doubt they had to undergo some troubles also, due to this arrangement. Their evening privacy time to meet and discuss with their friends and relatives had some disturbances, with me practicing piano inside their house.

Daily when I tapped the door in the evening, they had to open the door and some time they postponed their visits just to accommodate me! Such instances were many! Nearly three years I could continue with such arrangement!

At a later stage, when Penny joined Maruti Udyog and shifted, that facility came to an end!

But by then, I had already completed my theory exams upto the 8th grade! Even though I could not fulfill my dreams of practicals, the way I wanted, but I could do a long distant travel with WCM theory learnings, just because of them!

Penny and Family !

I dedicate all my musical knowledge I had, to you three! Wherever you are, I pray that all the best and fortunes are bestowed on you all so that you can always share them, the way you shared with me during those period!