Mayank Mohan Pande

There is a Colonel from the army retired,

though he doesn’t appear exhausted or even a wee bit tired.

Vinay Kumta is his name, and we shared a teenage and early youth in this life game.

At BITS Pilani we met in the summer of  ’71, and parted at the IMA after 5 years plus one.

I had to leave the army in ’79 because the doctors felt I’ll serve better as a civilian,

Vinay served till he was 54 because he proved to be a healthy, strong and fit all in one..

Years flew past and we wondered where the other was till recently when we were connected via the internet.

He runs and walks 10 kilometers every morning, whereas my exercise is  walks to the cigarette shop limited.

I thank the Lord for my wife Jaishri, daughter Bhavya, son Manu, friends, doctors and my employer the ONGC who with love and care have shown me the way, every day.

Towards knowledge and experience, courage and confidence, struggle and strife within,

to emerge victorious every now and then…

The lesson I have learnt is to share love and courage and that true joy emerges when we have licked our handicaps, one by one.

9 years later

The story goes on and much for the better,

Followed good examples to the letter.

I gave up smoking in 2015 and started walking for 40 minutes per day,

Following Vinay’s and the doctors’ advice in every way,

Taught young bioinformatics students about the logic and magic buried in Silicon,

With Manu’s help and that of the HealthifyMe app shed off the extra weight I’d put on.

Happiness hormones flowed in my brain,

I look forward to live a healthy day again and again.

My brothers, Kaushal, Vinay and I  studied at St Joseph’s College Nainital half a century ago. We gained the best possible education in science, mathematics, English, sports and morals. The school was called Sem because in the nineteenth century it was a seminary for grooming priests.

My parents had taken an old bungalow on rent, nearby the school.

Our winter vacations were from December to the end of February and we spent these with my father who was a forest officer in the paradisical areas in and around Nainital and its foothills. This was Jim Corbett’s India. It was also ours.

From 1958 to 1970 were raised in Nainital we siblings four,

Shubha, Binnu, Bappu and Kannu who sadly is no more.

Ija and Baba we called our parents and to them we owe it all,

For setting an example of fortitude and humility that enables us to get up every time we fall.

We also with gratitude remember Reverend Brothers Duff, Burke, Hughes, McGrath, Lyng and the school they ran, nicknamed Sem,

Where we learnt first the alphabet and later calculus, as well as, the spirit of fighting evildoers by giving it to them.

We had a regal childhood in the winters with our caravans of the Jungalaat, which is to with matters relating to forests and the wild life living therein,

The cosy Forest Rest Houses were perked within dense foliage with a population of game and tigers not so alarmingly thin.

Most of these cottages  were built by the British in the late nineteen century,

When their empire was at the peak of its glory.

Mostly we had a charming time,

Pampered by servants and untouched by crime,

But once we were  attacked by a rogue elephant and had a very narrow escape near Tanakpur town,

Some of the forest dwellers were not so lucky and the rogues were ultimately shot down.

One memory will forever remain,

Of my father covering the hearth with an old newspaper to create a draft and set the firewood aflame.

And thereafter burying potatoes in the ashes and enjoying them roasted with their jackets on.

I could go on and on and on…