A Freakish Wet Week in Delhi

Mother Nature never ceases to surprise ignorant mortals like me. The incessant rains that Delhi and its neighbourhood has been experiencing the past six days ( mid May) is like during the peak of the Monsoons which get here only by about mid July!Water logging in many areas of the city and the suburbs notwithstanding, the steep fall in temperatures was welcomed by all.

The double murder of 15 years old Arushi and a Nepali domestic in the home of the Talwars both successful and well known Dentists in a posh NOIDA colony on May 15 sent shock waves though out the capital. The TV channels and the print media were on the rampage again! A wave of sympathy for the 15 year old who was reported to be a brilliant 9th Grade student in DPS NOIDA swept over NCR.

The NOIDA police investigations into the sensational crime were slippery, bumbling and shoddy- jumping from one theory to another.The gory murders were carried out by slitting of their throats with a sharp, possibly surgical instrument after knocking them out with a blunt object.

The shocking climax was reached yesterday with the police announcing that the culprit was the girl's own father Dr Rajesh Talwar. But the manner in which the story was revealed at the press conference by IG Meerut Range was most unprofessional, to say the least.


Now the girl's mother and a colleague lady doctor with whom Dr Tarwar was, according to the police, having an affair have further complicated the case by going to the TV News Channels, vehemently denying Dr Talwar's involvement, and claiming that theirs was a perfectly normal happy family. I saw their interviews and thought that they were a bit contrived. The mother particularly was too composed! Let's see what twist the case takes next...

But we all feel sorry for the young and innocent Arushi. It is evident hat she was not getting enough parental attention, with both being focussed on their careers.The change in value systems where material gains have taken the place of close family bonds is worth pondering over.

I am not at all surprised at NOIDA ( UP) police's inept handling of the case.To expect sophisticated metropolitan policing from a Mofussil ( rural) police force deployed in NOIDA, devoid of basic forensic tools, training , orientation etc, is not being realistic. If the UP CM would like NOIDA to remain healthy a holy cow, she should act now to introduce a Commissioner of police system and equip it better to cope with the task of providing security to the failrly prosperous people who live there.

Let's leave the murky world of crime and take a look at nature again. The trees dotting new Delhi have all been washed bright green by the ample rains in the past few days. The grass in the lawns is also lush green and the Amaltash , Gul Mohar blossoms have fallen in abundance to provide yellow and orange carpets in the roadside parks.The Lagestroemias and Champas have, however, withstood the storms and still adorn the trees. Will try to catch this on my camera to post pictures on this blog for your viewing pleasure.Having failed in this I am carrying two pictures one of Gulmohar in full bloom ( downloaded from the net) and the other of Hybrid Petunias in a window box at my home taken last month.

Let me to take you back to my memories of Meerut, where the large Chowdhry family lived in a cottage owned by an old Anglo- Indian Spinster- Miss Newton, who also lived in an adjoining cottage in a sprawling estate on the outskirts of the Cantonement.Miss Newton was indeed a very courageous lady.She lived alone with her pet dog, a Dachshund ( also rumoured to be a spinster called "Missia"), ferociously guarding the large estate inherited by her alone since her brothers had decided either to go back to England or to Pakistan, after Independence/ Partition. She would take her rounds of the bungalows and the fruit orchards, including the long row of servants quarters attached to the property during the days and also nights with a powerful torchlight in her hand, putting the fear of God among the occupants of the servants quarters by shouting at them with a sprinkling of the choicest abuses in " Hindustani" making their children run for cover, as soon as her foot-steps or rather manly voice was heard.She smoked like a chimney and drank unending cups of tea hot or cold.
But behind her tough exterior, Miss Newton had a heart of gold. Whenever any member of our family was sick and in bed,she would come around and sit by the bed side. Her gestures of good neighbourliness were reciprocated generously by 'Pitajee', by not only visiting her during her illnesses but also arranging for food and tea to be taken to her home by one of the servants."Babba" our grand father who lived with us along with "Bhabbi"( Grand mother)would continue to annoy Miss Newton no end by his persistent but innocent queries about her age.But she was quite fond of "Bhabbi", despite the differences of race , language and religion. I would put her age around late seventies at that time

Given the bonhomie between the happy Chowdhry family and the " lonely' old Anglo- Indian land-lady, it was no surprise that she willed her entire property to Pitajee. As a matter of fact, she became so fond of my father that she alo offered him to buy the cottage that we lived in (for which we paid a rent of Rs 45/= ), for Rs 20,000/=, which was well below the actual value of the property . But with a large family of seven school and college going children and his old parents to support on a single income and the dwindling harvests from our ancestral farms in Faridpur, and being an" honest and proud civil servant of high pedigree",Pitajee was not in a position to accept her generous offer. But he asked his younger brother( my Chacha about whom you will read a lot in my later blogs)to take it, and he did.

But all this came to an end in the early sixties when the Chowdhrys decided to move bag and baggage to Allahabad, after living at 22 A 1 Ordnance Row Meerut Cantt for over a decade. This happened when my father became the Head of the Govt Dept he had served for many years.Chacha promptly sold off the house soon after we moved out and Miss Newton was pressurised by the local Church to change her will bequeathing her property to a Non- Christian. They wanted her to donate it to the Church, which she refused to( she was never a very devout Christan anyway,) but in deference to the wishes of her community, she changed her will so that her estate be inherited by a very nice Christian young man who also lived in the neighbourhood. But he too was too good a man to manage Miss Newton's Estates affairs large parts of which were encroached upon( after we moved out) by a local Jat leader.He gave up his rights over the property even without a fight!

Have discovered a couple of black & white small pictures of Miss Newton among the old family photos, which we have preserved.But I don't know how to carry them on my blog. Any suggestions / ideas? Next week I will tell you about N. Lal ICS, another unforgettable character out of my childhood and growing up years memories!!

We decided to buy a car for Shailey my wife. Closely looked at and test drove a few small cars. Shailey was clear that she wanted a small car. Her last was Zen.When we took stock of our funds we found that we were short by about 1 Lakh rupees. Our children very sweetly chipped in without consulting us and took us by surprise when two BDs were delivered in Shailey's name in a couple of days. The choice narrowed down to Maruti "Swift" and Hyunday's "i 10". When I turned to Dilip my friend from college who is an expert, he said, "your choice is between Asha Parekh and Deepika Padukone". An "i 10" in 'Blushing Red' colour was thus our natural choice!!It looks nice and drives well.

I end this blog, as the weather again turns cool with sharp showers accompanying a thunder-storm preceded by dark clouds taking Delhiites by suprise in the morning today.

Wishing you all a very happy and enjoyable week ahead

Love