Tales of true love

from 2012-02 Sydney (1)

V-Day is me-day

BY SUDHA NATARAJAN

Hum to chale jate, Bhagawan jahan bulate, Gav gav jakar, Gita ke geeth gaate… (We go where God directs (calls) us; from village to village, we sing the song of Gita). Amrat Bhatt’s song has become the signature tune for RAIN (Resourceful Australian Indian Network) seniors. When he starts on this song, everyone joins in with enthusiasm and there are smiles on all faces as if to say, “How true!”

Uncle Bhatt as he is fondly and respectfully addressed, is a Pandit and poet in Gujarati language. He has published a beautiful poetry book in the language. Always accompanied by his wife and constant companion Jayabehn, Uncle Bhatt leads the group in singing and when they choose to do the garba, he is at the centre singing the most peppy songs, adding rhythm to movement.

Poetry without the post!

During our Day Care activities we have sesdsions when we share memorable moments in our early lives. Jayabehn, motivated by her friends, came out of her shell and told us about their wedding almost sixty years back. She was born in East Africa as her father was doing business there, and the family decided to seek a suitable groom from India for the slim, beautiful (to this day) Jaya. The family travelled to India and found a suitable young man who taught in a school at that time. The youngsters had the opportunity to meet each other, but did not talk. The elders had their discussions and carried out the engagement then and there, but decided to have the wedding after a year or two. Jaya left with her parents to East Africa.

Now this was a long wait and they hadn’t even talked to each other. Young Amrat Bhatt was then a budding poet, and had to reveal his love through his lyrics. But without a phone he couldn’t talk to Jayabehn. Thinking deeply, he decided to write a letter –Jayabehn blushed, as the peer group asked, “What did he say in the letter, was it a love letter or poetry?”; “Uncle must have been geeth gate…”. There was laughter all around and Uncle Bhatt smiled, knocking his walking stick twice on the ground, perhaps a signal to Jayabehn to go ahead.

She was shy, still blushing, but decided to share the secret with her friends – and here is the twist in the tail of the story. Young Amrat did post his prem patra (love letter) and waited for a reply – but the only thing he forgot was to write the address on the envelope!

The fun moment in this story created a sense of ease and few others decided to share their important moments.

Boat to Bombay

Gamanlal Khatri, born in South Africa, went all the way by sea to Mumbai to seek his bride. It took over a month of travel, and when he reached his village, his parents had fixed a match of a beautiful bride for him. Manibehn was shy as Gamanbhai fondly hugged her, saying that he was happy to be married and is still happy with his bride over fifty years later.

The best bride

Another interesting story came from a couple from South India, Chandrasekar and Ratna. Chandrasekar amused the peer group by saying, “My parents only showed me one girl and said, this is the girl we have arranged for you to marry. I was not given a choice!” The group were immediately supportive of Ratna saying, “Your parents obviously made a good choice!” Then Chandrasekar turned serious and looking at his still-young bride fondly said, “I couldn’t have asked for better… she is the best.” The group cheered and applauded!

Meeting at the wedding

Another person who got the most beautiful life partner without having seen her before their wedding day was Bishambar Lal Verma. He shared how his wedding to the lovely Janak was arranged by his grandfather. At the time of partition in 1947, Janak’s parents were in Lahore (now Pakistan) and moved to Delhi where her father was employed as a Personal Assistant at the office of the then Prime Minister, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru. Bishambar Lal’s parents came as refugees to Ferozepur, a town south east of Lahore on the border with Pakistan. They joined Thakurdas Sehgal, Bishambar’s grandfather who was already there.

Bishambar was sent to Delhi in early 1948 to work with Bharat Airways Ltd at Safdarjung airport in the aircraft maintenance department. During this period his grandfather visited Delhi and met Janak’s father who was his former student. Mr Sehgal mentioned Bishambar in conversation, and Janak’s father indicated that his daughter was of a marriageable age (only 16). He suggested her alliance with Bishambar, and Mr Sehgal agreed.

On returning to Ferozepur, Mr Sehgal informed Bishambar’s parents of the alliance and instructed them to visit the girl and her family in Delhi. They did, and the marriage was fixed for April 23, 1951. Until his wedding, Bishambar did not even look at his beautiful bride.

The couple had the opportunity to visit various countries following Bishambar’s career pursuits and today, after sixty years, they are happily enjoying the company of their children and grandchildren.

Love from the balcony

Next was the true love story of Mr and Mrs Parekh, which was something we thought only happened in the movies.

Sometime during the ‘40s, young Putli Parekh with her beautiful curly hair and enchanting smile moved to a flat in Mumbai with her family, sister and brother. Hers was a flat on the upper floors of the building, and it was usual for people to drop a bucket tied on a string to collect letters or small items delivered to the door, as it was difficult to walk down the stairs all the time. This is what she was doing from her balcony when suddenly she found the bucket trapped somewhere in between, on some other balcony railing. Leaning over to investigate, Putli came upon the most beautiful brown eyes of an obviously startled young man from a lower balcony. Their eyes met, sparks evolved. She fluttered her beautiful eyes, he quickly let the bucket drop which went rather fast on its way down. As she looked down, he quickly withdrew into his balcony.

Another day, two, three passed but as Putli looked down searchingly, she could not find him anywhere. She knew the balcony and this time decided to get her bucket trapped on purpose. It worked. He came to unhook the bucket from the railing and once again, happened to look up. But being a shy man, he withdrew without saying hello.

Putli Parekh laughed and laughed as she narrated the story. Her brother made friends with

The Vermas had the opportunity to visit various countries following Bishambar’s career pursuits and today, after sixty years, they are happily enjoying the company of their children and grandchildren the young man and brought him home one day. Homi Parekh was far too shy to greet her directly, though she had already decided that this was the man for her. After a few visits and with the blessings of the members of the family they decided to meet for a conversation, but he turned up with his sister. While narrating this, Putli showed her disappointment, while the other seniors had a good laugh imagining the scene.

Finally, things worked out quite well, Putli managed to wed Homi and the lovely couple are still having a great time in each other’s company. She is still outgoing and bubbly and he is still shy. True love is beyond time and age.