Raj Bhavan Childhood...

This song from the film SHOR, I identify with my childhood days

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in Rajbhavan. I first heard this song on the street of New Market,

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where Me and Mani (my mother) had gone to buy a gift for a

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wedding on that very day. My Mani used to sing this song while

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arranging things in the house or whenever she was painting a

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pot or sewing something. She was a trained Rabindrasangeet

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singer but while doing household chores she used to belt out

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melodious hindi film songs.

In keeping with Lord Metcalfe’s imperial vision, this meticulously

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structured building was specially created away from the rest of

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the metropolis, magnificently proportioned amidst acres of

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formal gardens. Tall intricately patterned wrought iron gates

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with massive lions perched atop reiterated the same regal

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majestic message. The ‘plebian’ and the ‘common man’ were

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to be kept out of what was the abode of the Governor General,

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the symbol of power and might of the monarch and the Throne.

My father served three successive Governors, Shri Dharm Vira, Shri Shanti Swarup Dhawan and Shri Anthony Lancelot

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Dias. Childhood was filled with lot of protocols, Raj Bhawan get-to-gethers, music, bonhomie, theatres, movies, adda,

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art and culture, literary debates, family outings to Victoria Memorial Hall, Academy of Fine Arts, Diamond Harbour. The

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Naxalite movements, 1972 War between India and Pakistan also witnessed with my infant instinct and knowledge. Now

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when I administer Prayasam I know from where did I pick meticulous planning, value of time and the rich cultural

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insights which have come to me from my family as legacy. The first film I watched in Darjeeling where we used to

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accompany my father during the summer was Goopy Gyne Bagha Byne. So, my initial grooming was done within a rich

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cultural milieu. Which helps me a lot as when I started my career in Prayasam with the children I wanted to pass on this

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cultural insights to them but I customized it according to their receiving capacity and interests.

Follow through my days at Tollugaunje here