This a story about a grand friendship that goes back to 1973. Not one unkind word or gesture, not one occasion when I felt tentative before reaching out, not one instance of unpleasantness, every meeting left me feeling I will I will see him soon, as I felt on Tuesday morning when I last spoke with Mooli. He wound off the conversation with his signature signing off call “Chalo”, It still rings.
Jayanto asked me this morning why have I not written on this page, the truth is I am numbed. Mooli and Nans are friends . It’s just left a hole in my life.
I met so many of Mooli’s friends from school, college and service over the years who have written warmly about him on this website and that brings back many memories.
Gautu, Ranjan, Krish, Kapil and many more stepped in and stood by in past several weeks, a testimony to Mooli’s friendships.
I was not from Doon, nor DU nor GOI, but he was a constant in our lives since 1973.
At the time he gave his C3 and came to Scindia replacing Mahavir Acharya who left to take his UPSC, to teach a term before DU started since Mr. Sahi was our head master and Arthur Hughes was senior master knew him from Doon. What a great introduction to Mooli.
I have often joked that if i made spelling errors when I spoke you could blame Mooli.
He went on to serve the people in NE and I bumbled through working for Brooke Bond, ITC and sold sugared soda water and music. We were from completely different worlds at work but that perhaps made it interesting. I had no idea what he did except my colleagues at work believed I have friends in high places when they met Mooli, I revelled in his success.
In the mid 80s I got posted to the North East from Hyderabad. It was my 8th posting and the most memorable.
We had an appointment house on a hill with many huge trees which would flower in turn. Mooli and Nans has just returned from Barpeta and we would sit on the verandah above the car port and watch the monsoons come in. We had a few trunks which served as divans. The booze came from Shillong with school friends in the IAF ferrying it since Gauhati was dry the food was simple and Nans always got us some orchids which just grew beautifully. The conversation was of course scintillating.
At that time Mooli would introduce me to trees of Assam. (Many years later Pink Virk Commandant 61st Cav met him at our home and that resulted in all the Bamboo groves in the Unit and the Riding Club, Mooli’s invisible hand at work.)
They were difficult times in Assam but we managed managed picnics with Jitesh, Rashmi, Anup Thakur, Jack Mehta, Daulat Singh Negi who left early. I used to travel to all the seven states and every tour was preceded by Mooli introducing me to some friend in Aizawl, Jorhat, Mokukchung, Imphal. The gesture of introducing his friends continued for ever.
In turn Mooli and Nans met our families and at some point they became family.
It took me 9 days from Margarita to Gauhati on my farewell tour since Mooli’s friends along the way insisted I spend time with them, I staggered back drenched with gallons on McDowells No 1 laced with Thums Up and a very cross “Mom Soon Choti”, (this bad one is for Mooli lest he thinks his humour is being abandoned)
We kept up though his posting in Delhi when he stayed in Asia House. Frankly I did not know what he did in the govt. I just enjoyed his company.
When we got posted to Delhi in 99, we started seeing each other rather often always looking forward to seeing each other soon thereafter. We has a small mafia that came together Narayan Rao, Naru my neighbour from Secunderabad and since a dost, Mooli, Ajai and I. We would do quiet lunches and lazy dinners. Well Naru left a few years back and though Mooli and I never discussed it we missed him dearly.
We used to sit on summer evenings on the ”chatt” in Defence Colony after dinner and over a cigarette he would ask what I was reading ?
So started a ritual of sharing books and blogs.
He gave me a book on how to take photographs and that is on my book shelf as I refer to it even now on aperture, film speed and ISO settings. We kind of learnt photography together visiting Rama Studio in Khan Market to check our prints, I preferred his pictures to mine.
Over the past ten years as we built the studio he would drop in during recordings and even otherwise and we would do a quiet lunch, he never missed attending any soirée always there supportive, always put in a kind word.
We had a few rituals and amongst them was spending a quiet evening on the 31st January bringing in the new year. This year he was in sparkling form and gave Choti a 101 on the Assam Accord, the tribes of Arunachal and the book of pictures. For the first time ever he requested could we have dinner upstairs ? Which we did.
There is a beautiful Verse attributed to Shankaracharya the great Advaita Vedantist as a response to a question he was asked on the banks of the Narmada, the Question was who are you. The extract of the reply is:
Na Punnyam Na Paapam Na Saukhyam Na Duhkham
Na Mantro Na Tiirtham Na Vedaa Na Yajnyaah
Na Dharmo Na Ca-Artho Na Kaamo Na Mokssah
Cid-Aananda-Ruupah Shivoham Shivoham
I believe Mooli is around , only not present in his physical self.
Nans, Nayantara and Naira the friendship will endure, We are always there and can count on us.
I am unable to say much more.