Mehra Uncle (Brij Kishore Mehra aka Bijju) passed away today. What a man! There are so many things that I (& I am sure many others) learnt from Mehra Uncle, most importantly 'Mast rehna' if I ever learnt that.
Even in his 80's & 90's I could talk to him about almost anything, including my relationship with my girlfriend, engineering, the country, tennis (of course Tennis!), HIS time at college & what not!
'Tu khudi ko kar buland itna ki khuda pooche bata ae bande bata teri raza kya hai' one line that he used to tell me all the time. & unki awaaz un 21 topon ki combined awaaz se kam nahin thi,which saluted him on his way.
Dad told me he was wrapped in the Indian National Flag, for being the freedom fighter he was, if his body could support him, he'd have gone around the country & shot each & every corrupt (whether in terms of money or ideology) person himself, saying, this is not what I fought for, not what I got whipped for, not the freedom that we dreamed of for this country.
'Koi ek paisa bata de haraam ki kamai ka, jo is ghar mein laga ho aur main ye ghar uske naam kar doon', when was it last when you heard a man say something with such brutal honesty & conviction, & if you have just heard him say that, it would be roar to match those 21 cannons.
If you could put him behind a curtain & just talk to him, there was no way you could say that he was a 90 year old guy, you would think, you were talking to a batchmate or maybe a wingmate who know what you are going through exactly!
'Hamare time pe, koi maal ladki ja rahi hoti, to kehte the, wo dekh patakha ja rahi rahi hai,' (Okay, this was not my favorite line of conversation with him, but) can you imagine a guy older than your grandfather, probably older than Gandalf, saying that! All you could do was smirk!
You will be greatly missed Mehra Uncle, but really the time spent spent with you, those mornings after playing badminton, sipping tea in his garden, those evenings of Diwali when he'd be drunk (there was also something about this madhushala he'd say, but I never got that :( )
I, even being an Indian, was voted the 'Most Eligible Bachelor' of our batch & he'd smile like he was voted just yesterday, not 70 years back!, & trust me, even today if it weren't for Mehra Anuty, he would be the most eligible bachelor I know.
I can't imagine how Mehra Aunty must be feeling right now, man! I need to go & meet her & Pradeep Uncle.
Its just sad, he was so lively, 'Ye shareer ek ghoda hai, jab tak ise hunter maar ke chalate rahoge, tumhare ishaare pe chalti rahegi, jab ise dheela chhoda nahin, ki ye wahin baith jaayegi.'
Jan Upyogi Kendra, a center he built for local kids to come & play. He was such a sport fanatic & such a sportsperson. This was one of those lawns, where parties were strictly not allowed (at least till remained in-charge), no matter the monetary gain that would have been from the parties & why not, simply because, 'maine ye kendra bacchon ke khelne ke liye banaya hai, taake wo aaye khelein, unki aapas mein dosti badhe, friendships that are made in the ground last long. yahan shaadiyan hongi to wo grounds ko ganda kar denge, bacche khel nahin payenge aur dheere dheere mere bacchon ke grounds shaadi ke lawn ban jayenge.'
Later he even started a vocational computer training center for women & underprivileged people in the local community.
Oh, & he was an Atheist god, if there has ever been one.
Jab main x saal ka tha aur nana poochte the, Bijju bada hoke kya banega, mere munh se 2 words nikalte the, 'Chief Engineer aur Is thedhe haath wale ne engineering seekh li aur fir jaake chief engineer bana.' & he even built tennis courts for the workers & local community at the Kota barrage dam.
The story where he first ate beef in Sri Lanka, Mehra Uncle showing me his college sweetheart's photo & saying, we were very close, & I replied, 'I totally know what you men' & we both ROFL.
The kissas with Satish Dhawan & when he pulled the chair from under his boss!
There is so much to say, so much to remember.
At the end of it all, Thank You Mehra Uncle for being the amazing influence, you have been. You will be sorely missed but a part of you lives on in me in those teachings, the laughter, the ethics, the joy, the hardwork, & the masti that you are symbolic of.
The thing is, when I was thinking of a title for this post, all I could think was 'What a Man!'' because really Mehra Uncle, you are The Man! :)
Miss you.
You are immortal Uncle, merely mortal but immortal.
Even in his 80's & 90's I could talk to him about almost anything, including my relationship with my girlfriend, engineering, the country, tennis (of course Tennis!), HIS time at college & what not!
'Tu khudi ko kar buland itna ki khuda pooche bata ae bande bata teri raza kya hai' one line that he used to tell me all the time. & unki awaaz un 21 topon ki combined awaaz se kam nahin thi,which saluted him on his way.
Dad told me he was wrapped in the Indian National Flag, for being the freedom fighter he was, if his body could support him, he'd have gone around the country & shot each & every corrupt (whether in terms of money or ideology) person himself, saying, this is not what I fought for, not what I got whipped for, not the freedom that we dreamed of for this country.
'Koi ek paisa bata de haraam ki kamai ka, jo is ghar mein laga ho aur main ye ghar uske naam kar doon', when was it last when you heard a man say something with such brutal honesty & conviction, & if you have just heard him say that, it would be roar to match those 21 cannons.
If you could put him behind a curtain & just talk to him, there was no way you could say that he was a 90 year old guy, you would think, you were talking to a batchmate or maybe a wingmate who know what you are going through exactly!
'Hamare time pe, koi maal ladki ja rahi hoti, to kehte the, wo dekh patakha ja rahi rahi hai,' (Okay, this was not my favorite line of conversation with him, but) can you imagine a guy older than your grandfather, probably older than Gandalf, saying that! All you could do was smirk!
You will be greatly missed Mehra Uncle, but really the time spent spent with you, those mornings after playing badminton, sipping tea in his garden, those evenings of Diwali when he'd be drunk (there was also something about this madhushala he'd say, but I never got that :( )
I, even being an Indian, was voted the 'Most Eligible Bachelor' of our batch & he'd smile like he was voted just yesterday, not 70 years back!, & trust me, even today if it weren't for Mehra Anuty, he would be the most eligible bachelor I know.
I can't imagine how Mehra Aunty must be feeling right now, man! I need to go & meet her & Pradeep Uncle.
Its just sad, he was so lively, 'Ye shareer ek ghoda hai, jab tak ise hunter maar ke chalate rahoge, tumhare ishaare pe chalti rahegi, jab ise dheela chhoda nahin, ki ye wahin baith jaayegi.'
Jan Upyogi Kendra, a center he built for local kids to come & play. He was such a sport fanatic & such a sportsperson. This was one of those lawns, where parties were strictly not allowed (at least till remained in-charge), no matter the monetary gain that would have been from the parties & why not, simply because, 'maine ye kendra bacchon ke khelne ke liye banaya hai, taake wo aaye khelein, unki aapas mein dosti badhe, friendships that are made in the ground last long. yahan shaadiyan hongi to wo grounds ko ganda kar denge, bacche khel nahin payenge aur dheere dheere mere bacchon ke grounds shaadi ke lawn ban jayenge.'
Later he even started a vocational computer training center for women & underprivileged people in the local community.
Oh, & he was an Atheist god, if there has ever been one.
Jab main x saal ka tha aur nana poochte the, Bijju bada hoke kya banega, mere munh se 2 words nikalte the, 'Chief Engineer aur Is thedhe haath wale ne engineering seekh li aur fir jaake chief engineer bana.' & he even built tennis courts for the workers & local community at the Kota barrage dam.
The story where he first ate beef in Sri Lanka, Mehra Uncle showing me his college sweetheart's photo & saying, we were very close, & I replied, 'I totally know what you men' & we both ROFL.
The kissas with Satish Dhawan & when he pulled the chair from under his boss!
There is so much to say, so much to remember.
At the end of it all, Thank You Mehra Uncle for being the amazing influence, you have been. You will be sorely missed but a part of you lives on in me in those teachings, the laughter, the ethics, the joy, the hardwork, & the masti that you are symbolic of.
The thing is, when I was thinking of a title for this post, all I could think was 'What a Man!'' because really Mehra Uncle, you are The Man! :)
Miss you.
You are immortal Uncle, merely mortal but immortal.
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