Samir Nandi, a resident of Jallahali, in Bangalore, an ordinary middle class had an incredibly interesting childhood during the 1970s in the Cantonment area, memories of which he distinctly remembers.
Born to a father in the defence services, the second of his two sons, in Bengal, he relocated to Bangalore after his father got posted here, due to the extreme violence, taking place in Bengal, which he remembers vaguely. In Bangalore, he stayed in close proximity to the parade ground in an old Colonial style bungalow. He recollects enthusiastically visiting the parade grounds on the occasion of Independence Day and Republic day to watch the processional march, accompanied by his father. He recollects that during that time Bangalore had only a few scooters and the sight of a car was rather uncommon. One-way streets were entirely unheard of and the streets were predominantly occupied with cycles and pedestrians.
As a child, he was mischievous, but never wayward. Thus, his parents or any of his teachers never reprimanded him. While he was in the 6th standard in STA, where he completed his schooling, the headmaster was a staunch disciplinarian. To avoid getting into trouble, his fellow peers avoided sitting next to him, as he would often get his entire set of friends into trouble.
This one time, he decided to learn how to cycle and so, he got his brother’s cycle out of the garage and started cycling in his garden. On accelerating to a speed he was unable to manage, he banged into an old mango tree as he did not know how to brake.
Also, his father was a close acquaintance of the manager of the Imperial theatre, because of which he and his elder brother got free passes to the Plaza theatre, that was owned by a lady called Begum back then. His elder brother and he went to this single screen theatre with great fervor, only to be disheartened as the show got over in merely five minutes. Later, he and his brother realized that they had actually entered one screening prior to the one they had scheduled to go for. An avid fan of Bachchan, he never missed a single film, Deewar and Namak Haram being his all time favorites.
After completing his schooling, he had to leave the good old days behind him and had to deal with other accountabilities. So, he started working in the Ashoka Hotel by ITC for twenty years. While working there, he came across a keen singer who’s sister was married to her elder brother. After courting her for a while, he asked for her hand in marriage. She is now working as a music teacher at the Kendriya Vidyalaya in Bangalore, where her 16 year old son is currently studying, who has not only imbibed the impishness of his father, but also a keen fascination for music. Samir also developed a taste in Semi classical music, due to his wife, Lata Mangeshkar and Mohommad Rafi being his favorites.
He often goes back to Bengal for Durga Pooja, however he finds the Durga Pooja celebrations more homely, with a lot more personal involvement. He feels that it is less of an exhibit and more of a close-knit gathering in Bangalore, which he thoroughly enjoys.
Sitting in his clothing and tailoring store, he is often fascinated by how his school friendship manifested into a business partnership in the form of Ethics- The Dress Circle, successfully running on Wheeler’s Road Extension and three other places in Bangalore. He often reminisces the good old days in this IT dominated city, where he caters suits to a limited few that do not adhere to the mall culture in this global city.
Born to a father in the defence services, the second of his two sons, in Bengal, he relocated to Bangalore after his father got posted here, due to the extreme violence, taking place in Bengal, which he remembers vaguely. In Bangalore, he stayed in close proximity to the parade ground in an old Colonial style bungalow. He recollects enthusiastically visiting the parade grounds on the occasion of Independence Day and Republic day to watch the processional march, accompanied by his father. He recollects that during that time Bangalore had only a few scooters and the sight of a car was rather uncommon. One-way streets were entirely unheard of and the streets were predominantly occupied with cycles and pedestrians.
As a child, he was mischievous, but never wayward. Thus, his parents or any of his teachers never reprimanded him. While he was in the 6th standard in STA, where he completed his schooling, the headmaster was a staunch disciplinarian. To avoid getting into trouble, his fellow peers avoided sitting next to him, as he would often get his entire set of friends into trouble.
This one time, he decided to learn how to cycle and so, he got his brother’s cycle out of the garage and started cycling in his garden. On accelerating to a speed he was unable to manage, he banged into an old mango tree as he did not know how to brake.
Also, his father was a close acquaintance of the manager of the Imperial theatre, because of which he and his elder brother got free passes to the Plaza theatre, that was owned by a lady called Begum back then. His elder brother and he went to this single screen theatre with great fervor, only to be disheartened as the show got over in merely five minutes. Later, he and his brother realized that they had actually entered one screening prior to the one they had scheduled to go for. An avid fan of Bachchan, he never missed a single film, Deewar and Namak Haram being his all time favorites.
After completing his schooling, he had to leave the good old days behind him and had to deal with other accountabilities. So, he started working in the Ashoka Hotel by ITC for twenty years. While working there, he came across a keen singer who’s sister was married to her elder brother. After courting her for a while, he asked for her hand in marriage. She is now working as a music teacher at the Kendriya Vidyalaya in Bangalore, where her 16 year old son is currently studying, who has not only imbibed the impishness of his father, but also a keen fascination for music. Samir also developed a taste in Semi classical music, due to his wife, Lata Mangeshkar and Mohommad Rafi being his favorites.
He often goes back to Bengal for Durga Pooja, however he finds the Durga Pooja celebrations more homely, with a lot more personal involvement. He feels that it is less of an exhibit and more of a close-knit gathering in Bangalore, which he thoroughly enjoys.
Sitting in his clothing and tailoring store, he is often fascinated by how his school friendship manifested into a business partnership in the form of Ethics- The Dress Circle, successfully running on Wheeler’s Road Extension and three other places in Bangalore. He often reminisces the good old days in this IT dominated city, where he caters suits to a limited few that do not adhere to the mall culture in this global city.