2854) Did You Know Series (79): 2, Qila Road Aligarh: The Bungalow where we stayed from 1962 to 1984 when my father Dr. J. N. Prasad was the Chairman of the Physiology Department at Jawaharlal Nehru Medical College (JNMC) - Aligarh Muslim University (AMU), Aligarh:
The Jawaharlal Medical College, Aligarh began functioning when my father Dr. J. N. Prasad and Dr. Wajihul Hasan joined the Physiology Department on 02.10.1962.
- From the website of JNMC (Jawaharlal Nehru Medical College, Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh, I inter alia came across the following narration:
"The Department of Physiology is the primary department to have been started when J.N. Medical College came into existence on 2nd October 1962. Prof. J.N. Prasad, M.D. (Physiology), M.S. (Ophth) joined the department as Chairman along with Dr. Wajihul Hasan, MBBS as a demonstrator.
Physiology Department was shifted to the present building in June 1971 from the old building of the Department of Physics of the Aligarh Muslim University.
150 students in MBBS and 40 BDS students are admitted every year since 1996 and are undergoing teaching/training in Physiology. MD and Ph.D. (Physiology) was started in 1973. Every year 5 Post Graduate students are admitted. The degree of MBBS and MD Physiology is recognised by the Medical Council of India.
There are three laboratories namely Human, Hematology, and Mammalian/Amphibian for the UG and PG students as recommended by the Medical Council of India. The main field of research in the department is on clinical physiology. The Department has produced one Ph. D. (Physiology) and 44 MD (Physiology) since 1973.
The Department of Physiology adopts a blended approach in imparting medical education which is open to newer concepts in medical education as well as retaining the time-tested teaching-learning principles. The departmental faculties have their expertise in areas like autonomic function testing, electrophysiology, exercise physiology.
The Faculty members are actively engaged in research work and have published more than 250 papers in National and International journals. The faculty of the department has received National level awards in cardiovascular and Medical Education.
Many teachers are honoured by the international fellowships of different countries to attend conferences and workshops related to physiology and Medical Education.
The Department also provides Neurophysiological support to the hospital patients in form of Nerve Conduction Studies (NCS), Brainstem Evoked Response Audiometry (BERA), Electromyography (EMG) and Visual Evoked Potential (VEP). The Department has recently started Computer-Assisted Amphibian Lab (CAAL)."
MISSION:
To carry out world-class scientific research and quality teaching, expanding on our track record of innovation and excellence in both research and teaching.
Provide an environment that permits faculty, staff, and students the opportunity to further develop their professional skills and expertise and realize their potential as educators.
The promotion of disciplinary and interdisciplinary research and learning that will foster the creation of new knowledge.
VISION:
To be recognized as the foremost educational arena in physiology, preparing undergraduate and postgraduate students as well as research scholars to take their places as leaders in the medical and allied health professionals & academia.
Achieving excellence in learner-centered academic experiences that enhance health in the global community.
"Integrating Life Sciences from Molecular and Cellular mechanisms to the Organism".
- (The Vision and Mission had been originally framed during my father's tenure with a few modifications later on).
- I saw on the website that everyone who had been appointed as Faculty Members during my father's tenure went on to become Chairmen of the Physiology Depertment in order of their seniority:
List of former Chairmen of the Department of Phisiology, JNPC, Aligarh include:
Name Since when Till when
Prof. J.N. Prasad 1962 - 1981
Prof. Wajihul Hasan 1984 - 1985
Prof. Uma Srivastav 1981 - 1984
Prof. Usha Singhal 1988 -1991
Prof. D.K. Agrawal 1998 - 1999
- It fell upon my father to plan and execute the layout/construction of the new Medical College, which was carried out in a timespan of a little less than a decade. I remember that a team of architects, furniture and medical equipment suppliers was constantly in touch with my father who spent several hours in his office discussing the plans.
- During my father's tenure at the JNMC, Aligarh, we were staying at a huge bungalow on 2, Qila Road on the road leading to the Aligarh Qila (Fort).
A brief history of the Aligarh Fort (Aligarh Qila):
The fort was built during the time of Ibrahim Lodi by Muhammad, son of Umar the governor of Kol (Aligarh city is subset of this greater set) in 1524–25.
Sabit Khan, who was the governor of this region during the time of Farrukh Siyar and Muhammad Shah, rebuilt the fort.
It became a fortress of great importance under Madhavrao I Scindia in 1759 it was the depot where he drilled and organised his battalions in European fashion with the aid of French soldier BenoƮt de Boigne.
During the Battle of Ally Ghur in 1803, it was captured by a combined force od French and British army troops. After that it was strengthened and improved.
During the First Battle of Indian Independence in 1857 the troops stationed at Aligarh while capturing this fort, permitted the officers & other ranks, to evacuate to the nearby town of Hathras.
The fort as it stands today has steep ravines, (over 30 feet high), on every side, and bastions in every angle on the walls.
Presently, the Aligarh fort is under the care of Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) as a protected site of Archeological Survey of India. The university uses part of the internal area fort as location for its department of Botany.
- I remember that I used to go to the Qila with our tailor Masood, a short statured, diminutive man with a very sharp eyesight for partridge hunts. We had an air gun and a .22 rifle between the two of us.
Masood had a sharp sense of knowing where the partridges were hiding. Like a sniper, he would wait patiently for several minutes and let the partridges come out. I saw him take a shot only when the partridges had aligned themselves in a row. Every time he got two to four kills all shot in the head.
I would tell him that he was wasting his time in a tailoring shop and that he would have made an excellent sniper in the Army.
My sister Raka adds:
"All I remember was that the Qila was locked when she went once and could not enter as a result.......So she embarked upon an alternate solution ...scale the Qila wall..... which was successfully done.
Sadly, in the process I was bitten by some insect and scraped my knee on some plant while landing on the other side of the wall and got 8 to 10 abscesses one after the other and a bandaged knee for about two months."
So much for adventure.
About Uncle Paul Haegar:
Uncle Paul Haegar served in the German Army and rose to the rank of a Colonel. When World War II broke out and the Allied Armies were advancing upon the German heartland, he was taken prisoner and shipped to a Prisoner of War Camp for German/Axis soldiers at the British colony at Malaya. Here he was treated well by the British Army and given his passion for horticulture, he was allowed to go and help out a Malayan rubber plantation owner on how to improve the yield of his plantation.
When World War II ended and the German Prisoner of War Camp was dismantled, he was given an option to be shipped back to Germany, but he declined on grounds that he had nothing to look forward to in war-torn and devastated Germany. He continued to stay on in Malaya, married a local Malayan lady and started his own rubber plantation there.
As time went by he became a prosperous plantation owner, but once again tragedy struck him. He lost his wife to a terminal illness and was completely heart-broken. He lost interest in his Rubber plantation and began to neglect it.
Around this time, he was offered a job at the Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) as the Chief Horticulturist.
Uncle Haegar took up this job around 1960, which is when my Father joined JNMC as a pioneer doctor at the Medical College.
Uncle Haegar, the Chief Horticulturist at the Aligarh Muslim University – a great success:
Uncle Haegar took upon himself the onerous task of landscaping the AMU’s gardens and making them the finest gardens among all the Universities of India.
His horticulture and cropping experiments in the University and the Aligarh Fort, got him India-wide recognition and Horticulturists from several Universities and other establishments around India visited him and were constantly in touch with him to consult him regarding his landscaping techniques, his innovative experiments et al.
Uncle Haegar used to walk away with all the prizes at every flower show whether it was Inter or Intra University or any other flower show. I remember that one rose called the “Black Prince” got me a prize in a Flower Show, even though it was Uncle Haegar’s creation and I had nothing to do with it.
The above photographs were taken by me with my AGFA - Click III camera at a prestigious nter-university flower show organised on the lawns of Kennedy Hall auditorium. Uncle Haegar is seen here sitting proudly with his Championship Trophy and interacting with the guests.
For a comprehensive post on Uncle Haegar, please visit the following link:
The Aligarh House:
Initially, the House had been planned as a guest house for visitors/important functionaries coming to the Aligarh Fort, particularly to see the experiments being undertaken by Uncle Haegar. However, because of its distance from the Fort, visitors did not prefer to stay in the guest house.
As such, when my father started the Medical College, he was allotted the house on a permanent basis.
My father has recorded this in his own handwriting on the above photo - "Aligarh Home, Oct 1962 - 1st visit to Aligarh".
A view of our house in Aligarh. My parents, my sister, Raka and I also figure in this photograph.
- So in the vast compound of our house, Uncle Haegar got the topsoil changed all over the gardening area and planted the most amazing varieties of flowering plants, including carpet grass, and roses which changed colour several times in a day and each one was a beauty in itself.
My father would spend a couple of hours every day weeding out the lawn. Sometimes, Wali (Haegar Uncle's Assistant) would be deputed to inspect that the garden was simply looking great and take remedial measures wherever necessary.
Under Uncle Haegar’s supervision, we had a paddy field, a “singhara” pond, papaya trees growing upto the third floor of the house, a vegetable garden growing all kinds of salads, carrots, onions, beet root, potatoes, tomatoes, mangoes, guava and just about everything including sugarcane and a paddy field, one could think of was growing in our residential compound.
Whatever successful experiments were being undertaken on plants and crops at the Qila, found samples being brought and planted in our house.
A strict vegetarian with a love for food:
He was a strict vegetarian and was very fond of my mother’s dishes of fried peas, “Aloo ki Tikiyas” ("potato cutlets"), “Samosas” and Onion “Pakoras” for snacks, apart from fried rice “Pulao” for lunch whenever he visited our house. He loved eating the “Kachauris”, “Pooris” and “Dosas” or “Idlis” which my mother would cook, among other items.
He also helped out with the hand-driven ice-cream maker and loved the ice-cream my mother made in various flavours. When he was leaving for his residence, he would invariably leave a request as to what he would like to eat the next time he came over visiting us.
The festival of Holi was celebrated for the first time in 1962.
This photograph taken by Dr. Salman Ali I Year MBBS student has 14 First Year MBBS Doctors. My father is the third one standing from left. Also standing at extreme right are Sharmaji and Kelsheshtra uncle both of whom were staff technicians in my father's department.
On the back of this photograph, Dr. Salman Ali has written this description -
"To,
Dr. J.N.Prasad - With all the best wishes" - Dt. 12th March 1966. Holi Festival. Dr. Salman Ali I Year M.B.B.S. Aligarh".
Raka and Rajeev with Dr. Salman Ali at the evening celebratory function.
Dr. Salman Ali, Raka, Rajeev and my grandmother "Daiji" ("Dadiji").
This photograph from my album has my father and my sister Raka. The year is not recorded. Raka loves to play Holi and is always the first one to dive into the "Hauda" ("coloured water reservoir") on every Holi festival day.
Nothing has changed ever since. Even as a senior citizen she is the first one to dive into the "Hauda" before pushing everyone within sight into it.
The house at the back is where Dr. D. Kumar, Prof and Head of the Department of Anatomy resided. Prior to Dr. Kumar the University Security Officer Col. Gosain used to stay in this house.
My mother Mrs. Uma Prasad and my sister Raka.
- My mother had been an Assistant Professor of Dance and Music in the Bhatkhande Music College in Lucknow. So all of us had to learn Kathak dancing and singing. An "ustad" used to come to play the tabla for us to learn Kathak. It was a time when both Kathak dancing and singing were considered to be a "girl's" hobbies and I got "teased" for them. I developed a mental block thereafter and forgot all my dancing and singing lessons. Even today, I cannot dance or sing and if anyone asks me, I say that I have two "left feet".
She wrote the first book on Kathak dancing titled "Nritya Kala" ("The Art of Dancing") from this bungalow, which was the only book on Kathak dancing, till "pirated" copies of it came out.
As a result of her pioneering book on Kathak dancing, she was appointed as the Examiner for Kathak Dance High School and Intermediate exams in for the Boards in several states - West Bengal, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh etc.
Huge parcels of exam answer copies used to come, and she would take our help in cataloguing the answer papers and marks awarded to various candidates. She was the Examiner for quite a few years.
My father officiated as the Vice-Chancellor twice, because of his seniority in both the Medical College and the AMU: once in the late 1970s and then again in 1980. When he officiated as the VC in the 1970s, on the first day of assuming the position, he called for all the files pertaining to the AMU which had been pending for long and cleared all the issues which had been pending for long. As he was well versed with the University rules, he knew which were the legitimate issues, particularly those related to student welfare and addressed all of them working late into the evening.
Two days later, there was an interesting episode. A Union leader in the Engineering College went on hunger strike for some student related issues, not aware that the issues had already been addressed.
An agitated mob of students from the college "gheraoed" the VC's office in protest.
My father simply walked out of the office, as none of the protesting students was aware of what he looked like, came to the adjacent main road, hailed a student who was passing by on a scooter, who willingly took my father to our residence.
When the student leader was apprised by his fellow students that the issues related to the Engineering College had already been addressed a few days ago by my father, he was red-faced, and a new "demand" came from the students as a face-saving device that my father should "break" the student leader's hunger strike by offering him a glass of orange juice.
My father's response was that as the student leader had not gone on strike after discussing the matter with him, on a non-issue, no reason subsisted for him to intervene.
The student leader later met my father and told him that he had never seen any other VC work so fast on University related issues.
I have come across the following list of appointments before and after him in the 1980s:
Prof. Mohammad Shafi - December 1979 - May 1980 (Acting)
Prof. J.N. Prasad May 1980 - June 1980 (Acting)
Prof. Q.H. Farooquee June 1980 - June 1980 (Acting)
Mr. Saiyid Hamid, IAS June 1980 - 26 March 1985
Mr. Saiyid Hamid was handpicked by Mrs. Indira Gandhi in her capacity of the Chancellor of the Aligarh Mislim University. Mr. Hamid was personally tasked by her to take immediate measures as the AMU portals had been infiltrated by several anti-social elements masquerading as students.
There is a hilarious episode of when Mr. Hamid came to take charge of the University as the Vice Chancellor.
He had been in touch with my father who was the acting VC and he had familiarised himself with the task at hand.
On the day before My Hamid was to come to Aligarh to take over charge, Mr. Q.H. Farooquee came to our residence and apprised my father that it was a AMU tradition that the charge was always handed over to an incoming VC by a Muslim VC. My father readily agreed and took leave for the day Mr. Hamid was to join.
When Mr. Hamid reached the Aligarh Railway Station by a Delhi train, he was swamped by a horde of welcoming Professors and garlanded profusely.
He straightaway enquired "Where is Dr. Prasad?". He was told that my father was on leave. My Hamid shot back "But he had told me that he would be here to receive me, and I was to have lunch at his residence". The attending party had no option but to share with him the issue of the AMU tradition.
Mr. Hamid was livid and went to the station master to enquire when the next train was back to Delhi.
When he was told that it will go only in the evening, he took the official car to our residence to meet my father. Here he had lunch, persuaded my father to rejoin as the VC and the next day took formal charge of the University from him.
"Kutton Wali Kothi" (The "Bungalow with several dogs"):
We had three Alsatian dogs - Tommy, Raja and Rani. Tommy was the oldest. They were developed as watchdogs/attack dogs. During the day they would be locked up in one of the two terraces in the bungalow. At night they would be let loose as guard dogs in the compound. The house earned the nickname - "Kutton Wali Kothi".
During winters they would stay inside the house, all wearing woollens and having quilt beds. I remember that Tommy was very fond of his morning "cuppa' and loved to have hot tea during the winters. The moment anyone would look at him or pass by, he had a strange habit of "shivering" trying to warn the passersby that he was "not well" and he should be given his hot tea rightaway to perk him up for the day. The moment the passersby would get away from eyeshot, he would get perfectly normal.
Raja and Rani were terribly ferocious and could not tolerate the presence of an "outsider". If the "visitor" teased them while they were on the terrace, they could not control themselves and would jump from a height of some 15 feet or so on the person. In the process, they both injured themselves and had to undergo treatment several times.
I remember that when we were kids, both my sister Raka and I had our tricycles. We would tie one of the dogs to the handlebar with a chain and they would race up and down the concrete passageway in the house pulling our tricycles - We got our "ride" and the dogs got their "exercise".
Lal Munias (Red Avadavat) birds:
We had a huge bird cage in which Lal Munias were kept. There were a few wooden sticks kept inside the cage for them to perch on. During summers whenever the huge cooler was started, they would align themselves in two rows - the singing Munias on one side and the doctor birds on the other. Then the singing would start which went something like this - "See-del-see" - all the birds singing in unison, building up to a crescendo, with the doctor birds observing the singers, reminiscent of an orchestra conductor. It was an amazing sight altogether.
The squirrels in our house:
The squirrels in the tall trees in our house were multiplying and creating a nuisance of themselves. So we used to catch them in a wooden mouse-trap and leave release them in the wild some two to four kilometres away. No matter how many squirrels we caught and whisked away in this fashion, the numbers did not seem to diminish.
Later it dawned on us that the squirrels had an excellent "homing" sense and as soon as they were released in the wild, they would scurry back to the house, sometimes much ahead of us.
So we made our "truce" with the little fellows and built a feeding spot for them in a corner and let them be alone. Some of them were so bold that they would "demand' to be fed by entering our house.
A murderous assault on my father in 1972:
In 1972, two men who looked like College students came to our house in the afternoon, asking to meet my father. When my father came out, one of them assaulted him with a bicycle chain, with an intention to maim him. As my father was of athletic build, he managed to somehow avoid the major brunt of the assault. Immediately a cry went up from our servants quarters. The two assailants took out guns and fired in the air as they ran away. At least five of us gave chase. At the nearby Railway crossing the gate-keeper shouted - "Arre Yeh toh Sulaiman hai. Yeh bahut Bara Goonda hai" ("This is Sulaiman. He is a big Goon in this area").
The incident was reported in the National newspapers and magazines. Several journalists of leading dailies and magazines came to Aligarh to ascertain the facts for reportage. An India Today reporter took my father's interview and published a lengthy report.
The District Magistrate and the Police Commissioner instituted a team for looking into the matter.
The investigation team got hold of a Class photograph of Sulaiman. When it was confirmed that he was the person, things became very difficult for him to stay in the AMU as the police teams were out to get him.
He fled to Pakistan. From there he wrote a letter to my father apologising for the assault and giving out names of the Medical College/University staff who had instigated him to this action. This letter was given to the police authorities for further verification.
A PAC Camp was set up in our house of 15 to 20 men. The first thing they did was to set up tent pegs and tents in my father's prized lawns. It became very inconvenient for my mother to make several rounds of tea for so many persons.
The Aligarh Muslim University authorities were also very concerned as the murderous assault on my father had got the University a bad name. So, on priority the boundary wall of the bungalow was raised from its height of 4.00 feet to 8.00 feet with glass pieces and six-inch long spears being placed all over so as to fortify the wall and deter any unauthorised intruders from attempting an entry. The whole place looked like "Xanadu" in Mandrake comics.
From then on, I sharpened my target hitting skills with darts and knives (much like the character in the Western - "The Magnificient Seven"). I could hit the bulls-eye 8 times out of 10 with a dart or knife. I managed to get two "knuckle dusters". Word went out that Raka had learnt Judo and Karate.
Uncle Wajihul Hasan got my father a .32 bore Webley Scott revolver from his trip to London. We got training at the Army firing range at Lucknow on how to use firearms, thanks to my uncle who was posted as II IC in the Lucknow Cantt. All in all, every effort was made to deter anyone harbouring "evil thoughts" against anyone of us.
Raka, Punam and Chandeena - clowning around.
My mother and Raka
Rita was a great one at writing and presenting one-act plays in which all of us participated. The Pasrichas unfortunately met with a fatal car accident on returning from Agra.
Our Lady Of Fatima Convent School:
We studied in Our Lady of Fatima Convent School first in the old building on Marris Road and then at its new elegant building. Over time, the names of the teachers have faded. I remember the names of Sister Leonie (my class teacher) and Sister Letetia (the Head Mistress).always one of the better students in School.
I studied here from Lower KG to Class V, where I got a double promotion. I joined La Martiniere College, Lucknow in Class VII in 1970.
This photograph was taken by me when the school started at the new premises. My mother is at extreme left.
The OLOFCS nuns at the Aligarh Qila on a Horticultural trip organised by Uncle Haegar and his assistant Wali. where the children of my Class were treated to the most amazing flowers and plant experiments at the Botanical Gardens at the Aligarh Qila.
The nuns along with my mother, my sister Raka and me.
A group photograph of the entire class was also taken, but over the years, I did not find it in my collection of memories.
The Report cards:
My father had kept all the report cards from Lower KG to Class V for both my sister Raka and me. I was one of the Class toppers. I am presenting here two of the reports:
Link:
My grandmother _ Mrs. D.B. Gupta:
My Uncle Col. Vinod Kumar Gupta:
My grandfather Dr. O.P. Gupta:
My Father Dr. J.N. Prasad:
1) Leisure Time Short Stories: Friends at the Crossroads
7) Leisure Time Short Stories: Connecting through several lifetimes: The Story of the "Panditji" (Priest) of the Hanuman Temple at Chandrasekhar Azad University, Kanpur
Vimal Dikshit has commented:
ReplyDelete"ą¤ैą¤Æ्ą¤Æा ą¤ą¤¤ą¤Øा ą¤µिą¤µą¤°ą¤£ ą¤ą¤¹ां ą¤øे ą¤¢ूंą¤¢ ą¤²िą¤ ?
ą¤Ŗą¤°िą¤µाą¤° ą¤ą¤° ą¤Ŗूą¤°्ą¤µą¤ों ą¤े ą¤Ŗ्ą¤°ą¤¤ि ą¤²ą¤ाą¤µ ą¤ø्ą¤®ą¤°ą¤£, ą¤ą¤¦ą¤° ą¤ą¤° ą¤Ŗ्ą¤°ą¤ø्ą¤¤ुą¤¤ि ą¤®ें ą¤ą¤¤ą¤Øी ą¤®ेą¤¹ą¤Øą¤¤ ą¤ą¤° ą¤øुą¤Ø्ą¤¦ą¤°ą¤¤ा ą¤े ą¤²िą¤ ą¤øाą¤§ुą¤µाą¤¦ ą¤े ą¤Ŗाą¤¤्ą¤° ą¤¹ैं।
ą¤¬ą¤¹ुą¤¤ ą¤¬ą¤¢़िą¤Æा šššš"
Thank you so much Vimal for the beautiful encouraging words. This post has been written over a period of two-three months. The photos which I discovered in my photo album helped me to recollect several events and incidents.
DeleteAshok Borate has commented:
ReplyDelete"ą¤¬ą¤¹ुą¤¤ ą¤¹ी ą¤ ą¤्ą¤ी ą¤Ŗोą¤ø्ą¤, ą¤ą¤Øंą¤¦ ą¤ ą¤ą¤Æा š"
Thank you so much, Ashokji. The post was being developed for quite some time. I finally got round to writing it.
DeleteRajan Trikha has commented:
ReplyDelete"Wonderfully detailed and descriptive post."
Thank you so much, Trikha sahab.
DeleteSantosh Khanna has commented:
ReplyDelete"Very interesting post. Thanks".
Thank you so much Khanna sahab.
ReplyDeleteVijaylaxmi Shukla has commented:
ReplyDelete" Very informative and descriptive post ššš¹š¹".
Thank you so much.
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