My Father Dr Gouri Shankar Rajhans Whom I Knew

My Father Dr Gouri Shankar Rajhans Whom I Knew

Born and brought up in Sultanganj in Bhagalpur District in Bihar my father Dr Gouri Shankar Rajhans was raised in an environment where the initial innings were subject to diktats from English regime which was harsh and in haste. Innumerable episodes were recalled by my father where Englishmen with boots came to his residence to initiate proceedings against one or the other. Post Independent India my father who was one among four brothers was brought up with limited means when my grandfather's business was no less than a rocky boat. All four brothers excelled in studies with the rider that brothers by rotation would recite biography of statesmen of that era. After excelling in graduation my father won Fulbright scholarship and was henceforth enrolled in North Carolina University in Chapel Hill. The discipline of Economics was his forte and he did fairly well during the period he stayed in the US. 

I can still recall that Economics (Hons) that i was pursuing was difficult to fathom and my father came to my rescue on more than one occasion. In 1962 skirmishes with China that India was trying to unravel was the period when my father stayed away from his family with my mother unable to join him in the US. I can still recall that there is a photo frame of my father meeting political stalwart of that era Jawaharlal Nehru before his odyssey to the US hanging in one of the rooms of Sultanganj residence.

On occasions more than one my father recalled how his elder brother Shiv Shankar Rajhans got married at an early age and there was commotion all around before the ceremony and it got subdued in record time with the intervention of well wishers in a place named Tarar near Sultanganj. With employment innings divided in places as varied as Kumardhubi, Kolkata and Delhi my father was steadfast in negotiating myriad of challenges and his Delhi Stint brought him closer to people of political fraternity. My father was instrumental in launching Dishakal a publication that tried to stem the media tide that was up and floating against L N Mishra. Innumerable tete-a-tete with L N Mishra in Udyog Bhawan and later in Rail Bhawan was recalled by my father whenever an opportunity came. My father was able to win confidence of political stalwarts of that period L N Mishra and Sitaram Kesri with the former having enough belief that he had found a true friend in my father who could with his versatile talent turn the hostile media in his favour. 

I can still recall that during our stay in Old Rajinder Nagar my parents used to make a beeline to Karol Bagh Market with the salary that my father was drawing was limited and we had to manage with that. There was a grocery store man Maila Ram in Old Rajinder Nagar and my mother's success in day to day grind and how she managed to make purchases with limited cash in hand was noteworthy. At that time Narain Singh was the driver who used to take my father to office and back. When we moved to our house in Safdarjung Enclave my father won admirers in Katara, T C Goyal, Bakshi, Vidyarthy, Bansal, Raja, Kochhar, Suri, Ugam Mathur, Surana, Dutta, Ohri, Panjwani and later O P Ghei and others. My father's interactions with them during New Year and Deepawali cheered the either side and with the onset of New Year the calendars were delivered to them which came in lumpsum from HT. 

In 1982 my father was all set to join political fraternity as he aspired to be a Rajya Sabha member and in the final moments it was sabotaged. In the fag end of 1984 he registered victory from Jhanjharpur constituency in Bihar with record votes and that ensured his stint in HT. In Parliament he spoke on varied subjects with his Division Number being 406. The matter under Rule 377 saw him take up the cause of floods in North Bihar which was recurring in nature and the havoc it wreaked was unbearable; the other being the need to bring Maithili which was spoken by 3 crore people in the country in the 80s in the Eight Schedule. He spoke in March 1988 when he observed that realising the importance of Maithili Nepal had accepted as its second official language and it was misfortune that despite our repeated requests it had not been included in the Eight Schedule of the constitution. His oratory skills were well recognised by political stalwarts of that era Rajiv Gandhi and Narasimha Rao. 

My father's interactions with relations at different points of time were commensurate with the objective that they were at ease whenever they visited us. In the '70s his brother in law Sunil Mishra came to pursue studies in Modinagar and his halts in our residence in Delhi off and on was praiseworthy. His  brother in law Pramil Mishra came to pursue studies from Hindu College and he also made it a point to visit us whenever opportunity came. His brother in law Govind Mishra did his schooling from Delhi Public School Mathura Road and later went on to pursue graduation from Delhi University and his occasional halts at our residence cheered us all. In the '70s and '80s my father used to take the entire family to restaurants of the likes of Sona Rupa, Kwality and United Coffee House in the precincts of Connaught Place much famed for their delicacies. Movies of that period that we watched with full attendance with my parents, my sisters Dolly, Leena and members of Mishra Family like Sushma Mausi and Sobha Mausi were Gandhi, Masoom, Karz, Parvarish and Angoor. In the '70s and '80s we had two car drivers at our disposal who went by the names Budhi Singh and Budhi Chand and their efforts were remarkable.

A cricket contest here and there he could manage passes for the same and I and Govind Mama did not miss an opportunity to watch cricket proceedings. In 1982 Asian Games he purchased tickets in plenty and we made rounds of Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium to watch different sporting disciplines. In 1982 we secured the First Colour Television Set from Canada thanks to efforts by his younger brother Gyan Shankar Rajhans. Whenever Gyan Rajhans Uncle used to visit Delhi with his family members my father spared no effort to make his stay comfortable with arrangements made for his visits to Agra and Bombay (Mumbai). Notably Gyan Uncle had been visiting us since our Old Rajinder Nagar Days and his visits during our stay in Safdarjung Enclave were no different. In 1983 my father was instrumental in bringing his cousin Shambhu Nath Jha to Delhi who worked for different advertising agencies before starting his own eatery. He used to spend considerable time with my father in his office and was quite elated on his electoral victory. In 1988 and 1989 I along with my father visited Bhagalpur and Sultanganj where his tete-a-tete with his mother Kiran Mai was something to rejoice.

The first tenant we had in our house went by the name Subramaniam who worked for MMTC and this was followed by Chatterjee who came with his wife and two daughters Dipashree and Madhumita.

When Iraq invaded Kuwait in August 1990 my father wrote extensively in publications with the intent that Kuwait be freed and this operation was undertaken successfully under the leadership of Colin Powell. His lengthy stories on Iraq's invasion of Kuwait were shared extempore with his brother in law Sanjeev Mishra. 

In 1992 the then political stalwarts Narasimha Rao and Sitaram Kesri were instrumental in getting a diplomatic assignment for my father. Having landed in Laos for which he had to break journey in Bangkok there were two domestic helps at his disposal going by the names Madan and Vijay Jha. In 1992 December the country was witness to Babri Masjid demolition and my father's diplomatic credentials were stuck as the Narasimha Rao Govt was facing heat from all directions. Finally he was able to present credentials. I joined my father in Cambodia in October 1995 and stayed there till January 1996. During that period I along with my father visited Angkor Wat in Siem Reap, Bangkok and Ho Chi Minh city. When my parents returned from Cambodia in July 1996 my father contributed a large part of his time in writing for different publications including one on aviation sector with his stories largely based on Bihar state, the churning at the Centre, those in distress with his off and on reminder on large number of people who spent their night under open sky in winter months outside govt hospitals. My father dreaded winter as he could catch cold and that was the troubling aspect.