Bengaluru: Ashok Mahadev Dalwai's nostalgic book, 'Pickling In A Residential School', with the shoulder heading 'Joys of Being At Home Away From Home', makes an interesting read by multiple parameters, apart from taking the reader to one's good old world of unforgettable childhood memories worth cherishing, enjoying and recollecting.
The mind is more powerful than a computer's memory: In the early 1980s, when computers entered the Indian biosphere, enough noise was generated, and more so by vocal trade unions, who termed the new entrants detrimental to the human workforce, stripping all the jobs possible. Interestingly, the versions of computers have changed swiftly over time, paving the way for them to become an inevitable part of everyone's life, by and large. However, the much-haunted blame game of the computer taking over the human brain also proved to be a futile exercise. You may wonder what the connection is with this book. The only idea to recollect here, the computer ordeal, is to bulldoze the hitherto oft-repeated theory of the former taking over the human mind. Perhaps Ashok Dalwai has excelled in it by leaps and bounds, and amazingly, he remembers each significant incident, accident, and event as if all of them had happened only a few days ago.
Remembering the past from 1963: Ashok Dalwai immerses you into his personal history as a child when his father happened to read about the setting up of the Sainik School in Samyukta Karnataka, the only daily which was read across North Karnataka. The school was to be set up in the then undivided Bijapur, the perennially famine-affected district despite five rivers flowing, in 1963. There were four more years for the kid Ashok to take the entrance examination in 1967 for admission to the 1968 batch. Thanks to his father's foresight, Ashok could systematically prepare for the same and also get through in his maiden attempt.
A peep into the prevailing conditions: No doubt, the book gives an in-depth understanding of the nuances of the preparation, admission procedures, test, and interview; it also gives a fair deal of the happenings within the school, including the daily routine, weekend programs, mass drills, sports and extra-curricular activities alike. But, much more important is a peep into the living conditions, socio-economic situation, lack of infrastructure, less population, modes of transport, communication network and things like that during that period of time.
Teachers become Samaritans: In the absence of proper or formal coaching centres, Ashok Dalwai recollects how a few dedicated and committed teachers transformed themselves into able tutors, enabling eligible kids to make an entry into the Sainik school. He takes pride in quoting the example of Kangotgi, a popular teacher of Dharwad, instrumental in guiding many aspirants successfully, apart from being grateful to Annappa Hurakadli, a friend and fellow teacher of the elder brother of his father in Gokak. To bring home the prevailing predicament, then, he exclaims-"They were wooed by all parents eager to send their children to this school, one of its kind. Though paid for it, theirs was a service that certainly went beyond the commercial".
Ramanna Kaka's clean shave! Ashok Dalwai is successful in making the read interesting, engaging and also entertaining at times. Nowhere has he taken any advantage of boasting about himself or cutting out a picture larger than life for being the author. He is candid enough to make fun of himself by narrating some embarrassing incidents which turn out to be amusing as well-"Being shy by nature, it was not up to me to share my mind with the elderly Ramanna Kaka, and that too when a few others were at the shop. So I gave him my head like a sacrificial lamb and closed my eyes...After a while and impatient for a look into the mirror, I spotted one close by, picked it up and peeped expectantly into it. Lo and behold! the absent minded Ramanna Kaka had left the machine graze over my head. I got mad and was boiling with rage. But what could I do?...
...Next turn was my brother Arvind's. The cocktail of anger and helplessness was still welling up within me. In a mood for some revenge and as Arvind took his seat, I told 'Kaka, you should give him the same haircut as you have given me'. Arvind protested, but I was not letting go of my chance for an irrational but vicarious pleasure. Ramanna Kaka was more than willing to oblige me, aware that I had been nettled by his absent mindedness.
The practice of Letter writing: Apart from the usual childhood plays, mischiefs, and pranks, the book also throws light on the peculiar tendency of letter writing being inculcated among the wards and a postcard and an inland letter being handed over to everyone on Friday. The inland letter was meant for the parents, while the postcard could be to anyone. However, all these letters used to be screened by the assigned teacher before being posted. This practice is worth emulating today, as almost all kids today may not have seen either a postcard or an inland letter, forget writing or receiving any of them. Even the hobby/habit of having pen pals might look unbelievable to the present generation. If not the regular ones, at least the present residential schools should adopt the Sainik school practice.
Interesting incidents and experiences all along: The book, 'Pickling In A Residential School' has a series of interesting incidents and experiences all along, recalling the various types of behaviour of the pupils. A couple of them, just for the heck of testing their words of a kind teacher, knock on the door in the middle of the night, only to be treated with hot pulao and pickles! Both had their dinner earlier and were not hungry, yet they wanted to test their teacher!
Forward and Blurb; AI-generated pictures: Ashok Dalwai had a prolonged stint as a civil servant in the Odisha cadre, his parent state of Karnataka, and the national capital, having intimate connections with a variety of people from almost all walks of life. Strangely, a foreword and a blurb by someone who knows him intimately are missing. Dharwad, his native place, has many Fine Art colleges, and veteran artists mastering illustrations, whose services would have given the book a different look altogether. That doesn't mean the AI images deployed aren't good.
Reminiscences bound to make history: Thanks to his service in Odisha for a pretty long period, Ashok Dalwai should find time to pen his memoirs of that state and more so as a District Collector of Kalahandi. There is no doubt that his reminiscences are bound to become an interesting part of the state's history.
-Manohar Yadavatti
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