LEELAWATI NAGPAL

In Pakistan there is a town called Imnabad  or Eminabad. It is near Gujranwala. This little town was the place where Saraswati was born in the family of Lala Sharampat Rai Gulati, sometime in the beginning of the last century, most probably on 13th April 1905. Her father was a government servant and from what I had heard, he was a 'Dipty' or a Deputy something. He lived near the canal and had a horse on which he rode to go around on inspection.He must have been  someone in the revenue service of the then Government of British India. Saraswati belonged to a large family. She had three brothers and six sisters.
At the age of sixteen, in the year 1921, she was married to Narain Das Nagpal, the son of a cloth merchant of Gujranwala. Her name was changed to Leelawati and that is what she remained for the rest of her life.Her brother Lajpat Rai,who was called Unca by his nephews,was the only one who would  always call her Sarasati.

Devi, Neena, Prem, Mataji, Pitaji

Leelawati alias Saraswati, became my mother in law in 1970.

Her story is what I would like to tell you today. Leelawati was a very beautiful woman, who was stylish and also had a very strong personality. In the early twentieth century,women were not educated much. The aim of most women then was to just get married. Leelawati was not satisfied to be just a housewife, so she educated herself after marriage and graduated from the Punjab University, which was located at Lahore. In those days, I am talking of the year 1924, there was no University in Delhi.
By this time Leelawati or Mataji as she was called, already had a daughter who was named Phulan. Perhaps from the day Phulan was born her dowry started getting collected. Mataji lived in Delhi as Pitaji was working in the Education department at Delhi. Their ancestral house was in Gujranwala, and therefore all the dowry was collected and kept in that house. It is another story that during Partition, all those saved goods were lost. There were about forty trunks full of stuff.
After Phulan the couple had two sons Surender and Dharampal who both died as infants. Leelawati went to all the pilgrimage centers of North India and prayed for a child who would live. After long penance, a daughter was born in Shimla in 1932, who was named Devika, and kept a vegetarian as she was a gift of God. After this three more girls were born, named Pushpa, Premlata, and Neena, but then in a Hindu family having a son is compulsory, or else it is thought that there would be no salvation for the ancestors! So again began that journey to all the pilgrimage centres of North India. All the difficult places were visited and promises were made that stones would be donated and all sorts of penance would be undergone so that they could have that much desired son! Finally a son was born in December 1945. He was named Trilokinath.



Prem and Cuckoo

 Leelawati was a modern lady with modern thoughts. She was determined to educate her daughters and bring them up as boys were brought up, with equal opportunity. To the credit of that lady goes the success of all the daughters of the house. Each daughter turned out to be better than the other. Devika Rani joined the Education department and retired as a Dy. Director. She was a double M A. Pushpa and Neena became Doctors. Neena was a Gold medalist from Lady Harding Medical College, Delhi and received her gold medal from the then President of India, Dr. Zakir Hussain. Neena  later on became the Dean of Maulana Azad Medical College. Pushpa worked in the Nuclear Science Lab in Delhi as a Doctor.Premlata was  a Professor of English Literature in Delhi. She did her Doctorate from Canada and has a lot of literary work to her credit. She is a poet and has a lot of work published. Phulan also worked as a Teacher in the Government School of Delhi. It was a rare feat in those days for women to work. People generally had the thought that women should stay at home and look after the home. Working women were looked down upon, and some people even thought that it was derogatory for women to work. I salute my mother in law for having the vision to educate her daughters and give them the direction to be self sufficient and the courage and conviction to face the world as individuals with their own personality.
Mataji, was very fashionable and always wore silk sarees. She was a devout Hindu while her husband was more of an Arya Samaji.She was quite flexible in her views and did not observe very rigid religious fasts and strictures.

Neena with Dr. Zakir Hussain

After the Partition of India a number of her family members had to flee from Pakistan. Mataji accommodated a number of such relatives. My in laws helped rehabilitate a number of relatives and helped them get employment in the Government Service. Phulan had got married at an early age due to pressure from the family. After that mataji became her own master and decided that no one could force her to marry her daughters off in haste. The family ultimately turned out to be truly modern. All the children married people of their own choice. There was a Malayali, a UP Kayasth, a Maharashtrian brought into the family.It was national integration at its best.
Mataji ruled her house with a firm hand. Her daughters were excellent cooks, and great house keepers in spite of having a career of their own, in a man's world! Prem the Professor was always a story teller. She tells us that once Pushpa was very ill and Mataji had to be away from the house attending to Pushpa. Prem had to cook the food and look after her younger brother and sister. Prem would keep the two children  beside her in the kitchen and tell them stories. Once the dal got burnt. Prem was very scared that her mother would get annoyed, so she told Neena and Cuckoo(Trilokinath) to pray that the burnt smell of the dal would go away.
Sometimes when her roti got burnt those would be thrown up on the roof of the house!Anything would be done rather than face the wrath of her mother, who was very fastidious!

Mataji and Pushpa at leisure

Cuckoo was the apple, pear, orange, and every other fruit of his mother's eye. When he joined Hindu College to study Physics Hon's a scooter was bought for this royal prince. As was expected prince charming spent all his time measuring the galis of Delhi and failed the examination! That was quite a shocker for everyone and the Prince charming having learnt a lesson, joined Engineering College and then always passed his exams with flying colours.
My father was a staunch atheist while my mother in law was a great believer in God. The discussions that they had were often quite interesting. All the other observers in the house would be petrified as both the people were strong personalities, yet they never clashed. They discussed and each one left the other with dignity and their own beliefs.
Mataji loved travelling, fun, picnics and movies. Her favourite hero was Ashok Kumar. 
After pitaji retired from the Government Service, he worked for some time in Bangrod near Ratlam with his brother, Manoharlal Nagpal. Later Mataji and Pitaji came and stayed with us in Chandigarh and then Hyderabad. She died on 19th November 1986, in my house at Hyderabad.
She was a  very strong personality, an intelligent lady, a visionary, and emancipator of women. She was beautiful, graceful and an excellent cook. She was full of life and laughter. I wish I could befriend her and know her better. It is now 24 years since she left us, yet her laughter and cheerful countenance is still remembered and missed.