A DAY OF CELEBRATION FOR ME

N G Uke, Kamal Uke seated.
Meena, Sunil Uke, Tanya, T N Nagpal, Archana, Ujjwal Uke 

 8th August was always a day of joy and celebration in our house. It was my father's birthday. Today he would have been 90 years old.

I and daddy

I remember ten years ago, on his 80th birthday all of us in the family had gone to the Intercontinental in Delhi for dinner. It's only ten years ago, but somehow it seems like ages, since we were all together. 

He used to really enjoy all the attention and pampering that he got from his children and grand children.

 That day there was a giant sized birthday card which all of us had signed.

He would literally dance and have fun on his birthday. Right from 0000 hours midnight when he would keep his landline as well as his mobile next to him as he expected his telephone calls starting then. Chaitali my daughter was always the first one to call on the dot. She never failed, although she lives in London.

That was the day when he would sleep well past midnight.

He had that child within him which allowed him to spread a lot of cheer and happiness to all.

Daddy with Chaitali my daughter 

In the evening there had to be cake and samosas and gulab jamun followed by dinner which would always be special, with the entire family in Delhi joining.

Daddy with Anurag my son

All his grand children doted on him, just as he doted on them. He had been a very strict father but was an indulgent grand father.

He was born in a  a very small village in the most backward District of Gadchiroli in Maharshtra. His father was a wise but illiterate  farmer. Narayan asked to be educated up to the 8th class and beyond that he would manage himself, was his declaration. 

My father's house in Kurul, the one which is tallest.

Patwardhan High School in Nagpur, College of Science in Nagpur, Battersea Polytechnic in London were all the places where he studied by obtaining Government of India Scholarships. He had stood First in the District in Matriculation. He was a brilliant scholar.

He was a person of extreme integrity and refused to ever tell a lie. He never pandered to his bosses and in the beginning of his career called people by the first name as was the practice in London from where he had obtained his Engineering degree. Calling anyone Sir, bowing down to their wishes, following orders without a word was alien to him. He would always  discuss and put forth his view point. In fact when he was Director in the Ministry of Defence Production he had stood up to put his view point infront of the Prime Minister Mrs. Indira Gandhi who was chairing an important meeting on Defence. His point was accepted.

He had taught us two very important practices in life.

One was to always put things back where they belonged. He said, "If something is not in it's right place then that thing is Kachchra, or waste material". That taught me to be very meticulous, tidy and always putting things back where they belonged. In fact my brother Sunil Uke is also a chip of the block. Once while visiting Sunil in Tanzania where he was then posted, I put the salt cellars back in their place. Sunil who is my younger brother called me back and said, "Varsha, the face of the salt cellar should be turned this way". 

As a child I was not fond of eating and would often say that I didn't want to eat. Daddy always said, "Varsha, you have to eat, it is a necessary evil". We therefore always ate and always at a set time all together. My brothers were told, go wherever you want to in the evening but, "On the table at 8.30 pm" There was strict discipline in our house and everyone was summoned with the ring of a small gong at the house.

It was fun, it was not harsh, as we all had much fun and sharing of thoughts and days events together at the table.

I remember my daddy with a lot of pride and joy. We Varsha, Sunil and Ujjwal were privileged to have N G Uke as our father. All of us learnt a lot from you and have turned out to be excellent people. Miss you daddy, most of all today, when we would sing Happy Birthday and you would dance to our tune.

Raja Hireker, N G Uke & Ujjwal Uke