ye olde tymes

was flipping through pictures i had made prints of from negatives borrowed from dada a decade ago, and thought it would be a good idea to share them with cousins... a trip down memory lane .. in sri durbar tole...  

 

i have scanned them from faded pictures so the quality could be compromised....  most of the pictures here were taken by dada no doubt.. my friends are amazed to see how many baby pictures we have.. in a time of black and white photos with classic cameras!  thank you dada for helping to keep alive the memories of our childhood!

 

'55 and '56  and two kids and deviji is just sweet seventeen! daji here kissing sandaji!

this was in the back veranda of rato bangala... before the steps were probably broken down and before the area was paved  with corrugated flagstones... daji looks bored and sandaji eagerly awaits the next morsel of jaulo perhaps!

thulo mama with his two bhanjas.  love the way sandaji's toes are curled up! and notice daji's locks!

a year and half after sandaji, in '57, i too arrived in the scene.. here we are with ama.  the wicker and wood sofa is now at sandaji's

love sandaji's embarrassed and shy expression!

ahh.. what happened to those skinny legs of mine?

 following pictures are of us three siblings.. the big chaur.. the photographer's shadow.. and is that bagmati in the distance? when there was prediction that in athara saal there would be a major earthquake this field had become a tented city.. of course all the yagyas performed (including in sri durbar) helped avert the catastrophe!

 in all of these photos of the three of us, you will notice how daji always seems to be a head taller than sandaji and me! must all the milk he drank in the squash bottles.  deviji used to say. daji used to drink milk in a big bottle, sandaji is the double nippled dunga 'boat' bottle and me with a bowl and spoon!

 in our school uniforms...notice sandaji's missing teeth, and my ultra short bangs, thanks to the hajaam from tripureshwor!

 .. and daji's half pants...

 ... all grown up...  notice deviji's roses in bloom in the background...

 ready for school... near the garat gate

 tihar .. and posing in front of the chinese daraaj with the radio through which listening to the binaca geetmala from radio ceylon was the biggest treat on sundays!!

 with kuney

 the following pix show dada's forte as a photojournalist! this is the kusti that sandaji won... 

 

 .. so he leads the pack of cousins.. notice buludidi's house at the back.. and the dress coordination of prabhat/pradeep/praveen dajis, and dipudaju with his beret!

 sandaji's victorious ecstasy apparent in this photo too (look at his pose!)... love nanu's smile in this one...

 .. this is followed (must be because of the same clothes in all of these photos)by a piping hot haluwa treat by deviji.. served in bits of newspaper (yes, ink and all!)

 .. school time. in the middle is sibu, my sanima, deviji's youngest sister, and who is also younger to me, who used to attend madan memorial



 in ama's room... notice ama's fancy glasses, and the young buludidi with those incredible eyes!

 we had two of these chairs in our baithak.  one of them probably got turned into my dressing table during my wedding.. and the other one is in the foyer of yala maya kendra... I love this photo of the precious expressions of all three of us!

 dasain ayo... notice the different attires! and is nanu wearing shorts under the dress, or is that a big gunderware? :)



 three (sandaji, daji and nanu)up to mischief amongst the godabari blooms?

 another great photo.. this was the intercom between ranisaab's durbar and rato bangala. it used to be kept in babaraja's office room.. dada probably directed us all to look at the phone.. and nanu is the one who does it to the hilt! I wonder what nanu is holding in her hand?

 cousins galore (and an young aunt!) buludidi, hinudidi, gunudidi, hemudaju, rumudidi and dipudaju.. matching dresses for the three sisters!

... following a cultural performance with ranisaab as the chief guest. i've forgotten what acts everyone did.. but nanu and myself probably did a dance on "himal ko kaakha ma chha..." ? standing: sanoji, deviji, aphudidi, ranisaab, ama, buludidi and hinudidi; one their knees: gunudidi, kamaladidi and rumudidi; sitting kids: nanu, daji, sandaji, praveendaji and me; kids in front: kadam & lochan

 tihar time... sri durbar in all its glory at the back.  i also put tika on maila...

 at kaath ghar... daji, sanoji, saritadidi, me, deviji and sandaji.... what a pose! what a line-up!

 a sutkeri deviji... a mother at 15 ! daji in her lap

 

 following pix of daji as a baby, a toddler, and older...

 

 

babaraja and nati 

 and ama's time to cuddle with daji

... look at those curls, that gajal, the kalli. and those thighs! 

 probably teething time, with that drool?

 love this picture of deviji, and daji with his finger on her lips.. notice the tight kandani, pressing on his belly?

 daji... the performer.. at the evening bhajan at rato bangala

 with a madal along with birman, chitra bahadur in hat and manman singh with muffler

 ... the future tennis champ!

 ... hmmmm ... cross dressing started early !

 a little boy now...

at the gates of rato bangala.. and the bridge that was demolished later on... 

 schoolboy does not seem too happy to set off for school.. the same location.. this time the stairs leading from the bridge to the bari is also visible...

 ... a year after daji's birth, sandaji arrived... here he is (the chandan marks on his forehead shows this must be his pasni) almost reaching for a pen, already showing traits of becoming a patrakar?

  

beautiful mother and son! 



 sandaji with a magnifying glass... wonder what the construction at the back was all about... 

... sandaji's versatility evident as a toddler... here he is with a basket now.. always aiming for things much bigger than he can handle.. but getting them done nevertheless!...  

 

 .. and now with a stick?  the bridge once again visible.. and one can see right through rato bangala baithak into the field at the back!

 can't make out what he has in his hands here

 .. and sandaji also ready for school.. notice his upturned hair .. so much in fashion these days!  

 

a year and a half after sandaji, i arrived .. deviji probably 18, and a mother of three!

 in rumudidi's lap

 this must be on pasni day? kanchhudidi hold a thumb-sucking me...nanu at the back with the hand knitted muffler that you will see others at the pasni also wearing... wonder whose magic fingers were at work? notice the intricate tailoring of kanchhudidi's blouse!

 

all dressed up for the pasni with puff sleeved brocade dress matching gandhi cap! rumudidi on the side and gunudidi standing with the knitted muffler

deviji doing the rituals before the rice feeding ceremony begins.. buludidi, the phupu on the side

 deviji feeds me the first cereal.. as aphudidi seems to be trying to coax me to eat! notice the big tapari and the ghera of yummies!

 babaraja's turn..

 ama is next... fancy clip aphudidi is wearing on her hair!

 

 ranisaab watches and greenrose,  with a fly whisk in her hand (heard it was made with horse tail.. and there was a white one and a red one in ama's room), watches  babaraja crack a joke...

 

 at 10 months.. with dada's remington typewriter

fiddling with ama's pendant.. it was this fan shaped with minakari.. or jewels in them

one of the many pictures of us that dada took of us.. in front of this big mirror in the baithak... what a pose! (red monsoon, here i come!)

this was in the kausi in front of the pooja kotha... must have been post-khursani season .. very soon after the 'ek phanko' of the globe that the elders of the family had made ... the flying saucers game was one of the koseli we got!

.. was this kuney?.. kunni

done with the kids.. now on to the elders.. although this is the kid deviji as a new bride.. all of 10 -years-old

dada and deviji... such a lovely couple!

deviji used to say that she was pregnant with daji in this picture taken in front of the buingal in rato bangala.. see the stretch of the field and the baansghari (now all gone) that lined krishna galli

and this picture was taken hours before daji was born.. deviji already in labour.. the calendar at the back says 15th january (although the negative seems to have gotten flipped while developing the photo!)

deviji later on.. remember the colour of this red coat with orange patterns

ama and babaraja in a lovely pose on a scooter... ama ever the sport and babaraja always silently and shyly indulgent!

 .. and once again.. a lovely pose.. dada was saying they were actually doing the waltz.. or trying to...

ama with her two buharis.. deviji and baudi.. sanoji yet to enter the scene.. 

 

dada with school satchel and a hunting hat!

dada years later.. at work with the thing he loves most.. books and manuscripts

 teen bhai.. dada, babu and a baby babi

.. and here are the three brothers, all grown up, with babaraja...

 

 ... and here is ama with the daughters,  aphudidi, buludidi, kanchhudidi and bonadidi

 dasain time with all the siblings with their spouses.. dada and deviji; bhinaju and bonadidi; shambhubabu and kanchhudidi; babu and baudi; bhenababu and aphudidi; babi and sanoji; shekharbabu and buludidi.. this is a more formal pose... wonder why only shekharbabu without a coat?

 

 here the placement is reversed.. and  seems everyone seems to be grinning, because someone has been teasing sanoji and babi.. notice especially bonadidi and kanchhudidi

 and this is more of the family.. including the kids... daji and sandaji are in babaraja and ama's laps respectively... by babaraja's side is buludidi and ama's side is hinudidi... the next line is hemudaju, saritadidi, gunudidi, rumudidi and renudidi. in the front row are prabhatdaji, praveendaji, nanu, pradeepdaji and dipudaju. love the knitted sweaters worn by nanu and dipudaju. must be kanchhudidi's seep

 ... a 4-generational picture.. from aphuba to the great grandson at that time daji(? is daji younger to praveendaji?) sandaji yet to be born. pradeepdaji, praveendaji and daji being carried by their parents. sitting in the from are prabhatdaji, renudidi, dipudaji, hemudaji, gunudidi, saritadidi and hinudidi 

 

 ... iti...