Pratap Bhogilal Journey Through Life

Author(s): Rauf Ahmed
Publisher: Bhupendra Singh Anand

Page 21

THE JOURNEY | 15
I continued to study at the Babu Panalal High School till I was nine. I would travel by a local train from Andheri to the Marine Lines station in South Mumbai and walk to my school at Pydhonie.
Our new bungalow was quite palatial with four bedrooms with attached bathrooms, a large drawing room and a dining hall. The bungalow was further extended later to add four more bedrooms and more drawing rooms - one was used as a table tennis room and another as a library - and a temple with an attached wash-room. Later on, another wing with three floors, was added to the bungalow. Altogether about 19 rooms were added, where my father's partners - some working with him - stayed in two/three room apartments, viz. Vadikaka, Maneklal Mama (working partners), Popatkaka (partner in pearl business) and Khubchand Mama (who worked in Batliboi's Nagdevi office).
My parents, like my grandfather, were very religious and God-fearing. There were stories about how my grandfather was blessed with a silver coin which was stuck to his head as he bowed at the feet of Keseriya Rishabhdeo Bhagwan idol. Our temple had the best decorations that money could buy. There were beautiful statues of Jain Gods there. Our family took part in all religious festivities in the neighbourhood as well as in the nearby suburbs. I was trained to perform Puja early every morning at the temple. Even though I shifted out of our Andheri bungalow later to an apartment in South Mumbai and didn't have a separate Puja room there, I continued to perform my Puja every morning at a nearby temple
for some years. I am 95 now, but I go in the morning for darshan at the · temple before going to office and perform Puja at home. Later my wife
converted the lobby connected to bedroom as a Puja room.
There were 101 steps to the front door of our Andheri bungalow from the main Ghodbunder Road, now called S.V. (Swami Vivekananda) Road. There was no motorable road to reach our bungalow for about 15 years (We made one later which led right to our doorstep). On the East - the S.V. Road side - right at the bottom of the Estate was a huge garage about 2000 sq.ft. in area which could accommodate 4-6 cars. The driver, Shankar Rao, and his cronies would practice weight lifting there in front
Applaud the virtuous - Pujya Chitrabhanuji