Pratap Bhogilal Journey Through Life

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

Page 22

16
PRATAP BHOGILAL - JOURNEY THROUGH LIFE
of a large mirror. On the western side, at the foot of the Estate, was a large stable for the cows. It could accommodate about 12 cows besides thé living quarters of the Rabari (the cowherd). Beyond that there were no houses at the time but only shrubs, where the cows went to graze. Later on, a huge colony of houses came up there. The stable was demolished after my mother's death.
On the other two sides of our bungalow were bungalows belonging to the Chinai family (on the southern side), who had Chinese silk and other related businesses, and the Chimanlal Jhaveri family (on the northern side), who had a business in pearls and precious stones. The Chinais had a motorable road leading to their bungalow right from the beginning. Whenever needed we could use their road. While our bungalow was being constructed we were living on rent in this bungalow and later Shri Jeevanlal Chinai bought it.
Every morning, the Rabari and later his wife, the Rabaran (the milk maid), would bring cow's milk for our household. They also churned curd to make butter milk. There was a huge pot and the Rabaran would sit on a stool and churn the curd in it with a huge wooden churner. Some families came over regularly for the churned buttermilk. Ghee was made out of butter and used at home, especially for my father's diet. He used to be on a diet of fruits and 1-2 litres of milk every day for almost 65 years of his life till his demise. He ate nuts, fruits and porridge, but rarely anything else. The rest of us loved food and ate normal food. My grandfather was a real connoisseur of food. So we always had good food made at home.
I remember, once in a while, large quantities of ice-cream flavoured with kesar (saffron) were made at home to the delight of all, including the neighbours and the staff. Bapaji was very fond of home-made ice-cream. So it was always made out of cow's milk. He only had cow's milk as it was believed to be easily digestible. There was no buffalo's milk in our house, Bapaji had fixed his diet after consulting a friend of his, Jugatram Vaid, an Ayurvedic physician associated with Zandu Pharmacy. Bapaji was suffering from piles and our family doctor, Dr. G.V.Deshmukh, had suggested surgery. Bapaji was in his early 30s at the time. But the mere mention of surgery put
If a person has lost his way, stop to show him the way. If the person ignores it, always keep calm and cool - Pujya Chitrabhanuji