Pratap Bhogilal Journey Through Life

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

Page 38

32 PRATAP BHOGILAL - JOURNEY THROUGH LIFE
Even though I was engaged in 1925, when I was only nine years old, my marriage to Bhagwati was solemnized 14 years later in February 1939. The event took place at our ancestral home in Patan with a great deal of pomp and splendour as desired by my mother and maternal uncles. The festivities went on for eight days. In the beginning there was some unpleasantness as people from our Mohalla boycotted Bapaji because my sister Susheela had been engaged to be married to a boy from outside Patan. Her fiancé, Babubhai, was from Palanpur. However, when they saw the grandeur of the event and the festivities around it, many of the protesters came around to participate, seeing what they were missing.
As a bridegroom, I broke away from the convention of wearing a pagdi. Instead, I wore a cap. I did not want to come to the ceremony on a horseback either. After a lot of persuasion, I had to give in and ride a beautiful white horse belonging to Limbu Miya, a well-known horse owner. Many people remember my marriage to this day because of the grandiose celebrations. They tell me that Patan never saw such a grand marriage.
I had been meeting Bhagwati for about three years before our marriage. I used to take her out in my convertible Adler. She was a lively woman, extremely amiable and considerate. We left for our honeymoon to Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) by ship in March 1939, a month after our marriage. We stayed for two days in Colombo at the Galle Face Hotel overlooking the sea. We were looked after in Colombo by my close friend Hasham Premji's office (Premji was into grain business at the time). From Colombo we hired a car and drove around Ceylon, first to Anurathapura, Candy and then to Neuralia, a beautiful hill station, the highest in Ceylon. At Candy, we saw the temple dedicated to the tooth of Budhha. I remember that month as one of the happiest and the most memorable ones in my life. Bhagwati was truly my better half. She was a very genial and understanding lady. As I used to be very busy almost the whole day with my business, I had hardly any time for my wife and children. Bhagwati took it in her stride and brought up our children with diligence, love and affection.
Our eldest daughter Chitra was born in February 1940, Dharini in December 1941 and Darshana in December 1943. Our son Nirmal was
The test of morality of a society is what it does for its children - Dietrich Bonhoeffer