Pratap Bhogilal Journey Through Life

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

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PRATAP BHOGILAL - JOURNEY THROUGH LIFE
at Salzburg, about 30 kms from Hofgastein, quite a few times. From Bad Gastein, we went for a drive to Yugoslavia and could see the difference between the standard of living in Austria and Yugoslavia.
We also had a routine business trip to USA. On the ship across the Atlantic we saw Greta Garbo, the famous and one of the most charming Hollywood actresses boarding the ship. However, we did not see her later. She was quite reclusive.
Tour of Europe and the USA, 1961
In 1961 I took special permission from the Cathedral School, Mumbai, for my son Nirmal to return to classes two months after the vacation got over, so that he could accompany Bhagwati and me on a tour of Europe and the USA. Since we were sailing by ship, the trip took almost four months. Nirmal thoroughly enjoyed the entire tour, which covered various places where we had our businesses, and the weekend holidays. One remarkable outcome of that long tour was a sudden change in Nirmal's attitude to studies. He seemed to suddenly realise the value of education. His grades in class improved dramatically after his return from the tour. He shot into the top five in his class, whereas earlier he used to be a back-bencher! In Rockford, we saw the Vice President of Barber Colman driving around in a convertible Lincoln. Nirmal got so enamoured of the car that he suggested that we buy one like that!
When our three girls were studying in England, I had arranged for them to visit USA during their summer holidays. Our business friends in USA looked after them very well. In fact the Rockwells in Pittsburg treated them as if they were Indian princesses and arranged for them to go around the Niagara Falls in Buffalo in their helicopter. That trip was a real treat for the girls.
One summer, when I was in Europe with Bhagwati on business, we took the three girls and Nirmal to the Land of the Midnight Sun and Norwegian Fjords. It was a fascinating experience cruising through Norwegian Fjords, the Northern most city in Sweden, where the sun kept shining till about 4 am!
I like the dreams of the future better than the history of the past - Thomas Jefferson