Jung Bahadur was born in a middle class family in UP in the early 1900s. He lived with his step brothers and stepmother and father. His fondest childhood memory was of seeing Gandhiji in Kanpur perched on his father’s shoulders. He got married at a very young age. As fate would have it, he was ill treated and thrown out of his home with a young wife to fend for. Not one to give up easily and with a plucky wife who sold her ornaments, he continued his studies and did his LLB or graduation in Law. He became an Attorney at law. A man of deep intelligence, he was well-read in Persian and English having a keen interest in Urdu shairi too. He used to translate his Court papers to Persian, such was his mastery over the language. His awkward Hindi script (in the letters he wrote to his daughter) looked like it would be dissolving into Urdu any time soon :).
Days got better, and he started doing well at his law practice. He was now an established and an important name in the town of Unnao, close to Kanpur in UP. He built a huge bungalow designed by his wife who saw a similar bungalow in a movie and watched it umpteen times to get the design right. He had many children, but unfortunately most of them died in early childhood. His youngest daughter and son were the only ones who survived beyond adulthoold. A mild-mannered man, he loved his wife dearly, and came up the hard way in life. A very learned man who could hold a conversation in any subject, Jung Bahadur Srivastava was my maternal grandfather, my nana!
My mother was his elder daughter, and I have some really fond memories of my childhood vacations spent in my nana’s home in Unnao. He died in his 80s, and he lives in our memories and as an inspiration to us. My only regret is that I never saw him live in Court.
And yes, he was an extremely health-conscious man. Maybe, I got that from him or from my own dad :)!
Lovely memories – our thing our grandparents were all made of much sterner stuff than we are today.
I liked the way you introduced your grand father to us..he must be a great person..
A nice walk down the memory lane, your Nana must have been a source of inspiration to you. How come you suddenly remembered him is it his birthday, or something like that?
Felt good to read about him.
@Jane You are right! Our grandparents were much tougher, and in our cases they lived through tougher times like Partition and the country’s independence.
@Tomz Thank you! He was a nice soul and a loving grandpa.
@rama Indeed he was! Actually, I came to know the story of his struggles much later in bits and pieces from my mother and my sister. Actually, the other day I read Bhagyashree’s inspiring post (http://bbsearchingself.wordpress.com/2011/03/07/padmavathi/) about her grandmother and that set off this chain of thought.
wow that is brilliant dear, i am huge fan of such persons who have strong will power and never give up ,make their own way to success and remain still a normal humble personality .
thank you so much for sharing such great memories with friends .
loved your place and the lovely about me.
god bless
That was lovely and inspirational. Is the widow still alive?
So is ur uncle staying in the Bungalow now?
@baili Thank you so much for visiting my blog. And, thanks for your warm words too. I know, I get inspired by such tales myself, and this one is so close to heart.
@Jon No, my nani or grandma died in 1980 at the age of 60 much before my grandma. And, my uncle passed away last year. Before that, he lived there with his younger son. His elder son, my elder cousin lives in Delhi. No one lives in the bungalow now, and I heard that it is in a serious state of disrepair, white elephant as it is due to the huge costs required in its upkeep and maintenance. My mother passed away 10 years back at the age of 52.
Well written. Very inspiring. Thanks Rachna.
Very nice rachna, you know i am aways in awe and proud to know people who remember there elders with such love and resepct …
a lot of people have forgotten this ..
Hats off to your grandpa.. and i am sure he is watching over you and is proud of you ..
Thank you for introducing us all to you grandFather …
Bikram’s
@Pranavam Thanks for visiting my blog and for your warm words.
@Bikram Thanks a lot! We might have modern exteriors but inside us we are rooted to that small, childhood town and harmless childhood memories. All, us grandkids have such warm memories of our nana. I hope that he is up there somewhere with a smile on his face!
What a great man. What an inspirational story.
This is what is called KHANDAANI
@Agnes Thank you!
@BKChowla Thanks a lot, Sir.
perfect tribute to your grandfather
Thank you Vijay!
Rachna,
A very good subject, good writeup and a great message..respecting elders..
(First time here)
It is good to remember our roots.You will always get guided by the values they kept.An excellent tribute.
Nice tribute.
Thank you Janaki!
He was a truly Man of the Millennium. A heroic, gritty, honourable and a decorous gentleman: I am sure you are proud of your lineage. Even I feel proud of him.
Thank you so much, Umashankar, for understanding the emotions behind the post.
people like him are an inspiration for everyone. we rarely come across such people. thank you for sharing his story with us.
Thank you Deb! He is an inspiration, and I did not know the story of his struggles till much later in life. I hope that my kids will know what a man their great grandfather was!
Remembering the elders and how they braved against odds are perhaps the best lessons of life and Rachna you have sure learnt them all:)
Thank you, Rahul! How can one not be inspired by a story of grit, determination and struggle to dizzying heights of success! There are some amazing men in my family that are coming from small cities and smaller backgrounds and yet so huge in their thinking. My father is one person I respect immensely!
Your affection for your Grand father pours through your words 🙂
Thank you Ghazala! It does.
Your grandfather is a true hero !
Thank you! He was.
You must be so proud of him, Rachna. You seem to have imbibed his love of words and a spirit of justice. The things our grandparents went through to get their education is amazing. Thank you for sharing.
Thank you, Corinne! It makes my heart swell with pride to think that I may have some of his wonderful traits. So true! They realized the importance of education and inculcated the same in us.
Your Nana’s story is such an inspiration. You must be so proud :)Our grandparents faced many hardships and taught us to keep our head held high and our spirits up.
Thank you Lazy Pineapple! Indeed, the lessons that have elders have taught us by living them makes me so proud of belonging to that lineage.