A teenager couple’s fight for freedom

A teenager couple’s fight for freedom
My Grandmother Chameli Devi Jain and Grandfather Phool Chand Jain, shortly after their marriage. Delhi. Circa 1923

My Grandmother Chameli Devi Jain and Grandfather Phool Chand Jain, shortly after their marriage. Delhi. Circa 1923 Image and Narrative contributed by Sreenivasan Jain, Journalist, New Delhi Some text is paraphrased from the Book - Civil Disobedience : Two Freedom Struggles, One Life, memoirs of my father LC Jain, noted economist and Gandhian. This image was photographed in Delhi, shortly after my paternal grandparents Chameli and Phool Chand, got married. She was 14 and he was 16. It was unusual for couples in our family to be photographed, especially holding hands, which turned out to be an indication of the unconventional direction their lives would take. They were Gandhians and freedom fighters. The only visible reminder of her brush with the radical politics of the freedom movement was the milky cornea in her right eye, the result of an infection picked up in Lahore Jail where she had spent 4 months in 1932. Otherwise, she was Ammaji: gentle, almost luminous in her white saris, regular with her samaik (Jain prayer), someone who would take great pleasure, on our Sunday visits, to feed us dal chawal (rice and lentils) mixed with her own hands. My grandmother grew up in a village called Bahadarpur in Alwar, about four hours south of Delhi, in a deeply conservative Jain family. The family was locally influential; they were traders in cotton turbans, woven by local Muslim weavers and sold in Indore, Madhya Pradesh. They also were moneylenders. As with much of rural Rajasthan, the women were in purdah. Within two years of their marriage, their first child, my father, was born. Ammaji moved with my grandfather into the family home in the teeming bylanes of Dariba in Chandni Chowk. But he had developed a growing interest…

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The men who donated land to the Railways of India

The men who donated land to the Railways of India
My Great Grandfather M M Venugopal Reddy Yekollu (holding a Cane), with his brother M.M Rajagopal Reddy (sitting right) inspecting the freshly re-laid Jolarpet - Bangalore railway track. Circa 1930

My Great Grandfather M M Venugopal Reddy Yekollu (holding a Cane), with his brother M.M Rajagopal Reddy (sitting right), - Bangalore railway track. Circa 1930 Image and Narrative contributed by Sanjay, UK In this image My great grandfather M.M Venugopal Reddy Yekollu (holding a Cane), with his brother M.M Rajagopal Reddy inspects the freshly re-laid Jolarpet-Bangalore railway track. His father had donated the stretch of land to the British to lay tracks from Jolarpet to Kuppam. This place hasnt changed much, it is only some 10 to 15 mins before the Kuppam station. My great Grandfather's brother Rajagopal Reddy died from Tuberculosis.

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A large Telugu family

A large Telugu family
The group photo at my father’s elder brother, Gadepally Suryaprakasam's wedding, Kakinada, (then known as Coconada, East Godavari District of Madras Presidency, Andhra Pradesh. 1913

The group photo at my father’s elder brother, Gadepally Suryaprakasam's wedding, Kakinada, (nee Coconada) East Godavari District of Madras Presidency, Andhra Pradesh. 1913 Image and Narrative contributed by Lt Col (Retd) Dr. G.Kameswararao, Secundarabad This photograph is a wedding group photo of my  father’s elder  brother, Gadepally Suryaprakasam (also known as Surya Prakasarao). It was photographed at  Kakinada, then known as Coconada, in the East Godavari District of Madras Presidency. He served the Nizam government  in the Education Department. My  grandmother, my father’s siblings, his paternal, maternal uncles and their children are a part of this group. The  famous Telugu poet, Devulapalli Krishna Sastry is seated last on the right (on the chair). He was married  to the daughter of my  father’s paternal uncle. My paternal grandfather, Gadepally Venkata Sastry was in the service of Pithapuram Raja. He was a Sanskrit Scholar and a Trustee of the famous Sri Kukkuteswara Swami temple in Pithapuram, in which lies an incarnation of the lord Shiva, in form of a Kukkutam, a 'Cock fowl'. He wrote in Sanskrit a Stotram , in praise of Kukkutam, which my mother got published in 1990. My grandfather passed away by the time this photo was taken and my grandmother is seen herein (middle, standing) as a widow, wearing the traditional white dress covering her hairless head.

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He was a Ph.d. in Sanskrit and Philosophy

He was a Ph.d. in Sanskrit and Philosophy
My maternal grandfather Dr Vasudev Sukhtankar (center, with garland & white turban) Director of Education, Indore State. 1926

My maternal grandfather Dr Vasudev Sukhtankar (center, with garland & white turban) Director of Education, Indore State. 1926 Image and Narrative contributed by Ashok Bhandarkar, Mumbai In this photograph, my grandfather, the Director of Education was on an inspection tour of a school in Tarana (Indore State) on February 6, 1926 with group of boy scouts (probably the entire population of the school!) 'Ajoba' as we called him, was a PhD in Sanskrit and Philosophy from Germany and also a staunch Brahmo Samaji.

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Felt hats, Chiffons and Pearls

Felt hats, Chiffons and Pearls
My parents Maya and Lachu Shivdasani (center) with friends, at the Turf Club, Mahalaxmi Race Course, Bombay, Maharashtra.1941

My parents Maya and Lachu Shivdasani (center) with friends, at the Turf Club, Mahalaxmi Race Course, Bombay, Maharashtra.1941 Image and Narrative Contributed by Usha Bhandarkar Men and women were always very smartly turned out for the races..."you never repeated a sari!" Men wore full suits and felt hats; women wore Chiffons and Pearls. My mother Maya is appalled at the current dress code at the Races which she finds positively sloppy.

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