Manthan
“Mathan” the celebrated Hindi feature film directed by Shyam Benegal and produced by the Gujarat Milk Marketing Federation Limited was released before I joined the Chairman’s Office in NDDB.
Dr Kurien wanted to have the first show of Manthan in Anand and invite a select audience from various milk unions of Gujarat, Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation and other dignitaries from the Government and civil society.
The first Executive Assistant of Dr. V. Kurien, who later became the Director (Administration) of NDDB, was Shri Ashok Koshy from the Indian Administrative Service.
Koshy and I got along very well. When Nagar and I vacated Mani Bhuvan to move to the newly built NDDB campus in 1970, Koshy and PT Jacob stayed for a month or so at the same accommodation. Let me talk of Manthan first and more of Mani Bhuvan later.
Koshy had very good contacts among the bureaucracy, business persons and top citizenry of Anand. Koshy before joining NDDB on deputation was Assistant Collector in Petlad.
I remember watching English films in Laxmi Talkies of Anand on Friday nights from midnight to 3 a.m. after the last regular show of Laxmi Talkies. Only three or four of us will be in the theatre. We had these special shows specially for us thanks to Koshy.
When the premiere show of Manthan was to be organized, Koshy chose Gopi Talkies, which had recently started operating. A rehearsal was done, and once again we watched Manthan in Gopi Talkies from 12:30 am till 3 am. This time, we were not only 3-4 persons but a larger group, which included many who had duties for ushering VIP invitees to the first premiere show of Manthan in Anand the next day, starting at 9 am.
Yes, in a way, we were the first ones to watch the legendary film in Anand before its formal release.
Mani Bhuvan
VS Behla and Baboo Nair were the original occupants of Mani Bhuvan. I joined NDDB in 1968. Behla and Baboo joined NDDB before me. A few months after I moved to Mani Bhuvan, Nair left for Sweden, Behla used to be posted on construction sites during those days. After Nair moved to Sweden his brother stayed with me at Mani Bhuvan for a few months.
Nagar joined NDDB in 1969, and Behla and I invited him to move over to Mani Bhuvan. Later, Shailendra Palvia and Naithani joined us in Mani Bhuvan, which has quite a history. Raojibhai was our cook cum man Friday. Khedekar from Amul Dairy had suggested his name to Nagar, and we asked Raojibhai to manage Mani Bhuvan. At one point in time, nearly 15 plus bachelor, real or forced, used to come for lunch at Mani Bhuvan.
When I was appointed the first warden of the NDDB hostel in 1970, and when Shri AK Raychaudhury was Secretary of NDDB, the hostel kitchen was commissioned, and Raojibhai was appointed as a cook. Raojibhai later joined NDDB.
Looking back after over 52 years, I find it interesting to note that some of the Mani Bhuvan residents of the late 1960s include one IAS Officer Ashok Koshy, who retired as Additional Chief Secretary of Gujarat, and two Professors Emeritus: Dr. Baboo Nair at the Department of Food Technology, Engineering, and Nutrition, University of Lund, and Dr. Shailendra Palvia, Professor Emeritus, MIS at Long Island University, USA. Nagar, Behla, and I too held senior positions in NDDB.
Nostalgic moments! You all are privileged to have witnessed and been a part of the success story of dairying in India!
Sir. it is very interesting to read the memories you had with initial years in NDDB that squeeze my mind of my memories in NDDB and NDDB Campus. Those were great days and people still remember by me and my wife always. Such days never came in our lives thereafter. Thank you very much for bring back our memories of those golden days.
Thank you 🙏 Please, when you find time do write and or record your memories/anecdotes etc. If you share the same with me at sk@vrikshamandir.com I will be happy to upload the same on this website. It will then become a part of our collective memory.
Sir, I have always cherished your writing skills, you did mention some time back to write my memories of the then time of NDDB. Still struggling to find time, but I assure you will write certainly to depict the golden time we had spent with NDDB.
Thanks again sir for your nice memorabilia.
Thank you 🙏🏼 Wish you soon find the time to write your memoirs!
Each of us is a “story”. Telling one’s story is a deeply cleansing experience and a good time pass activity as we age.
Thanks Sir for sharing such beautiful memories. I enjoyed thoroughly while going through your write up which I found very interesting, more so because I could connect myself with the people, places and the organisation.
Thanks again.
Thank you 🙏🏼 Please consider wrting anecdotes and or stories based on your memories. Share electronically with me at sk@vrikshamandir.com If writing / typing is an issue please send voice recorded message at th same email. I will be happy to upload on vrikshamandir. I notice you take very nice pictures of nature in the hills. You can write a blog on a contemporary subject too.
Interesting nostalgic moments. Enjoyed reading.
May try to pen some of my memories of NDDB
Thanks sir.
Remenisciences are always nostalgic memories of the bygone era, the moments we cherish today as we recall them. They incite pleasant feelings of experiences and interactions we have had with friends, roommates, bosses and subordinates.
In this context, the formative year experiences and memories of the pristine National Dairy Development Board Anand, constituted in 1965, arouses wonderful feelings, especially in those who have journeyed through that period. For those who joined the NDDB later, it arouses curiosity on the events that surround that period.
The wonderful recollections of the memories by Shailendra Kumar of the 1968-1975 period carry a world of information for those who have worked at the NDDB, yet were not exposed to the events leading to the present scenario.