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SAM CLUB DAY ‘16

Chopra, Dogra & Bogra

-V. Narayanan '55

Subadra, my wife, hails from Tirunelveli, the southernmost district headquarters town of erstwhile Madras
state, now known as Tamil Nadu. It is situated barely 50 kms north of Kanya Kumari. Normally her visits north of
her home town were mostly to Thanjavur, the rice bowl of Tamil Nadu and occasionally to Madras, now called
Chennai. There were a few visits to Tirupa . She had gone north of the Vindhyas only once when she was part of
a field trip from her college to go to New Delhi in 1960. Things were so informal in those days that the college
sought an appointment for the students to meet with the Vice-President of India Dr. S. Radhakrishnan which
was duly granted! Pictures taken on that occasion are reproduced.

Students from Sarah Tucker College, Tirunelveli intently listening to the vice-president Dr. S.
Radhakrishnan (1963)

The next me she crossed the Vindhyas was when we were married in January 1964 and she accompanied me
to Kalka, where I was posted as AWM/N. Rly.

I had requested welfare inspector Mr. Chopra to receive us at Kalka railway sta on. Polished as he was, he'd
introduce himself first to her, even as he made arrangements to get our few personal belongings carried to our
quarters situated very near the railway sta on. OS Dogra (1956) had travelled by the same train and was
heading towards Shimla. He was introduced to Subadra.

Kalka was a very small place. There was a theatre owner called Bogra and he was a very young fellow with whom
I had interacted earlier. He was also seriously interested in computer programming. He was thrilled that I had
returned and turned up at our home almost immediately and introduced himself to Subadra. She was bemused
and started to wonder if all names in Kalka would have a “o” in it, ending with “ra” as the names of first 3 men
she got introduced to were spelt that way! In her first missive to her father she would report about this.

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