Introduction

I have just passed my 75th birthday, having been born on the 23rd day of December, 1912. For the truthfulness of this fact I have to rely on the respected and honoured word of my dear parents who emphasized the fact each year by giving me a birthday present!

On the same unimpeachable authority, I have been told that I was born in the Usmania Hospital in the then Princely State of Hyderabad in Central India. Hyderabad was then governed by the Nizam: reputed to be the richest man in the World and the most miserly! More on that subject later…

At this important event in my life, mother was staying with her Aunt Amena, wife of Akbar Hydari. Amena had looked after mother for many years (in the role of a parent) after mother had lost her own parents. The Hydaris lived in a palatial mansion with a large compound staffed with a retinue of servants. At the time, Akbar Hydari was the Financial Advisor to the Nizam (he had been loaned into this service by the British government). He was previously in the Imperial Audit Service of the Indian government. Later, he rose to be the Prime Minister of the State of Hyderabad and was knighted by the British King.

Mother continued to stay with Aunt Amena for some time (we children called her “Nani Saheba”, ie: “respected Granny”). Uncle Akbar was referred to as “Nana Saheb”.

Father, at this time, was working as an Assistant Executive Engineer in the Public Works Department of the Government of Bombay and was posted in a small town in the southern coastal region of what was then called the Bombay Presidency (now the State of Karnataka). This was an extremely beautiful area full of forests and, in those days, teeming with “game” – ie. deer, panthers, teetar (a type of pheasant) and many other wild animals and birds. They were so numerous and unafraid of man that they would be seen on the road. Of course, there were no cars in those days in these parts and father moved about on horseback or in “traps” known as a “tonga”.

Having made my debut in the World in rather prestigious circumstances, I feel like “blowing my trumpet” a little by touching on the family background which led to this state of affairs. [ed. This will kick off the next post]