Ek Sham - Ahmedgarh ke Naam

Dear Friends,

As you know, Ahmedgarh has been my beloved place of school education - May 1951-March 1959 and my home town upto July  1971...

It was Master Ashni Kumar Ji (1916-1999) - my unique Guru-teacher - who was my anchor of life in Ahmedgarh till he breathed his last - on Saturday, Feb 16, 1999.

I had been myself so stressed and always short of time till I setlled down in retirement in 2004... after spending more than 26 years abroad - 21 of them were consecutive, from 1982-2003!

I have tried to make the best of the sun set years of life by returning - full time - to my books, rediscovering good old friends - and my love for pen and paper - rather the modern age wonder, Shriman computer-Ji!

I know how the dear friends in the tri-city beautiful have been dreaming of an evening devoted to the golden memories of childhood in our beloved Mandi... a brand new town which had sprung up from no where - in the wake Rail Revolution of India in the early twentieth century.

I am heartily grateful to the dream team of friends - Jawahar ji & Janak in particular - who conceptualized the event of the evening of Friday, 24th March to recreate the genuine spirit of love, innocence and affection dedicated to our beloved town. The inimitable Mootki - Rakesh Bhai - is indeed blessed with an abundant artistic talent and the most infectious joy in bringing to pulsating life all the beautiful memories of the sweet past...

Prof. Anu Jain was the perfect compere of the event ... the memories of his most wonderful Tayas - Amrit ji  Madan Faryadi ji - have been my most precious wealth.

I was so glad to meet many new friends and younger friends of the new generation - nasal nau - who all swear by the love of Ahmedgarh!

Brig JJ Singh Jagdev's family - we met after more than fifty years - is closely related to mine for four generations - it was his grandfather who was instrumental in persuading my family to shift to Ahmedgarh.

Sh Gobind Thukral ji has been a dear friend, philosopher and guide since we met in my retirement... 13 years ago; Dear Ashwani Gupta put in a lot of effort in managing the event in Western Court...

My sincerest thanks to all the ladies who had graced the occasion as equal & active participants... I promise to be accompanied by my 'better half' when the next such get together happens.

With my greetings & best wishes to all the dear friends,

Affectionately,
Bal Anand

PS - I am sharing three photos of the event..
Hope you would share more photos/visuals of the most joyful evening