Facebook group on Kamptee
https://www.facebook.com/groups/1391970817737169/
In Kamptee we had a huge house perhaps bigger than the President's house of many countries.
We had countless chickens, a dog, a cow, a goat and a lamb. Not counting Sydney's snakes and squirrel.
With all those animals and birds, a vast flower garden, a substantial vegetable garden, a huge house, and 5 children, our great Mom managed all of that single-handed. Dad was in the border front. They don't make Mom's like that anymore.
In front of our house was a huge Neem tree where you could sometimes find the whole family resting on the branches, along with our dog, Penny and the lamb. The dog and the lamb were best of friends.
Our dog Penny would take care of the chicks while they were feeding in the gardens and the Mother Hen would wander off knowing her chicks were safe with Penny. Penny even killed a Hawk who was trying to grab a chick. Penny would wake my Mom up at night when it sensed a snake had entered the house and then Sydney and Danny would go into action finding the snake. Sydney would have one more snake to his collection. Penny was a stray dog whom we adopted, but he was one of the most intelligent dogs I have known.
I should have had a seperate post on Penny. Here is one comment from Chris Lobo:
When they built a Golf Club next to our house, we would find a lot of them whenever the grass was cut. The grass could grow to 4 feet tall. We used the balls for playing Crciket. Beats playing with a old sock stuffed with old wet newspapers, which we used before the Golf Club came along.
I could not find the house on this visit, either because it was brought down, or because it was cordoned off by the army. It had dense forest surrounding it, and I could not see beyond a few trees.
The Back Gate to our house locked by the Army.
Bharat Bhushan's House right in front of our house. I remember his name as it was a catchy name. These house were built during our time and we loved to play hide-and-seek when they dug up for the foundation works
Our House and gardens. Now we can only see it on Google Maps. Thank you Google
This house of then Capt Khanna was in front of our house. Then because I don't know his current rank. This was a very small house in comparison to ours.
It was a sad day when their dog died run over by a car. 48 years back in Kamptee you could count the vehicles on the fingers of one of your hands. He still had to die under one.
The best part of being in the Indian Army is the huge houses you get.
Correction by Roland Lobo
One small correction....Capt Khanna's dog did not die in a road accident. Sydney and I were going somewhere, and we exited through the gap in the fence. As we got out, we saw this little dog being mauled by a group of street dogs. We chased off the dogs, and took the little one home, but it was too late. I still remember how devastated Capt Khanna was. Talking about dogs, another of your friends had a dog called Tiger...the most ferocious dog I have ever seen.
The 4 Chokra boys after playing Holi. L to R Mervyn, Sydney, Danny & Hansel in front of the guard house of our house.
Our house in the background.
Our whole family L to R. Carol, Dad, Mervyn, Danny, Mom, Hansel & Sydney
Uncle Charles and Aunt Eileen, one of our favourite and closest realtives. You can see our cowshed in the background, at our house at 3 the Mall.
All the kids from ours and Uncle Charles family
L to R
Mervyn, Carol, Hansel, Danny, Don, Roland (top) Chris and Sydney.
Dont miss our dog Penny.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/1391970817737169/
In Kamptee we had a huge house perhaps bigger than the President's house of many countries.
We had countless chickens, a dog, a cow, a goat and a lamb. Not counting Sydney's snakes and squirrel.
With all those animals and birds, a vast flower garden, a substantial vegetable garden, a huge house, and 5 children, our great Mom managed all of that single-handed. Dad was in the border front. They don't make Mom's like that anymore.
In front of our house was a huge Neem tree where you could sometimes find the whole family resting on the branches, along with our dog, Penny and the lamb. The dog and the lamb were best of friends.
Our dog Penny would take care of the chicks while they were feeding in the gardens and the Mother Hen would wander off knowing her chicks were safe with Penny. Penny even killed a Hawk who was trying to grab a chick. Penny would wake my Mom up at night when it sensed a snake had entered the house and then Sydney and Danny would go into action finding the snake. Sydney would have one more snake to his collection. Penny was a stray dog whom we adopted, but he was one of the most intelligent dogs I have known.
I should have had a seperate post on Penny. Here is one comment from Chris Lobo:
I remember the Kamptee club (especially the shiny badminton court) and
the river which I think was dry when we were there (mid-summer). Off course I
recall your house clearly and the way that one of you used to fiddle with the
water meter (I think that’s what it was).
I might have told you the story of how Penny saved my bacon one day. One
evening all of us boys were playing in a sand pit near your house when suddenly
we realised that it was time to go home (curfew!). Every one ran off except me
and Penny as I couldn’t find one of my slippers which had been buried in the
sand. As I was frantically searching I started to weep knowing that I was in
for a hiding for losing my slipper. Well, to my utmost surprise it was Penny
who dug out my lost slipper – imagine it – she understood what I was looking
for and helped me find it!! Really an exceptional one. I gave her a great big
hug - I was that grateful.
I also remember our trip to Nagpur – lunch at Kwality and ice cream
after …
When they built a Golf Club next to our house, we would find a lot of them whenever the grass was cut. The grass could grow to 4 feet tall. We used the balls for playing Crciket. Beats playing with a old sock stuffed with old wet newspapers, which we used before the Golf Club came along.
I could not find the house on this visit, either because it was brought down, or because it was cordoned off by the army. It had dense forest surrounding it, and I could not see beyond a few trees.
The Back Gate to our house locked by the Army.
Bharat Bhushan's House right in front of our house. I remember his name as it was a catchy name. These house were built during our time and we loved to play hide-and-seek when they dug up for the foundation works
Our House and gardens. Now we can only see it on Google Maps. Thank you Google
This house of then Capt Khanna was in front of our house. Then because I don't know his current rank. This was a very small house in comparison to ours.
It was a sad day when their dog died run over by a car. 48 years back in Kamptee you could count the vehicles on the fingers of one of your hands. He still had to die under one.
The best part of being in the Indian Army is the huge houses you get.
Correction by Roland Lobo
One small correction....Capt Khanna's dog did not die in a road accident. Sydney and I were going somewhere, and we exited through the gap in the fence. As we got out, we saw this little dog being mauled by a group of street dogs. We chased off the dogs, and took the little one home, but it was too late. I still remember how devastated Capt Khanna was. Talking about dogs, another of your friends had a dog called Tiger...the most ferocious dog I have ever seen.
The 4 Chokra boys after playing Holi. L to R Mervyn, Sydney, Danny & Hansel in front of the guard house of our house.
Our house in the background.
Our whole family L to R. Carol, Dad, Mervyn, Danny, Mom, Hansel & Sydney
Uncle Charles and Aunt Eileen, one of our favourite and closest realtives. You can see our cowshed in the background, at our house at 3 the Mall.
All the kids from ours and Uncle Charles family
L to R
Mervyn, Carol, Hansel, Danny, Don, Roland (top) Chris and Sydney.
Dont miss our dog Penny.
I learnt from Sydney that our house was the ex-residence of the 2nd president of Pakistan Gen Ayub Khan before India's partition with Pakistan..................................................................... Muhammad Ayub Khan (Urdu: محمد ایوب خان; May 14, 1907 – 19 April 1974) was a five-star general officer and statesman, serving as the second President of Pakistan and its first military dictator from 1958 until his forced resignation in 1969.[1] A self-appointed field marshal,[2] the only such five-star rank in Pakistan's military history, he was appointed the first chief martial law administrator by President Iskander Mirza in 1958, a post he retained until the promulgation of a new constitution in 1962.[3] (source Wikipedia)
ReplyDeleteSir, I am Raymond Francis, son of Raj Francis, who used to stay in bunglow #13. mall road, kamptee. I am in Saudi Arabia now and my parents are with me. I showed them your blog pics and they recognized you. They say your name is Dennis Lobo.
ReplyDeleteMy Father's family used to stay in bunglow # 13, and my father had a bicycle with a long seat. If you do remember, please respond.
Please let us know about your whereabouts, and if possible please share your contact details. We will be more than happy to talk to you.
Best Regards,
Raymond
Hello Raymond. I dont have your contacts to reply. Denis Lobo and Sydney Lobo are my elder brothers. I am Hansel Lobo. My brothers would remeber more as I was very youg then.
DeleteHello Raymond again. You can join the Kamptee Facebook group at:
Deletehttps://www.facebook.com/groups/1391970817737169/
Hi,
ReplyDeleteMy dad ( M M Nair) too was in APS and had a few tenures in Kamptee. I vaguely recollect the earlier tenure (early60s) but I have very strong and fond memories of the 70-74 period that we were there. We stayed again at Argum lines (between APS center and NCC OTS)and I was studying at KV Nagpur. we had a large group of the same age and used all the play grounds, Kamptee club, EME Cinema Kanhan river etc. Some of the best times in my life - many friends from that era are still in touch. Thanks to social media we are once again in touch.
This is indeed a wonderful place that you have created in cyber world. I have put in a request to joing the FB group. Kelsons, Lobos, Brave are some of the familiar names from that era which were part our lives.
cheers
Rammohan
Iam delighy3ed to he FROM U ... IN
ReplyDelete