Dad was a very kind person . He encouraged us in sports and music .

However this did not mean neglecting studies.

The Stradivarius violin (copy) is one which I treasure . It was presented to me when I was in my early teens. I still practice whenever time permits . The first introduction to the violin was when he gave me a baby violin . Then followed the guitar. In early days the electric guitar was the rage. So he ordered one with a person who makes electric guitars. Just imagine how happy we were . My brothers got to learn the piano and then the accordion .

The icing on the cake were the drums . My mother was much against it; Dad however got the drums for us . We literally had a whole set of musical instruments , enough to have a band .

I remember he sent us to learn tennis and swimming . Even today , I play tennis and am grateful to my Dad for an introduction to this game.

For tennis I was given a Slazenger racket . I treasured it even though it had a wooden frame . To keep it from getting warped , I put it in a press .

Hockey was a popular game. We had many hockey sticks . Besides playing the game, we used some for getting rid of rats .

We played table tennis on the dining table. There again TT racquets were provided .

Later we took to playing badminton . We began playing with toy racquets and then shifted to the ‘Silver’ brand and finally the famous Yonex .

Dad himself was a gold medalist for badminton in his college days.

In cricket we were given bats and wickets/stumps. He spinbowled to us a few balls before he would leave to his clinic

.A lasting memory of him was when the World Cup Football tournament would be happening . While watching the live telecasts at the ground floor of our cottage , we would hear his slow shuffle as he came down the stairs from the upper floor. He hardly spoke latterly as he was a recoveree from several paralytic strokes due to high blood pressure .

His interests in sport and music was an eye opener

It’s no wonder that he encouraged us, in these spheres .However he never failed to instill in us the importance of a good education.