Gujjubhai!
(P.S. Read all the name in the desi gujju accent. Like Shah should be read as Sa. )
Jignesh Talati, born in Bhavnagar on 7th June 1981, was Kokilaben and Mahendrabhai’s only son. Soon after his birth, they moved to Amdavad and most of Jignesh's toddler age passed in the old-city of Amdavad (pol/chali). With god's grace Mahendrabhai's bussiness was doing good, so they bought a 2 bedroom-hall-kitchen flat in Vastrapur area (developing subsurb of Amdavad). Buying this flat and later on a Maruti 800CC car, the family considered themselves to have well-settled.
Prior to marriage , after attempting three trials, Mahendrabhai had completed B. Com from Jasudbai Maanhardas Chudasma College , and Kokilaben was 12th fail but if someone asked her she used to bluff about clearing B.A, hence both were uneducated considering modern educational standards.
As Jigesh's (Jigu) parents were not educated they thought of fulfilling their own dreams by giving their son the best education. So Jignesh was send to P.K.Desai English medium school in Vastrapur. Initially Kokilaben used to supervise Jigu's daily homework, but when he reached 4th Standard, Kokilaben was unable to help him. So she decided to have a tution teacher for Jiju. Kokilaben’s logic behind having a tuition teacher was that, daily teacher shall help Jigu with his homework and make him smart and intelligent, and thus Jigu will get 1st Rank in class like Mahendrabhai's elder brother's son Rajesh!!! So talking to some neighbor’s, she found a nice middle aged Tamil sir. Everyday after school, dot at 5 PM when all the kid's from the nearby society used to gather to play cricket in front of their flat, Jignesh used to do his homework with the half-bald, big mustache, dark complexion, big bellied Tamil sir. This guy used to come daily to their house on a kinetic-luna and carried a cotton bag (thelo) on his shoulders for his personal stuff. Even in the middle of burning summer, this guy would not leave a drop of hot tea prepared fresh by kokilaben, and by the time Jigu finished his homework, Sir would have finished full plate of gujju snacks. However to no one's surprise Jignesh never got 1st Rank in exams, but yes, he was considered an average student in his class and that was satisfactory for Kokilaben.
Time passed by and tuition teacher's kept on changing, now Jignesh was growing big and as he was exposed to the modern society, he sometimes felt embraced for his parents rustic habits. But he respected them a lot and never expressed his feelings in front of them. Also to respect their views he used to daily go to Derasar (Temple) and on Sundays did a full puja in traditional temple clothes. I could say Jignesh was a pleasant boy and with his average achievements, he made his parents proud.
Jigu reached Xth Standard (Board). It was decided, that for one full year all Jignesh had to do was to study. This was considered the single most important year in his life. Kokilaben got rid of the cable TV and gave sacrifice of her favorite TV program " Karna hai Bahu se Pyaar" so that Jigu is not distracted from studies. Daily Mahendrabhai used to get up at 5:00 AM and wake-up Jigu for his morning studies. This went on for one year and everyone from there near and dear one's, to Mahendrabhai's customer knew that Jigu was in tenth standard, and studying hard. A week before the exam the family visited the exam center and measured the height of the table. For the last one week Jigu gave practice exams on a table of similar height to get his hand adjusted to the height. The day before Jigu's final exam hundred's of people called to wish him "Best Luck". Even if they never cleared any exam with good grades, they gave him all the advice he could get. Seriously you can consider that never before had Mahandrabhai's phone rang as much as it did that day!! During the exam daily Mahendarbhai and Kokilaben used to go to drop Jigu to his Board exam center. For 3 hours Kokilaben used to sit outside the school, to give Jigu moral support, who was writing an exam like other one million students!! Finally everyone’s wishes paid off and Jigu passed with overall 72% and got 100/100 in maths. On this achievement ( which was very mediocre!! ) Mahandrabhai distributed sweets among his friends and family and proudly told his illiterate business friends
" La apdo Jigu, ganith ma aval number lavyo "
But this excitement did not last long as Jigu decided to opt for science stream. (Or rather he was forced by his family to go for science stream and become a doctor!!)
Right from 11th standard the study pressure was back for 12th. Kokilaben's new mantra was
" Dikra, ek ej varash mahant kar le, pacche to aaram ej aaram che!! Jo saru banish to daktar banish, nahi to emni ( means mahandrabhai) gaadi per besvu padse!!!"
Jigu left no stones unturned With his new companion "specks" he used to study day and night. So much was the pressure of studies that once or twice Kokilaben had to give him sleeping pills so that he could rest. But Jignesh had exam fear and no one could help him with it.
Again the day prior to his 12th Exam the phone did not stop ringing for best wishes. But this time Jigu was under stress so instead of attending the phones personally, Kokilaben would answer the phone and take people's wishes. Exams went by and Jigu felt as if he had accomplished the impossible in the world. Next day after exam he really did not know what to do with his time. Cable TV was back and Kokilaben was relived to watch her favorite programs and gossip about the future storyline in afternoon with neighboring ladies.
The summer of 99 was Jignesh's best time. As the results were not yet out, he was enjoying the moment of his life. The guy who never slept past 5:30 in the morning for the past three year started to sleep until 11 AM. After getting up he used to watch TV for 2 hours and then had a whole-sum meal of ras-rotli. In evenings, he used to play cricket and later on hang out on streets with his friends until late night. Truly Jignesh's lifestyle had changed. During this summer vacation he also visited his maternal uncle in Bhavnagar. Jignesh considered himself to be above the rest of his rusty Bhavnagri cousins. But he did like the way they talk and used to check out the local girls with them on luna. He used to laugh at his cousins who did not speak proper english and would try to impress girls by speaking half-english half-gujarati sentence like
"Madam, your tire is puncher (meaning the tire of her vehicle is puncher not her!!),
Can I maddad you"
Jignesh Talati, born in Bhavnagar on 7th June 1981, was Kokilaben and Mahendrabhai’s only son. Soon after his birth, they moved to Amdavad and most of Jignesh's toddler age passed in the old-city of Amdavad (pol/chali). With god's grace Mahendrabhai's bussiness was doing good, so they bought a 2 bedroom-hall-kitchen flat in Vastrapur area (developing subsurb of Amdavad). Buying this flat and later on a Maruti 800CC car, the family considered themselves to have well-settled.
Prior to marriage , after attempting three trials, Mahendrabhai had completed B. Com from Jasudbai Maanhardas Chudasma College , and Kokilaben was 12th fail but if someone asked her she used to bluff about clearing B.A, hence both were uneducated considering modern educational standards.
As Jigesh's (Jigu) parents were not educated they thought of fulfilling their own dreams by giving their son the best education. So Jignesh was send to P.K.Desai English medium school in Vastrapur. Initially Kokilaben used to supervise Jigu's daily homework, but when he reached 4th Standard, Kokilaben was unable to help him. So she decided to have a tution teacher for Jiju. Kokilaben’s logic behind having a tuition teacher was that, daily teacher shall help Jigu with his homework and make him smart and intelligent, and thus Jigu will get 1st Rank in class like Mahendrabhai's elder brother's son Rajesh!!! So talking to some neighbor’s, she found a nice middle aged Tamil sir. Everyday after school, dot at 5 PM when all the kid's from the nearby society used to gather to play cricket in front of their flat, Jignesh used to do his homework with the half-bald, big mustache, dark complexion, big bellied Tamil sir. This guy used to come daily to their house on a kinetic-luna and carried a cotton bag (thelo) on his shoulders for his personal stuff. Even in the middle of burning summer, this guy would not leave a drop of hot tea prepared fresh by kokilaben, and by the time Jigu finished his homework, Sir would have finished full plate of gujju snacks. However to no one's surprise Jignesh never got 1st Rank in exams, but yes, he was considered an average student in his class and that was satisfactory for Kokilaben.
Time passed by and tuition teacher's kept on changing, now Jignesh was growing big and as he was exposed to the modern society, he sometimes felt embraced for his parents rustic habits. But he respected them a lot and never expressed his feelings in front of them. Also to respect their views he used to daily go to Derasar (Temple) and on Sundays did a full puja in traditional temple clothes. I could say Jignesh was a pleasant boy and with his average achievements, he made his parents proud.
Jigu reached Xth Standard (Board). It was decided, that for one full year all Jignesh had to do was to study. This was considered the single most important year in his life. Kokilaben got rid of the cable TV and gave sacrifice of her favorite TV program " Karna hai Bahu se Pyaar" so that Jigu is not distracted from studies. Daily Mahendrabhai used to get up at 5:00 AM and wake-up Jigu for his morning studies. This went on for one year and everyone from there near and dear one's, to Mahendrabhai's customer knew that Jigu was in tenth standard, and studying hard. A week before the exam the family visited the exam center and measured the height of the table. For the last one week Jigu gave practice exams on a table of similar height to get his hand adjusted to the height. The day before Jigu's final exam hundred's of people called to wish him "Best Luck". Even if they never cleared any exam with good grades, they gave him all the advice he could get. Seriously you can consider that never before had Mahandrabhai's phone rang as much as it did that day!! During the exam daily Mahendarbhai and Kokilaben used to go to drop Jigu to his Board exam center. For 3 hours Kokilaben used to sit outside the school, to give Jigu moral support, who was writing an exam like other one million students!! Finally everyone’s wishes paid off and Jigu passed with overall 72% and got 100/100 in maths. On this achievement ( which was very mediocre!! ) Mahandrabhai distributed sweets among his friends and family and proudly told his illiterate business friends
" La apdo Jigu, ganith ma aval number lavyo "
But this excitement did not last long as Jigu decided to opt for science stream. (Or rather he was forced by his family to go for science stream and become a doctor!!)
Right from 11th standard the study pressure was back for 12th. Kokilaben's new mantra was
" Dikra, ek ej varash mahant kar le, pacche to aaram ej aaram che!! Jo saru banish to daktar banish, nahi to emni ( means mahandrabhai) gaadi per besvu padse!!!"
Jigu left no stones unturned With his new companion "specks" he used to study day and night. So much was the pressure of studies that once or twice Kokilaben had to give him sleeping pills so that he could rest. But Jignesh had exam fear and no one could help him with it.
Again the day prior to his 12th Exam the phone did not stop ringing for best wishes. But this time Jigu was under stress so instead of attending the phones personally, Kokilaben would answer the phone and take people's wishes. Exams went by and Jigu felt as if he had accomplished the impossible in the world. Next day after exam he really did not know what to do with his time. Cable TV was back and Kokilaben was relived to watch her favorite programs and gossip about the future storyline in afternoon with neighboring ladies.
The summer of 99 was Jignesh's best time. As the results were not yet out, he was enjoying the moment of his life. The guy who never slept past 5:30 in the morning for the past three year started to sleep until 11 AM. After getting up he used to watch TV for 2 hours and then had a whole-sum meal of ras-rotli. In evenings, he used to play cricket and later on hang out on streets with his friends until late night. Truly Jignesh's lifestyle had changed. During this summer vacation he also visited his maternal uncle in Bhavnagar. Jignesh considered himself to be above the rest of his rusty Bhavnagri cousins. But he did like the way they talk and used to check out the local girls with them on luna. He used to laugh at his cousins who did not speak proper english and would try to impress girls by speaking half-english half-gujarati sentence like
"Madam, your tire is puncher (meaning the tire of her vehicle is puncher not her!!),
Can I maddad you"
Soon after his Bhavnagar visit 12th results came out. The results were up on internet and Jignesh had secured only 68%. Jignesh had passed with a first class!! But the marks were not good to get admission in a medical school. That day at 301 Shantivan ( their flat) the mood of the house was worse than the day Jignesh's grandfather had died!!
Some called to inquire for the result and did not know how to react. Jignesh had passed but he was not a hero... Mahandrabhai cried in front of his son as if the world had come to an end, and watching his father cry, Jignesh also started to cry. Kokilaben never required a reason to cry so she also joined the rest of the family.. It was a pitiful yet hilarious sight to watch. Finally the next door neighbor Aparnaben had to come and keep them quite.
But as life goes on everyone was back to normal in a couple of days and it was decided that Jignesh shall be an engineer! On the day of admission, Jignesh got admit to chemical engineering branch payment seat in Karamchandas Bheekabahi Patel College of Engineering and Technology at Unjha. The family was happy as Jignesh shall be a first class engineer in 4 years. However the college was inaugurated a couple of days back, and its campus or college building shall not be built in the next 5 years, hence Jignesh shall not be studying in the college building but in a make-shift small primary school building near-by the proposed college. But Jignesh was happy as he would be an engineer. As admission was done, Mahandrabhai started to call his friends and boast about Jigu over cellphone and Kokilaben created a scene outside the admission hall by crying loudly as Jignesh shall have to go and live in a hostel on his own. Actually Unjha was only 1 hr from Ahmedabad so Jigu would come home every weekend but who would explain this logic to Kokilaben!
Here Jiju’s school carrier comes to an end. Coming from a background where no one even uttered a word of English, Jigu had come a long way. Unfortunately he could not become a “daktar” and earn millions, but his family choose a field for him which was considered a gate way to U.S of A.
Stay tuned for Jignesh’s love life in college and his road to USA!!!!
posted by purvins at 9:20 PM
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