Neem tree & Chatur Patel

Neem tree & Chatur Patel

On a wintry March morning of 1974, I boarded a bus from Jamnagar to Ahmedabad. I had resigned from a good job in a huff to acquire more education thinking of the lost dream of studying medical science. I did not know anyone in Ahemdabad. The MBA program I was joining was in its nascent stage and life looked grey and a bit scary as I rode the bus that day. 

The Centre for Management studies where an MBA program was conducted did not have its building or a hostel. The classes were held in the department of sociology and accommodation was provided in the postgraduate students' hostel. Gujarat University campus of 1974 was serene and scenic. Tree-lined avenues, whitewashed faculty buildings, and students cycling around silently. 

The hostel room allotted to me was a spacious 400 sq ft room with a balcony that overlooked a large orchard of neem trees. The building was old but well kept and clean. I had no luggage except a few books, clothes, and a tin trunk that I used as a center table in the room. The room had 3 heavy, wooden beds but no mattresses, and I got used to sleeping on a hard surface as they do in the prisons. 

The orchard of neem trees kept me company while I was alone in the room. Their sway and swagger in the summer breeze and the seeds spraying my balcony made me feel lonely but not alone. Soon, Chatur Patel joined me as a room partner. He was from rural areas of South Gujarat and from a farming family. Strongly muscled, and even more strongly willed, Chatur Patel never stopped smiling. His smile and rural, earthy sense of wisdom kept us going with tea and biscuits when our meager assistantship was delayed in paperwork. 

We cycled long distances to see movies and dropped each other at the bus station for trips home. He managed to get a king-size transistor radio from home and thereafter our large room was filled with old Bollywood songs making us feel more homesick. Strangely enough, we both talked about our families in great detail but could never meet them. 

Soon our program was over and we separated. I have never met Chatur Patel after that. I understand the orchard of neem trees has made way for new faculty buildings. I guess life is like that. There are things that you never see again. Chatur Patel and the need trees are the ones I have not seen again. 

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