A quote I read says ‘Grandfather is a man who has no clock, no plans and lots of time for his grandkids’. Some fondest recollections are my childhood years spent with my Grand-Dad, Sri Narendra Nath Sinha. ‘Dadu’- as we siblings called him- was my Dad’s Dad and was originally a Barrister who’d also been sent to London to study Law by his illustrious Father, Kali Prasonna Singho, a Dist. Judge in the British colonial era. Dadu had been a widower for long, having lost his wife early, due to illness. His two children were Dad & our Aunt, whom he dearly loved. Dad was a devoted son & Dadu stayed with our family.
Dadu’s world centered around his grandchildren till he passed away in 1970 at age of 85. Naturally, as a very young boy I spent a lot of time with my Dadu, to me, one of the best story tellers I’ve ever known. From the Shakespearean tragedies like ‘Othello’ & ‘Julius Caesar’ to the ‘French Revolution’ and classic ‘Tale of Two Cities’, from escapades of that ‘damned elusive Scarlet Pimpernal’ to the revenge of the ‘Count of Monte Cristo’, he had us spellbound with his dramatic narrations which made the stories come alive.
One of his preferred tales was the fascinating battle for the ‘Ashes’ and an amazing man, Don Bradman, whose prowess became cricketing folklore for all times. Why ‘Ashes’ and more importantly whose ashes I had then asked. As we now know ‘The Ashes’ Cricket Series is traditionally of five Tests, hosted in turn by England and Australia at least once every four years. But term originated in a satirical obituary published in British paper, which stated that English cricket had died, and the body will be cremated and the ashes taken to Australia. The mythical ashes immediately became associated with the 1882–83 series played in Australia, before which the English captain Ivo Bligh had vowed to “regain those ashes”. English media then took over, calling it ‘The Ashes’ !
Dadu’s recounting would start from the 1930s when a small built batsman called Donald Bradman made an unimpressive debut and the inexperienced Australians were heavily defeated by a very strong English batting side with the likes of Wally Hammond, Jack Hobbs & Billy Sutcliffe. But the legendary ‘Bradman’ show was to follow to make history forever. I vaguely remember seeing a Scrapbook that had pictures of Bradman. As Dadu would unfold to us the dramatic story, it was the awe of Bradman’s invincible bat that caused England’s Captain Douglas Jardine (1932-33) to adopt the nasty tactic of fast leg theory, known as the infamous Bodyline. Although England decisively won the Ashes 4–1, Bodyline caused such a furore in Australia that it was banished from laws of Cricket.
Apart from Cricket, Dadu was a lover of English cinema & often mentioned the name of ‘Ellen Terry’, the actress of late 19th & early 20th centuries and would sing her songs, that were reasonably tuneful. That didn’t mean he didn’t have Indian favourites like ‘Wahidu Rehman’ & ‘Meena (Kumari)’ and he’d take us to Hindi films and ice cream thereafter ! He’d recite ‘Ramayana’ and ‘Mahabharata’ as they were known to him by heart. We like to call knowledgeable old folks as well-read. Dadu was truly learned – of another league !
Working on Living 