The Blessed Bio-data!
I was born in Lahore as the youngest sibling in a large well off family of Punjab, where father, the sole provider, worked as the Chief Representative of Oxford University Press, London. I had just finished high school, winning merit scholarship from Punjab University scoring very high marks, when the family was forced to leave Lahore which became part of Pakistan after India's partition in 1947. The family moved to New Delhi to start from scratch, where after graduating with very high grades in Law and MBA from Delhi University, I started my career as a corporate executive with Godrej, one of the most reputed companies in India, then the biggest manufacturers of bank lockers, steel cupboards and furniture. After working there for the first 20 years of my corporate career, I moved on to avail better opportunities in other big companies, taking retirement after a well rewarded service of over 40 years in the corporate sector of India. In the post retirement period I worked for a while as Dy. Director (Publications) with Institute of Marketing and Management, New Delhi. Side by side, I passionately pursued my hobby for writing and remained a regular contributor to newspapers in India. My 'Letters to the Editor' in the Hindustan Times received great respect, as these were invariably published under 3-4 column headlines or placed prominently in a box. I also started a Sunday paper, the Priceless, in West Delhi, which revolutionized the way small neighborhood business community advertised their businesses. Instead of printing and distributing individual handbills in their area, they were now able to put in their advertisements at a much less cost in the Priceless, which was distributed free with the mainstream newspapers every Sunday. The concept was applauded by the advertisers and the reading public alike, but before I could plan expanding the idea to other parts of Delhi, I moved to the U.S. along with my wife Inderjeet, former Principal of senior secondary govt. girls' school in Delhi, to be with our only son Alok, settled there as a prominent software engineer in Silicon Valley.
In the U.S. I took to what I wanted to do all my life, writing a book. Many true happenings and characters I came across in life, including interaction with former U.S. president, Bill Clinton, inspired my first book, Paradise Lost and Found, published in the U.S.. A family saga, it starts from Kashmir, when this paradise on earth is lost for the tourists who thronged in thousands every year to enjoy its scenic splendor. Terrorists turned it into one of the most dangerous places on the planet. The family is not only a witness to the loss of this paradise, but also to another tragedy of much bigger magnitude. In the aftermath of the partition of India, along with millions uprooted from their homes in Pakistan, the family is forced to leave behind all that it had in Lahore. Starting from a scratch on the difficult path to progress, it still has many joyful moments when along the way it tries to make a difference in many a life. The survival to success story climaxes in California where the family finds a substitute for the paradise that was lost in Kashmir.
As a big movie buff, who grew up with Hindi cinema, I have combined my personal knowledge and research on the subject, to complete work on my second book, Bollywood Celebrates Centenary - a tribute to the 100 years of excellence in Hindi cinema, now known as Bollywood. I cherish great memories of the bygone era of 30s and 40s, the golden age of 50s and 60s, the period of the parallel cinema in 70s and 80s, and Bollywood's grand entry into the new millennium with movies popular worldwide. Spanning a wide range of decades, genres and style, the Bollywood film culture in all its glory is a wonderful thing. Of the hundreds of great hits it has given, some have attained an aura of unparalleled respectability because, overtime, they continue to draw viewers in multitudes for weeks, months and even years. My book on Bollywood is only an endeavor to express my gratitude for the great joy Bollywood gave me all my life and to pay my tributes to the tallest amongst movie makers, artistes, composers, lyricists, singers and script writers down the decades, for contributing their extraordinary caliber to Hindi Cinema's 100 years of excellence in entertainment.
Next, I have started work on my second novel, “Doaba to Yuba”, based on the true experiences of a group of farmers from Doaba region in Punjab, who migrated to the U.S. in early 20th century for greener pastures, to eventually settle in Yuba City, as some of the most flourishing and influential families of California, having helped the State become the food bowl of U.S.A. While I'm on my computer working on the new novel, my wife keeps herself engrossed in watercolor painting, the hobby she has passionately taken to since arriving in the U.S.. Taking time from our respective hobbies, we go for our daily walks to enjoy the awesome weather and lovely landscapes of Bay Area in California, called the Golden State of USA. Our years of retirement are truly rewarding, made more so by our son Alok and daughter-in-law Ranjan, with their loving care that tempted me to title this piece of personal particulars as The Blessed Bio-data!
In the U.S. I took to what I wanted to do all my life, writing a book. Many true happenings and characters I came across in life, including interaction with former U.S. president, Bill Clinton, inspired my first book, Paradise Lost and Found, published in the U.S.. A family saga, it starts from Kashmir, when this paradise on earth is lost for the tourists who thronged in thousands every year to enjoy its scenic splendor. Terrorists turned it into one of the most dangerous places on the planet. The family is not only a witness to the loss of this paradise, but also to another tragedy of much bigger magnitude. In the aftermath of the partition of India, along with millions uprooted from their homes in Pakistan, the family is forced to leave behind all that it had in Lahore. Starting from a scratch on the difficult path to progress, it still has many joyful moments when along the way it tries to make a difference in many a life. The survival to success story climaxes in California where the family finds a substitute for the paradise that was lost in Kashmir.
As a big movie buff, who grew up with Hindi cinema, I have combined my personal knowledge and research on the subject, to complete work on my second book, Bollywood Celebrates Centenary - a tribute to the 100 years of excellence in Hindi cinema, now known as Bollywood. I cherish great memories of the bygone era of 30s and 40s, the golden age of 50s and 60s, the period of the parallel cinema in 70s and 80s, and Bollywood's grand entry into the new millennium with movies popular worldwide. Spanning a wide range of decades, genres and style, the Bollywood film culture in all its glory is a wonderful thing. Of the hundreds of great hits it has given, some have attained an aura of unparalleled respectability because, overtime, they continue to draw viewers in multitudes for weeks, months and even years. My book on Bollywood is only an endeavor to express my gratitude for the great joy Bollywood gave me all my life and to pay my tributes to the tallest amongst movie makers, artistes, composers, lyricists, singers and script writers down the decades, for contributing their extraordinary caliber to Hindi Cinema's 100 years of excellence in entertainment.
Next, I have started work on my second novel, “Doaba to Yuba”, based on the true experiences of a group of farmers from Doaba region in Punjab, who migrated to the U.S. in early 20th century for greener pastures, to eventually settle in Yuba City, as some of the most flourishing and influential families of California, having helped the State become the food bowl of U.S.A. While I'm on my computer working on the new novel, my wife keeps herself engrossed in watercolor painting, the hobby she has passionately taken to since arriving in the U.S.. Taking time from our respective hobbies, we go for our daily walks to enjoy the awesome weather and lovely landscapes of Bay Area in California, called the Golden State of USA. Our years of retirement are truly rewarding, made more so by our son Alok and daughter-in-law Ranjan, with their loving care that tempted me to title this piece of personal particulars as The Blessed Bio-data!
posted by Tilak Rishi | 6:24 AM
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