Canning College: The Lucknow University Years

I did a B.Com from Lucknow University. The three years I spent there were quite memorable, though I now regret not having paid enough attention to my academics

In an earlier post, I wrote about Christian College, from where I completed the last two years of my schooling. After class 12 was done and dusted with, I decided to do a B.Com from Canning College, Lucknow University. The story continues here.

Getting admission into Canning College, Lucknow University was much simpler back in 1990, than it is now. There was no written test, for one. From what I remember, all I had to do was fill a form, attach copies of my class 12 marksheet, submit that form in the admin office and that was it – I was in. A bunch of my friends from Christian College had also secured admission – we’d all now be spending three years studying economics, accountancy and banking etc., and hopefully get a graduate degree in commerce at the end of those years. Looking back, I now realise I had no interest in – and no particular aptitude for – commerce. Why I opted for B.Com is now a mystery to me, but lack of other options must have been one of the reasons. In terms of general awareness and the existence of dozens of different career options, as well streams of study that one can opt for, 1990 may as well have been another planet when compared to 2024.

Lucknow Christian Inter College: My Last Two Years in School

Lucknow Christian Inter College, where I studied for two years

In an earlier post, I wrote about my school days in Lucknow – the first 12 years, two of which were spent at Mount Carmel, and the remaining 10 at St. Francis College. After completing class 10 from St. Francis, it was time for to move on, since I had opted to study commerce in class 11 and 12, and SFC did not have that option. The story continues here.

Along with a small group of my friends from SFC, all of whom had also chosen commerce, I got an admission into Lucknow Christian Inter College for my final two years in school. Established in 1862, Christian College is one of the oldest education institutions in Lucknow and is situated in Qaisar Bagh, a mere 3km from the historic Bada Imambara. Inside the sprawling old campus, there are multiple buildings that have apparently been constructed at different times over the last 100-125 years. It’s a grand old place that had a slight air of decay, a whiff of neglect, about it in the late-1980s. It may have been spruced up these days, though I wouldn’t know about it since I haven’t been inside the campus after 1990.

St Francis College: My School Days in Lucknow

A video of St. Francis College, in Lucknow, where I studied for 10 years
Video copyright: St. Francis College

In an earlier post, I had shared some of my earliest memories of Lucknow, my hometown. In a follow-up to that, here are some memories of my school days - of the time I spent in Mount Carmel and then in St. Francis College.

When I was born, in 1973, my parents used to live with my grandfather in his very large, old house in the quiet residential locality of Mahanagar. There were no apartment complexes back then – Mahanagar was lined with stately old homes, most of them having been built in the early-1950s. My father’s younger brother also used to live in the same house. However, by the time my sister and I were born, each family had started feeling the need for more space, and my parents moved out. A Punjabi family, whose house was a 5-6 minute walk from my grandfather’s house, were looking to rent out their first floor, which comprised a living room, one bedroom, one bathroom, a balcony at the front, a large open courtyard and an open backyard. My father spoke to the owner – a kindly old gentleman, Mr Batra – who agreed to give the place to us at a monthly rent of Rs 350. This was towards the end of 1976. No rent agreement was signed, no police verification – just a verbal agreement between my father and Mr Batra, and we moved in. My father used to work with the ICI Group in those days, and his office was also just a 5-minute walk from Mr Batra’s house.

TechTree: The Next Chapter

In the early-2000s, I was very into working out with weights, hence the posters you see on the walls in my apartment in Raval Tower, CBD Belapur

In an earlier post, I wrote about joining ITNation, where George and I started TechTree, an all-new tech website that featured hardware and software reviews, along with technology news and features. The story continues here.

While TechTree was essentially a small startup, there wasn’t a great deal of pressure on the editorial team to produce more and more content every minute of the day. The team did a reasonable number of articles every week and we prioritized quality over sheer quantity. In the evening, George and I were often among the last 5-6 people to leave office. Sometimes, we left together and walked down to Marine Drive, which was barely five minutes away from our office. We’d stroll down Marine Drive, talking about work and our lives, often stopping to buy sookha bhel from one of the streetside vendors there. George had an interesting perspective on most things – not just technology or tech journalism – and I enjoyed spending time with him. Sometimes, we’d stop for a cup of coffee at one of the fancy cafes nearby and watched the world go by. George, who lived in Mahim, would then catch a local train to go back home, while I carried on to VT and got on a train to Belapur.

TechTree: By George!

That's me in the TechTree office in Nariman Point, back in 2002. ITNation was a great place to work at and while I was there for less than a year, that time was quite memorable

In an earlier post, I wrote about having submitted my resignation at Indian Auto. With nothing to do, zero earnings and meagre savings, while still paying rent for my apartment (along with other regular monthly expenses), I wasn’t exactly in a very comfortable position. Had been writing to and calling up some people whom I knew, but nothing came of it. After a few weeks, I started getting a bit worried – if I did not get work, I might even have to leave Bombay and go back to Lucknow, and I really, really did not want things to come to that. But then I got a phone call, which helped put thing back on track. The story continues here.

One Sunday morning, about six weeks after I had left Indian Auto, I got a call from GV Sreekumar, a good friend and a professor at IDC, IIT Bombay. GV and I had earlier worked together at CHIP, where he headed the design team. After moving on from CHIP, I had gone to CNET India, while GV went to IDC, a prestigious design college which is a part of IIT Bombay. With a deep interest in typography and great love for high-end Apple computers, GV is a genial, soft-spoken gentleman and we got along very well when we were at CHIP. Both of us lived in New Bombay back then, and we sometimes used to meet up at a bar in Nerul for our favourite Old Monk rum with Coke and lots of ice.

Pixels Multimedia: End of Days

Sometimes, life can take you down a path you never thought you'd ever walk 

In an earlier post, I wrote about how things had started going downhill at Pixels, team members had left and I was on my own. I was also on the verge of having to move Pixels out of the Sahara Bazar location, which had proven to be expensive and where the lack of footfalls had stopped the business from growing. The story continues here.

My father had been able to speak to his bosses and eventually got a transfer to Lucknow. He was actually doing very well in Bareilly and both he and my mother were quite happy there. However, he got the transfer in order to help me out and to ensure that we could all be together in one house. We rented a house in Aliganj, where I would have the largest room in the house – the drawing-cum-dining room – from where I could continue to run Pixels Multimedia in its new, diminished avatar.

Big Changes Happen at Pixels

Pixels Multimedia would ultimately move from Sahara Bazar, in Gomti Nagar, to a large house that we took up on rent in Aliganj. Here is a small animated clip of our new setup in Aliganj, which I made in Corel Motion 3D

In an earlier post, I wrote about experiencing the great kindness that was extended to me, for which I remain eternally grateful. When I was asked to vacate the house I was living in, my friend Shobhit immediately offered to let me stay in one of the two houses that his family owned in Lalbagh, and even refused to let me pay rent. When I had to sell my old motorcycle because it had become unreliable, my Tau ji gave me money to buy a new motorcycle. But in the meanwhile, there was trouble brewing at Pixels – there were issues that I would have to address immediately and some changes that I would have to deal with. The story continues here.

When I reached office that day, Tabrez was already there – he had reached there before me, which was slightly unusual. We looked at each other and I think both of us realised that we needed to talk. It had been around 6-7 months since we’d started Pixels Multimedia, things were tough and we needed to reevaluate and clearly define Tabrez’s role in what we were trying to do. I called for cups of chai from a nearby teashop and we sat down inside my small cabin. I encouraged Tabrez to speak openly and share his views on where he thought our business was going and what needed to be done in order to keep going. He admitted he was going through a lean phase and that he needed some time to think about the next steps that he wanted to take. On his part, I think there was a tacit admission of the fact that he wasn’t really enjoying working at Pixels, that there wasn’t really much for him to do (especially given his complete lack of interest in computers) and that he may eventually move on to do something else. As I said earlier, when we first met in October 1996, we were both very excited at the prospect of working together. Now, 8-9 months down the line, we were realizing that that happiness, that excitement stemmed from our many years of friendship and little else. Neither of us had thought things through, which had landed us in a difficult situation.

Pixels Multimedia: Thrown In at the Deep End

Managing Pixels Multimedia and running the business wasn't easy, but I quite enjoyed the challenge. Every day brought new surprises, new issues to resolve...

In an earlier post, I wrote about the passing of my grandfather and travelling to Jaipur to pay my last respects to him. In the meanwhile, things were steaming ahead at work; within one week of my coming back from Jaipur to Lucknow, my small team and I launched Pixels Multimedia. After about 10 intense weeks of groundwork, we were finally open for business. Unfortunately, within a few days after this, I got a call from Mr Nautiyal, in whose house I was staying, and went to meet him. He said I’d have to vacate the house, since he needed the room that he had given to me. He said he was very sorry about this and I reassured him that vacating the house was not a problem, and that I’d find another place and move out soon. The story continues here.

After being asked to vacate the house where I’d been living for the last 10 weeks, I was slightly worried. I needed to find a room quickly – a neat, clean room that I wouldn’t have to share with anyone else. Preferably one that had a PCO and a few inexpensive eating joints in the vicinity. And a safe parking spot for my trusty old Yamaha RX100, which was now beginning to show its age. I spoke to a few of my friends about this and one of them – Shobhit – immediately offered to let me stay in one of the two houses that his family owned in Lalbagh, near Hazratganj. In the house where he offered to let me stay, his family had an office on the ground floor, while the first floor was unoccupied. I was very grateful for his offer, and one room, with an attached bathroom, was given to me. I moved out of Mr Nautiyal’s house in Indira Nagar and took my stuff to Shobhit’s house in Lalbagh. This house was around 9-10km from Pixels Multimedia, which was in Gomti Nagar. But I used to love riding my RX100 in those days and quite enjoyed commuting from home to work and back. I used to get to work early and the morning rides used to be insane, with me wringing out every last bit of performance from my bike’s two-stroke 100cc engine. Downshifting aggressively at every opportunity, accelerating hard, cornering as hard as I dared and riding as fast as possible – the 15-20 minutes of riding to work in the morning, when there was not much traffic on the roads, was pure bliss.

Saying Goodbye to my Grandfather

My grandfather had great love and affection for me. The news of his passing left me devastated

In an earlier post, I wrote about how, when I was getting ready to launch my new business venture in Lucknow, my father called to tell me that his father – my grandfather – has passed away. My grandmother had passed away about three years ago, after which my grandfather had sold his house in Lucknow and had moved in with my father’s eldest brother, who was based in Jaipur. My grandfather, a kind and gentle man, had great love and affection for me and the news of his passing was quite devastating. The story continues here.

As soon as I got to know that my grandfather had passed away, I immediately decided to go to Jaipur to pay my last respects. I left for the railway station right away – bought a train ticket to Jaipur and, while I was unable to secure a reserved birth, climbed into one of the second-class compartments spent the 14-hour journey sitting wherever I could find space, flitting from one corner to another whenever I was asked to move on. I tried to occupy as little space as possible and kept moving, not giving anyone a chance to complain too much. The journey passed without incident and reached my Tau ji’s house just in time. We left for the cremation grounds shortly thereafter where the last rites were performed. I was inconsolable, couldn’t hold back my tears and cried my heart out. While many of my other cousins had also been close to my grandparents, I was perhaps the one who had spent the maximum amount of time with them, and had a strong bond with them. And now, both my grandparents (from my father’s side) were gone. It was an indescribably sad day for me.