born march 26, 1983.  16:03 hours (ist).  in a big city called bombay, in india.

they say it was an occasion of great festivity in the singhal family, as the first addition to a new generation took place.  the happiest of them all was shri prabhu dayal singhal, 78 then, who’d lived long enough to see the face of his great- grand son!

 

the first few years of my life in bombay were fun, with the sea bang opposite, and rekha’s house next door.  mother complains that my father used to pay special attention to that bungalow on his way back from office, until one day she vocalized her fury!

 

i have faint memories of play-school, and of the nursery rhymes i used to enchant my audience with, “lollipop, lollipop..” being one of my favorites.   i was the only off-spring to my parents till I was joined by a cute lit’l sister, and enjoyed all their pampering and undivided attention.

 

the calender on the wall kept getting replaced, as the years passed by and i grew older.  soon i found myself in class 2 at a school called higgins school, in calcutta.  the best part was going to school and coming back in a jeep, with a bunch of other kids!

 

when i was in class 3, we moved to ghaziabad, our ancestral hometown near delhi. here, my parents re-unionised with their parents, siblings and other relatives.  it was good fun, having truck-loads of relatives around all the time.  but this was probably the only positive of staying in a small-time city like ghaziabad.

 

after four years of schooling in ghaziabad, my parents sent me off to a residential school in noida, another satellite town to delhi.  i remember myself as one of the most home-sick kids around, unhappy and cranky at most times.

 

eventually, i moved out of the hostel but continued studying in the same school.  although i always scored mediocre grades in class, i never considered myself to be a below-average student at academics.  i knew i had a sharp brain and was endowed with high intelligence, but the diligence was always lacking. there was never a sense of urgency, the lazy bum that i still am.  however, whatever i put my heart and soul into, i did astonishingly well.

 

i was also engaged in all kinds of extra-curricular activities while at school. debating, quizzing and dramatics were things i enjoyed and indulged in often.  in class 12, i was appointed the quiz secretary of my school.

 

i passed out of school in 2001, after which i decided to study economics at university level. i study at sri venkateswara college in delhi university and  have finished two years of my course.  i graduate in june next year, after the completion of my current (final) year.

 

what i’ll do next, nobody knows... not even the lord who is quoted on the main page!