Practising at Gurdaspur continues...

He was a man of a literary bent of mind and it was a pleasure to hear him talk on literary and scientific subjects. He later became a member of the Punjab University Syndicate where we used to sit together. His death at a young age was a great loss to the medical and public life of the Punjab. One of his sons, Ashwani Kumar, I.P.S. has earned a good name in the police and is now D.I.G., Jullundur Circle.

I was secretary of the tennis club and won a number of district tournaments. My partner in tennis was Bawa Sunder Singh, Reader to the District Judge. He became a Superintendent of D.C.’s office, rose to be an E.A.C. and retired as Manager, Court of Wards. For five years we continuously won all tennis tournaments in Gurdaspur district.

I was secretary of the Gurdaspur Congress committee and escaped jail during the martial law days only because I had shifted to Lahore a few days previously. My friends and colleagues of the Congress committee at Gurdaspur—Bishamber Das, Dewan Chand, Pashori Mal, Ganda Singh—were all taken into custody by General Dyer and confined in Lahore jail where I used to look after them. Ultimately they were released.

I was the editor of a weekly journal Fateh which was published on behalf of the Government for war propaganda. I was also a member of several committees set up to encourage war loans and recruiting. Members of the National Congress, nationalists though they were, saw nothing wrong then in helping in the war effort of the British Government.

It was during my stay at Gurdaspur that we planted our first orchard at Pathankot. Father came to Gurdaspur, took me with him and selected the site for an orange grove next door to the place where my country house at Pathankot now stands, I was set the task of seeing the plants put in the soil in my presence. Earlier during my student life I had done this work several times. The Pathankot orchard was my third orchard.

to be continued....