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Mridula Joyner posted a condolence
Friday, March 30, 2018
I was born on June 3, 1937 at 9:00pm at Lady Harding medical college, in New Delhi, India. My parents were the late Mr. Anand Swaroop Sood and Mrs. Surinder Bala Sood. I was the 3rd son and unfortunately my two previous brothers died very early after birth. My parents left no stone unturned to save me, as I was born premature and weighed only 1.5lbs at birth. With very limited medical help available in those days, they somehow saved me. It was suggested that they feed me goat's milk so my father actually went to Agra and bought a live goat to get milk for me! They later had a daughter named Kamlesh and then a son named Arun. My sister Kamlesh went on to become a physician in India. My brother Arun immigrated to Canada and has lived here since.
As I was very weak, my father took me to mud wrestling at the age of 10 to help me gain weight. When I was older, he got me playing cricket and I was quite good right away, and was selected to play for all Delhi schools eleven in 1954 in Patiala. I was not a very good student as a child. I went to day school in Karol Bagh until 8th grade and then moved to Tosalwan school (which opened in 1950) as my father wanted me to take science subjects so I could get into medicine. Unfortunately, I could only get into physical science and not the full science required to get into medicine. I was more into cricket and was named in the sports illustrated for cricket of the Salwan School. After passing my higher secondary exam in 2nd division I could not get into medicine or engineering. Back in India, if you had money or 'knew someone' you could get into some programs, and with my aunt's help I got into a two-year civil engineering diploma course in Lucknow, which I passed in 1957.
I was offered my first job in adecoit infested area of Rajastan and was to join before Dewali, but my mother was so upset that she convinced me to refuse the offer for my safety. I found a job as an overseer at NPL in New Delhi, where I played and captained the NPL cricket team. I took them from 3rd division to 1st division solely on my batting performance. Delhi cricket selectors picked me for the Ranji trophy team in 1962 under Y M Chaudhary captaincy. I was then picked for the Delhi team captained by the late Nawab of Patudi for matches against north and south Punjab. I was told on the night before the match that that I would open tomorrow in the absence of Delhi opener Akash Lal, who was in Bombay to play for his employer. My bad luck was that on the morning of the match, when we were leaving the hotel to go to the match, I saw a rickshaw coming, and sitting on it was selector Mr. Ram Parkas Mara and Akash Lal. All of my hopes to play as the opener were crushed and Akash Lal played as the opener. I was also picked to play against the Jammu and Kashmir team and on the night before, SK Sharma had fallen ill. Unfortunately, he declared himself fit to play on the day of the match and I was again the 12th man.
It was time for my family to find a wife for me. Back in India in those days, marriages were arranged. We had a brief meeting of the two families at the girls house, where everybody talked except me and my soon to be wife. After a few weeks of thinking, we were engaged. I did not remember her face. In fact, if I met her on the street I would not have recognized her. We never dated (or barely spoke to one another) before I married Sarla (nee Malik) on October 14, 1964. While we were visiting my in laws in Muradabad I got a call from my dad that ddca wanted me to play the next day's Ranji match against the railways. I rushed back home and reached New Delhi at 7am on the morning of the match. When I reached the grounds around 10.00am the team was already announced and the toss was done so I missed out again a 3rd time! That is when I manned myself as the UNFORTUNATE CRICKETER.
I had scored about 26 centuries in my career and two consecutive centuries in the ddca league. I also had the unique distinction of scoring a century on the opening day of the ddca league and also a double century against a strong Daraganj Gymkhana team at Kolta #3. My best highlight was a score of 155 runs out of total of 225 against a starstudded club, which had many Ranji trophy players. I received the highest scorer award for the tournament. My highest score was 274 in Abhatnagar memorial tournament in Delhi. My picture appeared in the newspapers often because of my strong performances.
My first daughter Mridula was born on August 18, 1965. I was away in Hyderabad playing cricket at the time, and I received the news by telegram from my father. She has the unique distinction of being the first great grand daughter of the late Mr. Dhani Ram, which meant he had "taken a golden step in the ladder of life"
In 1968 we immigrated to Canada for a better life. My wife Sarla had a BSc Nursing degree from New Delhi University, and was offered jobs in both Edmonton and Toronto. We chose Toronto because I had a better chance of finding a job according to the counselor at the Canadian Embassy. Riverdale Hospital in Toronto was kind enough to hold her position for a year before we were able to move there. She spent 26 years there until she retired in 1994. When we arrived in Toronto in 1968, it was the Easter long weekend. We first landed in Montreal, and then took a flight to Toronto from there. We had only $24.00 in our pockets (the government of India at that time would only allow you to take $8.00 each in foreign currency out of the country). When we arrived in Toronto, our luggage was not on the baggage carousel. After about an hour of paperwork, we found out that the luggage had arrived to another area of the airport. We then tried to cash a money order that a friend of Sarla's had sent us (from Canada). Because of the Easter long weekend, this proved to be difficult as banks were closed. This start to our new life was overwhelming as we had both never traveled before, and we had a 3-year-old baby with us, and we did not have money to pay for the taxi fare. Eventually with some persuasion, Air Canada agreed to cash our money order. By the time we arrived at the rooming house we had arranged, it was 2am. The owner of the rooming house did not live there, and the other tenants would not open the door at that late hour. Eventually a man opened the door, who appeared to be drunk, and was yelling at us that we could not stay there. So it is approximately 2am, and we have nowhere to stay, and have a young child with us! Luckily, the taxi driver was very nice and he took us to a cheap hotel. I still remember the name was The Strathcona hotel in downtown Toronto and we spent the night there for $11 per night. I believe that hotel is still there now.
The next day we got our bearings in this new city, and found our way to the Riverdale Hospital to meet Sarla's employers. We then found an apartment to rent and moved in (with only our few pieces of luggage!) that afternoon. While Sarla was working, I would take little Mridula with me job hunting. At the government employment office the lady said to me "what experience do you have in Canada?" I replied "how can I have experience if you don't give me a job!" After 3 months I happened upon a sign for a technical job posted at an employment agency. After finding out the location of the job I was hesitant to go for an interview. It was located in Scarborough, and we were living in downtown Toronto at the time. After I went for the interview over a week had gone by without hearing from them. Sarla persuaded me to phone them at which point they said they wanted a second interview. Finally when I went in for the second interview, they offered me a job as an estimator. This was at Kawneer, an aluminum siding company. With great determination I worked hard to keep my job. I worked with a senior estimator who was a retired army man who taught me to work very methodically at the pricing. I was told that I would receive a raise after 6 months if they liked my work. A year passed and no raise. I eventually asked for one and they gave it to me. One night they asked me to work overtime, so I worked until 8pm. When I left it was -10OC and I didn't have a proper winter coat for that level of cold weather. I stood freezing cold at the bus stop, when eventually a car drove by and the gentleman said there was not bus service after 6pm, and offered to drive me to where I could get the bus. I spent several hours waiting for buses that day in the freezing cold and did not get home until 11:30pm, and decided not to work anymore overtime until I had a car. I was very fortunate that I got that job as an estimator at Kawneer, as it helped me later in my career to move ahead with another company 'Commercial Aluminum'.
I worked at Kawneer form 1968 to 1976 when one of my senior supervisors left to join a new company and asked me to join him there. It offered much better pay, and there seemed to be room for me to move up there, so I gave my resignation giving them two weeks notice. The president of Kawneer would not accept my resignation and offered me to work overtime (but no pay raise). I insisted to resign, and one morning he called me in his office and locked the door, and said he'd keep me there until I said I would not leave! At the end of the day he gave me a 3-page letter to take to my wife to discuss. I discussed it with Sarla and we still felt that leaving was the best option. When I told him this the next day, he himself escorted me to my car and said we will send your stuff home in the evening. I was smart enough when I got home I jotted 10 pages of information I had in my head regarding all the labour rates and technical details, which came in handy at my new job at Commercial Aluminum.
I joined Commercial Aluminum in August 1976 and started to develop the estimating department. After working for a few years they depended on me the most. I helped them achieve a million dollars in sales a month, which was rewarded with a weekend in Muskoka with my wife and other sales staff. I was well respected at Commercial and invited to all of the company functions, golf tournaments and late night dinners. I really liked my boss, who was very generous and treated everyone well, and would have us in his office every Friday for drinks. We had very lavish Christmas parties for 16 years at Mastro's Restaurant. I received 10 and 15 years service awards too. Unfortunately due to the recession, the parent company decided to sell and we were offered a generous retirement package and I accepted it and retired in January 1994.
One day we decided to go and try some pizza. Someone had told us it was like our Indian roti with toppings on it. We looked over the menu, and decided to order one large for me, one medium for Sarla, and one small for Mridula. The waitress stood there for a second looking at us, went in the back and came back with the manager. He asked us if we'd ever eaten a pizza before, to which we said no. He said he'd bring us a large only and if we need more he'd bring us more. Well, of course, we couldn't even finish a large pizza, and we took the rest home with us! As the years have passed I have come to have quite a fondness for pizza, and still laugh at this first experience! There used to be a pizza chain called Frank Vetere's pizza. They used to have a weekly special of all you can eat pizza. We went with our two kids and he kept bringing pizza after pizza, and he finally could not resist saying, "are you going after a world record". After some time, that chain closed. My family has often joked that I put it out of business!
We slowly got settled and used to our new life in Canada. In 1970, Sarla got a promotion to Head Nurse at Riverdale, as at that time she was one of the few nurses with a degree. We then felt that things were settled enough, and it was time to have a second child. My second daughter Anju was born at Toronto East General hospital on October 18, 1971. Coincidentally, both daughters were born on the 18th day of the month.
We eventually were able to buy our first house in 1973 at 118 Santa Monica Blvd in Scarborough. Then in 1975, we moved to 124 Marilake Ave. In 1979 we moved again to 46 Roker Cres in Agincourt. And then in 1987 to 4046 Ellesmere Rd in Scarborough, before moving to our present lakefront condo at the Grand Harbour in Etobicoke in 2005.
Our eldest daughter Mridula went on to receive a Bsc in Psychology from the University of Toronto. She went on the have a very prosperous career in philanthropy. She currently is the Vice President, Philanthropy & Corporate Partnerships at YMCA of Toronto. She married Michael Joyner in a Hindu ceremony on Oct 10, 2002, and a 'Canadian' style ceremony on October 12, 2002.
Our youngest daughter Anju, was very determined from high school that she would not work for anybody but have her own business and she set her heart on Optometry. She worked hard and was rewarded with admission to the only university teaching Optometry in Canada. She graduated on the Dean's honors list from the University of Waterloo. She owns a successful optometry practice in Cobourg, Ontario. She married Gord Clement in a Hindu ceremony on August 7, 1998 and a 'Canadian' style ceremony on August 8, 1998. We married both of our daughters to very wonderful husbands. We are fortunate to have such nice son-in-laws, who attend our Indian religious functions and treat us with respect and kindness. Any time you ask them for help they are there to help without hesitation, what more you can ask for.
On July 16, 2005 we got the best news of our lives when we were blessed with our grandson Aidan Travis Joyner, son of my eldest daughter Mridula. We became proud grandparents that day. He has been a light in our lives. Since we retired and moved to our condominium we have looked after him almost everyday until September 2011 when he started full at school. We enjoyed those days with him, and he is very smart and wonderfully behaved boy. He is now full time in grade 1 and we miss him everyday.
We are presently enjoying retirement, and our beautiful view of Lake Ontario! I'm a little slower than I used to be, (had a quad bypass and 3 knee surgeries) but hope to go on many more vacations as we have in the past. We've traveled to Florida, Alaska, Caribbean, Mexico, Cuba, New York City, England, France, Germany, Austria, Italy, Switzerland, Greece,, Egypt, Singapore, Turkey and Amsterdam and hopefully more to to come soon!
This was writting in 2011 and in 2012 2nd grandson Liam was born. Papa lived for his grandsons and lit up everytime he was with them.
We love you Papa and will cherish all our wonderful memories of you. Rest in peace.
M
Mridula Joyner posted a condolence
Friday, March 30, 2018
I was born on June 3, 1937 at 9:00pm at Lady Harding medical college, in New Delhi, India. My parents were the late Mr. Anand Swaroop Sood and Mrs. Surinder Bala Sood. I was the 3rd son and unfortunately my two previous brothers died very early after birth. My parents left no stone unturned to save me, as I was born premature and weighed only 1.5lbs at birth. With very limited medical help available in those days, they somehow saved me. It was suggested that they feed me goat's milk so my father actually went to Agra and bought a live goat to get milk for me! They later had a daughter named Kamlesh and then a son named Arun. My sister Kamlesh went on to become a physician in India. My brother Arun immigrated to Canada and has lived here since.
As I was very weak, my father took me to mud wrestling at the age of 10 to help me gain weight. When I was older, he got me playing cricket and I was quite good right away, and was selected to play for all Delhi schools eleven in 1954 in Patiala. I was not a very good student as a child. I went to day school in Karol Bagh until 8th grade and then moved to Tosalwan school (which opened in 1950) as my father wanted me to take science subjects so I could get into medicine. Unfortunately, I could only get into physical science and not the full science required to get into medicine. I was more into cricket and was named in the sports illustrated for cricket of the Salwan School. After passing my higher secondary exam in 2nd division I could not get into medicine or engineering. Back in India, if you had money or 'knew someone' you could get into some programs, and with my aunt's help I got into a two-year civil engineering diploma course in Lucknow, which I passed in 1957.
I was offered my first job in adecoit infested area of Rajastan and was to join before Dewali, but my mother was so upset that she convinced me to refuse the offer for my safety. I found a job as an overseer at NPL in New Delhi, where I played and captained the NPL cricket team. I took them from 3rd division to 1st division solely on my batting performance. Delhi cricket selectors picked me for the Ranji trophy team in 1962 under Y M Chaudhary captaincy. I was then picked for the Delhi team captained by the late Nawab of Patudi for matches against north and south Punjab. I was told on the night before the match that that I would open tomorrow in the absence of Delhi opener Akash Lal, who was in Bombay to play for his employer. My bad luck was that on the morning of the match, when we were leaving the hotel to go to the match, I saw a rickshaw coming, and sitting on it was selector Mr. Ram Parkas Mara and Akash Lal. All of my hopes to play as the opener were crushed and Akash Lal played as the opener. I was also picked to play against the Jammu and Kashmir team and on the night before, SK Sharma had fallen ill. Unfortunately, he declared himself fit to play on the day of the match and I was again the 12th man.
It was time for my family to find a wife for me. Back in India in those days, marriages were arranged. We had a brief meeting of the two families at the girls house, where everybody talked except me and my soon to be wife. After a few weeks of thinking, we were engaged. I did not remember her face. In fact, if I met her on the street I would not have recognized her. We never dated (or barely spoke to one another) before I married Sarla (nee Malik) on October 14, 1964. While we were visiting my in laws in Muradabad I got a call from my dad that ddca wanted me to play the next day's Ranji match against the railways. I rushed back home and reached New Delhi at 7am on the morning of the match. When I reached the grounds around 10.00am the team was already announced and the toss was done so I missed out again a 3rd time! That is when I manned myself as the UNFORTUNATE CRICKETER.
I had scored about 26 centuries in my career and two consecutive centuries in the ddca league. I also had the unique distinction of scoring a century on the opening day of the ddca league and also a double century against a strong Daraganj Gymkhana team at Kolta #3. My best highlight was a score of 155 runs out of total of 225 against a starstudded club, which had many Ranji trophy players. I received the highest scorer award for the tournament. My highest score was 274 in Abhatnagar memorial tournament in Delhi. My picture appeared in the newspapers often because of my strong performances.
My first daughter Mridula was born on August 18, 1965. I was away in Hyderabad playing cricket at the time, and I received the news by telegram from my father. She has the unique distinction of being the first great grand daughter of the late Mr. Dhani Ram, which meant he had "taken a golden step in the ladder of life"
In 1968 we immigrated to Canada for a better life. My wife Sarla had a BSc Nursing degree from New Delhi University, and was offered jobs in both Edmonton and Toronto. We chose Toronto because I had a better chance of finding a job according to the counselor at the Canadian Embassy. Riverdale Hospital in Toronto was kind enough to hold her position for a year before we were able to move there. She spent 26 years there until she retired in 1994. When we arrived in Toronto in 1968, it was the Easter long weekend. We first landed in Montreal, and then took a flight to Toronto from there. We had only $24.00 in our pockets (the government of India at that time would only allow you to take $8.00 each in foreign currency out of the country). When we arrived in Toronto, our luggage was not on the baggage carousel. After about an hour of paperwork, we found out that the luggage had arrived to another area of the airport. We then tried to cash a money order that a friend of Sarla's had sent us (from Canada). Because of the Easter long weekend, this proved to be difficult as banks were closed. This start to our new life was overwhelming as we had both never traveled before, and we had a 3-year-old baby with us, and we did not have money to pay for the taxi fare. Eventually with some persuasion, Air Canada agreed to cash our money order. By the time we arrived at the rooming house we had arranged, it was 2am. The owner of the rooming house did not live there, and the other tenants would not open the door at that late hour. Eventually a man opened the door, who appeared to be drunk, and was yelling at us that we could not stay there. So it is approximately 2am, and we have nowhere to stay, and have a young child with us! Luckily, the taxi driver was very nice and he took us to a cheap hotel. I still remember the name was The Strathcona hotel in downtown Toronto and we spent the night there for $11 per night. I believe that hotel is still there now.
The next day we got our bearings in this new city, and found our way to the Riverdale Hospital to meet Sarla's employers. We then found an apartment to rent and moved in (with only our few pieces of luggage!) that afternoon. While Sarla was working, I would take little Mridula with me job hunting. At the government employment office the lady said to me "what experience do you have in Canada?" I replied "how can I have experience if you don't give me a job!" After 3 months I happened upon a sign for a technical job posted at an employment agency. After finding out the location of the job I was hesitant to go for an interview. It was located in Scarborough, and we were living in downtown Toronto at the time. After I went for the interview over a week had gone by without hearing from them. Sarla persuaded me to phone them at which point they said they wanted a second interview. Finally when I went in for the second interview, they offered me a job as an estimator. This was at Kawneer, an aluminum siding company. With great determination I worked hard to keep my job. I worked with a senior estimator who was a retired army man who taught me to work very methodically at the pricing. I was told that I would receive a raise after 6 months if they liked my work. A year passed and no raise. I eventually asked for one and they gave it to me. One night they asked me to work overtime, so I worked until 8pm. When I left it was -10OC and I didn't have a proper winter coat for that level of cold weather. I stood freezing cold at the bus stop, when eventually a car drove by and the gentleman said there was not bus service after 6pm, and offered to drive me to where I could get the bus. I spent several hours waiting for buses that day in the freezing cold and did not get home until 11:30pm, and decided not to work anymore overtime until I had a car. I was very fortunate that I got that job as an estimator at Kawneer, as it helped me later in my career to move ahead with another company 'Commercial Aluminum'.
I worked at Kawneer form 1968 to 1976 when one of my senior supervisors left to join a new company and asked me to join him there. It offered much better pay, and there seemed to be room for me to move up there, so I gave my resignation giving them two weeks notice. The president of Kawneer would not accept my resignation and offered me to work overtime (but no pay raise). I insisted to resign, and one morning he called me in his office and locked the door, and said he'd keep me there until I said I would not leave! At the end of the day he gave me a 3-page letter to take to my wife to discuss. I discussed it with Sarla and we still felt that leaving was the best option. When I told him this the next day, he himself escorted me to my car and said we will send your stuff home in the evening. I was smart enough when I got home I jotted 10 pages of information I had in my head regarding all the labour rates and technical details, which came in handy at my new job at Commercial Aluminum.
I joined Commercial Aluminum in August 1976 and started to develop the estimating department. After working for a few years they depended on me the most. I helped them achieve a million dollars in sales a month, which was rewarded with a weekend in Muskoka with my wife and other sales staff. I was well respected at Commercial and invited to all of the company functions, golf tournaments and late night dinners. I really liked my boss, who was very generous and treated everyone well, and would have us in his office every Friday for drinks. We had very lavish Christmas parties for 16 years at Mastro's Restaurant. I received 10 and 15 years service awards too. Unfortunately due to the recession, the parent company decided to sell and we were offered a generous retirement package and I accepted it and retired in January 1994.
One day we decided to go and try some pizza. Someone had told us it was like our Indian roti with toppings on it. We looked over the menu, and decided to order one large for me, one medium for Sarla, and one small for Mridula. The waitress stood there for a second looking at us, went in the back and came back with the manager. He asked us if we'd ever eaten a pizza before, to which we said no. He said he'd bring us a large only and if we need more he'd bring us more. Well, of course, we couldn't even finish a large pizza, and we took the rest home with us! As the years have passed I have come to have quite a fondness for pizza, and still laugh at this first experience! There used to be a pizza chain called Frank Vetere's pizza. They used to have a weekly special of all you can eat pizza. We went with our two kids and he kept bringing pizza after pizza, and he finally could not resist saying, "are you going after a world record". After some time, that chain closed. My family has often joked that I put it out of business!
We slowly got settled and used to our new life in Canada. In 1970, Sarla got a promotion to Head Nurse at Riverdale, as at that time she was one of the few nurses with a degree. We then felt that things were settled enough, and it was time to have a second child. My second daughter Anju was born at Toronto East General hospital on October 18, 1971. Coincidentally, both daughters were born on the 18th day of the month.
We eventually were able to buy our first house in 1973 at 118 Santa Monica Blvd in Scarborough. Then in 1975, we moved to 124 Marilake Ave. In 1979 we moved again to 46 Roker Cres in Agincourt. And then in 1987 to 4046 Ellesmere Rd in Scarborough, before moving to our present lakefront condo at the Grand Harbour in Etobicoke in 2005.
Our eldest daughter Mridula went on to receive a Bsc in Psychology from the University of Toronto. She went on the have a very prosperous career in philanthropy. She currently is the Vice President, Philanthropy & Corporate Partnerships at YMCA of Toronto. She married Michael Joyner in a Hindu ceremony on Oct 10, 2002, and a 'Canadian' style ceremony on October 12, 2002.
Our youngest daughter Anju, was very determined from high school that she would not work for anybody but have her own business and she set her heart on Optometry. She worked hard and was rewarded with admission to the only university teaching Optometry in Canada. She graduated on the Dean's honors list from the University of Waterloo. She owns a successful optometry practice in Cobourg, Ontario. She married Gord Clement in a Hindu ceremony on August 7, 1998 and a 'Canadian' style ceremony on August 8, 1998. We married both of our daughters to very wonderful husbands. We are fortunate to have such nice son-in-laws, who attend our Indian religious functions and treat us with respect and kindness. Any time you ask them for help they are there to help without hesitation, what more you can ask for.
On July 16, 2005 we got the best news of our lives when we were blessed with our grandson Aidan Travis Joyner, son of my eldest daughter Mridula. We became proud grandparents that day. He has been a light in our lives. Since we retired and moved to our condominium we have looked after him almost everyday until September 2011 when he started full at school. We enjoyed those days with him, and he is very smart and wonderfully behaved boy. He is now full time in grade 1 and we miss him everyday.
We are presently enjoying retirement, and our beautiful view of Lake Ontario! I'm a little slower than I used to be, (had a quad bypass and 3 knee surgeries) but hope to go on many more vacations as we have in the past. We've traveled to Florida, Alaska, Caribbean, Mexico, Cuba, New York City, England, France, Germany, Austria, Italy, Switzerland, Greece,, Egypt, Singapore, Turkey and Amsterdam and hopefully more to to come soon!
This was writting in 2011 and in 2012 2nd grandson Liam was born. Papa lived for his grandsons and lit up everytime he was with them.
We love you Papa and will cherish all our wonderful memories of you. Rest in peace.
M
Mridula Joyner posted a condolence
Friday, March 30, 2018
I was born on June 3, 1937 at 9:00pm at Lady Harding medical college, in New Delhi, India. My parents were the late Mr. Anand Swaroop Sood and Mrs. Surinder Bala Sood. I was the 3rd son and unfortunately my two previous brothers died very early after birth. My parents left no stone unturned to save me, as I was born premature and weighed only 1.5lbs at birth. With very limited medical help available in those days, they somehow saved me. It was suggested that they feed me goat's milk so my father actually went to Agra and bought a live goat to get milk for me!
They later had a daughter named Kamlesh and then a son named Arun. My sister Kamlesh went on to become a physician in India. My brother Arun immigrated to Canada and has lived here since. As I was very weak, my father took me to mud wrestling at the age of 10 to help me gain weight. When I was older, he got me playing cricket and I was quite good right away, and was selected to play for all Delhi schools eleven in 1954 in Patiala.
I was not a very good student as a child. I went to day school in Karol Bagh until 8th grade and then moved to Tosalwan school (which opened in 1950) as my father wanted me to take science subjects so I could get into medicine. Unfortunately, I could only get into physical science and not the full science required to get into medicine. I was more into cricket and was named in the sports illustrated for cricket of the Salwan School. After passing my higher secondary exam in 2nd division I could not get into medicine or engineering. Back in India, if you had money or 'knew someone' you could get into some programs, and with my aunt's help I got into a two-year civil engineering diploma course in Lucknow, which I passed in 1957.
I was offered my first job in adecoit infested area of Rajastan and was to join before Dewali, but my mother was so upset that she convinced me to refuse the offer for my safety. I found a job as an overseer at NPL in New Delhi, where I played and captained the NPL cricket team. I took them from 3rd division to 1st division solely on my batting performance. Delhi cricket selectors picked me for the Ranji trophy team in 1962 under Y M Chaudhary captaincy. I was then picked for the Delhi team captained by the late Nawab of Patudi for matches against north and south Punjab. I was told on the night before the match that that I would open tomorrow in the absence of Delhi opener Akash Lal, who was in Bombay to play for his employer. My bad luck was that on the morning of the match, when we were leaving the hotel to go to the match, I saw a rickshaw coming, and sitting on it was selector Mr. Ram Parkas Mara and Akash Lal. All of my hopes to play as the opener were crushed and Akash Lal played as the opener. I was also picked to play against the Jammu and Kashmir team and on the night before, SK Sharma had fallen ill. Unfortunately, he declared himself fit to play on the day of the match and I was again the 12th man.
It was time for my family to find a wife for me. Back in India in those days, marriages were arranged. We had a brief meeting of the two families at the girls house, where everybody talked except me and my soon to be wife. After a few weeks of thinking, we were engaged. I did not remember her face. In fact, if I met her on the street I would not have recognized her. We never dated (or barely spoke to one another) before I married Sarla (nee Malik) on October 14, 1964. While we were visiting my in laws in Muradabad I got a call from my dad that ddca wanted me to play the next day's Ranji match against the railways. I rushed back home and reached New Delhi at 7am on the morning of the match. When I reached the grounds around 10.00am the team was already announced and the toss was done so I missed out again a 3rd time! That is when I manned myself as the UNFORTUNATE CRICKETER.
I had scored about 26 centuries in my career and two consecutive centuries in the ddca league. I also had the unique distinction of scoring a century on the opening day of the ddca league and also a double century against a strong Daraganj Gymkhana team at Kolta #3. My best highlight was a score of 155 runs out of total of 225 against a starstudded club, which had many Ranji trophy players. I received the highest scorer award for the tournament. My highest score was 274 in Abhatnagar memorial tournament in Delhi. My picture appeared in the newspapers often because of my strong performances.
My first daughter Mridula was born on August 18, 1965. I was away in Hyderabad playing cricket at the time, and I received the news by telegram from my father. She has the unique distinction of being the first great grand daughter of the late Mr. Dhani Ram, which meant he had "taken a golden step in the ladder of life"
In 1968 we immigrated to Canada for a better life. My wife Sarla had a BSc Nursing degree from New Delhi University, and was offered jobs in both Edmonton and Toronto. We chose Toronto because I had a better chance of finding a job according to the counselor at the Canadian Embassy. Riverdale Hospital in Toronto was kind enough to hold her position for a year before we were able to move there. She spent 26 years there until she retired in 1994. When we arrived in Toronto in 1968, it was the Easter long weekend. We first landed in Montreal, and then took a flight to Toronto from there. We had only $24.00 in our pockets (the government of India at that time would only allow you to take $8.00 each in foreign currency out of the country).
When we arrived in Toronto, our luggage was not on the baggage carousel. After about an hour of paperwork, we found out that the luggage had arrived to another area of the airport. We then tried to cash a money order that a friend of Sarla's had sent us (from Canada). Because of the Easter long weekend, this proved to be difficult as banks were closed. This start to our new life was overwhelming as we had both never traveled before, and we had a 3-year-old baby with us, and we did not have money to pay for the taxi fare. Eventually with some persuasion, Air Canada agreed to cash our money order. By the time we arrived at the rooming house we had arranged, it was 2am. The owner of the rooming house did not live there, and the other tenants would not open the door at that late hour. Eventually a man opened the door, who appeared to be drunk, and was yelling at us that we could not stay there. So it is approximately 2am, and we have nowhere to stay, and have a young child with us! Luckily, the taxi driver was very nice and he took us to a cheap hotel. I still remember the name was The Strathcona hotel in downtown Toronto and we spent the night there for $11 per night. I believe that hotel is still there now.
The next day we got our bearings in this new city, and found our way to the Riverdale Hospital to meet Sarla's employers. We then found an apartment to rent and moved in (with only our few pieces of luggage!) that afternoon. While Sarla was working, I would take little Mridula with me job hunting. At the government employment office the lady said to me "what experience do you have in Canada?" I replied "how can I have experience if you don't give me a job!" After 3 months I happened upon a sign for a technical job posted at an employment agency. After finding out the location of the job I was hesitant to go for an interview. It was located in Scarborough, and we were living in downtown Toronto at the time. After I went for the interview over a week had gone by without hearing from them. Sarla persuaded me to phone them at which point they said they wanted a second interview. Finally when I went in for the second interview, they offered me a job as an estimator. This was at Kawneer, an aluminum siding company. With great determination I worked hard to keep my job. I worked with a senior estimator who was a retired army man who taught me to work very methodically at the pricing. I was told that I would receive a raise after 6 months if they liked my work. A year passed and no raise. I eventually asked for one and they gave it to me. One night they asked me to work overtime, so I worked until 8pm. When I left it was -10OC and I didn't have a proper winter coat for that level of cold weather. I stood freezing cold at the bus stop, when eventually a car drove by and the gentleman said there was not bus service after 6pm, and offered to drive me to where I could get the bus. I spent several hours waiting for buses that day in the freezing cold and did not get home until 11:30pm, and decided not to work anymore overtime until I had a car.
I was very fortunate that I got that job as an estimator at Kawneer, as it helped me later in my career to move ahead with another company 'Commercial Aluminum'. I worked at Kawneer form 1968 to 1976 when one of my senior supervisors left to join a new company and asked me to join him there. It offered much better pay, and there seemed to be room for me to move up there, so I gave my resignation giving them two weeks notice. The president of Kawneer would not accept my resignation and offered me to work overtime (but no pay raise). I insisted to resign, and one morning he called me in his office and locked the door, and said he'd keep me there until I said I would not leave! At the end of the day he gave me a 3-page letter to take to my wife to discuss. I discussed it with Sarla and we still felt that leaving was the best option. When I told him this the next day, he himself escorted me to my car and said we will send your stuff home in the evening. I was smart enough when I got home I jotted 10 pages of information I had in my head regarding all the labour rates and technical details, which came in handy at my new job at Commercial Aluminum.
I joined Commercial Aluminum in August 1976 and started to develop the estimating department. After working for a few years they depended on me the most. I helped them achieve a million dollars in sales a month, which was rewarded with a weekend in Muskoka with my wife and other sales staff. I was well respected at Commercial and invited to all of the company functions, golf tournaments and late night dinners. I really liked my boss, who was very generous and treated everyone well, and would have us in his office every Friday for drinks. We had very lavish Christmas parties for 16 years at Mastro's Restaurant. I received 10 and 15 years service awards too. Unfortunately due to the recession, the parent company decided to sell and we were offered a generous retirement package and I accepted it and retired in January 1994.
One day we decided to go and try some pizza. Someone had told us it was like our Indian roti with toppings on it. We looked over the menu, and decided to order one large for me, one medium for Sarla, and one small for Mridula. The waitress stood there for a second looking at us, went in the back and came back with the manager. He asked us if we'd ever eaten a pizza before, to which we said no. He said he'd bring us a large only and if we need more he'd bring us more. Well, of course, we couldn't even finish a large pizza, and we took the rest home with us! As the years have passed I have come to have quite a fondness for pizza, and still laugh at this first experience! There used to be a pizza chain called Frank Vetere's pizza. They used to have a weekly special of all you can eat pizza. We went with our two kids and he kept bringing pizza after pizza, and he finally could not resist saying, "are you going after a world record". After some time, that chain closed. My family has often joked that I put it out of business!
We slowly got settled and used to our new life in Canada. In 1970, Sarla got a promotion to Head Nurse at Riverdale, as at that time she was one of the few nurses with a degree. We then felt that things were settled enough, and it was time to have a second child. My second daughter Anju was born at Toronto East General hospital on October 18, 1971. Coincidentally, both daughters were born on the 18th day of the month.
We eventually were able to buy our first house in 1973 at 118 Santa Monica Blvd in Scarborough. Then in 1975, we moved to 124 Marilake Ave. In 1979 we moved again to 46 Roker Cres in Agincourt. And then in 1987 to 4046 Ellesmere Rd in Scarborough, before moving to our present lakefront condo at the Grand Harbour in Etobicoke in 2005.
Our eldest daughter Mridula went on to receive a Bsc in Psychology from the University of Toronto. She went on the have a very prosperous career in philanthropy. She currently is the Vice President, Philanthropy & Corporate Partnerships at YMCA of Toronto. She married Michael Joyner in a Hindu ceremony on Oct 10, 2002, and a 'Canadian' style ceremony on October 12, 2002.
Our youngest daughter Anju, was very determined from high school that she would not work for anybody but have her own business and she set her heart on Optometry. She worked hard and was rewarded with admission to the only university teaching Optometry in Canada. She graduated on the Dean's honors list from the University of Waterloo. She owns a successful optometry practice in Cobourg, Ontario. She married Gord Clement in a Hindu ceremony on August 7, 1998 and a 'Canadian' style ceremony on August 8, 1998. We married both of our daughters to very wonderful husbands. We are fortunate to have such nice son-in-laws, who attend our Indian religious functions and treat us with respect and kindness. Any time you ask them for help they are there to help without hesitation, what more you can ask for.
On July 16, 2005 we got the best news of our lives when we were blessed with our grandson Aidan Travis Joyner, son of my eldest daughter Mridula. We became proud grandparents that day. He has been a light in our lives. Since we retired and moved to our condominium we have looked after him almost everyday until September 2011 when he started full at school. We enjoyed those days with him, and he is very smart and wonderfully behaved boy. He is now full time in grade 1 and we miss him everyday.
We are presently enjoying retirement, and our beautiful view of Lake Ontario! I'm a little slower than I used to be, (had a quad bypass and 3 knee surgeries) but hope to go on many more vacations as we have in the past. We've traveled to Florida, Alaska, Caribbean, Mexico, Cuba, New York City, England, France, Germany, Austria, Italy, Switzerland, Greece,, Egypt, Singapore, Turkey and Amsterdam and hopefully more to to come soon!
Papa wrote this in 2011 and in 2012 his second grandson Liam was born. Papa lived for his grandsons and lit up every time he saw them.
He will be greatly missed by his family and many lifelong friends.
Rest in Peach Papa!
Y
Your friends on the Humber Valley Sharks posted a condolence
Thursday, March 29, 2018
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Dear Mridula, Michael, Aidan and Liam, May the memories of your father - and grandfather - provide comfort in your time of loss. Our deepest sympathies,
B
Bernadette & Arnold posted a condolence
Thursday, March 29, 2018
Bernadette & Arnold purchased flowers ()
With our Deepest Sympathies
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