Historic pic by Kulwant Roy

xMarch 16

The violinist must be Capt Ram Singh. This must have been long before Subhaschandra Bose went in search of help to drive out the British confident that 'my enemy's enemy will be my friend'.




xGeorge -
You are not on Jumbo Robert's[hodsonhouse@westnet.com.au] emailing list - in
forwarding this information I have eliminated that list, as one must when one is
forwarding emails. So here's one of Jumbo's missives. Kochin Wu is right when he
says that the person playing the violin could be Capt Ram Singh. I spent my last
summer in India [1967] with the Captain and family in Nanital. Ramesh Thakur and I
were at Lucknow University completing our BAs [we did Economics together] we had
also been together in Raj Bisaria's Theatre Arts Workshop. Coming back to the
Captain - I can vouch firsthand for his musicality and fiddle playing. After all he
was in-charge of the PAC band in Lucknow. I think he passed away a few years ago.
Ramesh and I have kept in contact.
Cheers
John
Date: Thu, 25 Feb 2010 11:10:13 +0530

Subject: Re: Historic pictures of India by Kulwant Roy
From: kochin wu
x
Absolutely rare and priceless. Thank you all. In the first photograph the gentleman playing the "Anthem he composed' for Mahatma Gandhi is unmistakably Capt Ram Singh Thakur of the INA fame and father of Ramesh and Udai Shankar Thakur ( Cornwallis House Lucknow) who were fondly known as 'Cock Face'. I am sure because I was close
to Ramesh's dad when they lived in Mahanagar. close to the Doutre girls whose father
was in the PAC along with another gentleman in the PAC who remained single. Can't
remember his name now. But Jumbo& Denzil would recall.

Ramesh pl correct if I am wrong.
regards
x
x
Dear Denzil,
What a beautiful account that extends beyond and into the early years of a new India. Our bonding is complete brought together by history and our Alma Mater. Yes , Capt. Ram Singh was a very kind and affectionate gentleman. He was fond of young people who were into music. I was with Ramesh Thakur and his wife Amber at Duma Bakshi's place on the 26th (Jan). We have been meeting quite regularly. We now look forward to 'The Big Foot's" visit.
Thanks Denzil again.
P.S. Yes the title given to Udai Thakur was not intended to be shared by Bob 'J' but by appearance and sheer default the sharing became inevitable.

koch
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