“cee ek sau bathis” is a transliteration of C132 – a house number in Sarvodaya Enclave, New Delhi.

Over 53 years ago my parents were given a small piece of land in Sarvodaya Enclave in lieu of a plot they owned on Ring Road as the government needed the latter for city expansion (a concept called eminent domain).  Sarvodaya Enclave was in the middle of nowhere at that time, the closest landmark being the IIT Delhi campus and all IIT’s were originally built outside the main city.  Back then I would hear my parents grumble how they were thrown out in the jungle.

Our family built our house in India in 1971 and we moved into it after relocating from the US in 1972.  There wasn’t much around at that time – the large stretch of land in front of us was literally “a jungle”, only half the colony had houses, there was a little village nearby from where you could catch a bus to go to Mehrauli or Green Park for any shopping.  The house was designed mostly by mummy and was unique, with a veranda with a fountain in the middle and a basement which was unheard of in Delhi. We planted many of the trees that you see in front of the house.  At the age of 10, moving from Lincoln, Nebraska to this house was a shock, but also an adventure – one that I soon embraced and made the most of. After the first year, I found myself in the school nearby – a completely different type of school called Mother’s International that was attached to the Aurobindo Ashram.  

For many years life in Sarvodaya Enclave and Mother’s school for me turned out to be one full of little adventures.   I remember jumping in mud piles in the “jungle” in the monsoons; going around in a big group of kids on Holi and being dunked in colored water tanks; playing cricket with other colony kids wherever we could find a patch; sneaking into the hostel area of the school at night to hang out with friends – a lot of “”fatru giri” as we would call it.  Delhi was a big city, but our area had a small town feel and thus was our own Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn type adventures in it.  Things just seemed simpler, like the whole family going up on the roof to sleep in jute charpoy’s in summer nights – and I would sleep until the morning sun literally roasted me.

Each Diwali, mummy’s family would visit in the morning and in the evening Papa’s family would visit and we had one puja at home after which the highlight of firecrackers brought by Vinod-bhaiya.  Prior to Diwali was shopping in Chandni Chowk with my father for clay things and toys. Every festival like Rakhi, would mean family visiting and lots of mithai.  C-132 became an important destination for mummy’s side of the family such that eventually 3 other family members moved in to the same colony over the years.

I remember my first bicycle- an old black Hero bike in India – and how I would proudly ride it everywhere – many days riding back and forth in front of Snigdha’s house hoping she would notice me!  When Vinod bhaiya got their very first scooters (a big thing back then), he would come over and then eventually teach me how to ride and let me borrow it (unbeknownst to my mother!) for joy rides.  I travelled all over Delhi in the buses knowing all bus routes and loved jumping on number 503 and going to Chandni chowk.  The visits to Naniji in Rohtak Road meant being pampered with food and her letting me buy lots of comic books from the store near her. I got to know those living in the local village and to this day Rajinder is one of my best friends and I remember sitting on the ground in his village house eating paranthas and ghee.   There always seemed to be something going on between the house , the relatives, the school and friends that made life just magical and full of things to do – and trouble to get into.

I eventually moved into the basement and it became my “adda”  – with its own entrance, me and my friends would come and go as we pleased.  I had a full electronics lab down there and tinkered with all sorts of stuff – making me the coolest kid among my friends.  I managed to buy a 10-speed bike from some diplomat and rode all over on it – till this day people remember me riding around on that bike, like which they had never seen before.

I can go on and on as I have tons of stories from those 8-9 years before I went to IIT and many more over the pursuing four.  Between friends, family and all the things I did, it is a time of my life that is forever and deeply etched in my memory and my heart.

Fast forward a few decades and Sarvodaya Enclave has become an prime colony in South Delhi. The house was rebuilt or fixed up several times, mummy continued to live there and established deep roots for herself in Delhi.  As my life in the US evolved, the visits became more infrequent, but every visit brought back all the nostalgia, all the memory.   The house became like a museum of mummy’s passions for antiques and old furniture and Indian art.  I shared a bit of the same interest in old things myself over the years.   Papa moved back in 2009 after 25 or so years.  Mummy passed away in the house in 2017 and Papa passed away in 2018.

What was left was a house – bricks and mortar and full of things – but mostly full of memories and a lot of what represented and embodied my mother.  Her presence was still felt everywhere.

Of course, the house had to be taken down, of course it had to be rebuilt and converted to modern flats and doing so unlocked a ton of wealth.  But Cee ek sau bathis was the address for my family for over 50 years, it was the place that my mother and father both died, it represents the connection to the country of my origin, those from whom I came from and it is where all the vivid memories of my childhood live. 

Delhi will change, Sarvodaya Enclave will change, friends and family will pass, and in some years, it will be all be unrecognizable to me. The connections to the physical will start getting buried in the sands of time, leaving only fond memories in my heart and soul –  but until then Cee Ek Sau Bathis remains an important part of me.