My Dad S Vasdev Singh, with his favorite color of turban, sun-bathing in the front yard of our first rented dream apartment in San Jose Ca
In earlier times, in our family, one principle stood above all, absolute honesty and staying true to one’s word. Before Partition, most of our elders served in government positions, in courts, police, Government administration, or with British India Army. They were always advised: never take a bribe, never compromise
My Dad’s Matriculation certificate
After the Partition of 1947, my father, a high School graduate from S.D. High School Multan with high grades, secured a job as a Rationing Inspector in the city of Panipat where we were waiting at the Railway station for the next train to transport us to Delhi as many of our close family members were in the process of rehabilitation.
The train which was taking my Mom, Dad, me and Bhagwant to Delhi got condoned and just dropped us at Panipat Railway Station. The whole family along with thousands others squatted on the ground for weeks while waiting for the next train. So we remained on road for a few days before my Dad searched a big house where three families could inhabit together and felt secured.
As a Rationing Inspector, his responsibility, inter-alia, was to allot quotas of sugar and flour to city’s bakeries and confectioners. Naturally, those bakery owners tried to “please” the inspector in gratitude. Even a small bribe of one rupee was meaningful in those days, when his total monthly salary was only about one hundred rupees. Yet, my father never accepted a single dishonest offering.
My Dad S Vasdev Singh seen here in the back row.in a pic dyed Jan 11 1955, when his boss the Sub Judge Panipat courts was getting a farewell on his transfer.
Later, when the rationing department was reduced, he joined the local courts. Before Partition of the country in 1947, he had already worked in the courts in Multan, so he had experience. The Courts and Police departments are often notoriously known for squeezing money from people even for small applications. But my father remained firm. As a reader to the Sub-Judge, he scheduled hearings and assisted the public fairly. He never demanded or accepted bribes. He, thus, became very popular in the city because people trusted him.
The Nawal Talkies Panipat where we were supposed to see one pictyre per year after passing in the Annual exams. Dad had the previlige to get four-seat pass on a small piece of hand written paper.
The only “perks” he ever received were harmless tokens, sometimes a cinema pass from Nawal Talkies, or an invitation to the annual Ram Leela functions. And occasionally, someone would offer him a cup of tea with a piece of barfi(cake piece)
I still remember visiting him at the court as a young boy. He would smile and say to someone nearby, “You owe me a cup of tea and a barfi, join us as my son is here today!” And a couple of times, I was treated that way. That was perhaps the only light-hearted deviation I ever saw from his strict discipline.
This is the last time we visited our farms together. He was very frail and had no energy to walk. But once in his farm, he became enthusiastic, one of my accompanying sister Bhagwant remarked, “ Papa ji, you have suddenly become young and energetic while walking through your fields” Breathing fresh air in the ripe crops injects energy in your body indeed.
Honesty was the very core of his character. That sacred value has continued in our family, with me, and now with my illustrious son, Shivpreet, and his children.
During my tenure with the Government of India, a major contract with a German (Siemens) firm for the Northern Region Load Dispatch Center was processed through me as Head of the Office. Yet, through a completely foolproof payment system deployed by me, not a single penny was allowed to pass improperly.
Northern Region Electricity Board, Katwaria Sarai, New Delhi
Today, even while living in the United States, my grand children uphold the same principle, that integrity stands above everything else. Positions may change, countries may change, but principles must never change.
That is the true wealth our family inherited.
