Electronics Gadgets used by people of our generation..

Gadgets used & being used by our generation :

It must be true for all times but our generation definitely have seen most of the developments of gadgets.. So many that it may be difficult to name all of them, however I try to recollect and put my memory with a little of history attached with them.

When I was a kid say in 1955 our house had no electricity but we had 2 gadgets meant for entertainment:

First  in my list is a  valve radio which ran on a pile battery ( I think it was 110 V DC).The radio - probably a Murphy- was in a working condition, but many times needed battery replacement from Patna, only elders used to enjoy predominantly Sehgal songs. Later we got more modern radio working on electricity.

    Second on my list is a gramophone in our house which used to play earliest 78 rpm records. The gramophone ran on spring charge and the sound will come from a sound box which used to convert the vibrations sensed by needle to sound through a diaphragm. Its speed regulator was not working well and sound will be ok till the spring was charged and later we will hear low frequency notes. The needle also needed change after every record. We had few of the records along with EP’s and LP’s of 80’s till our last change of house. We loved the dog with "his master's voice" sign (HMV) on the records.

T   Third on my list is a transistor. One of our neighbors was working in Japan and his family returned with a small wonder which used to play music. The kids of that household will flash the Nippon transistor with pride. My uncle (Braj Ballabh Prasad) was a music lover and on his insistence we somehow made the young boy part with the said gadget for one hour. We later came to know this gadget in called transistor. The gadget was purchased much later by us.

 Fourth gadget which I came to enjoy was a short lived version of tape recorder the spool type tape recorder. In 1967-68 My cousin Late Prof Dr Maya Sinha, went to UK for her PhD. when she returned she brought a spool type tape recorder. We were thrilled to hear our voices or songs after it was recorded and played back, Didi will not allow us to play with this gadget except under her supervision, though by now I was a 3rd year Engineering student. 

I will detail out more gadgets in my next blog..

My father Late Dr Radha Ballabh Prosad a compassionate doctor

Yesterday I came across a news item in Dainik Bhaskar stating how one Doctor Dr SP Mukherjee serves the patients taking only Rs 5 as fees. This kindled in me fond memories of my father Late Dr Radha Ballabh Prosad. My father studied medicine at PMCH, Patna along with some of eminent doctors of today such as Dr Roy Chandi Nath Sahay and Late Dr Shkuntala Sahay (of Ranchi). He started medical practice at my maternal place Begusarai but later shifted to Jamui. He was the only MBBS doctor in the area (excluding the government hospital) when he started his practice in Jamui around 1953-54. He became quickly popular among the people and people from long distance such as Asansol (220 km away) came for treatment.
He will charge minimum fee from poor villagers (say Rs 1 or 2) and some time no fees if the patient cannot afford. Medicines from dispensary would be also provided free to such patients.


He however will charge normal fees from those who could afford and whenever he went on call to faraway villages usually by tamtam (tonga). Large verandah of  our house will be full of patients in summer months with some patients on drip. No charge for such night stays was charged and my generous grandmother will offer food to some patients . Half portion of our house well was available for public use as well as one toilet was also meant for public / patient's use. He was really a people's doctor. He was a painter and poet too & will paint and write poems. He was a very caring father and visited us regularly in Bokaro and Ranchi. Miss you papa!

We lost him some 35 year ago at an early of 56 yrs... a freak accident snatched him from us!
He was a loving family man. Early death of my grandfather made his small life a struggle. Only 2 of anong his 6 siblings were settled in life badi fua and manjhli fua. He had to act as father for 3 brothers (of which one was blind) and one sister apart from 3 of us (late Anju di, little mukul and me) when he started his medical practice in Jamui. He quickly became busiest medical practitioner in the town and our days changed. when he passed away I was left in similar situation with 3 unsettled and studying siblings. I tried to emulate him to the extent I could. Hope my younger ones will forgive me if I couldn't make them achieve their goals or ambitions.