In conversation with Mr. Kamal Arora
Mr. Kamal Arora is an eminent, dignified, diligent, a great writer, publisher resident of our prestigious colony. He is a well known personality of Panchsheel Enclave. He is a very tall and a handsome man indeed. Kamal Arora has been one of the strong pillars of our colony who has served in shaping our colony and fulfilling the dreams of today’s new generation. He is one of those senior residents who shifted to Panchsheel Enclave in 1974 and was one of the pioneers of Social work especially the Colony-PERA, Holiday Club and the Colony Ram mandir. He is the one who helped in starting the three institutions and nurturing them with his wisdom and guidance along with his friends and to name a few- F.C Bhambri, Suresh Jain, K.N Rajpal, Wahal, K.D Gupta. He recalls his friends’ names and smiles when remembering those golden days when there were very few houses which were constructed in our colony.
Q: Tell us about your childhood?
Ans: I was born in year 1939 in Lahore. In Pakistan my forefathers were wealthy and owned a watch company under the name of ‘British watch Agency’. Ours was one of the last families to migrate to India during partition. I lost my father in 1957. We moved to Haridwar. I was only 8 years old and we were hand to mouth then. The only thing we had was my mother’s four bangles in her hand. Those were real hard days. I remember I was 10 yrs. old when I had to sell biscuits in trays on the roads of Haridwar during the day and do book binding work at night to make ends meet. I also learnt to make paper bags with newspaper and sell them to make both ends meet. In the year 1957, we shifted to Delhi. I lost my mother to cancer leaving me and my siblings alone. Being the eldest the whole charge of bringing them up came on my shoulders. I have a sister and two brothers. My brother and I later in life got married to both sisters and now we live in the same house in Panchsheel Enclave on two separate floors. I took care of my siblings then with just a salary of Rs 50/- as a book seller at Nai Sarak. The owner of the publication house observed me daily as I went around doing my work diligently and sincerely. He then came up with a proposal offering me partnership in his company. People there liked my work and I got a lot of appreciation. In 1971, the company was almost going to shut down when the owner of the publishing house who was also a close relative of my wife passed away leaving the whole responsibility of the work on my shoulders. Now it was entirely my show. I gave my hundred percent to this new role and slowly the company showed good results and things started stabilizing slowly.
Q: What is your qualification, sir?
Ans: I am just an intermediate.
Q: How could you do such great work in this field and master the English Language so well.
Ans: I gained lot of knowledge by reading newspaper, manuscripts of authors and by correcting their mistakes. I got so much confidence that I had a job in hand and I started working part time in my own printing press and attended to my publishing house as well.
In pursuit of Social service, he became a founder member of “The Federation of Educational publishers in India” in 1988 and served the publishing industry in various positions such as Secretary general, President and lastly as Patron. He represented the federation in the World’s most prestigious and largest book fair, Frankfurt World Book Fair”. He is fond of Hindi literature since 1980 and he has been writing poetry with the cherished blessings of Maa Saraswati.
Q: Tell us about your life in Panchsheel Enclave.
Ans: When I came to Panchsheel Enclave in in 1974 there were not many residents. Chowdhary had got the land allotted for mandir from DDA. S.C Jain took the initiative to get the temple built and installation of the idols. Simultaneously, the Club was also getting established. Earlier it used to be a jugghi. S.C.Jain worked very hard in establishing “HOLIDAY CLUB” as we see it today. Many seniors are now no more but have left behind legacies for the generations to come and bear its fruits. I have been with PERA for about 30 to 35 years and gave my best while making its framework.I was always there with PERA in its initial years. I became the PERA General Secretary and President many times and got the colony’s first directory published in my own publishing house with the support of S.C Jain. I knew each and every house owner’s name with the house number. I asked a few people in the colony to give advertisements. We used to get work done with very little funds. Later, S.C Jain raised funds by organizing ‘Annual Function” for the colony. Later we even took out a brochure. Jain was always accessible to people for help.
Q: What is it that you miss?
Ans: When I go for walk and meet my old friends of my times I feel- KOI LAUTA DE MERE BEETA HYUA DIN. We socialized a lot and we were very informal in those days. We used to have a lot of fun and we knew everything about each other since we were connected emotionally too. Now we only have sky high buildings and the flats owners hardly know each other. Everyone looks so stressed that they don’t even have time to smile. Now times have changed. People are in a rat race. MERI KAMEEZ AAP SE ZAIDA SAFEED HAI. People can buy properties and become wealthy/ rich but no one can buy smiles, love and emotions.
Simple living and high thinking has always been my aim as a human being. I wish all the best to my resident friends and wish that the new householders can create a lovable bond among the residents and flourish and achieve success and happiness always. Blessings and good wishes to all. May goodness prevail and wise people come forward to run the show in future as always and our colony remains blessed forever.
In pursuit of Social service, became a founder member of “ The Federation of Educational publishers in India” around 1988 and served the publishing industry in various positions such as Secretary general, President & lastly as Patron.
Represented the federation in the world’s most prestigious and largest book fair” Frankfurt World Book Fair”.
PERSONAL NOTE: Fond of Hindi literature since 1980. Writing poetry is the cherished blessings of Maa Saraswat.
