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A post in iitbh4madhouse@yahoogroups.co.in by Bakul Desai (82, Room 252) on 31-Jul-09

IIT has published an incredibly classy book of some of the best photos that I’ve ever seen. The book is called “Punctuations” and is a collection of many then and now photos and most of these photos qualify for a prize in any contest.

One photo had caught my attention because it showed our very own Arun Kaul on horseback going to the lectures riding beside 2 cyclists. I asked CDO Rajeev Deshpande to send me a soft copy to share with all of you. (Rajeev had gifted the book to some of us) Rajeev sent me this photo attached herewith which is not the same but a classy one nevertheless as it shows Arun Kaul in his pristine glory….slippers and all. I distinctly remember this particular weird multi-coloured, multi-patterned bell bottom he used to wear for an entire semester without ever washing it.

For a recap…..Arun Kaul was an aspiring aeronautical engineer who used to deliberately duck Organic Chemistry simply because he was happy to hang out on the campus and eat subsidized mess food and not work for a living and he managed to duck this course for at least 2 years before he was asked to pass out or get chucked out. Arun had found this sickly horse which was abandoned by its owner and Arun adopted it and he would go to lectures on horseback and audaciously “park” it in the cycle stand outside the library. There is also a story about how Ayaz Janjua rode this horse to MB accompanied by a gang of 50-60 H4 punters who beat drums and sounded bugles on the way. Finally, the horse was reclaimed by the owner and all this happened before 77, so my info is hearsay from “the horse’s mouth” i.e. from Kaul himself but I’m sure Boss, Satkya et al may be able to add more.

And in case some of you have forgotten, Kaul was short and diminutive but incredibly talented. He devised humorous skits for many EP’s and used to sing “Aye meri zohrazabeen” while playing the harmonium and he used to “publish” a hand written magazine called MUDD (The first D is silent) and put it up on the notice board. He was also an exponent on Urdu and was the only guy who knew the meaning of “goya ke chunache” in the song from Manoranjan. (As I remember, goya=if and chunache=therefore) When guys discovered that he is from Kashmir and his last name is Kaul, they would inevitably ask him something like….”Do you know SK Kaul from Srinagar?” and his repartee would be….”Do you know SK Joshi from Bombay?”…

For a guy who smoked borrowed Charminars, every hostel function night was a lavish feast he would look forward to while recollecting the feast he had as a kid in the Raj Bhavan, Srinagar at the birthday party of his classmate who was Maharaja Karan Singh’s daughter. One can go on endlessly about Arun Kaul. And he is a good justification for H4 being called a madhouse. Can somebody locate him?

Bakul