UK roommates of ‘Vino’ were Pakistani, Bangladeshi; Old Chums Recall Their Days With Vinod Mehta

LUCKNOW: The first jukebox had come to Lucknow. They had bunked the classes and were on their way to Chaudhry restaurant (the only place with a jukebox) in Hazratganj to listen to the most sought after song ‘Love by the Jukebox Light’. Somehow, their school (La Martiniere College) principal chased them and summoned them to his room the next morning.
“All four (Azad, Ashok, Vinod and I) were caught, recalled Saeed Naqvi, Vinod Mehta’s best friend.“First was Azad’s turn. He went like a man and came out without making a sound. Next was Ashok who jumped a bit when caned on the bottoms. Vinod was third and the biggest coward. He had put three biology notebooks under his trousers. On caning, it played like a table. The principal knew the trick and asked Vinod to take off his trousers and we heard Vinod screaming in his shrill voice. He got six canes while we were freed after just two,’’ he added.
Fondly named ‘Vino’ since class IV, Mehta was an average student, but intelligent and witty, recalled Saeed. His first was a lady’s bicycle with a basket in front. He was popular among women, said Naqvi. In England, he was secretary and president of all social clubs. Since he belonged to an Army family, he knew all about gin parties but sadly, had little access to them. Once Vinod managed to hold a party in his house and got some women in. Inspired by Mogambo, Vinod grew a moustache. “Just as he kissed a woman, there was the sound of ‘Ram Naam Satya Hai’ from outside. The woman turned around and slapped Vinod. What a laugh all of us had,’’ recalled Naqvi.
The best part of Vinod, said Saeed, was he didn’t know the difference between a Muslim, Hindu, Sikh or Parsi. “In England, he shared room with a Pakistani and a Bangladeshi as if the Partition had not taken place,’’ said Naqvi.
In 2009, Mehta was honoured with lifetime achievement award by Lucknow University, where he had said, “My association with this university and this city never let me believe in inter-faith or inter-caste discrimination.’’
MP Singh (retd) of LU’s geology department recalled, “I was a science student and Vinod was in arts. We were together for table tennis. He was a happy-go-lucky who mostly sat in the sociology department corridor and whistled.’’
Ashok Sahni to whom Mehta was a year junior in La Martiniere College said, “Mehta was a shining star in table tennis. Besides, he could make any ordinary thing sound extraordinary.’’
Dr S M Zaheer who was a year senior to Mehta in school said, “He was an extremely fine TT player. An open-hearted gentlemen, who came up with terrific one-liners.”