My very dear friend Parveen’s mother Nirmal Paul passed away on 4th December 2009 at the ripe old age of 88. She battled for a month and a half in hospital before departing for her heavenly abode. She is survived by her husband Ravi Darshan Bushnel Paul who was with her for an incredible 63 years, son Joseph Paul a publisher who lives in New York and Parveen Paul senior travel and hospitality consultant who lives in Delhi.
I remember my first visit to meet Parveen at her home in Xavier Apartments ,Pitampura and was greeted at the door by her mother with a long Shayari which my pathetic Urdu could not grasp!! However she laughingly called Parveen from her room and explained to us jointly that we were awaiting your grand arrival. It was probably the only time in my life I was privileged to be welcomed to someone’s house with chaste Urdu sher-o-shayari!!! I felt very welcome in that household . Coincidently and sadly it was at that very spot many years later that I saw her in Gods lap draped in the wonderful white dress that she wore on her 60th wedding anniversary.
I was lucky also to have been invited to many lively parties in Xavier Apartments where I had the privilege again of listening ( and thankfully someone translating!!!) to many a Urdu couplet from the wonderful affectionately ‘Nimmo’ . Nirmal Paul was born in Shabga in Punjab on 28th July 1922 to parents Shoroginee and Alic Shah and had 23 siblings and seven of them survived to adulthood. Nirmal’s father was a missionary in several villages of Delhi and she completed her education from Ganges High School and later to Lahore for training in Nursing. Having worked in many leading hospitals with distinction in Delhi during her long career. She trained at Lady Kiniard Hospital for midwifery and remembers many important persons who she had the opportunity to serve notable among them leading hotelier PRS Oberois. Since 1980 she dedicated her life for charity and help for other others an endeavor her daughter Parveen continues to undertake.
Among her various associations ‘Nimmo’ was a soprano in Christ Church along with music directors L.B Mann, Noel Shaw and Mr MacLaren. She was amember of WSCS in Christ Church,Temperence Union and the Bible Society. Nimmo went to Allahabad to study Classical Hindi Music and learned to play sitar, tanpura and harmonium and had a deep interest in gazals and ragas which has kept many a family evening enthralled with her appropriate ‘turahs”.
Truly a family of the fast dissappearing “old school” all their members have that quality of service before self.
I remember my first visit to meet Parveen at her home in Xavier Apartments ,Pitampura and was greeted at the door by her mother with a long Shayari which my pathetic Urdu could not grasp!! However she laughingly called Parveen from her room and explained to us jointly that we were awaiting your grand arrival. It was probably the only time in my life I was privileged to be welcomed to someone’s house with chaste Urdu sher-o-shayari!!! I felt very welcome in that household . Coincidently and sadly it was at that very spot many years later that I saw her in Gods lap draped in the wonderful white dress that she wore on her 60th wedding anniversary.
I was lucky also to have been invited to many lively parties in Xavier Apartments where I had the privilege again of listening ( and thankfully someone translating!!!) to many a Urdu couplet from the wonderful affectionately ‘Nimmo’ . Nirmal Paul was born in Shabga in Punjab on 28th July 1922 to parents Shoroginee and Alic Shah and had 23 siblings and seven of them survived to adulthood. Nirmal’s father was a missionary in several villages of Delhi and she completed her education from Ganges High School and later to Lahore for training in Nursing. Having worked in many leading hospitals with distinction in Delhi during her long career. She trained at Lady Kiniard Hospital for midwifery and remembers many important persons who she had the opportunity to serve notable among them leading hotelier PRS Oberois. Since 1980 she dedicated her life for charity and help for other others an endeavor her daughter Parveen continues to undertake.
Among her various associations ‘Nimmo’ was a soprano in Christ Church along with music directors L.B Mann, Noel Shaw and Mr MacLaren. She was amember of WSCS in Christ Church,Temperence Union and the Bible Society. Nimmo went to Allahabad to study Classical Hindi Music and learned to play sitar, tanpura and harmonium and had a deep interest in gazals and ragas which has kept many a family evening enthralled with her appropriate ‘turahs”.
Truly a family of the fast dissappearing “old school” all their members have that quality of service before self.
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