1966-1968

1966-1967 winters

When trying to organize the posts in this blog, it makes sense to be chronological rather than thematic - I got carried away into thematic connections in the last post. So let me get back to 1966.

We drove our new car to the Assiniboine Park Zoo and I was amazed to see the peacocks and the tiger. The picture of the peacock was perhaps taken in the summer, for I don't suppose they dance in winter. But the tiger-photo was definitely taken the winter of 1966. I felt so sorry for this majestic tropical animal cooped up in the freezing cold of Winnipeg - until I found out that this is a Siberian tiger.

The Math department used to have parties very often, where the faculty and their spouses just got together and socialized. It was just fun to get together and so we did. It was a small department at the time. P was the only one from India. But that would soon change. His presence must have assured the Head that people from India are very good, and we had a flood of people from India joining the Math department in the next two or three years. Among them were R. Venkataraman, R. Padmanabhan, P. Shivakumar, Kanta Gupta (all of whom still live in Winnipeg) and Narain Gupta (1936-2008), and one Dr. Gandhi who stayed only for one or two years but whom I remember.


I remember him because he and his wife provided me with the first experience of the overcrowded dinner parties that became the norm in the community once people bought their own houses. But this was in his apartment. He invited the whole department crowd plus other non-department friends to celebrate his child's birthday. There were about fifteen different dishes on the table, and about thirty people crammed into a small space!


There was another Indian in the Statistics department in addition to Sapan Sinha - Kocherlakota Subrahmaniam (1935-2009). Both he and his wife Kathleen (Kathy) were on the faculty. Perhaps they came the same year I did but I remember that Kathy and I used to have telephone conversations almost every day during my second year in Winnipeg, about totally inconsequential things and some important decisions as well. They came from the U.S. and they returned to the U.S. after retirement, perhaps because both their sons were in the U.S.

A good thing that happened that first year was that I discovered the Winnipeg Badminton Club. I forget how I did that but it was great that I did - remember I was not working, and beautiful as the view from the apartment was, there is just so much of snow on the streets and ice on the river that one can watch.


Winnipeg Badminton Club was on River Avenue, not at all far from our apartment. I had been a badminton player representing my college in my undergraduate days, and it was good to get back to the sport. The women's badminton group met every Wednesday and my level was of play was good enough to earn some respect from the other women. Richard was our pro. (Imagine my surprise when his daughter was in one of my classes many years later!!


I made some friends at the Badminton Club, and Marianne Hildes especially became a good friend - she lived in River Heights and gave me a ride to and from the Club, and sharing car-rides is a great way of building friendships.