A destiny to fulfill

I was born on October 2, 1926. My mother died when I was 8 days old. My father remarried. I had a stepmother and a difficult childhood. I had an inclination towards Medi-cine but my father decided (as used to be the case in those days) that I should do a B.Sc. (Hons.) in Chemistry followed by a Master’s in Chemical Engineering. He had a pharmaceutical company in Lahore, which expanded during World War-II. He wanted me to work in this fac-tory. The partition of the country witnessed an unexpec-ted mass migration. We came out with just our shirts and trousers. The final year of my education was in ‘Camp’ facilities in Delhi. I obtained first division nonetheless in the final exam in 1948. During the following two years, one had to fend for oneself. I worked in more than one company selling imported paper and other commoditie