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Gift Of Time<br />
At eighty-four years of age, I am a man who has plenty of experience and time behind<br />
him but uncertainty regarding the time ahead. And yet, after an active and successful,<br />
albeit reluctant career as an architect, I also feel that what else is there to give my<br />
children other than my time.<br />
As a young boy, I was never really interested in studying and often prayed for some<br />
rich person to come and adopt me so that I did not have to study. Needless to say,<br />
that never happened but I’m often reminded of that idea and wonder what my life<br />
would have been, if that prayer had indeed been answered. I was about eight or nine<br />
years old when I first came across the word ‘Architect’, written on a name plate in<br />
our mohalla in Jalandhar. The sign read: ‘Katayal Engineer and Architect.’ I came<br />
home and asked my uncle, an engineer by profession, what an ‘architect’ was and<br />
he carefully described the difference between a civil engineer and architect. I didn’t<br />
really understand all of that but the words he used were fascinating. However, before<br />
I finally honed into this and took up the profession, I toyed with the idea of going<br />
to Paris to become a painter and then mid-way through architectural college, I was<br />
willing to abandon this to play professional football.<br />
However, when I worked, I worked hard and was awarded the title of ‘Mr. Architecture’<br />
in 1952 because of my all round performance. In 1955 I was granted admission to<br />
study architecture at M.I.T. as well at the Frank Lloyd School of Architecture in U.S.<br />
but circumstances didn’t allow me to take up those opportunities. I have worked on<br />
numerous prestigious projects such as the Palace for the King of Nepal and U.S.A.I.D.<br />
Mission educational projects at Kathmandu among others. And I even designed the<br />
main altar of the XXXVIII International Eucharistic Congress in Bombay, which was<br />
attended by His Holiness Pope Paul VI. But, true joy came to me when my children<br />
were born. Nothing in the world matches the sense of accomplishment felt, upon<br />
seeing them grow and touch the skies. Being a part of Ambica’s various projects over<br />
the years has always given me joy, not only to share in her dreams and their success,<br />
but for the chance it gave us to work together. It gave us time to be with each other.
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