Subodhraj Mathur
Bio
Subodh was a boarder with Prashant & Nitin in East Wing, 8 bedder (1st dorm after the dining hall). He was one to live life to the fullest, with studies as an afterthought! He was a regular prankster but the party being pranked would usually laugh with him! Nitin used to be in the school band and he would tease him mercilessly (but in good fun) that he belonged to the “Jai Bharat Band” (one of those street bands with musicians of dubious talent that would go in front of wedding processions and the like). Always ready with a joke or a prank – that is how we remember him!
Subodh was the one who came up with the nick name “Kurdu Bhai” for Prashant in school. He was a fun-loving guy. The incident that we remember is when we all ‘bunked’ to see a movie on the last day of school and came back late night. Next day our house master Mr. Daniel Sam paid us a visit early morning. Trying to fulfill his duty, he wanted to scold all of us but we pretended to be sleeping - except poor Subodh who was caught awake. Mr. Daniel Sam proceeded to scold him as Subodh looked around helplessly at the giggling under the sheets. Then Subodh too started giggling. It was all silly but hilarious!
In an attempt to get some more information about Subodh after he passed out of HPS, we contacted someone who was his classmate at the Institute of Hotel Management (IHM) in Mumbai. Subodh had decided on a career in the hospitality industry and joined this premier institution of its time. Here is a note from the classmate: “I located a few photos of Subodh from our reunion of 1976 batch of IHM Dadar. Subodh was my batch mate and also a cooking partner who was a carefree boy not very enthusiastic about cooking but was very helpful and intelligent boy at other core subjects. In college he was like any other hostelite who were in Mumbai to enjoy life apart from studying always struggling to complete the deadlines but nevertheless very happy-go-lucky lad whose company was very interesting and enjoyable. We always remember and miss him at all our get-togethers.”
Family
Subodh married a classmate (name not shared) at IHM and moved to Canada where he set up more than one restaurant in the Toronto area. Unfortunately, his marriage did not work out which Subodh could not take very well. After their separation, Subodh began to take less care of himself, his health etc. where there was a visible decline in his health. This was the not so happy part of his life.
- by Anand Halbe / Prashant Kurdukar / Nitin Dalvi
Met Subodh in happier times in 2000, he drove down to Montreal where I was attending a paediatric meeting. At that time he was a highly successful restaurateur. If I remember the restaurants were named Roses, Roses Again and Roses Always.We spent the evening hitting different bars.As usual, he had such a gift of the gab, he could make a humorous comment out of anything. He was in regular contact and visited and stayed with me a few years later in Atlanta for a few days.
He developed several serious medical issues, which led to chronic renal failure, and also a failed marriage resulted in him selling his business.
- by Rajender Reddy
Yes Raj He Was Great Guy And I Miss Him Badly😱 - by Pradeep Reddy
Subodh was the friendliest guy. Easy-going. But sharp in his grasp. - by Venkateshwararao Jr. Parsa
When Subodh joined us in 8 bedder - we had no idea how he would bring so much fun and levity into our daily boarding house rigours. If I remember correctly we also briefly had a new warden (on probation?) who wanted to make his mark in strange ways. This brought out some of the most hilarious responses from Subodh the perpetual prankster. I miss him quite a bit and his spirit lives on .. -by Vasu