11. Memories of Navgujarat Commerce College (
(My first job in Government of Gujarat)
After completing my Pre-Commerce and First Year B.Com. at H.K. Commerce College, I decided to transfer to Navgujarat Commerce College on Ashram Road, Ahmedabad, in June 1978, so that I could study while working.
Premature Trial in GPSC
In those days, all direct recruitment exams for government jobs in Gujarat were conducted by the Gujarat Public Service Commission (GPSC).
In 1977, I was not yet 18 years old, but I still filled out the form and appeared for the General Duty Clerk (GDC) exam in the Secretariat — just to test my abilities.
The exam pattern was like a university examination. Four descriptive papers, each of three hours; Gujarati, English, Mathematics, and General Knowledge.
Mathematics was easy for me.
Because of my habit of reading newspapers from a young age and my wide general reading, General Knowledge posed no problem. I even used to win GK quiz contests published in newspapers.
Gujarati was my mother tongue, and at St. Joseph’s High School, my English grammar foundation had been made strong so I performed very well.
When the results came out in 1978, my name wasn’t on the list. Curious, I applied to know my marks.
When I saw the result, I realized my scores were higher than the general cutoff!
I immediately asked the counter clerk why, if I had passed, my name wasn’t on the selection list.
He checked inside and came back saying: “You weren’t yet 18 years old on the date of application so your name couldn’t be included.”
The GPSC’s accuracy and strict adherence to rules were evident even then.
I tried to argue, saying, “I wasn’t 18 when I applied, but my father had already got me married, and now, by the time results are out, I’m 18 so why not relax the rule?”
But rules were rules. No exceptions.
My First Job and entry in Gujarat Secretariat
After that, having reached the eligible age of 18, I began filling forms for all possible government and banking recruitment boards — GPSC, district centralized recruitments, departmental direct recruitments, Staff Selection Boards, and Banking Service Recruitment Boards.
And in every exam I appeared for, I passed and was selected.
Through one such selection, I got a job at Gujarat College, Ahmedabad, and I reported for duty on Monday, 30th July 1979.
In the college office section, where three or four staff members worked, I was allotted a desk and chair.
Our Head Clerk, Joshi, assigned me to handle inward and outward correspondence, and also gave me drafts to copy by hand, using carbon paper to make five or six duplicates at once.
Writing with carbon paper—pressing hard to make multiple copies—was tolerable once or twice, but doing it repeatedly felt exhausting and frustrating.
I thought to myself: I’ve managed to get here, but this will interfere with my TYBCom studies.
After two days of deliberation, I went home on Wednesday 1st August evening and there in the mail was my appointment letter from the Secretariat at Gandhinagar, offering me a post as a General Duty Clerk (GDC) in the Home Department, with instructions to report within a week. I had given GPSC exam and was selected on merit.
If I joined in Gandhinagar, I’d have to commute for two hours daily, and because CLA and HRA allowances were higher in Ahmedabad while bus fare would also add up, I’d face financial loss.
Besides, it could affect my final-year studies, which might impact my exam results.
So, at first, I decided not to take up the Gandhinagar job.
But Joshi, the Head Clerk, kept increasing my copying workload, and if any carbon copy turned out faint, he made me rewrite it.
If I opened my college notes to study during spare moments, he’d object.
Gradually, I began to feel restless and trapped.
Yet, when destiny opens a path, who can block it?
A neighbour from our chawl, Kalidasbhai, worked at the Secretariat in Gandhinagar. He lived there, but occasionally visited our home in Ahmedabad.
That Thursday evening, he came over with Babubhai, who worked in Civil Supplies.
When they heard I had been appointed to the Secretariat, they were delighted and urged me to report immediately on Monday.
I explained about my college schedule, the long commute, bus fare, and reduced pay, but they said: “The Secretariat is a vast institution. You’ll meet many officers and employees — it’ll expand your knowledge and inspire you to aim higher.”
That night, I thought deeply about it.
The next morning, I went to college as usual, then to my office at Gujarat College.
When Joshi again handed me a draft to copy, I quietly handed him my resignation letter.
And thus, on Monday, 6th August 1979, under the supervision of the affectionate and talkative Section Officer, Pratimaben Acharya, in the Home Department’s T Section, began the new chapter of my Secretariat journey.
Study and Serve
Life now truly became a test of endurance.
I had to wake up early in the morning, catch bus number 77 to reach college, attend the first two periods, and while the third period was still going on, I would quietly slip out from the back bench, rush toward the Income Tax bus stand, and catch a bus to Gandhinagar, reaching the office by 10:30 a.m. to sign the muster and report to my section.
There was a small attraction during these bus rides a girl named Ipsa Parikh. If there was a vacant seat next to me, she would come and sit beside me.
She worked in the GAD Registry. She would sometimes call me at the office, and a couple of times, even came to meet me.
But I always knew my boundaries.
Eventually, she moved to America and settled there permanently.
At office, we finished work at 5:30 p.m., caught the point bus, got off at Hathikhai, and walked home reaching around 7:15 p.m.
Then it was time to wash up and have a simple dinner, vegetable and roti, or khichdi and kadhi.
After a full day’s labour, that one meal tasted heavenly. I had one meal a day those days.
After dinner, night would fall, and in our small home, the two rooms were shared by my brothers and sisters-in-law.
So my bed was outside in multi-star environment open to the sky, against the cement wall of the courtyard.
The big question was: When to study?
There was hardly time during the day, college in the morning, job all day.
So one day, on my weekly holiday, I went to Panchkuva market, bought a table lamp and some electric wire, pulled a line from the house, and fixed the lamp onto the courtyard wall with a nail.
When others went to sleep, I stayed awake.
My cot became my chair, and I would study until midnight.
When the second-shift mill workers came home around 12, I would wrap up my lesson and sleep around 12:30 or 1 a.m.
Then wake up again at 6 a.m., bathe, have two soccers of tea, grab my notes, and once again “AMTS zindabad!” take the bus to college.
Prayer time in Navgujarat
Compared to H. K. Commerce College, there was one special thing about Navgujarat Commerce College, each classroom had a speaker system.
Before every lecture began, it would play a devotional song by Hari Om Sharan, such as:
Maili chadar odh ke kaise dwar tumhare aaun…
Tera Ramji karenge beda paar, udaasi man kahe ko kare…
Bhav paar karo Bhagwan, tumhari sharan pade…
Nirgun rangi chadariya re, koi odhe sant sujan…
My mother had instilled Vaishnav values deeply within me.
By the time I was in 6th or 7th standard, I had already read and absorbed the Bhagavata Purana, Mahabharata, and Ramayana.
So Hari Om Sharan’s bhajans lifted my mind away from physical and emotional hardships, directing it toward faith in God.
Those bhajans kept me going.
Reading Time
My 90-minute commute between Ahmedabad and Gandhinagar each day turned into my study time.
Whenever there was a lull in the office, I would glance through my college notes.
During the lunch break, since I didn’t have a tiffin and couldn’t afford to eat out, I got another hour for reading.
So —
about 2 to 2½ hours of college study,
1½ hours of study on the bus,
1 hour during the office recess, and
4 hours of study at night —
I managed to fit in 8–9 hours of study every day.
Six hours for work, eight to nine for study, six for sleep, and three for daily chores — that was my routine.
On Sundays, I would go to Kankaria or Nagina Wadi, to read and spending time in nature to recharge myself.
Gradually, life began to take shape under discipline and restraint.
My Scholarly Life
At the new college, I was determined not to lose my top rank.
The classmates and lecturers were all new, but I wasn’t going to fall behind especially not in Statistics.
After the first-term exam of SYBCom, I had done well, and everyone was eagerly waiting for results.
One day, during Economics class, Professor D. S. Zala Sir walked in and called out, “Roll No. 6?”
I was seated in the third bench of the middle row, so I quickly raised my hand.
He looked at me, asked my name and surname, nodded and said nothing more.
The next day, in his next lecture, he again called out, “Roll No. 6?”
I raised my hand again.
This time, he smiled and announced to the class that I had scored the highest marks in Economics in the college.
All my classmates turned to look at me and from that day, a new chapter of my scholarly life began.
Another excellent teacher of Economics was M. S. Patel Sir
In Statistics, I was taught by H. D. Shah Sir, S. B. Patel Sir, and Madhubhai Patel Sir, and that became my core strength.
The foundation in Economics laid by Gitaben at H. K. College grew stronger under Zala Saheb’s guidance.
Kumar Shah Sir made Business Administration, and C. C. Patel Sir made Business Management, easy to grasp.
C. B. Mehta Sir taught Taxation and Commercial Law so thoroughly that the concepts became second nature.
English was simple enough.
As a result, after two years at Navgujarat Commerce College, I passed TYBCom in March 1980 at the age of twenty, with Distinction, securing the top rank in the college.
It was a great relief. I was finally free from college routine, and the doors to competitive exams for higher posts were now open.
Friends from Navgujarat
Compared to H. K. Commerce College, the faculty here was more professionally oriented.
Most professors were published authors — books by Zala Saheb (Parikh-Zala Publications) and Kumar Saheb were bestsellers among students.
Thus, here I moved from idealism to realism, learning the practical economics of life.
At Navgujarat College, I made new friends, A. D. Patel, Kanti Prajapati, and I all sat on the same bench.
All three of us studied Statistics and worked together in the Secretariat, so we became close as brothers.
When our TYBCom results were announced, we celebrated for the first time by eating Oswal’s fafda-jalebi.
Even today, our bond of affection remains strong.
Both of them later became Section Officers through direct recruitment and retired as Joint Secretaries.
On the bench behind me sat Kamlesh Brahmakshatriya, who later became a Chartered Accountant.
We reconnected about ten years later, and for the past thirty-five years, he has been one of my dearest friends, sharing every joy and sorrow.
Nimish Zaveri, along with his father Surendrabhai, his wife Jipsa, and daughters Kinzal and Dipal, treated me as part of their family and I always felt the same affection in return.
Their son-in-law Chirag, too, shares that same warmth.
Upendra Khandwala was our friend straightforward, honest, and without any deceit.
He married Alka Amin from the limited beautiful choice from our class.
Upendra later worked at the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation, and when he got the chance to go abroad, he settled in America.
Whenever he comes to India, we either meet or at least exchange calls.
Ashok Jatkiya was our lively, cheerful classmate, someone who could draw everyone’s attention.
He spent his career running a cloth shop in Kalupur, but he gave his sons a solid education and foundation.
There was a girl in our class named Pranoti Chokshi — she had many admirers.
Jashu Thakkar was particularly smitten with her.
He didn’t win her heart, but he went on to earn his M.Com and later became a lecturer at N. C. Bodiwala College.
Ashok Jatkiya, too, openly expressed his admiration for her.
I, too, found her charming but I was already married, so my hands and heart were tied.
Her father, Umakantbhai Chokshi, worked in the Secretariat as an Assistant Director in the District Gazetteer.
When I joined the IAS in 1985, I met him once.
By then, his daughter was married in Vadodara, and she was living there happily.
The college principal, M. C. Shah Sir, taught Accountancy, but since I didn’t take that subject, I never interacted with him personally.
Apart from seeing him on stage during annual functions, there was no other opportunity.
After I joined the IAS, I once went to meet him, but that was just a brief, formal visit.
Beginning of Marriage Life
Because I had married young, my wife Lakshmi used to come to her in-laws’ home for short visits once a year — these were called “Annas-Gauna.”
She stayed only three days after our marriage in 1978, then came again for about a week in 1979.
In 1980, after I finished my TYBCom, she came for her second visit and stayed for two weeks.
Later that year, on Dussehra (19 October 1980), my father went to bring her home for the third visit, and from that day, a new chapter in our married life began.
4 September 2025
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