While cleaning for Diwali, my wife gave me a surprise gift — my birth certificate. No, the birth certificate was not issued by the civic body. It is a leaf from the diary of my grandfather who had a habit of writing diary.

So, I was born on Thursday 23 July 1959 at 9:45 in night in Poorva Bhadrapad Nakshatra. Immediately after the birth, Jatkarm Sanskar was performed. Jatkarm Sanskar is fourth Sanskar in a human’s life and first immediately after his/her birth. In this Sanskar, the newborn is given a warm water bath, handed over to father who with the help of other men and women of home performs a havan and writes ‘Om’ on the tongue of the newborn with honey and ghee mixture with a gold or silver needle for the wellbeing of the child.

Don’t mistake Jat with Jati. Jat and Karman both are Sanskrit words and mean birth and celebration. So Jatkarman Sanskar is a celebration of birth. As the newborn is given to the father soon after birth, bonding of father and child begins.

My grandfather was founder principal of the Hindu Inter College at Rudauli, a town 90 km from Lucknow, on way to Ayodhya. Even before my birth, it was a Nagar Palika and electrified three years before my birth.

See the top of the diary. Thursday the 23rd July 1959 is also written in Urdu, which at that time was not considered to be a language of Muslims only. See the cover of this diary. It is Shri Ganga Diary, published by Shri Ganga Pustakalay, Gayghat, Varanasi. The last line is probably the price of each flavour of the diary.

The grandfather here was my Nana (maternal grandfather). My Baba and Dadi (paternal grandparents) had died four years before my birth. I have heard from the elders that my Nana and Baba used to write letters to each other in Urdu. Incidentally, my Nana was pradhan (head) of the local Arya Samaj and an Arya Samaj preacher also.