( Image created by AI has no resemblance with any real life property)
One of my happy childhood memories, when I was about 10
years old lad, has always been those rare visits to Col. Laslie King’s household
along with my father. Col. King was my father’s fellow amateur radio enthusiast
and a friend. He used to stay in a bungalow allotted to him by Indian Army
southern command, in Pune Cantonment area somewhere near today’s Dr. Koyaji
Road. To add to my excitement of the
visit to his house, there was always that
pillion seat ride on my father’s AJS motor bike.
Col. Leslie king must have been much elder to my father, who
was in his late thirties then. However, he used to be so friendly with us that I
never realized it then. He was a great Amateur Radio enthusiast (HAM)
and actively participated in all their activities. His call sign was VU2AK. He never believed in buying gear (Radio
receiving and transmitting equipment) and was always keen to build his own gear
(home-brewed stuff). His posting in Pune
perhaps helped him, as lots of WWII electronic equipment left over by Allied
forces in Pune Air Force station was being scrapped and sold in local
market. He had many friends in Air Force,
and he would know what stuff is going to be sold in advance. I remember giving
him very exclusive items to my father such as Klystrons and a small 2-inch CRT
tube, as gifts.
(An Amateur Radio enthusiast's shack)
My father was also a keen Amateur Radio enthusiast (Call
sign VU2EJ) and that was probably the only connection to their friendship. They
would discuss for hours their home brewed stuff, and I would watch them
fascinated, without saying even a word. SSB
(Single side band) was the latest thing in HAM radio then and they would
discuss circuits, parts, tubes for that.
“Leslie uncle”, as I used to call him then, had a very
specious bungalow. There were a large veranda and a hall. There were two
wings on the sides. His Amateur Radio station or shack was in the right wing and
was full of electronics stuff, old ARL magazines and notebooks. His wife Audrey
was a typical army wife (XYL in HAM jargon).
Perfect in manners and most gracious. I
was supposed to call her “aunty”, but she always insisted to my embarrassment,
that I must address her as Audrey only. In any case, my conversational skills
in English, at that time, were almost equal to none and I mostly kept quiet in
her presence. King’s only son then, had
gone to England and I remember Audrey
telling me that he does not want to return to India and wanted to settle there.
She could not talk or communicate with
her son often as telephones were just primitive. So she had finally decided to become an Amateur
Radio enthusiast (HAM) herself and earned a call sign VU2YL. In this way she could communicate with her son
for as long as possible. My only regret
now is that I could never communicate with Audrey properly with my extremely
poor English speaking skills.
Audrey made wonderful cakes. Sponge cake was one of her best
recipes. My mother always wanted to learn to make cakes, and Audrey gladly
taught her recipes. With Audrey’s guidance my mother became expert in making
delicious cakes. During my visits to
King household, Audrey’s cakes used to be a prime attraction.
Leslie Uncle was really my father’s Guru in HAM world and guided him to build his basic stuff, Antenna etc. He also suggested purchasing the Hallicrafters radio receiver, which my father did. Hallicrafters model SX-28 was very popular with Indian HAMS at that time, with both Leslie Uncle and my father owning it. Another popular radio was RCA AR-88.
I recently found from net that ‘Leslie uncle’ was later
promoted as a Brigadier and posted to Bangalore. He continued his HAM activity
there and made improvements to his SSB gear. After he moved to Bangalore, my father lost
all contact with him, except for occasional talk on radio. I have no information about when he retired
from army and whether he settled in India or moved to England afterwards. Yet I have a gut feeling that he might have migrated to
England as I never heard Leslie Uncle’s name from my father in later years.
Visits to King household remain a great childhood memory for
me. I would end this call by saying “73” (with best regards in HAM jargon) and
end this “QSO” (Call).
24/12/2025
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