Bimla Rampal

1. Brief life sketch of Mrs Bimla Rampal
Bimla Rampal listening to Vedha Poddar a 14 year old girl who won the
prestigious Dada Saheb Phalke award (Junior) For making a documentary THE MARK
on Gender Violence. Other in Picture are Vedha Poddar, Mrs Indu Khullar, D
r. Kalpana Gupta and Renu Rampal. Please see THE MARK at
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yH2nYV_DK_o

2. Bimla Rampal
Bimla Rampal was born in July 1927 in Lailpur, now called Faislabad as part of
undivided India, now in Pakistan. Her father was a government employee and
also a landowner and agriculturist. She grew up with her many siblings and was
the youngest child. Her elder brothers were from various professions- an
entomologist, a doctor, a professor of engineering and government employees.
She did her graduation in the Government College with subjects such as
History, Geography, English Literature and Political Science.
Her elder sister was married to a doctor who happened to be the first cousin of
her future husband, Professor Gian Chand Rampal.
Her father was a very noble and kind hearted man. He had gone to fetch his
cousin, who had become an orphan in Balochistan within a week of his
marriage. This uncle of Bimla Rampal grew up in the family as the first child. He
grew up into a tall, fair and handsome man. He was a very good sportsman and
was known as Ram Nath@Lamma which means the Tall one. Without
informing his cousin, Ram Nath joined the army and became a commissioned
officer in the Gurkha Rifles of the Indian Army. He had married an English
woman while serving in Europe during World War II.

3. Bimla Rampal
During the turmoil of 1947, her family had given up all hope of reaching India in September
1947. This was the time when rioting, arson, murder marred the countryside and the cities in
India. The Gurkha Rifles were given the responsibility of escorting uprooted civilians from both
sides safely, now India and Pakistan. It was at 11 am during one of those turbulent days when
the door suddenly flung open and there stood a tall man in an army uniform. It was Major Ram
Nath with his Gurkha soldiers. The sisters ran to him and clung to him begging him “Save us
Lamma Chacha (Uncle)”. The command was given “Five Trucks and a jeep are outside. Go and
sit in the trucks empty handed NOW.” When Major Ram Nath’s sister in law insisted on making
some food for the way, she got a terse reply “NO. Ten minutes is all you have”.
The Convoy left for India and the journey ended at Jalandhar. The Major now took the uprooted
civilians from East Punjab to West Punjab, now Pakistan. That was a lesson etched in her
memory for all times. Good deeds are rewarded in this birth only. One act of kindness by her
father had saved her entire family and neighbours from being at the hand of the rioters.
On arriving penniless in India, the two families who were already related in marriage
strengthened their bond further with the marriage of Bimla to Gian Chand Rampal. They got
married on Basant Panchmi. They shifted to Delhi where Prof GC Rampal taught Botany at the
Hindu College and the couple had three children- Meenakshi, Rajesh and Richa. She had a lot of
respect for men in uniform and was absolutely elated when her husband earned his commission
from the prestigious Rajputana Rifles Regiment Centre in Delhi. This was post 1962 when a
number of civilians undertook Military Training. He rose to the rank of Major in NCC and
attended several NCC camps and did short stints at the border too.

4. Bimla Rampal
Elder daughter Meenakshi became a Physics Teacher. Her husband, Mr KC Verma retired as Secretary to GoI,
the highest echelons of power, a civil servant can aspire to reach. Her son Rajesh Rampal is a Chartered
Accountant and has worked for the finest companies DCM, Degussa AG, GKN plc, Ranbaxy and ICRIER. Her
daughter-in law , Renu has the same values of kindness and dedication that she had. Her younger daughter
Richa from the D school of Economics now works in computer programming and her husband, Rajesh is a
software engineer in the USA.
She remained a voracious reader till the last night averaging about 15 books per month. It was enjoyable
having discussions with her on subjects ranging from politics to movies to books to the Ramayana or
Mahabharat. Her favourite authors were RN Tagore, Shivani, Prem Chand, Kabir, Narendra Kohli and Bimol
Mitra, Bankim and Sharat Chandra Chattopadhyay. She had read the complete works of William Shakespeare
and would often quote from his plays. She also enjoyed listening to songs.
As a devout Hindu, she had completed the 4 Dhams, 12 Jyotirlings and all 51 Shaktipeeths . This was all
completed by 1996. When Rajesh, Renu, Priya and Shreya also completed the four dhams (Dwarkadheesh)
and returned on 2nd February her first reaction was – You should have gone to Nasik as well. This last wish
will also be fulfilled soon –God willing.
She had 5 granddaughters, a grandson and 2 great grand daughters.
All of us will miss her a lot. She always taught us to be kind and good human beings and we hope to live our
life in a way that makes her proud of us wherever she is. RIP badi mummy. We will always miss you and you
will always remain in our heart.
• Her favourite song is –Pal pal dil ke saath tum rehtee ho.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AMuRRXCuy-4
Please see next slide