Early Childhood

Early Childhood

Shiv's father was a Patwari by the name of Pandit Krishan Gopal. After the partition his family moved to Batala. As a child Shiv is said to have been fascinated by birds and rugged, thorny plants on the Punjabi landscape. Shiv was exposed to the 'ramlila' at an early age, and it is to be expected that he received what was later to become his instinctive understanding of drama from these early performances. Shiv belonged to a middle-class family that had lived in that area for many generations.By all accounts, Shiv had a happy and carefree childhood. He was known for his peculiar habit of wandering around in the village and its surroundings alone. Many times, his father would have to search for him, finding him lying down under the trees at the banks of Bassantar nala or near a mandir on the south side of the village. At other times he would be found watching with fascination the tricks of snake charmers or absorbed in listening to the singings of raas-daharis (a folk verse-play based on religious songs). Even today, the old folks in the village remember that ‘patwari's son’ was known as a sheedai (obsessed) and a malang (wandering faqir).