Stories of Real People and Places

Stories of Real People and Places By Hari Sud

ISBN - See Back cover

Published in Dec. 2017                                                                       A Lulu Publication

Acknowledgements:

These are stories and legends which the author never wished to be forgotten hence put these in print. These unforgettable persons made a vast contribution to the local communities and hence they became a legend. Also the places and incidents described in here are general impressions of the author of actual happenings and his recollections of these events today.

The author duly acknowledges the contribution of these outstanding personalities to the communities who benefited from them. Also places and incidents described in here are the actual happenings to which the author was a witness.

Most photographs included here are the author's own. A few other photos are from open public sources.

Hari Sud

Toronto, Canada

Index

                        Title                                 Page

1.    The Amazing Village Doctor                                    7

2.     The unforgettable School Headmaster                     15

3.     The Village Priest                                                         23

4.     The Grandfather whose memory is fresh                 29

5.      The Village Water Well                                         37

6.     Longu, the Village Store Owner                              43

7.     Shangri-La at the foot of Himalayas                               47

8.     Building a Major City - Chandigarh                         53

9.     The day the Leopard paid a visit                            63

10.    Tragic Accident at Kota, Rajasthan                         67                    

The Amazing Village Doctor

Pirsaluhi (H.P.) village marker - Altitude 4,000 ft

In a small village of Pirsaluhi, in Himachal Pradesh (India), a hospital was built by the well known philanthropist, Rai Sahib Thakur Das in 1931. It was an urgently needed act, to serve the village of Pirsaluhi and surrounding smaller villages. Suds/Soods had lived in the principal village together with a roughly equal number of Muslims for two centuries. They both occupied the same hilltop ridge. Suds/Soods occupied one side of the hill-spur and the Muslim occupied the other side. The latter had been around, since the time of Mogul Emperor Jehangir. As followers of a Muslim Sufi "Pir" they earned their living thru the philanthropy of the Hindu population base and undertook odd jobs in homes or in the fields. They were very good at providing wedding music, repair of agricultural implements, helping hand in house building & construction and also had domesticated animals for milk and food. Suds/Soods arrived a bit later in the eighteenth century and immediately set up themselves as holders of the money bag. Their fortunes took a turn for the better as the British arrived in Shimla in the 1820s and made that place a home away from home. As merchants and bankers, they prospered under the British patronage in Shimla where they undertook money lending, grain trade and other business activities. Back at home, similar businesses prospered with the infusion of capital from Shimla profits. Local prosperity in Pirsaluhi multiplied and same happened to the other Sud/Sood villages in the surrounding areas. 

In a matter of fifty years, large mansion type housing, in a cluster, were built to house families and also act as a status symbol. Since it was a hilltop location, hence the water had to be carted to the households. It had to be done on the heads and shoulders of the people. The good folks of Pirsaluhi built cut stone footpaths, twelve feet wide to reach their homes. These `Kawaalis" (as these are popularly called) are still in use. These added a bit of urban feeling to the village landscape. Shops and stores were located near the pure water spring at a lower elevation and these Kawaalis also connected them to their homes. My mother, aunts, sisters, cousins all used these Kawaalis for to and fro movement. The Muslim population base was not in a commanding position due to the nature of the work they pursued and became dependent on Suds/Soods for work and income. Suds/Soods households befriend Muslim and used them for odd jobs.

In the midst of all this, kids were born, old folks lived & died, still others got sick and got better with the help of village "Vaidya", who sometimes cured the sick and sometimes let the inevitable happen. At times sick people with means were sent fifty miles away to a city hospital to see a doctor for treatment. Mostly people were at the mercy of the almighty God. Since the village is at a higher elevation and the environment pure & cool, the diseases prevalent in the plains missed them entirely. There were no known cases of Malaria or influenza etc., yet if there were any such cases; the local Vaidya was unable to diagnose them.

It was the year around the 1920s that a four year old child of an important family got sick.  Since the men folks were away at Shimla, the child was not properly diagnosed and treated; hence he died a few days later in his mother's lap. It was an act of God or shall we say, due to lack of child care, diagnosis and treatment. The child, later a city doctor said, suffered from diphtheria, a childhood disease easily taken care with vaccination etc. Since there were no doctors or hospitals in the area in the 1920s, there was no way to save the child. This tragedy and many more similar to it, struck a discordant note in the minds of the village folks. A child's demise and especially a male child is a major loss and are mourned for a long time.

It was during the winter visits to the village in 1928 that R.S. Thakur Dass decided to do something about it. Being a rich man and a village elder, he mooted the idea of building a hospital in the village. Most residents supported the idea and offered suitable location (land) to construct the hospital. This noble idea required a fair amount of money, connections with the British administration and scarce land. This rich man had all the attributes to get the project going. He had the money, he had connections and above all the locals were ready to give suitable land.

1931 Hospital building

The hospital building took two years to construct and was finished in 1931. The British Deputy Commissioner from Dharamsala (H.P.) came to perform the opening ceremony and promised to provide staff to man it. The rich man R.S. Thakur Dass, for this act, was awarded the title of "Rai Sahib" and the hospital started to function soon thereafter.

The hospital was built with an outpatient department, a four-bed inpatient ward, an operation theatre for minor surgeries, living quarters for the staff and other paraphernalia for it to function as a hospital. Locals were hired as orderlies, dispensers and cleaning staff etc. The missing element was a qualified doctor. They were in short supply everywhere. Moreover, not too many doctors would like to locate themselves in a far-flung location in the midst of the Himalayas. Hence, as appointed by the Deputy Commissioner, they came and stayed for a short period and left. This continued for a year or two, not until the Deputy Commissioner found a South Indian qualified lady doctor named Dr. Patinkar to run the hospital in Pirsaluhi. I have no full knowledge of her education or ethnic background, but she was the only one willing to locate herself to Pirsaluhi. God, behold, the R.S. Thakur Dass and the village folks heaved a sigh of relief on her appointment. When she arrived in 1935 she could not be more than thirty years old (she was in Pirsaluhi until she turned seventy), a bachelor and very industrious. The rumor was that she is a Christian, but nevertheless, a loving doctor, who cared for the patients more than her own creature comforts.  

She converted part of her living quarters into a drug storage area and gave every indication that she was here to stay. Patients flocked to the outpatient department in droves, where government funded medicines were dispensed, free of charge. Patients, who were real sick or could not return home, were admitted to the hospital four beds. People hurt doing their jobs in the fields were treated, bandaged and sent back home for rest and recovery. Sick and old got attention, as much as she could provide. She paid particular attention to child care and pre & post natal care. I would not know how many came and got cured as I was not born yet, but my big brother was. He had good memories of Dr. Patinkar. He survived a childhood malady, because she was there to treat & cure him. Vaccination scars on his arm prove that by 1935-36, vaccinating children had been started diligently.  

Hurt and broken bones mended

Famous Water well (See later)

Sunka, a local Rajput and a land cultivator was goaded by a bull while working in his fields. The bull stuck both its horns in his leg. I am guessing as this incident happened before me that his hurt was bad but Dr. Patinkar mended his bones & muscles and bandaged his wound and sent him home to rest and recovery.  I saw the scars which the bull's horns had left when I was young, long after the incident and these were major wounds which had healed. Months later he was walking again, thanking the good doctor. He became a lifelong admirer of the doctor. Until Dr. Patinkar retired and left, he personally would deliver fresh water supply from the village well to her household. The hospital had its own source of water, which consisted of water storage, filter and Alum treatment to purify as much as they could. Hospital orderlies fetched water for medical and personal uses from the village well, about four hundred yards away. The hospital also had no electricity until 1965; hence it relied on candle light and oil lamps.

Like Sunka, countless people would show up at the hospital door steps to be treated, bandaged, bones mended etc. Dr. Patinkar was a God sent Angel to treat them.

A small boy goes down from a Tree

My big brother's best friend during their boyhood days in the village climbed a mango tree and God, behold, he lost his balance and fell from the tree. Mangoes are very common in that dry mountainous region; hence local harvesting for household use is very common.  The boy barely ten years of age was 15 feet above the ground when he lost his balance. Other boys, his friends, watched him hit the ground in horror. He suffered minor cuts & bruises on his body, but he had cut his tongue and was bleeding profusely from his lip. A major cut in the tongue, if not stitched properly, would have proved fatal. That would have been the case, had Dr. Patinkar not stitched his tongue back. People say that the tongue was cut in half (but that is hearsay), but truly his survival was a miracle.  The boy survived and lived to be eighty years old man. He did have speaking difficulties later in life but living until the years of eighty was a greater gift than stuttering a bit. God bless Dr. Patinkar. She gave him his life back.

Child vaccination

Child vaccination was a major childcare miracle she introduced. In the cities, it had become common. But in the middle of the Himalayas in a far-flung area, it was unknown. She persuaded the local British administration to send vaccination teams to the village on a yearly basis to vaccinate children. My brother nine years my senior had vaccination scars on his arm and I have the same, probably vaccination done when I was two or three years old. All kids in the village and nearby hamlets were vaccinated. This took care of some of the childhood maladies. People from nearby Sud/Sood villages came in droves to get their children vaccinated. Most of the kids of my age in the village thank her for this small favour she did to us. Some of us are alive today only because Dr. Patinkar was around.  

Village Lambardaar's son Falls Sick

It was Dr. Patinkar who sent village Lambardaar's son for urgent care to the city hospital in mid fifties. By then she was well liked and universally respected. Lambardaar's son had fallen ill and the village Vaidya's pills were of no use. They after a few days of their own treatment arrived at the hospital.  Dr. Patinkar immediately knew that he is suffering from appendicitis pain. She was not equipped to undertake the operation and the only course left for her and the family was to take him to the hospital fifty miles away. Any delay would be fatal. It is two days journey in a "Palki" to the hospital, but it was essential. Four men carried him in Palki to the city, where he underwent the operation and cured. He became a lifelong friend of the doctor. He owes his life to her.

Great Flu of the mid Fifties

Finally, this dreaded but curable malady struck the hills also. Somebody must have brought this highly infectious flu virus to the village and the surroundings. People were unaware of its disastrous impact in the cities.  It took the local district hospital doctors a few weeks before they figured out that this virus has arrived in the hills. Until then, nobody was taking precautions of staying away from the sick person or not touching or using utensils, clothing's of the sick person. People were down and dehydrated with fever and cough. Their numbers could be in the hundreds as the virus had spread with great ease. Even the local Doctor was not spared. She was down with fever herself. Patients came in droves, and all were advised rest, pills reduce the fever and staying away from people who were infected. More prosperous people not satisfied with what the dispenser was giving them as medicine, would drop in the doctor's home to consult her. She herself sick would willingly check their pulse, fever and their chest and tell them to go on with the same medicine which the dispenser had prescribed. A month or two later, this virus had its time and vanished, but people kept talking about this fever, for years after. She herself was relating the story when my mother with me 12 year old, in the tow visited her a few months later.  Luckily, there were no fatalities and all who contacted the virus survived.

Anti venom treatment

My mother's best friend and a local Brahmin's wife were bitten by a snake when working in the fields in the early sixties. The good doctor did her best to save her and sent a runner on horseback to fetch anti-venom injection from the district hospital, fifty miles away. The anti venom injection was not stored locally as there were no refrigeration facilities in Pirsaluhi. The runner got back the following day, but by that time, the lady was dead. My mother returned back to the village from Shimla and mourned her loss and decided to fix the problem. A brand new refrigerator was bought by her and placed in the hospital. From then onwards anti-venom injections were stored locally. After that, fatalities due to snake bite/dog bite were next to none. This act of charity of my mother is always remembered, even today.

The bunch who were dissatisfied

The Doctor was not without controversy. Since she was honest, she would refuse to give factitious medical certificates to locals who approached her for one. Litigating resident would like a factitious certificate that they would produce to escape court proceedings. Services personnel would like to send a medical certificate to get an extension of their leave of absence etc. She mostly refused until it was a genuine illness.

In her earlier days when she was young, she would make house calls for a fee. Later for her, it was a huge effort to climb the Kawaalis and reach the homes of sick people. As she grew older, she stopped making house calls. That was a reason for dissatisfaction too. Locals will file complaints with the district medical officer when he came for a visit, of her non cooperation. When the inefficient drugs supply and distribution system starved the hospital of medicines and other essential provisions in the fifties, they would lodge complaint against her.  It was not her fault; she would prescribe medicines which people could procure from the retail market, but people assumed that the good doctor had pocketed the proceeds.

As the hospital was starved of supplies, the operation theatre for minor treatment was shut down.  Locals took the matter to the authorities. A bunch even wrote to the authorities that she was unable to function and be replaced. Others, who had benefited from her being there, strongly objected to the complaints and prevented her transfer, they liked her presence in the village.

 As a person Dr. Patinkar

Most people in the area knew her as a bachelor. I have no idea how she looked when she came to Pirsaluhi, but by the early fifties, she was heavy set, medium tall with hair cut to shoulder height. As a loving lady and a doctor, she maintained her cool under heavy pressure. There were times when some locals made her life difficult, but somehow she would recover and continue her work. I recall that she adopted a daughter. Unpleasantly disposed people of the village often accused her of being a Muslim and had adopted a Muslim origin girl in her household. This may or may not be true.

Although she stopped making house calls by sixties, yet for a very sick person, she would make the effort to climb the difficult Kawaalis. It was an uphill task for her because of her size and the difficult climb, but she did it when my father fell sick in early seventies. My big brother persuaded her to visit him. She came and prescribed the medicine and my father got better. He lived five years after that.

I believe, when she got too old and unable to function, she left Pirsaluhi for the district the headquarters at Dharamsala. In good days she had built herself a house there. How long did she live after her departure from Pirsaluhi, nobody knows. But her presence in Pirsaluhi for such a long time will always be remembered. Lots of babies, men, women and old folks owe their life to her.

(The child who passed away in 1920s with Diphtheria (childhood malady) was my big brother, my parent's first born. He was only four and half years old. His departure from this world resulted in a hospital being built in Pirsaluhi a few years later)

The Unforgettable School Headmaster -

Satya Prakash 

In the British summer capital of Shimla, in the Shiwalik Hills, a D A V High school was opened in 1934 to give quality education to the native children. British operated their own school system in Shimla (the British called it Simla), but these were segregated type in which admission was restricted to the British citizens. The D A V High School management system in Lahore (now in Pakistan) decided to open a few schools for the local population in Punjab. One such location they selected was Shimla. Over years, it got a lot of philanthropy help from the local wealthy people.  Later it was decided to locate it in Lakkar Bazaar area. The first building, still in use, was too small to accommodate the increasing number of children joining the school; hence a bigger and more majestic building with classrooms, a big hall, science laboratories, and school offices were built in forties adjacent to the previous building. School enrolment reached 1400 during the partition days; hence the primary classes were separated out to a different location.

To run the school, the DAV Managing committee sent an able headmaster, Satya Prakash, to take charge and independently run the school and bring its education standard to the top few, in the state. It probably was the late thirties that Satya Prakash arrived and settled down to run the school. The school was situated along the main thoroughfare connecting The Mall/Ridge to Sanjauli in the municipal Station Ward of the British segregated Shimla. This ward for the past seventy years had been the preserve of the European life style. But by the thirties, the independence movement had caught the British, unaware; the inevitability of independence was a foregone conclusion, hence they allowed the school to be built on their side of the preserve.

DAV School Today

Headmaster Satya Prakash, a Lahore graduate, settled down in Shimla to run the school. The DAV Managing Committee set the fees moderately high, so they did not have to contribute any cash from their own pocket; also if it is too pricey, then that will prevent lower income parents from sending children to this school. The school with its own managing committee was expected to be self-sustaining, financially. Any financial shortfall was to be made up with local donations. These donations came in bundles with its success. Rai Bahadur Jodha Mull became one of the biggest donors. He built the new school block in the mid forties (it was named after him). The school was now in a position to accommodate the bigger body of students from grade 1 to 10. Its strength until 1945 was about 400 kids. It multiplied to 700 in 1948 and 1400 in 1950.

The Headmaster Satya Prakash's managed the expansion well. My big brother entered the school in 1944 after finishing primary school in the village. He finished high school in 1950 and had a high praise for the school. At that time the school was well settled in its present surroundings on a 45 degree hill slope with the building foundations dug deep. It had a neighbour of girl's school on the lower slopes of the hill and Butler School on a bit higher slopes. Approaches to the school were good, as the main road from the Ridge to Sanjauli was wide enough and was metalled. School entrance from two sides of the main thoroughfare were cement cast pathways, built for the safety of the children and connected directly to the school landing. The bigger and the new school block stood to the left and older classroom block to the right. The school tuck shop graced in between the two blocks. Since it was a terraced sloped location, every approach had stairs or steps to reach. The school playground, a small one, just big enough to accommodate a basketball court was at the lowest elevation of the hill.  That was where the morning prayers were said, before the classes commenced. At that time, the Headmaster made day's announcements to the students, collected neatly in the playground in the usual school uniform. 

With the influx of Refugee population after 1947/48 partition, school strength doubled, hence the primary section was relocated elsewhere (vacant Jama Masjid building in the Middle Bazaar). That is where yours truly started in 1947. Routine of morning prayers continued as usual at both locations.

The headmaster persuaded donors in Shimla to provide finances to embark on science teaching including biology in 1950. He had found the right teacher as well had building to accommodate elementary science experiments. He taught the Biology class himself as he could find no teacher to take up the job. The graduating class every year had the pleasure of class photographs with several teachers. I have mine in 1957 and my big brother had his done in 1950. Saran Dass Studios on the Mall was the school photographer.

Discipline

The important contribution of the Headmaster Satya Prakash was that he introduced strict discipline among the students while in the class or out in the playground or lined up in front of the tuck shop for refreshments. Every staff member kept a watchful eye on the movements of the students. During class hours, no Student went out of his class except for the nature call or going to another classroom in a different area. On a nature call, he sought the class teacher's permission and carried a 'pass' i.e. permission to be out. Offending students were either dealt with by the teacher or reported to the Headmaster. Absentees from school (there were always a few everyday) must have a valid reason to be missing the school. The class teacher would send a note to the parents if the student was missing school for a day. Usually an advance note from the parents sufficed absence, if necessary. If the student failed to attend the school for two consecutive days, he was reported to the Headmaster. The Headmaster kept a close watch on the daily attendance register, as it was posted daily on the school attendance board, right in front of his office. Habitual offenders were announced during the morning prayers and lined up in front of the headmaster's office for explanation or punishment. The Headmaster dealt with them as he felt necessary. It was considered as a bad reputation if a blue card from the class teacher arrived at home for a parent's attention. Parents and the Headmaster discussed remedial measures to bring the erring student back to studies.

 A major classroom or playground offense was directly dealt with by the Headmaster himself. He usually gave two slaps with a wooden cane in the hands as punishment. It was not the pain but the insult which bothered the offending boys. They mostly ceased and desist after that. The class teacher was limited to detaining boys after class. That was also considered as a major insult among the friends, if it happened. Arriving late to the school in the morning was seriously discouraged. The school bell began ringing at 9.30AM sharp. The school orderly rang the bell for less than two minutes in a sequence which all the students knew. They will hear it and rush to the playground to their position in the class line up. Usually, all of us made it in time everyday. But at times when the students missed to reach the class line up by a minute or two, the Headmaster's standing orders were to detain the late-arriving students on the approaches connecting the main thoroughfare. Punishment of reaching late was a fine of one cent (one Anna) that day. A few times all of us lost our daily allowance for being late. Loss of allowance made us extra careful in the future.

This tight discipline was enforced under the Headmaster's orders. Nobody will bypass those orders. Without this adequate discipline, it would be impossible to run the school which had 800 boys in the middle and higher classes and 400 boys in the primary classes in the Middle Bazaar.

At times for this strictness, we had every reason to be mad at the class teacher or the Headmaster, but as time passed and we entered college and universities, we felt that discipline engraved earlier had adequately prepared us for the future.                                                                

Academics

Academics standard was the main contribution of this school and it was brought in by the DAV School system and this Headmaster. He wished this school to remain at the top in the district and have good standing at the state level. He hired the right teachers and managed them well. Classes were divided into A, B & the C category with 50/60 students in each class.  There was a D category also in a particular year, but later it was discontinued. A class teacher was in charge and would teach one or two subjects, other subjects were taught by the rotating teachers, like Hindi, Punjabi, Science, Drawing, Biology, History & Geography etc. All the foregoing subjects were important, but English; Mathematics and Sciences were the core subjects and were given greater importance. These subjects made or broke school reputation in the district and at the state level. These subjects also determined relative student standing in the class as the matriculation results were declared.

We had the best teacher in Mathematics in the name of Master Sita Ram and English teacher in the name of Master B R Mahajan in middle school classes. The Science and History teachers were Master Net Ram and Master Narata Ram. The core subjects in grade nine and ten were handled by able teachers like Master Triloki Nath and Master Net Ram and Master Raina. Students finished their high school with laurels only if the school puts extra effort to the graduating class. Extra school coaching was arranged for the whole class or for good, deserving students and frequent exams were given by the Headmaster himself to check the progress. Well to do parents arranged for, after school or at home tuition work.

Twice in an academic year, midterm exams were conducted and report card sent to the parent's attention. If a student needed an extra attention, it was that time to arrange one. The class teacher did not hesitate from detaining a student after school hours, if he felt he was not performing well. The teacher would spend the time to bring him up to the speed with the rest of the class. Failing a class had been a major stigma, yet failing the high school board exam (Matriculation) had a huge impact on the student and their families. They could blame the school system, but they did not, they redoubled their efforts for the next year. Rarely a student failing the Matriculation exam would return to the school class, he prepared privately with extra tuitions. The Headmaster would permit only in rare cases, for the failed student to rejoin the classes.

Matriculation exam, merit list, which determined the school academic standard and the school reputation, was eagerly awaited. The greater the number of students in the merit list better was the school reputation. That is what the Headmaster Satya Prakash strived for. A larger number of students making into the merit list were a great honour for the school and the class teachers. Other students who did not make into the merit list, but scored high were hotly sort after by the colleges for admission. Incentives were offered.

Sports

The school did not have enough playgrounds to encourage sports hence volleyball was the only sport which found acceptance in the school curriculum. A few teachers including the Headmaster some times joined the practice games. These were played after school hours. Other times the playground was occupied by the hourly physical exercise drill for each class. The Physical Training Instructor (PTI) lined up, one class every hour for the drill. It was the only time that students got a bit of exercise and got a break from the study routine. The National Cadet Corps (NCC) unit also functioned in the school. Grade nine and ten students joined this unit. There was an extra credit given for joining the NCC.

During school annual sports event in Annandale Grounds, track and field events were held. The whole school went to cheer the participants. Some parents also joined in as spectators. Volleyball matches, cricket matches and football matches on top of other track and field events provided extra fun to the student body.

Interschool school events were rare at that time, but Volleyball matches were known to be held. The same is true about other track and field events. At times, the Headmaster would personally lead school excursion trips outside the city. I went with two of these trips, one to Bhakara Dam and other to the Exhibition in Delhi. It was a heavy responsibility for the school to take 30 or 40 kids for five day trip and bring them back safely. Longer trips for senior classes were also undertaken; these lasted two to three weeks.  Junior boys were ineligible for longish trips. On return those who accompanied on the trip, wrote their own experiences for the class teacher to see. The best description made in the school annual publication.

The Headmaster as a person

Larger than life person, Headmaster Satya Prakash, ever since I saw him in 1951 wore a white turban, a buttoned jacket and matching pants. Wherever he went he was enthusiastically greeted by people and students. A strict Arya Samaj follower, he ensured that the religious well being of the students is maintained. At times, he would arrange a "Havan" ceremony in the school premises and everybody participated in it and learnt the "Vedic Mantaras" of the Havan ceremony.

Initially he lived on The Mall area, later he relocated to a bigger house much farther from the school. We do not know much about his family life, but I do remember that his son Surrinder was my big brother's classmate in college and his two daughters were known to my sister.

I matriculated in 1957, and after that my trips to the school were rare. A prize distribution ceremony for the 1957 graduating class and others was held in the winter of that year. I attended that ceremony. That probably was my last trip to the school premises. I finished college in Shimla in 1959 and moved to Chandigarh. After that I paid not too many visits to the school, except now. I believe that the Headmaster continued to lead the school, long after I had graduated and gone.

Epilogue

Long after I matriculated, bad news about the school building and the surrounding areas began to emerge. The hill on which the school was located began to sink. It was sliding and settling, making it dangerous for the school building to function. The whole of surrounding buildings, including the Regal Cinema was declared unfit for residence, work or gathering of people. The municipal and state officials were unable to come up with a plan to stop the slide. Hence it became imperative that the building portion housing the Hall, Headmaster's office, classrooms, Science laboratories etc. will have to vacated and demolished. I have no idea when finally the building was demolished. I cannot say with certainty when the Headmaster Satya Prakash quit his job and retired.

The DAV Managing Committee in their infinite wisdom decided to change the affiliation of the school later to a co-educational central school. It was done after Headmaster Satya Prakash had left. Now it does not have the appearance of my school accept the location. All these changes, I hope, are good for the reputation of the school.

The memory of this Headmaster and the school will always stay fresh in our mind. I spent ten formative years of my life when Headmaster Satya Prakash led the school. The old boys Alumni Association keeps the memory of the school alive. It was a great school and it was well managed. Headmaster Satya Prakash was a big part of it for forty or more years.

                                      

The Village Priest and Astrologer

Hindu society pyramid

The ancient art of Astrology and religious rituals are part of our Hindu culture. We may not appear deeply religious, but we do adhere to our rituals and other Hindu way of life quite diligently. We require a priest to conduct our marriage ceremonies, birthdays, auspicious events and also not so unfortunate events like death rituals and so on The priest is a keeper of our ethical & moral values. He keeps our beliefs and conscience as per ancient scriptures, including the Vedas and other religious books. He is trained in Hindi & Sanskrit and has acquired a functioning knowledge of astrology thru study and observations. He is a Brahmin and by all accounts and is not a land owner (small plot excepted) but makes his living thru the prosperity of his clients. He is at the top of the Hindu society apex, others may be better or smarter than him, but do not equal him in society's status. He takes up residence closer to his clients and frequents their residence either on an invitation or on his own with regular trips on auspicious days. A group of priests cum astrologers live in a neighbourhood of this author village home; some are doing the priestly work others are school teachers, government servants etc. Many others undertake jobs suitable only to a Brahmin.

One such Brahmin, many scores of years back, lived near our village of Pirsaluhi. His name was Jagan Nath. A pious man of medium built Jagan Nath, as I remember when I was ten years old, had a very amiable personality. He spoke softly and carried in his hand or in his pocket, the year's ephemeris or the "Patri/Panchang" - a yearly calendar of Zodiac position of stars. Anybody could ask him anytime for an auspicious day to undertake a business transaction, depart on a long journey or spend money on house building etc. The ephemeris under the circumstances comes handy. A much more difficult job of horoscope preparation after a child's birth or matching horoscopes or setting a wedding date etc. required a much more detailed calculations and consideration hence he did not do that on a fly. Instead, he visited the client or the client visited him for an extended period of time. He consulted his books and charts and then only he pronounced his judgement. The Sud/Sood community of Pirsaluhi often would consult Pundit Jagan Nath for almost everything including the upcoming good or bad days, the fortunes of the family, a child's future etc.  He had predictions for all these based on the position of the stars and time of birth as per horoscope.

Author's ancestral House in Pirsaluhi. (Nobody lives there now).

I was born when Europe was engulfed in World War II and our new house was under construction. At that time, building supplies were in short supply, also my grandmother was 85 years old and sick and my father's business enterprise in Shimla was on its last legs or in other words cash was in short supply. My father scrounged enough money to pay for the construction and kept the household going. Soon he returned to Shimla and kept the business going as much as he could.   

When my arrival into this world was awaited, my parents did not know whether it was going to be a boy or a girl, hence the house was built large enough to cater to the expanding family and was built of stone and slate for durability. My grandmother pestered Pundit Jagan Nath many times to look into the star chart and make a forecast whether it is going to be a boy or a girl. He forecast that it will be a boy. My grandmother promised Pundit Jagan Nath a gold chain if his prediction came out right.

Previously Pundit had been summoned many times to find an auspicious day to begin construction, setting the day to build a slate roof and many other times to determine the auspicious days to start the woodwork, laying of floors and most important when building the domestic fire hearth where the family will cook. The priest was enjoying the attention during the construction which had lasted about a year. He knew that a baby is on the path and he repeatedly told my grandmother that family fortunes will take a bit for the better after my birth. He forecasts that my father's horoscope has two sons and many daughters and an unhappy business partnership starting at age forty. But that soon is going to be over after a lapse of seven years, the time the ill omen star took to traverse thru his lifetime. He also forecasts that circumstances will force that the new house under construction now will stay unoccupied for long stretches of time as the family will move elsewhere. All fingers were kept crossed, but his opinions were not dismissed outright.

On an auspicious day of July 16th, I was born. Later, my senior auntie always joked about my father being so happy that he pardoned the loan of a Brahmin (not the priest), whose wife was my mother's best friend. Pundit Jagan Nath got his gold chain. The local temple received a financial contribution too. On the third day, my mother's sisters arrived and celebration continued. On the fifth day, the Priest Jagan Nath was summoned again with all his "Patris" and Zodiac charts, ephemeris etc. to make the first forecast of the life of the new born baby. That day he was duly received and asked to prepare the new baby's birth chart. To do that, he was given the time of the birth, in as much accuracy as possible. Making of the birth chart would take him the rest of the day and he would require the assistance of his son, who acted as his assistant, to undertake complex calculations. Many hours later, he was ready with the forecast.

His view, as my mother told me later, when I grew up that as per the charts drawn by him, was that the house which is under construction, but had been delayed due to building material shortages, will be completed soon, as the new owner (me) has arrived. The old lady in the family i.e. my grandmother (he did not specifically say that but the meaning was understood) would not live long. Her time on this earth is over. The baby's father would settle down in a new business in Shimla and the boy as he grows up will cross seven seas to live elsewhere on this earth. He would have connections with the white man, affinity for machines and will be highly educated. He forecast that my first ten years of life would be beset with health problems but would recover after. He also forecast that the baby will grow up tall, much taller than his father and would not continue in the family line of business. One point, my mother said, he made was that planet "Rahu" in baby's (mine) horoscope is badly placed. This would cause an untold influence on me for the remainder of my lifetime. That means that my life would always be up and down.

My father did not receive the forecast as well; the Priest was talking about his mother's days on this earth being numbered. He already knew that she is old, but he did not wish all these things to happen so soon.

The house construction preceded speedily, the roof building material which was holding the construction arrived and within two weeks of my birth and the slate roof was completed soon after. My father did not wish to talk about his businesses in Shimla but I believe he must have felt happy to learn that the fresh arrival has brought some luck. I am told that the house was completed when I was twenty one days old and the whole family moved into the brand new house immediately after that. My sickly grandmother, felt sicker and before the doctor or village "Vaidya" could be summoned, she was already dead. She was eighty five years old. As for me and how my life unfolded, almost most of his predictions generally came true. I live abroad in the white man's midst, I have crossed the seven sees, and I am an engineer and a tall person with good and bad health. I am not in the family occupation of money lending and wholesale grain trade, instead work for others, for money.

When I was a bit older, my sister was married in the new house. That house, five years after construction, was left vacant as the household moved to Shimla for children's education. The whole family visited back during winter break. During one such break when I was ten years old my sister's marriage was solemnized. Priest Jagan Nath presided over the actual wedding ceremony and all other ceremonies.

He was the more educated kind in the flock of Brahmins in the neighbourhood. People would rely on him to do the ceremonies right. In return, he was suitably rewarded. But as I returned to the village many years later, I was told that he was old and was having difficulty walking. His senior son had learnt everything about the priesthood and was leading the family line of work. A few years later Priest Jagan Nath passed away. Now, it was this son who took the lead. In the seventies, it was him, who presided over my wedding ceremonies in the city. He had been summoned, as like his father, was better trusted to do the ceremonies right. It was him, following his father's footsteps, looked at my ancient birth chart or the horoscope that his father had prepared during my wedding, and said that the planet "Rahu" is badly influencing all my dealings in life. He said that at the age 46, it will cross my life path again and during its movements, then it would uproot me completely. That is what the stars-horoscope said. The rest of the family was not pleased with this forecast but that was twenty years away and nobody paid much attention to him, although my mother was dismayed. Lord, behold, twenty years later it happened exactly the way the priest had said.

Although the Priest Jagan Nath was the most trusted local priest cum astrologer in the arena, there were other Brahmins also waiting for attention. The local temple priest also was one significant person who interacted with people a great deal. He was a Brahmin and "Pujari" of the local temple. His name, as I knew of was "Mauji", but I believe he had another name also. He looked after the temple as well as its surroundings. On festivals and occasions like birthday, weddings etc., people frequented the temple and offered donations. Otherwise, this priest made his living by donations as well as requested services at the temple. There were twenty eight Sud/Sood families who patronized this temple. Others in the area also visited the temple regularly. But this population base was not large enough for this priest to be prosperous.

Pirsaluhi's old temple

The temple location is in the middle of the shopping district and had been dug out of a hill side slope with very steep stairs to climb it. It has an ancient look, built of stone and limestone and has the outside architecture of a Hindu temple. It is small in size, but functional. The idols of Radha Krishan in colorful clothes adorn the temple. The temple priest, when I visited the native village, was always present in the temple premises.     

These two priests above were the key to local population's salvation.

I have been away from my native village for the last fifty years, occasionally visiting it but have not gone looking for the priests I knew. If not them, their children probably are still there. A few years back, a person of the priest's family contacted me by email. He was in Houston, USA on an assignment. He read one of my newspaper article on the internet and wished to know which family in Pirsaluhi, I belonged to. I was pleased to hear from him. The young man identified the same village cluster where Priest Jagan Nath lived. He is probably related to him. Like me as I have given up on family business of grain trade to make a living, he has given up on priestly affairs to make a living. Instead, he is a computer analyst and system design engineer. That was the reason why he was in the USA. I did not meet him personally, but was delighted to establish a contact with my old priest's family after fifty years. Like him others in his family have chosen different career paths to make a living. The housing cluster I knew, where Pundit Jagan Nath lived has undergone a dramatic change. There are larger and better houses and better streets built. Where as 'Suds' partially abandoned their own village of Pirsaluhi, others are doing well.

God bless these Brahmin priests!                      

The Grandfather whose memory is still Fresh

Two years back, I attended a wedding in Houston, where a number of my sister's children were present. In fact, the guy getting married was my eldest sister's daughter's son (my sister's Grandson). I was invited to act as the grandfather of the groom in the absence of his real grandfather. My two older sister's children (I had three in all), whom I had babied them when they were kids were there for the occasion. My middle sister's children do not live in North America, hence could not be present. Mind it; persons whom I call children are today age from 50 to 62 years old. They were babies when I was growing up in Shimla in the fifties and sixties. In fact, they all (most) were born in my parent's house in Shimla and I had known them when they were newly born babies. After their mothers got well, they went back to their own homes in other cities, lived happily ever after. But they did come back year after year during summer vacations to visit the grandparents. All my sisters loved visiting their parents and stayed for a month or so depending on children's summer vacation schedule or at times longer when new babies were born. There were 15 children, my sisters had and they were very well mixed up with me as I was their chief entertainer. They loved my fun and frolics and they knew all my school friends in the neighbourhood. Being the youngest child of the family, I, myself had lots of

1977 Photo from Album - 83 years old

opportunities to visit my sisters and continued the fun with kids at their homes.

Montreal 1980 Photo - 77 years old

When they were at our homes, (the maternal grandparent's home), they were looked after well in their thick and thin. They also enjoyed being with me. When the eldest of the kids was ten years or so old (younger one probably a year old), I took the senior boys to their first movie (Jagariti 1956 release) or their first circus show which came calling in Shimla in that very time frame. My parents did not like these funs and frolics shows but allowed me to take the kids to these shows everywhere including summer festivities on The Mall in Shimla or far off Annandale grounds for horse racings or a fair etc. All my high school functions, if these happened in summer were attended by not only by my sisters and their children, but also by my parents if they were free. Once the school hall fell short on seating arrangements at the lower cost; hence my father came up with extra cash so all of us could go and see the fun. I remember it was a school, traveling magic show.

At times, and it happened twice in my high school days that one of my sister's kid did badly in the school, he or she was sent to the grandparent's house for a year for a change of environment and re-establish their educational credentials. Grandparents will gently make sure that the kid does not keep bad company, did not miss school and completed his or her homework every day. At that time, my parents were in the fifties and early sixties and had realized the value of education, hence insisted that kids do well in school. Once things were righted, the kid was sent back to his parent's home to continue.

My parents in Shimla were not people of great means. They were hardworking people with high value for family ties; hence all kids of all the three sisters were thoroughly schooled in family values, high grades in school and good social skills. Yes, these were the minimum basic standards for children growing up to follow.

We two brothers were younger than the sisters. My big brother's first child was born in 1963 and mine was born in 1976. By then my sister's kids were grown up and the Grandparents were old and not very active. The Mother kept the same sort of affection for the new kids alive as she had it for our sister's children. The story, with my father was more interesting. They gathered around him like bees gather in their hive. They wished to hear everything from him. Everyday a new story, a new incident, a new experience was related to make their stay interesting.

The grandfather had given each of the kids a new name. It was different from their household name at their own homes. They loved to be addressed by that. Sometimes their mothers did not like the new names like Thotha, Kodharh, Gopal Dass, Pinchi, Ghola, Pama, Dipu, Kuki, Nodi, Philu, Ronu Bhonnu etc. etc., but unmindful, the kids loved these new names. When they returned to their own homes, they would joyfully continue to have fun with their new pet names they got. When they came next time, they would collect around the Grandfather and loved to be addressed by their respective pet name.

The Grandfather, not a man of extensive riches, loved to take care of them as any grandfather would do with so many of them around him. At times children from three months to 14 years of age, fifteen in all, will collect at our house in Shimla during summer vacations. Our small house will look like a Zoo. But it was always a welcome sight for the Grandparents.

1962 Photo at Jatheri, Gagret

I, growing up in Shimla and going to high school (Shimla is snow bound, hence has winter vacations instead of summer) sometimes resented their presence. At times, I will find my pen was missing or homework had been torn or my school uniform had been soiled etc. It was all tolerated as they were my younger nephews and nieces and they were welcomed at all the times at the family house.  

Family house in Pirsaluhi, Himachal Pradesh - 2011 Photo' another photo on page 41

One child, a year and half old, at his own home in Jhansi (far away) had suffered a polio attack, a childhood malady which, if children are properly inoculated can be kept away but fate had it otherwise. The kid had not been inoculated hence suffered this terrible attack. This attack comes without warning and the parents know it only when the legs do not hold when the kid is picked up. My sister and brother in law

did not know what to do as the local doctor was helpless. At a moment's notice the whole family in 1954 arrived with three kids to be hospitalized and properly treated at the maternal Grandparents house. This was not a treatable disease in 1953/54 and not treatable now. If it afflicts, it afflicts. This was an unknown fact then. The kid and the mother were admitted in a Seventh Day Adventist Hospital in Shimla which was closer to our home and stayed in treatment for two months. Ultimately the doctors gave up without success. My sister and her three children stayed for one year and the Grandparents turned heavens on earth to seek anybody who will make the difference to the child but of no avail. The Grandfather cried when the two and half year's old kid could not stand on his two legs. His one leg had been paralyzed. A sane doctor in Shimla said that it is incurable malady but as the kid grows up, he will be fitted with a steel boot which will enable him to walk sparingly. That is the best advice which a doctor could give. After a year's stay the family returned back to their home. The Grandfather wished that when this kid now only two and a half years old, grows up, become a doctor and treat him self. Lord behold, he is a doctor now with flourishing practice in Delhi. He knows well that it cannot be treated. A steel boot helps him to function in his day to day life, yet it was the Grandfather who put the seed of curiosity in educating him as a doctor in his and his parent's mind. Now there are three other doctors in this family

All the kids who were around at that time were watching all this happen and occasionally visited our home with their parents. They watched this life's experience which they will never forget. They experienced that no matter, what the issues, the Grandfather and Grandmother will be around for help.

Out of fifteen, nephews and nieces I had, nine were born at our house. The Grandparents were delighted with the new arrival every time and showered all kinds of love and gifts on them.

By about 1965, the Grandparents were old and could not function as they did twenty years back. Now they needed to be taken care off, themselves. By 1970, I was away to the USA but my brother, a high official in the government was taking care of them. They lived alternately in Shimla, where my father's business was floundering with lack of attention and partners also old and were disinterested. Their as well ours next generation was not interested to continue the family's traditional business of grain & sugar wholesale. Finally, it was closed down. Now my parents moved to the village house which was relatively new but also needed attention. The Shimla house was handed over to my middle sister who lived eight miles away and who wished to have a residence in Shimla. Our village, which is about 120 miles away from Shimla in different set of Himalayan hills and is relatively less cool and also was about 10 miles away from where my youngest sister and her extended family lived. She and her children visited them often. My brother also came as often as he could. I was in the USA hence me visiting them often was physically not possible. I kept on sending them money via a bank draft which my mother will cash and hire help to take care of heavy-duty work like fetching potable water or get groceries from the nearby town or general clean up job at home etc. They lived happily at the ancestral house and often came to visit kids in different cities including my brother's kids who were ten and eight years old in 1972. But that sort of fun and frolic with the

Charity Water Hut built by Dear Mother at Pirsaluhi - 1981

new kids was less of a possibility. The cataracts had claimed my father's eyes. He was operated upon twice, which only restored his eyes partially. My mother was unwell, basically old age and an old bronchitis, inflammation in the throat kept her grounded sometimes. At the age of 78 and 70, they were doing better than other old folks in the neighbourhood.  From time to

Charity school block built at the local school by grateful children - 1982. Now it is a school science block; See translation next page

time, the doctor grandchildren will watch them and advise more rest and less travel. They were not ready to give up so soon.

I returned to India in October of 1973 after graduating from a US university and found my parents old but doing well for their age. For my wedding all the grandchildren arrived saving two who were in the USA. By now they were all grown up and sitting down between them and the Grandfather to reminisce about their childhood days. Each of them remembered their pet name given earlier. The Grandfather was enjoying the fun.

I took off for Canada two years later, with a promise that I will keep coming back and meet them often. They did not believe me at first. Also, I did not keep that promise. Some of the Grandchildren in India and abroad kept sending New Year cards and the Grandparents loved that gesture. When my father got sick with Malaria once, he was being treated well by the local doctor and he was getting better, he dictated a letter to one of his doctor grandchildren to visit him and treat him. The young doctor could not come, but grandfather's faith in his so many grandchildren was unshakable. In this large retinue of grandchildren, there are three doctors; three were IAS level civil servants, a chartered accountant and two engineers. Six of them are abroad and settled in the US and Canada. Remaining are well educated either are housewives or businessmen or civil servants. Mine as well as my brother's children were young in the early nineties and were still in school and college.

The Grandfather passed away at the age 84 in 1978. The Grandmother lived ten years longer. She paid visit to US and Canada twice and stayed for a year each. During her visits, she made it a point to visit all the grandchildren settled here. My own one boy (the other was not born yet) was very fond of her. At the age four he would become English to Hindi interpreter of the Grandmother whenever we were out or shopping or taking a leisurely walk in the neighbourhood.

Now I come back to the incident, two years back in Houston, where I had gone to attend the wedding of a grandchild. Six of the grandchildren were present there. Whenever they found time free, they gathered around me and talked about the good old days in Shimla with the Naanu and Naani (Grandfather and Grandmother). They would tease themselves with the nicknames they were given by the Grandfather. It is then I realized that these kids, now all grown up in the forties and fifties and with their own grown up kids had an amusing memory of Shimla and their time with the grandparents. They probably had fond memory of the Grandfather, who passed away in 1978 but whose memory is still fresh in their mind in 2015. The Grandmother left for the heavenly abode in 1987. They both have been gone for 30-40 years, but the kids keep their memory fresh.

(Translation of the stone slab at the school:

(This place built by Hari Krishan in 1982 in the memory of his late father Lala Khushi Ram Sud Jolewale and handed over to the school as a charity)

The Village Water Well   

In the Village of Pirsaluhi - Himachal Pradesh, India, about 120 miles northeast of Shimla in the Shiwalik Hills, is an ancient looking potable water spring which had been a source of drinking water for about 200 years (as the legend has it). This spring, probably attracted the Muslim "Pir", who settled here in the seventeenth century and later a group of Suds/Soods came from the plains of Punjab and made this place as their home. The source of water of this spring has never been traced, but the water here is pure, unpolluted and cure for many ailments as some doctors would say.

Ancient Water Well at Pirsaluhi

To find a potable water spring so high up in the hills, say at an altitude of 4,000 feet in dry Shiwalik Hills is a find in itself. This mountainous area is sparsely populated. There is plenty of water during the rainy season when the crops are grown, but otherwise for the winter crop it is totally dependent on the mercy of occasional rains. Potable water is whatever the mountain streams and wells yield at various locations. The level of prosperity is low as terraced fields without sources of secure water supply, grow insufficient food.  Hence food is brought from the more prosperous plains. River Beas is only four miles away downhill, but this village cluster cannot get this water uphill, hence all dependencies are on the timely rains. The Gods mostly oblige, but once in a while they do play truant and give the Shiwalik Hills area a miss. External help tides over the people thru. That does not imply that people are dirt poor. That simply is not the case. Almost all families have children, brothers or somebody working in prosperous plains or have joined the army and keep sending money orders and keep the prosperity back home alive. That has been the case since the bad old days of Muslim rule. In fact, it is still the same.

This potable water spring and I am guessing here, originated many generations back. Early settlers discovered a water stream oozing out of the sight and gathering in a natural small pond. In the absence of human habitat in the area, again I am guessing, it was used by the animals in the area to quench their thirst. Animals smell water from a distance, hence is attracted to this site. The Muslim Pir, who settled here; got the wind of pure water from animals heading in that direction. The Pir found the water hole and settled here to prey to Allah and begin the conversion, gently using poetry and meditation. The local land owners, mostly Ranas of Rajasthan and Dogras of Jammu did not object. They allowed him and his few followers to settle and become part of the community. The Jaswan State king, whose kingdom it was, later built a Pir Samadhi for this saintly person.  Sometime later the King sent the homeless, but very prosperous Suds/Soods of Punjab to this area to improve the economic lot of the people and in the process prevent conversion.

Roof and plinth protects the Well

The Suds/Soods first job after their arrival was to secure the water supply not only for themselves but for everybody in this hilltop settlement. The landowners welcomed the move.

As a starting point, I believe they dug up a hole where the water was oozing out and directed the water to the new stone-lined step pond. If you look carefully in this pond, the stonework is ancient, probably dates back to the original settlers time. The upper plinth is new. It was added, my guess is about a generation back when I was a kid in the fifties. Ever since I have known this pond, it had a roof, but when it was newly commissioned, seven or eight generations back, it did not have a roof. It was added later. The roof protected the water from the falling debris, leaves and everything else.

Water from this pond overflowed into another ancient looking pond about ten feet away, which acted as water storage as well as a place where people could take a bath, wash their hands etc. without disturbing the potable water pond. That is not the end of it, the water from the second pond overflows into third and fourth slightly bigger, but at a lower level to the side where people could wash clothes and women folk could take a bath. Hence there were a series of ponds which served different purposes. The overflow of the last pond, in a very ancient looking stone lined stream, watered the animals. The last part i.e. watering the animals is no longer done here anymore. Animals have their fill elsewhere at different streams near or about their own villages.

The water in this well was pure free of bacteria and had some disease curing qualities which the modern science cannot explain. A well-known doctor in Shimla often recommended stomach ailment patients to go to Pirsaluhi and spend three months and drink the natural mineral-rich water. A cure was not certain, but a distinct possibility. My parents swore by the purity of this water. Over a period of time the surrounding to the well as well as other approaches were widened, lined with cut stones and plinth level raised to keep the rainwater getting into the potable water well.

Fetching the water from the well was easy, just a few steps down and you are in the well periphery closer to the water level. Now you can dip a pitcher or a can or simply drink it with your hands from the well. Overflowing water always kept it clean. The continuous overflow of water overnight cleaned up any dirt or debris left in the day. So in the morning, it was always fresh. Every effort was made to keep the well area clean and anybody who could dirty the water was discouraged. Animals could not get to it as a few steps down from the surrounding pathway will discourage them from entering the well area. Moreover, the well was in a high traffic area, rather in the village shopping district, hence anybody disturbing the water in the well was escorted away.

Every year or two (I am not sure) a group of people organized the clean up of the well by emptying it by hand and buckets, dumping water out faster than the natural make-up happened and then cleaning up the debris including algae and any other external materials. After two days of natural renewal water was drinkable again.

A Day at this Well

The well also formed the beehive of activities for the village folks. Since everybody had to come to get the water and lug it up to the residential district up the hill, they sat down for a talk or word with a neighbour or passer-by or exchange words about newer things happening in the village before they started their difficult task of the climb.

Water was carried on the head in pitchers, stacked one above the other in twos or for younger more muscular people in threes. The womenfolk were the first in the morning to get to the well to fetch water for the daily necessities. Men folk came later, after the women were done and returned home. Young men and girls came all the time to fetch the fresh water as the need is. Womenfolk usually sat on a stone platform built around the mango tree and exchanged pleasantries. Men always found a place anywhere else to exchange a word or two or smoke a hookah and so on. Yet, as the time passed became interactive media location for the exchange of all kinds of information whether in this village or elsewhere. Merchandising stores and shops were open in the morning, hence if you were there while fetching the water, you could buy anything needed immediately. The real effort was to lug it about 600 yards up the hill. Hence, buying anything heavy was postponed for the next trip, as the water pictures of the head were heavy enough. As you grew older, it was a difficult task to lug the water up, hence help was sought.

Now here is an issue, women folk when they were there would prefer a bath in the morning; hence the sub ponds were used for that. The men jumped and bathed in ten feet by ten feet by six feet deep ancillary pond, which was next to the drinking water pond. The women used the remaining ponds at a lower elevation for washing clothes or a bath. A small covered area provided a bit of privacy. These were all built on the philanthropy of prosperous Suds/Soods community of the village.

Changing Times

It is not fashionable to lug water up the hill for the new generation who still live in the village area. They wished water at their doorsteps or inside their homes. The elderly would love that opportunity as they cannot get water from the well without help. Indoor water connections would need a huge amount of water to be piped hence it was not possible unless a big source of water is found nearby. What is possible is to provide water tap to a group of houses not far away from their doors. In other words public water taps at no cost. The sane voices were that the water in the well be left alone and anybody who wishes to drink this water is welcomed to drink it but water from the taps is sourced from elsewhere. The local district administration decided to look for water in and around the hills in that area. A source, which most people knew before, was found about three miles away. It was clean and potable. It may not be as mineral rich and fresh as the well water was, nevertheless it was clean water for household use. Pumping and the pipeline was built around 1970 and taps became active soon thereafter. It solved the problem of lugging water up the hill for washing clothes, and other household needs. For drinking water, people could use the new source, but most folks still prefer to use the well water.

This ancient water well is still active and has less pressure on its volume and usage. Tap water from elsewhere has been provided at door steps. It is used for every household needs. Well water is still for drinking purposes. The animals still go to streams elsewhere. When I last saw it five years back, the village well was still active.

A Sketch of Radha Fetching Water from Pond in Mathura

'Longu' the Pirsaluhi General Store Owner

My three big sisters remember him, my big brother remembers him and I have a faint recollection of this old man as a store owner who in Canada would resemble a corner store together with a village Halwai (sweets shop) and general merchandiser. This store owner, "Longu" by name, probably started his business in the thirties and was around until the mid nineties. That is when my big brother last saw him. In his heydays, he sold everything which the village folks needed. There were a number of other merchandisers in the village downtown but Longu was the most popular one. He wished to retain a monopoly on whatever he sold hence other store owners wished not to compete with him. There was a grain merchant, one or two regular grocery stores, another Halwai of village kind, a goldsmith, a diesel grain mill, a tailoring shop, a temple, post office and co-operative bank location, a Muslim Pir shrine, a Rajput LakhDatta shrine and the well known village well and a terraced banyan tree base for people to sit and relax, all at that location. This downtown location (in Western terms), originally was perched on hill slope, but over a period of time it was terraced and a cut stone pathway was built in front of it. Steps from there lead to the famous village well. Going by the stones of the pathway, I would guess that these were original from the day the village came into existence, say about 200 years back.

Longu had his shop right in the middle of it. By all my family accounts (family members since been dead), he was our tenant. Which leads me to believe that my forefathers owned a shop or some kind of business at that location before Longu moved in? People remember that Longu before he settled there, used to carry merchandise in a trunk on his head to other smaller settlements near this village and sell door to door. He in his walking and selling travails had collected enough money to settle in a well built two floor shop. That happened in the thirties.

Pirsaluhi is a small village where 200 years back Sud/Soods fleeing persecution in the plains of Punjab had settled in that location. They were wealthy and had an eye for business. This small village offered them peace and quite, a docile population base with an opportunity to carry grain and money lending business and a source of drinkable water. They built themselves a central merchandising location to serve not only themselves, but also Muslim population who were in greater strength there and all the farming communities (Rajput, Dogra, Brahmin and others) in the surrounding tiny villages. Hence, by all local standards the business for him was booming, hence Longu prospered.

My sisters tell me that in their younger days, the mother would send them to fetch one thing or the other from the Longu's store. My brother remembers the same. Longu could sell you everything from bird's droppings to expensive wedding cloths for the village belle. The Muslim population was particularly his major customer base because, he for a (Dhella - a half penny) would fill up the kerosene lamp, which other store owners would refuse to do. They charged more. Two other Sud store owners e.g. Honsalu and Churrhu were good business men and offered credit but not Longu. He did all his business in cash and at a lower price and hence had a bigger line-up. Families well known to him may pick up merchandise in the morning and pay in the afternoon when they returned to fetch water from the well. That is the most credit, he offered, that too to his known well-paying customers.

Where did he get his merchandise to sell so well? He had three sons and each of them was on the move to get one thing or the other from across the River Beas about 12 miles away, distribution depots. There were no bridges built to cross the river, hence boats were used and again there were no roads, hence pathways were used and mules came handy. He stocked himself well for the season i.e. wedding season or a village fair or a festive season etc. Once my mother needed a brass utensil as a charity donation during her many charity Pujas and only Longu had it of the size and weight she was looking for. My mother sent him a word and he delivered it during the Puja ceremony.

I have really a faint recollection of him, as I was only five years old when my family moved out of the village. Kids have to go to school, my brother was already going to school in Shimla and I had to join him soon. We did return every year during the winter vacations. During winter time Shimla is very cold, hence folks returned to warmer places where they rested and returned in the spring.  Back in the village we will see Longu again and become his customer for candy and other children stuff.

If I remember correctly, he was a tall, thin man, very diplomatic in his conversations and always managed to convince the customers that his price is right and his product is right. His sons were always around him to help him out all the time. There was no exquisite furniture in the store to conduct the business, just a plain old 'Durry' for customers to sit down. He would be sitting next to the glass covered display boxes in front of him for small items which otherwise could be stolen. Behind him were shelves of various merchandise items. He would get the one which the customer pointed and display to him. During spring season colourful glass bangles for women were the hottest items to sell. He or his sons would find and fit the correct size to the young lady's wrist.

I found my father when he came to the village always arguing with him on one thing or the other. First Longu wanted to pay the rent at the rate of early nineteen thirties. My father wanted much higher amount. Second, he would not pay cash, rather would offer merchandise in lieu. These arguments never seem to end, but in the afternoon everything was forgotten and they and other old men were having a chat under the banyan tree or smoking a hookah and reminiscing their good old days.

When I returned during college days in the sixties, he was old probably 60/70 years old but still working. My father asked him to vacate the store, which he did after two years and relocated himself in his own built store about fifty steps away. That original store closed its door and has since then it has remained shut. My other cousins have tried to rent it to others at a higher rent, but there were no takers.

People in the village related me a story in the eighties when he was old and not active that he celebrated a grand wedding of his granddaughter.  He held an expensive wedding feast which is very much cognizant of his new higher financial status. Previously only Sud/Soods of this area did these types of functions. The point here is that this super salesman had collected enough money to buy land in the village vicinity and built a large house for his three sons.  His one son still prospers at the new location. I never bothered to ask about his two other sons.

We all in the family were so amused by this village shopkeeper that my sister, who had been married for thirty years and moved to Delhi, remembered him and stopped by to say hello every time she visited the village.  The same is true of my big brother.

Longu's Son; the new store owner

Last I saw him was in 1987, when my mother passed away, when I and my second big sister went to the village to inform the village folks of her demise and found Longu almost bent over with his back troubles. At the age eighty, that is likely to be the scenario. My sister tried to remind him of her, if he could recollect good old days. He had a faint recollection of the household, but no recollection of her. My brother who visits the village almost every year after my parent's demise stops at his new store (Halwai) for tea and snacks. His son is running the store, and if Longu is present then he will come out and greet him. Well, my brother was a big government officer, so everybody knew him well.

After 1987, I did not go to the village for ten years. Later I learnt that he had died sometime in these years and left his local store to his son, who was already running it anyway. Other boys moved away elsewhere. When Longu died, beside his own shop in the village, he owned 12 Bighas of land, a house and four buffalos. That is a good amount of wealth in a village setting.

I do stop by at Longu's sons Halwai shop for tea and snacks during my rare visits to the village (my last visit in 2011). His son knows me as the younger son of Jolewalle, who lives abroad. His sweets are the very best because he uses his own buffalo milk and 'Khoya' to make them hence these are tastier. Since there are no restaurants in the village, he is delighted to cook lunch for me at a small price. 

Shangri-la at the Foot of Himalayas

Pir Shrine; dates back early 1800s

In his 1933 novel, Lost Horizon, James Hilton described a remote paradise in the Western Himalayas. He called it Shangri-la, a beautiful and a peaceful land. The author had described a mythical land, an earthly paradise where perpetual happiness prevailed. A movie was made and the myth was popularized. Ever since, a search has been, on, to locate this earthly Eden. Various places almost, but not quite fitted James Hilton’s description. What the author described was a slice of a Hindu and Buddhist story in which, a branch of Tibetan royal family, leaves the tumultuous environment of 8th or 9th century in Lhasa and retreats to a retreat in Western Tibet to build a city where perpetual happiness prevailed. They succeeded in their effort. This small kingdom lasted several centuries. A story about it was told in both Hindu and Buddhist literature and was picked up by James Hilton for his famous novel.

The author of this piece hails from a small village in Himachal Pradesh, which he visited last January (2004) after about 10 years lapse and found it matched the mythical description of Shangri-la. It is not quite as described by the Hindu/Buddhist myth or by James Hilton. But it comes close in its serenity, its beauty and its paradise character.

Pirsaluhi, The Shiwalik Shangri-la

In the old hill state of Jaswan (this princely state was dissolved by the angry British in about 1850 or so for a rebellion against them; it happened immediately after the Second Sikh War, but before India’s First War of Independence in 1857).

At the foothills overlooking the great Beas River and about 50 miles from Hoshiarpur on a motor able road is a small foothill village of Kamloo. There the main road forks into two. The main road, which had been following the great river, keeps going to Naduan. But a small road (now motor able) starts the climb of about 3,000 ft above the river bed. In about two miles, half the climb to the Shiwalik Shangri-la is finished and one reaches the village of “Pirsaluhi”. This is my hometown. I was born here. The village takes its name from a “Pir”, a Muslim Sufi saint who came here a few centuries back and made it a home. A shrine built by the then king of Jaswan to commemorate his memory still stands there. The population before the Partition of 1947 was a mix of Muslim & Hindu. The Hindus, who were in the majority in the surrounding area respected the saint, but would not worship at the memorial built by the King, hence set up their own shrine, next door. Today Muslim population is gone and is very sorely missed. Only two families still make this place their home; hence the shrine of Pir lies in a dilapidated condition. The Hindu shrine next door is well looked after and has undergone major upgrades in last 20 years. It is customary for me to pay respect at this shrine before we climb the rest of the distance to reach the Shangri-la of the Shiwalik and my home.

About two hundred and fifty or so years back the then King of Jaswan, invited a bunch of “Sud” families from Punjab to come and settle in the area and use their skills as money managers, to improve the economy of the area and improve the welfare of the people. The local population is subsistence farmers, where enough food does not grow. Their children go to work in the cities or enthusiastically join army and other central services to maintain survival of people back home. The “Suds” being moneylenders settled in Pirsaluhi and many other similar villages in the Jaswan state. My ancestors settled in Pirsaluhi about 250 years or so back. I believe when they searched for a proper place to build their homes and set up a life style for them, “Suds” had to select an area and seek the King’s permission. They decided against settling next to the “Pir” shrine, as the Muslim population inhabited it. Other villages, which were inhabited by the local population of Rajputs, Dogras and other caste probably, were ruled out also. Hence, they selected on a hilltop location another half a mile up from the shrine, with a ninety-degree straight climb, reaching a ridge at the top which is about 200 yards wide and a mile long. Here the “Sud” village of Pirsaluhi came into existence.

Why did they select this place?

I believe my forefathers had been nature lovers. They probably stood at the ridge top vantage point, in the midst of lush green trees and looked around. In the north, at a distance, they saw the valley of the River Beas, where the mighty river was meandering its way to the plains. At a distance across the river, they saw the great temple of Goddess Jawalamukhi (only 10 miles away). Yonder they saw the snowy peaks of “Dhauli Dhar”. In the south, they saw the Shiwalik hills continuing further and further.

In the West, the ridge ended into a steep fall. A similar sight greeted them in the east. As they looked below before the river Beas, they were greeted by a lush green land continuing for miles, all terraced and cultivated. The elders saw this place and its beauty and fell in love with it. This is the spot where they decided, they would set up their homes for the next century or two. Had the elders, chosen to settle near the “Pir” shrine, they would have missed all this picture perfect view on the top. And I would dare say that; it is here the description of James Hilton of Shangri-la was partially met.

When I last visited Geneva in Switzerland, I found similar beauty, except that the Lake Geneva had been replaced by the River Beas. The two places are 6,000 miles apart, but are comparable.

This place, the Sud clan called it home. They build their havelis (mansions, now lie in dilapidated condition), bungalows and large houses and began to make a living. To connect the hilltop area with the main village down below, they built cut stone pathways, ten feet wide, which reached the Sud homes in three flights as the straight climb would

Large Mansions built; now lie abandoned

have been impossible to climb. As the clan multiplied in numbers, more houses were built (29 in all). Each was connected by cut stone pathways to the main pathway from the shrine. The houses they built were an utter beauty, and matched the landscape. These stone & mortar construction, three floors high with wood doors and windows matched their prosperity. The first Haveli (of my cousins) is built on a 60-degree angle slope, with supporting column reaching 50 feet high. Its pointed arches (and several of them) describe a high prosperity of the people, who built and lived in it. As the revenue records describe, my Great Grand Father lived in this haveli with his brothers. As the family grew he moved to another part of the Village, which was more picturesque, and offered more free land and a place for the family to expand in the coming years. As customary, he connected his new house with a cobblestone pathway to the main pathway. All this happened probably one hundred and fifty years back. As senior grandfather’s family grew, three more houses were built right next to the original, all of stone and masonry, all of them three floors high and all had a durable slate roof. The enclosing area of the four houses was covered with cut and polished slab stones about an area 50 feet by 40 feet wide. My father built the fourth and the last house of this section of the settlement in 1942. The family was celebrating my arrival in the world.

Other houses with stone front yard

What else is Exciting in Pirsaluhi?

Here, time does not move as fast as it moves in the big cities. It is quite all around. Occasionally the quiet is broken by the chattering of the children returning home after school or occasional bark of the dog or domesticated animals being driven to the watering hole. People here do not wish too much more. They have a quite satisfying life. They grow whatever they can. Their children who work in the cities send additional cash to them. That is how the quite life goes on.

Besides its scenery and serenity, Pirsaluhi can boast of having a primary school (now a Higher Secondary School) way back in 1938. A hospital dates back to 1935. A shopping district attracts fairs and celebrations in the spring season. Pure spring water here has well known medicinal qualities. All these were, first for this area. All of these were built with philanthropic donations from the Sud community. In last thirty year's water supply, electricity and telephone have been extended to this area. Smartly dressed boys and girls can be seen going to the school everyday. A big line up always awaits the doctor at the hospital. A new phenomenon has been witnessed i.e. the spread of cell phone to this area. Quite a few people are supporting these in their breast pockets. A water spring near the Sufi Saints memorial is still in use and is the main source of potable water for the village. In the not too distant past, my mother and my sisters carried water on their heads in containers and lugged it all the way up the hill. Today it is piped to homes, including the hilltop Sud housing.

Not very Many People Live there and why?

Part of the reason, why the village looks frozen in time is that after 1947, the Sud clan members started to move to the cities of Shimla and elsewhere. They left their havelis intact, and frozen in time. The latter is a reminder of the bygone era. Since the population growth was arrested, rather declined, this place managed to preserve its attractive character. Except for the overgrowth of shrubbery or broken retaining walls here and there, everything else is intact. One can stand at the same spot, where the elders, stood a few generations back and enjoy the beauty of the place. I missed the March/April (Alas! I had to return to Canada) flower bloom period. I remember my sisters going for the wild flower gathering, everyday in the morning during the spring bloom period. As the winter rains complete their task of rejuvenating the fields, it is green all around. The fields are terraced, as no level land exists. But these are well tilled. From a distance they present a beautiful sight. The farmers are hospitable. They are well mannered and helpful. Everybody I met, including the last old man of the previously thriving Muslim community knew not me but my family. I had left the village at the age five to join a school in Shimla in 1947 and had only occasionally returned. But the memories of the people there about us were good. A simple mention of the housing complex I was heading to and my father’s name, told them, who I was. They remembered all about my senior brothers and sisters. They were sorry to know that

Phaila last old man of the Muslim community, now 85

they are all dead. My house, which my father built, still stands. It is well looked after. My big brother was taking a good care of it in my absence. He did not live in the village, but made it a point to look after it well.

Have I described to you the Shiwalik Shangri-la Well?

I believe the comparison of this place to mythical Shangri-la is obvious. But there are few contrasts. People who have been searching for Shangri-la in the Western Tibet have found ruins. In case of Sud, Pirsaluhi, it is not ruins. It is still a thriving community.

Building a Major City in a Dry Farmland

The City Of Chandigarh - 1955

When I first passed thru this new city (Chandigarh) in Punjab in 1955, its construction was only 30% complete. A few of its city roads had been built, but construction trucks and labour was present in thousands all over the city limits.  Makeshift bus stop loaded and unloaded incoming and outgoing passengers a bit farther away from the actual bus terminus which was still under construction. A small shopping district had been built at one edge of the town to serve the current population base. Bigger shopping districts were yet to be built.  At a distance, you could see two huge concrete structures rising over the horizon, one the High Court building and the other the Civil Secretariat (Government offices) were being built on a priority basis. These I guess from the outside were close to completion, except may be the internal fittings and plumbing were yet to be installed. A half complete temple on this side of the main Chandigarh-Ropar road and Gurdawara on the other side were also functioning. The roads were mostly empty when the construction activity ceased in the evening. Less than fifteen thousand people were living there, who were mostly builders, road construction crews and architect & engineers who were spearheading the completion of the project in next three years. This city was being built to house an estimated three hundred thousand people. The priority was to relocate the scattered government offices from other cities to Chandigarh as soon as possible. First to arrive in the makeshift brick and mortar offices here were the civil administration - police, temporary civil & criminal courts, real estate offices etc. Others like utilities - power, water and drainage system arrived next to put the city structure in place. They were working overtime to finish what was needed immediately. A sprinkling of government offices all over the ten miles by ten miles area began functioning as soon as the provincial government announced that most government offices, legislature and other related offices will relocate to the new city by 1957/58. A university was being built a bit farther away from midtown at the North-West corner of the city and its construction had also been speeded up. A mid size hospital was completed early enough before any office buildings were completed, so did the primary and secondary schools. It was the High Court, which began to function first in 1957. Other government offices began relocating from 1957 onwards. For an inexperienced state government in town planning, the learning curve in major construction activity was short and quick. But unmindful of problems and roadblocks on the way, this task of relocating the state capital was well on its way in 1958. For them the limiting factor was residential accommodation in the new city. The State government jumped in and built huge residential complexes all over the city. Hence it was a major feather in the cap of the then state Chief Minister Partap Singh Kairon.

I was in a grade eight school trip to Bhakara -Nangal dam in 1955 and Chandigarh was on its way after we got off the tiny narrow gauge train at Kalka from Shimla. From there, it was a bus trip all the way to Bhakara and back. Our teachers accompanying us rightly decided that Chandigarh will be a stop on our return journey.

Punjab, the eastern part, had lost its capital at Lahore and government functioned from makeshift temporary locations of Shimla and elsewhere. Hence the foremost task in front of the provincial government was to build itself a new capital in a central location, midway between Amritsar and Delhi.  This capital will house the government, including the legislature, education/university headquarter and if possible a centre of commerce and industry. Its location was a fair part of the debate in the early fifties. There were three preconditions; 

 1). Availability of land  

2). Adequate water supply. 

3). Proximity to other urban centres.

Finally the current location was chosen in around 1950/51 and the foundation stone was laid in 1952. The location had an added benefit of a broad gauge rail link of Ambala and Kalka with the nearest train station at ChandiMandir.  The land was acquired over two years time and a famous French architect and town planner - Le Corbusier of France was hired for city planning and firm up the basic design of the city and the major buildings.

Le Corbusier had at its disposal a huge sandy tract of land anywhere from ten miles by ten miles and more with a seasonal stream - Sukhna Cho, in the middle. Another seasonal stream existed at the other end of the location. If these two streams were left alone, these would be a source of flooding during the rainy season. So the planning included, damming one to form a lake and leave the other alone.  This huge lake required a mile long earthen dam hence that sized Lake was created. To beautify this, a recreational complex was created. With one major task of safeguarding the city over, Le Corbusier and his team settled down to design residential, commercial and government office complexes.  He kept the offices on one side (north East) and divided the flat sandy area into 28 equal sized sectors less 13 which was considered an inauspicious number. Other

Original Plans

than the sectors where the government offices were to be located, he divided the rest mostly into residential and commercial sectors and numbered them accordingly. Straight line roads connected sectors. Unlike the rest of Punjab, these roads would be wide and level. The underground drainage system was dug early on, to safely dispose of household waste and storm water. The university, colleges, major hospital etc. were concentrated in North-West area and were easily accessible from the city centre. Residential, commercial and business shopping activity was designed for all residential sectors. Care was taken not to build too much residential housing in one area only hence the heavy concentration of population was prevented. Later an industrial area was planned which would house small scale and medium sized industry.

         Le Corbusier with town sketches

Construction began in earnest in 1953/54. It took that amount of time to settle the displaced persons from the land now earmarked for building the city. Tube wells were dug to meet the potable water needs. Power arrived early from the main power grid linking Bhakara with the rest of Punjab and Delhi. The first shovel of dirt for major office building complex was picked in 1953/54 after a few roads were constructed.

Original Land site in 1950

In fact on this dry farmland farming was harder hence the land was dry to the bone and compacted over centuries. This provided a solid base for construction. Thousands of workers arrived from all over the state to work on construction with their first task being to build roads. Some were metalled right away. Others took some time. The government buildings construction began in earnest. These large buildings will not be brick and mortar buildings. Instead, these ten floor tall buildings would be concrete and steel buildings.  Smaller buildings will follow the regular brick and mortar construction techniques.

When I saw it in the fall of 1955, this construction had already given the city, its shape and was about 30% complete. There were hardly any cars on the road, a human peddled or auto peddled rickshaw was the only means of transport. Individuals used their own bicycles.  An occasional local bus service provided transport to hospital, shopping district and school/colleges. The latter had started functioning partially a year earlier. One thing distinctly noticed was the huge amount of open space left to build gardens, recreational sports centres etc. That was the first time since Moguls in Delhi and Lahore in the seventeenth century that gardens and rec. areas were provided right in the middle of the city.

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A Boy's first impression of Chandigarh

It was amusing two days for 24 boys like me to spend in a city under construction in 1955.Truthfully we had not seen wide roads, that many bicycles or that many trucks carrying building material from one place to the other Shimla. Our teachers arranged a few foot paddled rickshaws to see the city in the afternoon after we parked our bags in a government operated 'Sarai' for an overnight stay. Three in one rickshaw, we loaded ourselves, eight or nine rickshaws in all and we followed the lead rickshaw puller wherever he took us. If I remember correctly, we started from Sector 22 bus stop after a hearty meal of rice and other items and a huge piece of Chapatti called Nan. We from Shimla had hardly known the Naan. It was amusing to eat it while it is hot and it really tasted good. 

Our rickshaw tour passed in front of a half finished temple in Sector 23 and five minutes of the ride on a straight road we came face to face to a high school building. It was a beautiful three floor cement and concrete building with a huge unfinished playground in front of it. By our standards, it was a huge building, the likes of which we had never seen in Shimla before. One of our teachers snapped some pictures with his Afga camera. Next, after ten minutes of rickshaw ride, we were in Sector 14. The rickshaw puller who was acting as a guide said that this is where the University will be located. Two of the tallest buildings looked complete and a long train of donkeys was carrying sand to the concrete mixer at the site. It was fun to watch at least two batches of 30 donkeys each moving at a slow pace with their master shouting commands at them. The University departments which had been scattered after the 1947 partition would be relocated here in a few years.

At a distance we saw the same huge tall buildings (10 Storey high) and we were itching to get to these buildings as fast as we could. That is where the big shot officers and ministers, some of whom we knew them in Shimla, would work. On way after a few right angle twists and turns, we saw another building under construction. The lead guide said that he believed that it was the Engineering College building. Our faces lit up and all of us, when we grew up, wished to be here. The Engineering College temporarily had been relocated to Roorkee after the 1947 partition. These new buildings would house that institute in a year or two.

After ten minutes of the ride and a wayside stop, to get a drink of water from a fountain, we arrived in front of that massive building which we were seeing it from a distance, called Secretariat. Visitors were not allowed within five hundred feet of it and we were told that work goes on night and days. As a consolation prize, the High Court building is almost ready but still unoccupied. Visitors can pass in front of it without stopping. Our rickshaw puller did that and we admired the building as unique. It is built on an awe inspiring scale. Its curved arches were at least 70 feet high. We had seen nothing like this, ever before.

Sukhana Lake and leisure Walk pathway

It was almost two hours since we boarded the rickshaws and the rickshaw pullers were getting tired; hence they called for a break at the next tea stop which was a tent shop serving tea and cold drinks. Half an hour later we were all back on our rides heading generally in the direction of where we boarded the rickshaws. I believe they had been hired for the three hour ride accordingly they were paid by our teachers. The spot we alighted from the rickshaws, later we came to know is partially complete Sector 22 shopping district.  We walked around this area and felt a bit tired. It was evening when our teachers took us back to the Sarai for overnight stay. We ate our supper and opened our bags for a change and spread ourselves on the cots provided. It was a delightful day.

We were expected to be ready by 10.00am the next day for a second round of tour of this partially finished city. Almost, all the rickshaw pullers of yesterday arrived except two who found other passengers.

Now we headed towards the recreational spot of Sukhna Lake, North-East corner of the city. On the way we ran in Sector 19 shopping district of Shop cum Flats, which was partially complete and had been occupied by prospective store owners. We had nothing to buy so we kept our cool and stayed in our transports, going straight to the Sukhna Lake. Soon we arrived at the lake. It was the French Architect's contribution to the general town planning of the city that a seasonal stream has been dammed and a big body of water has been collected to form a lake. Otherwise, this seasonal stream will flood whatever comes in its path during the rainy season. This safety measure is now a recreational headquarters and water sports centre for Chandigarh residents. It is a fun place with boats in it. We did not know the depth of the water in the lake and since none of us knew swimming, hence our teachers asked us to cease and desist from any temptation of going for a boat ride. It was fun to be walking in cool breeze blowing on this artificial bund built to contain the water. It later has been beatified and made as a leisure walk area for the people. On our return journey, we passed in front of the Governor House and minister and judges residential area. These were all massive compared to tiny accommodation they lived in Shimla.

Everything we saw in Chandigarh was new and very big. The open areas were equally impressive. At one spot the rickshaw pullers stopped in the middle of the road and pointed in the direction of an open space and said that there are plans to build a rose garden here. All varieties of roses from all over India will be planted here. That will be a great horticultural addition to the city life.

Author lived in a similar house next to the temple in Sector 23 with his big brother in Sector 23 (1959-61)

Soon we arrived back, extremely pleased that we saw a new city under construction which many in Shimla had not seen. We gathered our bags from the Sarai and got ready to board a 4.00pm bus to Kalka which had already been booked. Later we will catch the overnight train to Shimla.

Three years after my first trip, I visited Chandigarh again with my big brother, whose job had been relocated to Chandigarh. I did not go to all the places which I had seen on my first visit, but by all appearances, the city was getting complete and bigger. Whatever was half complete then was now complete. Roads and shopping districts in Sector 22, 23, 19, 29, 8, 10, 14, 16 etc. were complete. There were more people on the roads and bicycles were in abundance. The High Court and the Civil Secretariat buildings had been occupied and other buildings were nearing competition.

Two years hence, after my two years in college, I joined the Engineering College in Chandigarh and stayed there for four more years. At that time, whatever remained unfinished was being completed in a rush. It was a job well done.

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Sixty Years Later

I like Chandigarh; I have spent six years of my early life in a college & University here. Its streets, shopping districts, big buildings are all landmarks. Since Le Corbusier days, the planned 29 Sectors (less 13th) have expanded to 50 and more. The city area has doubled in size than it was planned. In the beginning it was planned to house 300,000, today it houses 900,000 people. City services are being strained as usual. Two additional satellite towns have grown next to it, one in Haryana, - PunchKula and the other one in Punjab, - Mohali. These two cities supplement the residential crunch in Chandigarh without impacting the open spaces, parks and recreation space etc. Commercial activity has caught up with this sudden growth in population. A number of enclosed and air-conditioned shopping centres have come up on the periphery of the city. Originally built roads are handling most of the traffic well. Streets, which were left narrow in the beginning, are being widened. With extensive use of cars by most residents, car park space is at a premium. Power is expensive, hence outdoor is not lit, and well as most other new cities are. Four floor buildings are not served by elevators; hence occupancy on third and fourth floors of the commercial buildings is difficult.

It is a well kept city, although the cleanliness standard and upkeep of the government built residential buildings (1955/59) could be improved. Le Corbusier's basic design has survived the test of the time. All the buildings he designed and built are landmark today. He left in 1957 after his town planning and architectural contract was over. The work continued by his able local assistants and Chandigarh stands today as landmark city built from scratch in a record time.

(Until 1970 my big brother was stationed at Chandigarh, hence the author had many opportunities to visit the city and see it when it was brand new. Later, after I moved to US/Canada, I visit the city now and then for a short period of time)

Chandigarh Today

 

                                                         

Secretariat Building under Construction 1955

                           

The day the Leopard paid a visit 

I was in my village home during summer of 1965. At that time I had finished my engineering studies and was waiting for a job appointment. I went to stay with my parents in the village which they yearned for ages. It was a delightful month and a half I spent there listening to my elders, cousins and village folks all the stories about the village.

One thing I distinctly noticed that there was abundance of stray dogs, so much so that they were nuisances at the shopping district and also at homes. They were always there, no matter how much you shoo... them. My mother had a bamboo stick at hand at home to ward them off. I cannot remember anybody bitten by them with serious consequences, but this was a nuisance anyway. I asked the local landowner 'Seetu of Marrar' that why so many dogs in the village are there? He answered that by telling me a short story. He said that the local leopard which frequented this area has not been around. Either it has been hunted down or it is scared of the electric lights which had arrived in the village a year earlier.  Since the leopard hunts in the early evening hours, these lights bother it, hence it has moved deeper into the jungle. But occasionally it pays a visit and grabs a stray dog or a domesticated animal if he could. He continued that dogs are leopard's favourite meals. He can grab it, suffocate it and carry it away in his jaws about a mile or so and have a hearty meal without being disturbed. Since the leopard has not been seen around for a while hence the dog population has multiplied in the village.  My immediate question to him was that how often the leopard comes now. His answer was that the leopard travel miles to get a meal. Sometimes, he may stage an attack in this village or other times other village's miles away. Because of evening electric lights are hurting his hunting pattern, it has switched to late nights, and also goes to villages which have not been electrified.

Others in the village also related similar stories and their encounter with the leopard over their lifetime. These farmers are not afraid of it and face it with a huge courage. They carry a long tree branch pitch fork in their hand when they go out at night. If the leopard is not hungry then it does not bother anybody. If it attacks then their pitch fork comes handy. One or two stories which were related to me were of dangerous encounter kind.

Farmers tie their livestock indoors to deny the leopard an easy prey. They tie a buffalo in front of the other livestock. The leopard is afraid of this black great sized animal. A goat, a lamb or a dog is a fair game for it. Even a cow is not spared, but a buffalo for it is a scary animal.

I asked them that when its last visit to our villages was? One of the "Dogra" resident related that last he heard was that an attack on a lamb in a village six miles off. It was a daylight attack and it took away a baby lamb when the animals were being taken to the watering hole. It was a daring encounter.

There is a significant Sheppard population in the area. They are migrants who in winter come down the high slopes, which is their home in summer. They pass-by nearby slopes with a herd of their goats and sheep in around our dry hills. Nobody likes their presence in our area as sheep destroys the vegetation by pulling the grass out from the roots. But they do bring wool with them for trade and they move on quickly to other slopes. The leopard follows them for an easy meal. The Sheppard's usually keep with them a flock of very ferocious looking dogs that scare the attacking leopard and also warn the Sheppard of the approaching danger. 

As I heard more and more stories I found them fascinating. One such incident many years back happened to one of the farmers in the area. He was coming back, a bit late in the evening, after visiting his daughter in the nearby village. He had a flaming torch of rag tied to stick and dipped in kerosene in his hand. It both lighted the way and warmed the leopard, if it was around that this traveller is armed with a fire weapon. The farmer did not know that he was being watched by a leopard. Nearer to a bend on the road the leopard decided to pass over from one position of the hill slope to the other. It simply jumped to the other side. It was well over twenty foot jump, which a leopard while stationary does it with ease. But in the process, its very long tail hit the shoulder of the farmer. The farmer said that it seemed that a sledge hammer had hit his shoulder and he was knocked down to the ground and the burning torch fell off his hand at a distance. The torch was still burning, which scared the leopard away. As he got up he could only hear the rustle of the leaves indicating that the leopard has slipped away. The farmer a bit scared got up, grabbed his torch and went on his way. This incident some years back became the talk of the town. It was not an attack but was a very close encounter.   

When my big brother was going to a boarding school about eight miles away from my village, there was a leopard, which was prowling the area, mostly for food. People made a huge effort to scare it away but of no avail, hence they asked a "Shikari" (hunter) to come and help the people out. For an easy skin of the leopard, he agreed to do it. Normally it is forbidden to hunt unless the animal becomes a danger to the community. It was a danger of untold amount, especially if there is a school nearby. The overconfident Shikari went in the surrounding jungle in the evening searching for the leopard. The Shikari in his second or third search effort, found the leopard about fifty yards in front of him. Before he could load his gun, the leopard jumped on him. He had no choice but stick the barrel of his gun into the leopard's mouth. It tried to chew the barrel but did not succeed. In the meantime the Shikari raised an alarm and others following him in its search came to the rescue. He escaped with a few scratches and temporarily called off the hunt. He went out looking for it many times after that, but the leopard had retreated deeper into the jungle and could not be found

These incidents are not uncommon and nobody gets overtly scared. People do not take undue risks, but also are not afraid if they accidentally face the wild animal.  

In one such incident happened near my home when we were asleep in an open Verandah together with my uncles, aunties, cousins in the summer of 1965. Fresh cool air makes sleeping in the open air very enjoyable.  When all of us were in deep sleep in the middle of night one of my cousin heard noises emanating from the shed where animals were kept for the night. The doors of the shed are not shut as the animals also need air to breathe. A large buffalo is tied in the front as a precaution. Since my cousin heard animal noises, he immediately raised the alarm. His guess was that a leopard looking for a meal passed in front of us where we were sleeping and went straight to the animal shed.  It is presumed that the leopard tried to get into the shed, but found buffalo tied in the front, which prevented it. The buffalo scared the leopard away, but the cows raised the alarm. Everybody ran to the rescue as their guess was that the leopard is around and it is hungry, hence would pay a return visit that night. My cousins and uncles armed themselves with whatever they could find but nobody wished to go around looking for it as it was dark and the hungry leopard is dangerous. We settled down until the dawn. Then the word spread that the leopard had been around and attacked our cow-shed. A few days later the people began to miss a black and white stray dog and immediately concluded that two nights back when the leopard visited our cow shed, it in fact grabbed that dog. Now I got scared. I am not very brave to face a wild animal of my own. But everybody else went around their regular way of life unmindful that leopard is still around.

Since then, I have returned to the village occasionally, whenever if my parents were not in Shimla then they were in the village. But I never ran into wild animal stories or heard of its visits to the area. These probably been hunted down or retreated into the upper reaches of the Shiwalik Hills, where they would find food much easier.

Leopards are still a menace in HP. Read the recent newspaper report:

http://www.tribuneindia.com/news/himachal/despite-rising-attacks-govt-cold-to-leopard-mapping/502948.html