My Punjab Diary
Author: Dr. K.S. Kang
Punjab- land of five rivers- is perhaps as old as the five rivers that flow through it. To me it is a special land as it is also land of my birth and my ancestors. It was only my father who came out of the land of his childhood to serve as a teacher in a military residential school at Chittorgarh in Rajasthan. My all relatives including that of my wife too reside in Punjab. Talking about Punjab it is pertinent to say that it has suffered a lot in the last century. Like a Gangrene patient with diabetic state it has been amputated so much time and again that currently only a dwarf of the original Punjab exists where not five rivers but only two rivers flow across the state. Though there is third River named Ravi also but it only touches the state of Punjab briefly in Gurdaspur district before flowing into Pakistan. In the beginning of twentieth century Punjab used to be one of the largest province of British India ranging from Peshawar and Multan in the west to Shimla in the North and even Delhi in the East. The first amputation of Punjab came in1911 when Britishers decided to shift their capital from Kolkotta to Delhi and so it was separated from Delhi. Then in 1947 accepting the demand of Muslim League Britishers decided to create a new state of Pakistan for the muslims and thus half or rather better half of Punjab went with Pakistan including its cultural capital Lahore. So the second amputation was also done by a Britisher named Lord Radcliffe who was given the charge to draw the frontiers between India and Pakistan. Third amputation of Punjab came in the sixth decade of the twentieth century when the hill districts and Hindi speaking areas of Punjab were carved into two states of Himachal Pradesh and Haryana. As a result of these repeated amputations Punjab that was land of five rivers was reduced to three rivers only and that too a river just touching the tip of the state in Gurdaspur district before flowing into the state of Pakistan.
Punjab is primarily agriculture hub and centre of agro based industries and machinery. One of the dominant forces, atleast in Indian Punjab is the Sikhism which was founded by Guru Nanak Dev ji and the peasantry of the state which is quite a force in the state embraced this faith in seventeenth and eighteenth century under the fourth Guru Ram Das ji and the fifth Guru Arjan Dev ji. With time the economy of Punjab has diversified into the industrial towns of Ludhiana and Jalandhar, and the heritage and spiritual tourism in the places like Amritsar, Patiala and Faridkot. After independence state has emerged as power house of Games and Sports particularly in the arena of Athletics, Wrestling, Kabbadi and the national game Hockey. One of the National Institute of Sports (NIS) is located at Patiala producing a number of illustrious personalities and luminaries in the field of Games and Sports.
Chetan Bhagat composed a novel entitled “Two States” involving two states of Punjab and Tamil Nadu. To one state his parents belonged to that is Punjab and to the other his beloved’s parents and relatives belonged to that is Tamil Nadu. In my life also two states were involved intricately and involved and these two states are Punjab and Rajasthan. As my father belonged to Punjab as he was born, brought up and educated there and then came to teach Physics in a residential school at Chittorgarh in Rajasthan. So mostly our vacations were spent in Punjab and that too in the villages to which my father and my mother belonged to. Hence we spent nearly a month per year in the state of Punjab that had familiarized me with the state of Punjab as well. After passing away of my parents my contact with Punjab continued as my wife’s brothers and parents too settled in their native village in Punjab though they had also spent a greater part of their lives in Rajasthan. Though these two states of Punjab are culturally and linguistically apart but these differences are not so much glaring as between the states of Punjab and Tamil Nadu. Though I was born in a small village Parao Mehna, where my mother’s parents lived, near the town and in district of Moga and my father’s family belonged to another place named Dharamkot which also fell in the district of Moga but due to my father’s job I had spent most of the life in Rajasthan. As I had also got job with the state government of Rajasthan so I had nearly spent 60 years of my life in this colourful state. It is true that I know some of the places in Punjab well like Moga, Ludhiana, Dharamkot, Muketsar, Kotkapura, Ferozepur and like but with that it is also equally true that I know almost ever place in Rajasthan well like the back of my hand. The aim of this diary is to primarily record the experience of my visit to some of the places in Punjab after my visit to the state after my superannuation from Government Service of the State of Rajasthan. As now, after retirement I had no constraint of leaves so I planned to spend a few days in Sonepat, Haryana, where my elder son is teaching Law at reputed international private university, a day or two at Chandigarh and about eight to ten days in Punjab. So I intend to describe the places, including the villages, that I had visited during my stay in Punjab. I also intend to go to Chandigarh to participate in the birthday of my younger niece’s daughter who have come all the way from Canada to celebrate it.
Before coming to my journey to Punjab I would like to dwell a little on the social condition of people living in it, particularly peasant class. Coming of Sikhism, founded by Guru Nanak Dev ji brought respite to the people of Punjab as it guaranteed social equality to everybody, atleast in the matter of praying and going into religious places. Every body had right to pray and go into Gurudwara ( Sikh Temple) without any distinction and discrimination of caste, creed, gender and colour. This popularised this faith in Punjab and a great chunk of peasantry embraced this faith in the times of fourth Guru Ram Das ji, Fifth Guru Arjan Dev ji and the sixth Guru Hargobind Sahib ji .Later on tenth and the last Guru Gobind Singh ji gave it right to take up weapons and struggle not only for existence but also against injustice and exploitation by transforming the peasantry of Punjab into a military outfit, ready to take up weapons at their Guru’s call against oppression. Though Sikhism provided social parity among the people but still the economic condition of the common man, particularly peasants did not improve a lot. They were still suffering poverty as they were forced to pay exorbitant rate of interest on the advances as loans taken from the money lenders. The common saying about Indian farmer that he takes birth in debt, lives in debt and dies in debt was also true for the Punjabi farmers, irrespective of the faith whether he was a Hindu, Muslim or a Sikh. So the marginal farmer was being crushed under the heavy yoke of debt and interest till Unionist Party, under the leadership of Sir Sikander Hyat Khan came to power in United Punjab in 1937 and he made an enterprising young educated legislator Sir Chottu Ram as his Revenue Minister. He gave respite to Indian farmers at large by convincing Britishers to frame a law against the extortion by the money lenders from the poor, resourceless farmers in the form of high rate of interest on the loans leading sometimes more amount paid by the farmer in the form of interest than the Principal amount. So this legislation wrote off the loans whose interest have been paid for more than ten years believing that in ten years the amount of interest paid exceeded much more than the amount taken by a person as a loan. Money lending class termed it as black law and Chottu Ram became chief villain for them, but it was hailed as a great step to by the farming community of Punjab as it released a number of farmer from vicious circle of debt, interest and poverty. And as number of foreigners looted the people of Punjab a number of times in History but still they could not take the fertility of soil of this state as a result of which agriculture is thriving like anything in this state still.
Chandigarh
Though my journey to Punjab commenced on 18th August 2023 by car as my wife’s mother, who is an old lady of nearly 85 years old had come to meet us at the time of my superannuation function was staying with us and we had to go to leave her to her village in Punjab. As due to her old age she could not walk much on the platforms so we decided to take journey by car. On the evening of 18th we reached Jaipur and after resting there for a day we proceeded to Sonepat, Harayana where my son is teaching law at a private university. After staying there for a day we proceeded towards Chandigarh to participate in the birthday celebrations of my younger niece’s one year old daughter who had come from Canada to celebrate her birthday.
Chandigarh, the dream city of India’s first Prime Minister Jawahar Lal Nehru, was planned by the famous French architecture le Corbusier. Picturesquely situated at the foothills of Shivalik, it is known as one of the best experiments in urban planning and modern architecture in the twentieth century in India. It is a union territory that is common capital for both the states of Punjab and Haryana. It derives its name from the temple of ‘Chandi Mandir’ located in the vicinity of the site selected for the city. In March 1948, the Government of Punjab in consultation with Government of India approved the area of the foothills of the shivaliks as the site for the new capital. The location of the city site was a part of erstwhile Ambala district as per 1892-93 gazetteer of District Ambala. Subsequently at the time of the reorganization of the state on 1-11-1966 into Punjab, Haryana and Himachal Pradesh, the city assumed the unique distinction of being the capital city of both these two states of Punjab and Haryana. It is famous for Sukhna Lake, Rock Garden , Rose Garden and Pinjore Garden near Panchkula in Haryana.
We proceeded to Chandigarh by car and my son was driving car and by noon we reached the hotel Shivalik Hills, situated in the central position of Sector 17-E in the city. My son decided to drove us to this place by car and we checked into the hotel in the noon and after resting for a few hours we came out of the rooms to join the birthday celebrations in the hotel that last nearly midnight. It was a nice occasion for reunion with friends and relatives who had come to attend the birthday celebrations. As my son had to attend the university next day we got up early in the morning next day and came back to Sonepat by noon. As we had already seen Sukhna Lake, Rose Garden, Rock Garden and Pinjore Garden, so we had no plans to visit these places again.
After coming back to Sonepat and staying there for about a week it was decided to move towards Punjab. Again my son volunteered to drive us to the village where my in-laws lived. So we moved on 3rd September 2023 to Punjab in the morning and reached there by lunch time.
Sujapur 4-9-2023
Sujapur is a breakaway village from the neighbouring large village of Hans Kalan. In fact it came into existence due to a disgruntled woman who shifted her family to her farms situated outside the village. The name of the revenue official of the village, Patwari, was Surajaram, who helped her to relocate in this place, hence it was named as Surjapura that with time changed to Sujapur. We reached here yesterday and today on 4th September 2023 my son went back to his work at Sonepat by the same car in which he had brought us here. Today it was decided to meet the local friends and relatives residing in the village. My father-in-law were four brothers and three sisters, though none of them was their real sister. So atleast there were four houses to be visited today. First of all we went to my uncle-in-law’s house who had retired from Indian Air Force from non-commissioned rank of Warrant Officer. Though he had passed away and his surviving son is doing cultivation on his own land. He had a son and a daughter. His son is post graduate in Chemistry and is teaching at a private school in the nearby town. After returning from their house lunch was ready and after taking lunch and post lunch siesta in the evening we went to another uncle-in-law’s house. Whole life he had been a farmer. He had two sons. The elder one is plying a school bus while the younger one is still working with the Electricity Department of the State as a Lineman. Their mother is perhaps the oldest surviving woman of the village- a nongenerian but she is totally deaf though she can speak normally.
Muketsar 5-9-2023
Today morning after breakfast we moved out of the village to meet our relatives. First of all we went to Muketsar to meet Grandson and daughter-in law of of my paternal aunt, my father’s sister. After changing bus at Jagaraon and at Moga we reached Muketsar in the afternoon. After taking some snacks and afternoon siesta we went in the evening to visit the historical gurudwara of this place. This place or rather this historical gurudwara is associated with the tenth and the last Guru of Sikhism Guru Gobind Singh ji. Originally named as Khidran ki Dhab in a semi-arid terrain with a lake. Today it is a district headquarters and a significant historical town of the state. Not much is known about the early history of the present area of the city. It may partly be due to River Sutlej’s known notoriety for changing its course time and again and it is believed that this river flowed to the east of the town in pre historical times. While shifting its course it is said to have levelled down everything that came in its way as a result of which the current area is totally destitute of ancient buildings and contains no place mentioned in early records. Legends connected with Raja Saiban attach to one or two other ruined sites near Muketsar such as that of Sarainaga. However, the city does not date from an earlier period than Akbar’s reign. In the medieval ages this territory was ruled by Parmar Rajputs whose branches of Manj Naipal and Dogra Rajputs came from Jaisalmer in Rajasthan under the leadership of Raja Hel and settled in the south of the present town. They defeated Parmars and firmly established themselves. His son Burar had two sons- Paur and Dhul, the younger of whom held almost the whole of the region of Muketsar region. Many of these Bhati Rajputs followed the Sikh Gurus and embraced Sikhism during the reign of Guru Gobind Singh ji. These Bhatti Rajputs have fought against Mughal Imperial Armies alongside the tenth guru of the Sikhs Guru Gobind Singh ji. After the battle of Chamkaur in 1705, Guru Gobind Singh ji was looking for a suitable place from where he could regroup his forces to resist the Mughals. Assisted by an experienced Brar Sardar Guruji reached this place where he decided to have a final clash with the foe. They got the information that a strong force of ten thousand soldiers led by Subedar of Sirhind Wazir Khan was chasing them. Before that in 1704 when Sikhs had left Anandpur Sahib due to seize by the Mughal forces, forty soldiers from Majha region deserted Guruji. He asked them to give it in writing that they want to leave and he is no longer their Guru or leader and they are no longer his followers. However realising their folly these forty men after being motivated by Mai Bhago returned back to augment the forces of Guruji at this place. As the resistance of the Sikhs grew fierce the foe could not reach the lake to quench their thirst. So due to oppressive heat and the fierce resistance of the Sikhs the enemy was forced to retreat. At the end of the battle badly bruised and injured Mai Bhago told Guruji how these forty deserts had rejoined and sacrificed their lives for him. Guruji was looking for any survival in the battle field till he came to their leader Maha Singh who was still in the last throes of his life. When Guruji asked him about his last wish, his reply was to tear the document in which they had disclaimed him as their Guru. As Guruji tore this document before him his soul was released from his mortal body signifying that Guruji had forgiven their sin. This place became witness to this historical incident where the Gurudwara Tuti Gandi stands today. As the tearing of the document symbolised the liberation of these pious spirits of sin of deserting the Guru, so this place was named as Muketsar after that in which the word Mukti stands for liberation or emancipation and the word Sar means lake or pond. Later on Jassa Singh also took refuge in the forest surrounding this area. And later on the head of Namdhari Sect Baba Ram Singh ji also visited this place though its rulers did not support him. In the evening we went to visit the Gurudwara Complex along with our host. In this complex Minly there is a Gurudwara dedicated to the memory of Mai Bhago who motivated and convinced the forty deserters to rejoin the forces of Guru Gobind Singh ji. She was born at a place Jhabal near Tarantaran. Her father’s name was Bhai Malo Shah and wedded Bhai Nidhan Singh of Patti. Her father was enrolled in the army of Guru Hargobind ji. Her grandfather’s elder brothe rembraced the faith of Sikhism during the times of fifth Guru Arjan Dev ji.
Besides the Gurudwara dedicated to the memory of Mai Bhago there was also a Gurudwara Tamboo Sahib in which the Sikh camp dried their underclothes on a rope to mislead the enemy relating to the number of Sikh troops. Then there was also a Gurudwara Tuti Gandhi Sahib dedicated to the memory of the main event in which Guru Gobind Singh tearing the document at the behest of Bhai Maha Singh, the leader of forty deserters who wanted to rejoin Guru’s forces. Here is also an old tree of berries with which Guru Gobind Singh ji had tied his horse during his stay here. After taking dinner we went to bed and next morning after taking tea we took the bus to Kotakapura and then to Bargari where my paternal aunt had spent her entire life.
Bargari 6-9-2023
We reached Bargari bus stand in the forenoon as it was hardly fifteen minutes run from Kotkapura. From bus stand we took a cycle rickshaw that took us to the house of my relatives. At the doorstep we were greeted by my maternal aunt’s youngest grandson. This village was in news from 2015 due to sacrilege committed by some anti-social elements against the holy book of the Sikhs Guru Granth Sahib ji. Since then there had been a continuous protest going on in the Dana Mandi of the village to get justice by bringing the culprits to law. My paternal aunt’s younger brother was a farmer who owned a piece of agricultural land in the village and a piece of land on which he had built his house. He has two sons. His elder son is involved in agricultural activities as my cousin has now become old and due to joint pain he cannot go to the farm regularly. His younger son has reared cattle at home and opened a dairy selling milk and milk products to the villagers, so my cousin sits at the shop whenever his sons are busy. My cousin is also proud grandfather of a lively girl named Kirat. So after taking lunch and afternoon siesta following it we moved from this village and takaing bus from Bargari to Kotkapura and then from Kotkapura we came to Moga in the evening where we decided to stay overnight at the residence of our former tenant who had lived for many years in the house owned by my father in the town before selling it. This fellow had retired as Principal of Government Senior Secondary School of a nearby village. His son, who is also a Government teacher came to take us in the car from the spot where we had got down from the bus coming from Kotkapura.
Moga 6-9-23
Moga was the place from where both of my parents did first F.A and then B.A from D.M. College Moga way back in the fifth decade of twentieth century. Before that my mother even completed her matriculation too from the Government Girls School of the town. Moga is known for its rich culture. It has several Gurudwaras like Dina Sahib, dedicated to the memory of Shri Gurugobind Singh ji, the tenth guru of Sikhism, Bibi Kahan Kaur’s Gurudwara to name a few. Besides Gurudwara this place is associated with a famous freedom fighter of India Lala Lajpat Rai of the then extremist wing in Congress known as Lal, Bal and Pal, the other two being Bal Gangadhar Tilak of Maharashtra and Vipin Chandra Pal of Bengal. Some illustrious personalities related with the town are Dr. Narendra Singh Kapahi- Indian born Physicist known for his work on fibre optics, S Gurinder, fifth and present guru of Satsang Beas, Dr. Mathura Das, the famous opthalmologist surgeon who holds world record in the cataract operations performed by him and after whose name two leading educational institutions of the town have been named. It also houses the famous outlet of Nestle India which produces coffee, milk, chocolates and Desi Ghee of premium quality. After the night stay at the house of former tenant S.Surjeet Singh who had a son and a daughter. His wife though incapaciated due to some spinal injury was bedridden. His son is also a teacher in the government school while his parents are retired government servants- father retired as Principal of a Government Senior Secondary School and mother retired as a Block level Education Officer from the home district. After staying overnight in their house his son left us to our native town Dharamkot in his own car.
Dharamkot 7-9-2023
It is an old town perhaps founded in 18th century by a Sikh Chief of Dalewalia Misl S. Tara Singh Kang alias Ghebba conquered the fort of Dharamkot in 1761 and gave it to one of his son perhaps Dasaundha Singh. S. Tara Singh was closely associated with Gulab Singh, chief of Dallewalia Misl and S. Maha Singh, father of Maharaja Ranjeet Singh and he was also Ranjeet’s sword instructor. He had achieved expertise in immobilising the foe by stealing their horses then he would disappear that earned him the title Ghebba. As Gulab Singh had no issue so S. Tara Singh succeeded him as Chief of Dalewallia Misl after his death. Initially he had four forts of Nakodar, Fatehgarh, Shahkot and Dharamkot under him. He actively participated in the seize of Kasur and Sirhind and due to booty of these two campaigns he extended the realm of Dalewallia Misl up to Ambala in South making it an estate worth 17 lacs of rupees revenue annually.
Dharamkot is the town where my father had spent his childhood and studied in its vernacular school and later on in Arjun Dass High School till he completed his matriculation with good marks and on government scholarship. At Dharamkot we go to visit the shrine of Syed Abdulleh Shah, a 19th century Sufi sage. Just by the side of mausoleum stand the graves of his two devotees who had served at this place throughout their lives- Mata Taja and her life companion. It is believed that both of them were so attached to each other that both of them were found to be dead- natural death- on the same day and perhaps the same moment. After visiting the house where my father was born and spent his childhood and after taking tea and lunch there we boarded the bus and reached Jagaraon by the evening.
Jagaraon 8-9-23
We arrived in the evening at this place by bus and at the place of our relative’s house (my wife’s maternal uncle’s daughter) which was situated on Gulabi Bagh Colony Malik Road. It is a city and a muincipal council, a rural police district and a sub-division of Ludhiana district. It is almost at the centre of the present state of Punjab. It was founded at some time in 18th century. Famous freedom fighter Lala Lajpat Rai has spent a few days here and his house has been converted into a library. Chiefs of this place was a Chandravanshi Rajput, the last being Rai Inayat Khan of who was custodian of Guru Gobind Singh ji’s Gangasagar at the time of partition of India in 1947. Rai Saheb belonged to Raikot, a small town of this subdivision. His grandson Rai Azizullah Khan is member of Parliament in Pakistan from MNA party. One of the village Jhorran of this subdivision is also native village of Hav. Ishar Singh, who was martyred in the famous Battle of Saragarhi in 1897 in whose memory a film Kesari has been made in which Akshay Kumar has donned the role of Hav. Ishar Singh. There is also a gurudwara in the memory of this battle in Amritsar. This place is known for its annual Roshni Mela which is held at the Mazar of Peer Baba Mokhumdeen. Though we had to go to Sujapur the same day but due to some miscommunication we had to stay for the night at the house of our relatives who have retired from Government Service of the State of Punjab. S. Bhupinder Singh has retired as Accountant, Punjab State Electricity Board and his wife, my wife’s cousin had retired as teacher from a government school. After overnight stay in the morning we took the bus and reached Sujapur in the afternoon before the lunch. Next day we did not go anywhere and went to meet only my wife’s cousin who runs a medical shop inthe nearby town of Raikot.
Parao Mehna 10-9-2023
Today I went to my birth place and the village of my maternal grandparents where my mother had spent her entire childhood. It is a small village named Parao Mehna situated nearly in the vicinity of district headquarters Moga. It also has a railway station on Ludhiana- Ferozepur line. Though our intent was to travel by public transport but a strange and startling fact came to light that on Sunday there was no public transport was available from the village as the major clients of the public transport were either students or workers going to offices and factories and as all of these things remained closed on Sunday so it was not economically viable to run it and give their services to the public on Sunday. So it was one of the major constraint of living in a small village tucked in the corner, away from the major road and rail route of the state. So I requested my brother-in-law to provide his services and he generously provided it that enabled us to visit this village that days as we took his car.
Name of this village came from the word halting place of the troops as they marched from Ludhiana to Ferozepur and beyond. So they used to halt here for some time so it came to known as Parao or a halting place and suffixed by the name of the place Mehna. As my mother was her parent’s only child so she had no real brother and sisters and she made a young man of the village as her brother, who later on joined Army and later on Police Intelligence Wireless Services. His son- who has retired as Live Stock Assistant from the Veterinary Department of the State, his grand son who is working as teacher in government school of a nearby village and his grand children are still living in this village. Though I could not visit the exact place of my birth as it has been turned into a market but we had tea and lunch with them and came to the village Chauki Maan, my mother-in-law’s village, and after having a cup of evening tea with the son of my mother-in-law’s nephew’s son we came back to the village of Sujapur.
No comments:
Post a Comment