Engineers from Jhalu;

 The earliest engineer from Jhalu was Shri Bihari Lal Gupta from my grandfather,s generation, younger brother of my grandfather, the first engineer from Jhalu; after retirement from UP Irrigation Department ,settled in DELH,In the next generation was Shri Ved Prakash Garg, my uncle, retired from MES and settled in DehraDun. In my own generation  are Jitendra Mohan Agarwal after retirement from Telecommunication ,settled in Ghaziabad and Ghanshyam Das Gupta after retirement from UP PWD, settled in Lucknow;

All are from our GARG family, graduate of Roorkee University ; all settled outside Jhalu.

Dr. BRIJ BHUSHAN SARAN GUPTA

 

Details of our ancestor family is given in another blog; https://shubhkamna-davendra.blogspot.com/2015/06/sher-maar-panju-our-earliest-known.html

and details about my grandfather are given in; https://shubhkamna-davendra.blogspot.com/2022/10/my-grandfather-shri-ram-swarup-mal.html, 

My father: Shri BRIJ BHUSHAN SARAN GUPTA:
My father, the eldest of his brothers and sister was a professional Medical Doctor- a student of Agra Medical School, one of the two schools then in UP; the other one in Lucknow. A very simple , social and responsible person. Would be remembered in our town for his dedicated community services. He was a very popular doctor not only in our town but around several villages nearby; only professional doctor in that locality rendering A-Z medical services. He was never a greedy person , only service oriented; He could have been a rich person but he died as a poor person only with some debts on him. At times, he had no money, borrowed from here and there for day to day survival. It was all at the cost of family;

His biography is quite long but I wish to put it in short;

He used to volunteer each summer for a months in Bhawali T.B.Sanitorium - only one in those days. T.B. was highly infectious and deadly disease in those days as there was no antibiotics, medicines or treatment. But all the risk involved, he used to do it also at the cost family ( whole family used to be worried);

Some people around him; Ch. Gulzar Singh, Shri Shyam Lal Gupta, Mahasheye Kashin Nath, Vaid Kashi Nath, Munshi Ram Krishna Lal, Padhan Daloo Singh ; His friends in Bijnor; Kr, Satya Veer, Govind Sahaye, Dr. Deva Swaroop; In Chandpur , Dr. Rameshwar Prasad, 

He served for a long time as a member of Town Area and Chairman for full term during mid of 1950s.He sreved the town and the community with dedication and devotion. He is well known of his contributions during his chairmanship.

For the development of town, he not only devoted his time but also also all the savings - money and assets of our family . But he enjoyed his life in doing so and left us on July 26, 1973 with a brief illness and heart attack in Bijnor Hospital. 

He lived RICH though died POOR.

My Grandfather: Shri Ram Swarup Mal : Bhagat jee

 Shri Ram Swarup Mal , my  grand father was popularly known in the town as Bhgat ji. He was very simple, disciplined and religious person, kind hearted and generous person. He did not know much about vedic scriptures but perhaps, even unknowingly, he was following them. He was not educated, he was not even literate; hardly travelled out of town, knew nothing about the external world; his needs and desires were bare minimum; he was very healthy person, I never saw him sick and asking any help for his personal matters. He was land lord, managing small farm lands in various places and earned good amount of money by doing some petty business also; He was married in Bijnor , but no body or any property etc exist in their name in Bijnor; my grand mother  ( Moongia Devi) had one brother  and one sister ( married in Kiratpur, had one son, Shri Mangoo Lal ji who had his small nice family; uncle Mangoo lal ji disappeared in mysterious circumstances, never returned back and his family was shattered; Dadi ji, his mother, my grand mother,s sister came to live with us and aunt with her children went to her parents in Chandpur). My grandmother's brother had one son and one daughter; daughter was married in Mandawar to Shri Mahasheya Raghubir Saran ji ( had two sons, Ram Awtar ji and Prem Awtar ). We used to visit them occasionally on various occasions, very affectionate family, now lost contact with them since long, may be fifty years or so ); My grandmother's nephew Shri Krishan Lal had one son , Rishi, very handsome personality died very young a very tragic death with brain cancer ( thus the last of their family was gone to end the family line); two daughters, one married in Hasanpur and the other married in Roorkee ( unfortunately, I never met them); Grandmother's nephew, Tau ji used to come to live with us in Jhalu at time to time, a nice but sad person for obvious reasons- loosing every thing, he had, very unfortunate situation);

My grandfather though very much living in the world but with least attachments, interests and concerns but very responsible and duty bound; most contended person. He had three sons , Brij Bhushan Saran Gupta, Shri Kanhaiya Lal Garg and Ved Prakash Garg and a daughter, Chameli Devi.I am the most lucky person among all my brothers and cousins having all the love and affection from my grandfather. In fact, I received maximum love from all my relatives and people in the town. My grandfather died without any ailment through out his life, at the age of 85 or so , within a few minutes by heart attack, on July 1, 1953 . It was a great shock for me as I lost the person who loved and cared for me the most. He told me so many things of practical life and importance of our religious and cultural rituals, though his conversation with his family members was bare minimum. I never saw him talking to his sister or daughter but just casually.
He built a water well and a small shelter near the village of Redhwa, Gandaspur and Sikandarpur; planted two pipal trees; incidentally , it was June, 1, 1936 , the day I was born. In those days , it was a great help to the people traveling or working in that area as there was no water source or shed near by. There is small platform of our family deity ( grah devta) . We worship them ( a pair of white snakes , locally known as Bhure Singh Devta )on special occasions like some one's marriage in the family; a son born in the family etc.It is supposed that they take care of our family. We give them full honour. In 2008, when I visited the place, I found that the geography and topography of that place has completely changed; It is now all green with lot of water sources around .

Two Incidents;
My grandfather and grandmother used to go for Ganges bath at Ganj every year on the occasion of Raksha Bandhan. I always accompanied them and enjoyed the trip; two incidents to mention here :
 (1) one time, I was watching that young boys and people were taking dives into the ganga which used to flow in very turbulent and floody state during this month and at this time. I thought if they could do that diving and swimming , why not I can do that. It was only the direction of GOD that at the last moment I got scared and did not do that deadly diving, otherwise, in those high currents of Ganga, I would have just gone;
(2) I do remember visiting with my Baba ji an ashram of Brahamchari ji in Nizamatpura/Islamabad about 2 miles south of Ganj. This place strangely and spiritually recognized by the local people for many miracles and mysterious happenings . No doubt, Brahamchari ji had great Devine powers to help really needy people with out any self interest and greed . ( 2008; when, I visited Ganj and the place where Ganga ji used to flow, there was no sign of Ganga,s flow even during the flood time in rainy season. It was all dry for a far distance place. One could see some kind of garden and farming at a long distance in the middle of Ganga ji. It was very shocking to look at this devastating change. Only the old ghats, temples were lying on the bank side of Ganga and waiting perhaps, for their further destructions in future.

पंडित श्याम लाल शर्मा जी; उनके साथ बचपन की कुत्छ यादें

 पंडित श्याम लाल शर्मा जी; उनके साथ बचपन की कुत्छ यादें :

 श्याम लाल जी के हमारे परिवार के साथ बड़े घनिष्ट संबंध थे ! उनके पिताजी, श्री नथूमल जी , मेरे बाबा , श्री राम स्वरूपमाल जी के साथ काम करते थे , बाबा जी को लिखना पढ़ना नहीं आता था , लिखने पढ़ने का सारा काम , उनकी  ज़मींदारी का , स्याम लाल जी के पिताजी ही संभालते थे ! हम सब लोगों का उनसे और उनके परिवार से बड़ा घनिष्ट संबंध था ! बचपन से ही में उनसे , उनके परिवार से लगभग दैनिक रूप से ही मिलता जुलता रहता था ! वह सब लोग भी हमारा बहुत ख्याल रखते थे, बहुत पियार करते थे ! 

बचपन की उनके साथ की बहुत सी यादें हैं, परन्तु यहाँ केवल कुत्छ ही दे पाउँगा ! श्याम लाल जी बचपन से ही बहुत बुद्धीमान थे , यदि उनको ठीक से शिक्षा और अवसर मिले होते तो वह भी  सफल ेइंजीनियर  होते ! राम ओ तार जी की चक्की पर काम करते थे! चक्की  पर केवल आटा  ही  पिस्ता था , श्याम लालजी ने दूसरे कमरे में धान कूटने की मशीन लगा दी , फिर कुत्छ दिनों के बाद, रुई धुनने की मशीन उसी दूसरे कमरे में लगा दी ! चक्की को चलने बिजली के मोटर के पटे तथा उनकी दिशा बदल कर , अलग अलग प्रकार से एक ही मोटर से काम करते थे ! रुई धुनने की मशीन झालु में पहली और आखरी बार आई होगी !

चककी के ऊपर जुगाड़ लगा कर अपने आप से बनाकर चार पंखड़ी  का पंखा भी लगा दिया था ! यह सब देख कर मुझे बचपन में बहुत अध्भुत लगता था !  कौनसी  मशीन लगनी है, कान्हा से आएगी , कैसे चलेगी, यह प्रश्न , उस समय के लिए बड़े कठिन थे परन्तु, शयाम लाल जी यह सब करते रहते थे!

कुत्छ समय बाद उन्होंने अपना साइकिल सुधारने, किराये पर देने का कार्ये  शुरू किया, धीऱे धीरे , गैस की लालटैन , शादियों में  गैस की लालटेन तथा लाउडस्पीकर किराये पर देने लगे ! रिपेयर का काम तो किसी भी प्रकार का हो , आज भी कर लेते हैं ! किसी भी प्रकार की कोई भी चीज़ हो, जुगाड़ लगा कर ठीक कर ही लेते हैं! 

उनकी बुद्धि  व् क्षमता को में नमन करता हूँ !

अभी , झालु में सब से अधिक आयु के हैं ! वरिष्ठ , सम्मानित व्यक्ति हैं! इस वर्ष, २०२२,  गणतन्तंर दिवस पर , उनसे धव्ज आरोहण कराया गया , सम्मानित किया गया ! उनके के लिए दीर्ध आयु की कामना करते है !  , 

My childhood Memories; Seth Saifulla, Rafiq, Shafiq and Azizul Nabi, BOMBAY Visit in 1958;

 Seth Shafiullah , perhaps left Jhalu for Bombay  in his childhood in early 1930s; He was from ordinary Barber family of the town. His son Rafiq was my classmate upto primary education.later he also left for Bombay. Seth had three wives, two used to live in Jhalu and one in Bombay .we were his family friends.

It was 1958 , August , after my B.Sc. went to Bombay to attend my interview for a job with Western Railway at Church Gate  Railway Station office . I stayed with my friend , Rafiq and his family . They had a small residence in a multi- story Building, KULSUM Terrace near most famous Taj Hotel. Seth and Rafiq had a very nice and big  "TAJ SALOON" with ten serving chairs in COLABA, Bombay. (Shafiq , younger brother of Rafiq had his own Saloon , somewhere in Colaba area. Rafiq,s mother was very loving and  caring person.She insisted me that I must eat with them but I was hesitant being a vegetarian. Rafiq took me to a restaurant and asked them to provide me only with vegetarian meal. But to my surprise, I found a bone in my vegetables. They told, that they use the same serving spoon for veg and non-veg food . For the rest of my stay in Bombay, I took my food with Rafiq,s family. I fully enjoyed my stay with them. In spare time , I used to sit with Rafiq and Seth in their saloon. 

Rafiq introduced me with Azizul Nabi, my another classmate upto middle school, he was running a Taxi. He took me all around Bombay during my stay in Bombay. He will take me along with his passengers and drop me at some interesting point like Chowpati, Juhu, Hanging Garden etc. and will collect me to drop me at another point. Thus my friend gave me free ride and shown me whole Bombay. How nice of him. I do remember the facitivities of Ganesh Pooja in Bombay and Ganesh Visarjan in Chowpati.

I left my contact with them since long. They and their families must be living in Colaba, Bombay happily. I wish them well.

SHER MAAR PANJU; Our earliest known ancestor; Historical Background of our family in Jhalu

 

A little background about our family as I knew from my grandparents and other elders; It comes from a small rural background, small town, JHALU, (Bijnor, UP). Our ancestors  lived there for long time, but the earliest story is known that they were land lords and their rivals, pathans-a muslim community also had  farm lands over there. On one occasion of RAKSHABANDAN day, those pathans killed all our male ancestors and then according to the custom of that time, ladies committed SATTI (Satti was the rituals those days that after the death of husband, widow used to self immolate). We still have that old Satti House in the town. In fact, our Grah Devta also lives there.In earlier days, we used to go there and bring our Grah Devta home for important ceremonies like marriage, naming and yagopaveet etc. It was only one pregnant lady living with her parents away from Jhalu, survived. Later, she gave birth to a baby boy who when grew adult , thought seriously to find out his roots. In fact, a deep feeling of revenge for that carnage happened to his ancestors. Having this in mind and determination , with all opposition from his mother and other parental relatives, he walked to JHALU. He came up to  our garden ( where we had a well and a small room for shelter)  near KHARI , he faced a lion. The lion was chased by the ruler (Nawab) of Ruhelkhand for hunting. He had no option except to face the lion. He took out his turban and inserted in the mouth of the lion and thus lion was suffocated and died. Nawab chasing the lion , found the young boy holding the lion dead. He appreciated his courage and awarded him the title of " SHER MAAR PANJU" ( meaning the person who killed the lion by his Punja-hands ) for his bravery. He was so pleased that he further on asking his welfare etc. awarded him back the land of his ancestors and asked the pathan to go away from the town to a new town established for their resettlement- NAWADA KALAN ( New village/settlement ) and warned them not to look back for any revenge or atrocities to the young person. He then, resettled in his ancestors town , JHALU with all  his property and land given back to him. I could not get his real name but SHER MAAR PANJU. He is the most recent historical ancestor of our GARG family which is now quite big and wide spread all over, ( broadly known Mahalwale  , kothiwale and us ) . Most of the family members settled in other cities and abroad, now only a few are left in the town.

The history of my own family is given in another blog. https://www.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/7434278182063497637/3162980977026679503

MAHELWALE;

I do not know much about the hierarchy of the family but from my personal observation and knowledge:

1. One group of family used to live in the Mahel with the heads; Shri Goipnath jee, Shri Niyader Mal jee, Shri Raghunath Prasad jee ( His father shri Baldev Prasad jee??); Shri Kishan Lal jee ;

2. Second group: Just in front of Mahel: Shri Rajju Mal jee, Shri Roshan Lal jee,

3 Third group: Shri Chiranjee Lal jee ( sons; Ram Gopal jee and Om Prakash jee);

   Shri Ram Prasad jee - Known as Kanoogo jee ( sons......                               )

   Shri Faqir Chand jee ( sons; Jai Prakash, Ram Kumar, Rameshwar Prasad, Devendra Kumar, Sushil Kumar  ;  ?????) 

KOTHIWALE:

I do not know much about the hierarchy of this group of our family;

the oldest pesron, I know- Shadi Lal and his son Asharfee Lal ; Asharfi Lal ,s sons are; Shri Anand Prakash, Veer Prakash and Dheer Prakash : 

Om Prakash, ( son; Ishwar Chandra Agarwal) Satya Prakash ( Son; Hari Prakash) and Shyam Prakash, ( sons;                                       ) 

Jyoti Prakash, Ved Prakash, and  

Roshan Lal, ( Sons: Ram, Lakshman, Charat Bharat, Bhole) Jagdish Prashad ( sons, Sushil Kumar,             ???)

My Residences: मेरे निवास स्थान

 I had the opportunity and privilege of living with my siblings, parents and grandparents , nice neighbors and friends in Jhalu in my ancestral home and house for a long time. We enjoyed living together cordially and happily caring for each other. Such a possibility does not occur any more. see my blog about ancestral home;  https://shubhkamna-davendra.blogspot.com/2021/07/ancestral-home.html

Description of my house and living conditions in those days are given in another blog; https://shubhkamna-davendra.blogspot.com/2015/03/living-conditions-in-small-town-during.html

Once I mentioned to my grandson, Satvik about the living conditions of those, he simply said " Baba, your life was much better than ours and perhaps, your parents and grandparents might have lived much better life in a very peaceful environment " I have a few blogs about my conversation with Satvik;  https://davendrak.wordpress.com/?s=satvik&submit=Search and one about the living conditions in my village; https://davendrak.wordpress.com/2015/10/03/a-conversation-with-my-grandchild2-life-in-a-village-in-early-1950s/

Any way, one has to leave his ancestral home and the town for further/higher education  and employment postings at some point or the other . I have to leave early in 1950 after my middle school education as there was no facility in my town after middle school. Once I left, there was no return except during summer or other vacations or waiting for employment periods etc. I lived in several places in India and abroad - with my relatives, in the hostels, temporary shelters and mostly in rented houses/ apartments and during my early career with ONGC in the field camps. The experience of living in various and different situations ( places and times /durations etc) is very rich and interesting, very unique in its own way;

Places I lived; Jhalu, Chandpur, Meerut, Varanasi, Gajraula,.Katni, Aligarh,DehraDun, Baroda, Jodhpur,  Anjar (Kutchh) , Karaikal, Madras (Chenai) , Bangalore, Dharwad,  Ibadan (Nigeria), Addis Ababa (Ethiopia), Southfield (Michigan), Dublin/Columbus (Ohio), now Windsor (Ontario, Canada) ; 

Field Camps: During 1961-1969, I worked  for Oil and Gas exploration and lived in the field camps; Field camps used to be for a month or so in one place and we used to live in tents ( living tent, kitchen tent, bath tent and a toilet tent) : 

I started my camp life in December 1961  from Chakkar ka milak (Moradabad) - a village near Moradabad and our camp was next to Police training centre; and the last one was Ghotaru ( Thar Desert in Rajasthan ); There were several camps  and partial camps during this period. I will try to give some salient features and important events of those camps;

CHANDPUR; Chandpur was my next residence like a home where I lived my respected and most beloved beloved person during 1950-1955 , pursuing my education in Hindu Inter College from 8th class to High School and Intermediate. we lived in a spacious space and the best location of a big house of a big combined family. The big house accommodated the families of Hakeem Ajudhiya Prasad -Triloki Nath, Ishwar Chandra Bansal, Piyare Lal Bansal ; all very close relatives of my nani ji; in fact, my nani ji was living in a rented portion of Hakeem ji; Great and wonderful environment for me. I spent one of the prime period of my life here with great comfort, love and care from everyone and completed some big steps of my education from  here. I had very good friends from Chandpur and I still continue my association and contact with them; I learnt many and many new things here from Mama ji (Hakeem ji; I used to spend some time with him each evening ); Mama Piyare Lal ji was my great teacher, learnt my reading newspapers from him ( He was alone for first three years , then got married ).

Ancestral Home; पैतृक घर : पुश्तैनी मकान

 An ANCESTRAL HOUSE is not a proprty , a commercial thing and value which certainly has emotional value just like we have with people even after they leave us.

Our Ancestral Home was in JHALU (Bijnor) where, we were born, brought up and lived till we settled down in our careers and left for different places. The house was built by our ancestors ( not known by whom) and it was owned and preserved by our family from generation to generation for many generations. I know at least my grandparents and parents lived there and we ( our generation ) disposed it off in late 1970s by selling it to our neighbour- Virendra Kumar ( Chowkrayat) . Otherwise also it would have been destroyed with time without care as all of us left the house and the town to live elsewhere.

Normally, we are sentimentally and emotionally attached to a place or even a spot which we have used for some considerable time. Ancestral house becomes a HOME and we are especially attached to it. Your emotional touch with people or places depends upon your association with them. I am especially attached. Even after so many years, now even the house is  completely demolished, it remains in my thoughts and dream. I remember each and every corner of the house with smaller details including five overhead stoarge spaces ( TAND= टांड ) in different places. I used to help my grandmother who used to clean the whole house on the occasion of Deepawali. 

Not every place we live become HOME and we get attached to it. Like, we had "Dilkusha" in Civil Lines, Bijnor, I had no attachment with, it had only commercial value as PROPERTY.

The concept is fast eroding as people in new generation are born in one place, brought up in different places and move to  and live in different places depending upon their jobs. Most of them live in rented houses .Some people even get attached those rented places if they live for longer periods or some events take place over there. From childhood till now, I lived in several houses and places and how do I feel about them, I will write in my second blog.

गायत्री मंत्र ; बच्पन्न के कुत्छ संस्मरण ;

 हमारे  गांव , झालु में, मेरे बचपन के दिनों में , संत, महात्मा, पंडित , समय , समय पर आते रहते थे; ठंड के दिनों में तो प्रतिएक  वर्ष ही आते थे ! गढ़वाल तथा कश्मीर से  तो सदैव ही कोई न कोई पंडित हर वर्ष ही आते थे !   कुत्छ दिन रहते  और कभी कभी प्रवचन भी करते थे! मेरे बाबा जी , भगत जी के नाम से तो जाने ही जाते थे  परन्तु वह , इन संत, महात्माओं की सेवा में सदेव ही रहते थे ! यह सभी लोग, ठाकुरद्वारे वाली धर्मशाला   में ही रुकते थे ! कुत्छ दिन रहते , फिर कहीं और चले जाते ! बाबा जी  सांयकाल के पश्चात , प्रायः प्रतियेक दिन ही  उनके दर्शन करने तथा  वियाखियाँन  सुनने जाया करते थे ! मुझे भी साथ में ले जाया करते थे ! मुझे भी उनके दर्शन का लाभ होता, षष्टाचार भी सीखने को मिल गया ! स्वमी जी तथा डंडी स्वामी जी को " नमो नारायण " कहना है! उनके चरण स्पर्श करने हैं ! आदि आदि! 

में, नौ या दस वर्ष का  हूँगा , एक बहुत ज्ञानी/योगिये स्वामी जी आये !  उनोहने  गायत्री मंत्र के विषय में , मंत्र की महत्ता के  विषय में बड़े विस्तार से समझाया ! कुच्छ दिनों तक मंत्र के उचित प्रकार से उच्चारण करने का अभ्यास भी कराया ! में उसमे बड़ी ततपरता तथा  धियान   से भाग   लिया !  He mentioned that in our Vedic system, we have Mantra, Yantra, and Tantra which our great ancestors, Rishi/Mehrishi- the great scholars and researchers created after long long time of search/research through tapasya, yagiya, upasna  etc.  All the three have great powers as they are designed for specific purpose. MANTRAS are very special , constructed based on the effects of sound vibrations  on our sensory organs , especially the EARS which transmit those vibrations to the brain to create certain effects : each Mantra has its own effect; In most of the Mantra, you may find "  OM " in the beginning which has maximum sound vibration effects on our brains, even on animals and plants and other living beings) ; Each Mantra is created by some Rishi after deep studies over long period of time. GAYATRI MANTA is Mahamantra among all the mantras created by BRAHAM RISHI, Vishwamitra jee. Great gift to us. The  sound vibrations created by chanting Gayatri mantra when strike to our ears, they transmit  special effects to the brain faculties especially related to Intelligence. These vibrations in a balanced way can improve, one or several brain faculties depending upon the existing brain cells and composition ( you may find some are born genius , some intelligent and some dull ... retarded etc. ) But over all , Gayatri mantra and its sound vibrations do improve/boost  our brain faculties. He further explained that among many other things , brain has five main faculties- Understanding, Memory,  Imagination,  Thinking, Creativity and totality of these faculties is called as Intelligence );Swami jee gave some very simple examples illustrating the effects of sound waves; we do not like to hear the sound of a Drum ? Drum beating , we do like to hear melodious music of flute because they differently affect our brain. music is pleasant feeling while Noise is a disturbance or kind of pollution (sound pollution); Swami jee,s preaching on the aspect of Mantras and especially of Gayatri Mantra left a long lasting impression on me.

 उनके प्रवचनो का प्रभाव , मेरे मस्तिष्क तथा हिरदय पर आज तक भी विद्यमान है! अपने जीवन में  मैंने उसका अभ्यास भी किया, पिरयोग भी किया ! मंत्र उच्चारण के लाभ का व्यक्तिगत रूप से अनुभव भी किया ! कई उद्धरण हैं ! उनमें से दो का , यहां वियाखां कर्रूँगा! 

१. विद्यार्थी की सफलता के लिए मस्तिस्क की दो शक्तियों की अव्शाकियता होती है , समझ तथात यद्दाश्त  ( Understanding and Memory ; ) A student needs two things- UNDERSTANDING- to understand the contents and concepts of the subject , MEMORY to retain those understood concepts and be able to RETRIEVE them whenever necessary. A student understands but he fails in the examination by not reproducing/retrieving them . I had wonderful memory up to my High School and Intermediate examinations though better till High School. I successfully passed my examinations based on these two faculties. I was confident about my abilities and depending on them, I prepared my B.Sc.Part I Examination very well but I knew that my memory did not work for me in my first examination paper in Chemistry. I left my answer sheet completely blank; At home, I tried to prepare for the next paper but found that my understanding was OK but Memory did not work, so I decided to drop from rest of my examination. Remembered the preaching of Swamijee in my childhood and I decided that I will try and test Gayatri Mantra to boost my memory. I decided to go to BHU where, they had old style B.Sc. Exam. - only final examination at the end of two years though had half yearly exam for first year and second year and annual examination after first year to promote one to second year. I chanted Gayatri Mantra and tested my memory by appearing in the half yearly exam , a little bit improved, then did my first year annual , it was better, then appeared in half yearly exam of second year ( most students will good memory never appeared in annual exam of first year and half yearly exam of second year as they do not affect the result of final exam.) I found it was much better and was confident that atleat, I will pass B.Sc. with 3rd. Division. to my surprise and of my friends, I got more than 55% - passed with second division. It was simply based on my boosted Memory as I did not understand the contents of the subject. Even my attempt for Dynamics and Statics paper was based purely on guess work and memory. Stories are long to put them here. Honestly telling, I do not know even the topics of Physics, Maths though know  somewhat of Geology. Realising this fact, I never tried my admission to M.Sc.Physics or Maths, and found no interest in Geology. I only tried my admission for LL.B but I was late in applying and lost the year . But destiny then decided to do my M.Sc. in GEOPHYSICS - it was simply because of Prof Raj Nath, HOD Geology and geophysics. Story is long and should not be discussed on public platform.

2. A similar example is of a very close person to me who wanted to drop from his Engineering course because of loss of Memory. I gave him example of my personal experience and watched his progress , he got out of it; redid some of the exams. Finally came out with success.

3. I experimented this even on some foreign elders with memory loss or confusion, it helped them too even with deviated vibrations.

जाट मरा जब जानिये जब तेहरी तीजा होए ; एक रोचक प्रसंग

झालू के पास एक गाँव है, त्रिलोकपुर ! वाहं , मेरे एक शुभ चिंतक रहते थे  जो मेरे बचपन से ही मेरे साथी थे , मेरी देख रेख भी करते थे ! मुझसे , उन्हें बहुत लगाओ था ! यदा कदा , मुझ से मिलने आते रहते थे ! जाट परिवार से थे ! अकेले थे, उनका विवाह नहीं हुवा था , या उन्होंने , किसि कारण वश किया नहीं था! सभी लोग उन्हें ऋषि कहते थे ! जब भी उनको पता चलता कि  मैं  , छुट्टी  में घर आया हूँ ,  गाँव से मुझसे मिलने झालू आ  जाते , दूध, फल, मेरे पसंद की सब्जी आदि भी लेकर आते ! मेरी कुशलता के पश्चात गप शप मारते ! मैं, वाराणसी से , BHU  से  Bsc. के पश्चात घर पर ही रह रहा था! एक दिन मैंने , गाँव में बोला जाने वाली यह प्रसिद्ध  कहावत  "  जाट मरा जब जानिये जब तेहरी तीजा होए  "  का अर्थ, ऋषी जी से पूछ लिया ! ऋषि  जी, तपाक से उठे और बोले, " ना, ना, जाट का कोई भरोसा नहीं , वोह तो  तेहरी तीजे के बाद भी उठ कर आ सकता है ! " कुत्छ विराम, तथा हंसी,  मजाक के बाद, उन्होंने यह कहानी सुना दी !
रात्रि  में, लोमड़ी,  गीदड़ , आदि जानवरों  को खेतों से बचाने, भगाने के लिए , किसान लोग, खेत में एक मचान बना लेते थे !  वहां  बैठकर , रात्री में वोह लोग जानवरों को भगा कर, अपने खेतों की निगरानी तथा रक्षा करते थे ! एक रात को, एक जाट, ऐसे ही , मचान पर  बैठ कर  अपने  खेत की देख भाल कर रहा था ! कुत्छ रात  गुजरी होगी , कि उधर से एक साधू  महाराज आगये  और उन्होंने किसान से रात को उसी के साथ रुक कर विश्राम करने की इच्छा प्रगत की ! रात्री का समय देखते हुए उसने उनको वहां रुक कर विश्राम करने  के प्रस्ताव को उचित  समझा ! साधू जी , थके हुए थे, कुत्छ ही देर के बाद गहरी निद्रा में  सो गए ! किसान, अपनी दैनिक कार्येक्रम के अनुसार जगता  रहा ! अकस्मात , उसकी चीलम की चिंगारी से मचान में आग लग गए ! मचान पुरी तरेह से जल गयी , और  सारे पिर्यासों के बाद भी, वोह साधू बाबा को नहीं बचा पाया, बाबा,  वहीं जल कर भस्म हो गए ! बड़ी दुविधा में पड़ा  चोधरी  सोच सोच कर परेशान था कि अब किया करना चाहिए ! सुभाह होते, होते, गाँव के सब लोग आ जाएँगे , ब्रह्म हत्या  का दोष लगेगा ! उधर पुलिस उसको हत्या के मामले में जेल में बंद कर देगी ! उसने उचित समझा कि वोह  वहां से भाग जाये ! गाँव वाले आएंगे , भस्म हुए शरीर को देखेंगे , तो सोच लेंगे  कि रात को खेत की रखवाली करने वाला किसान जल कर मर गया है ! वोह वहां से भाग गया और दूर कहीं छुप  कर रहेने लगा ! उधर , गाँव वाले  आये, देखा कि मचान जली हुई है तथा  जले हुए शरीर को पहचान नहीं सकते ! अत  , गाँव वाले वापिस चले गए , घर वालों ने उसका अंतिम संस्कार कर दिया ! तेहरी, तीजा, सब हो गया !
समय गुजरता गया , गाँव वाले इस घटना को भूल गए, घर वाले, जाट को भूल गए! जाट, कुत्छ समय के पश्चात , अपने घर वालों से मिलने के लिए बेचैन होने लगा ! वह एक रात को  अँधेरे  में छुपता, छुपाते , अपने घर आया ! घर वालों को पुकारा, उन्होंने जब उसको देखा तो " भूत, भूत " चिल्लाने लगे ! वह वहां से भाग गया, कई बार कोशिश करते करते, एक दिन वह , घर वालों  को समझाने में सफल हो गया   कि असली  मामला किया था ! कुत्छ दिन वह घर आता रहा , जाता रहा, फिर साहस के उसने गाँव वालों को भी असली घटना के बारे में बता दिया और उन्हें भी यकीन दिला दिया कि वह जीवित है ! उसके बाद से वह गाँव में, अपने परिवार के साथ पहले  की भांती रहने लगा
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ऋषि जी ने यह कहानी सुनकर फिर कहा, समझ  आया कि जाट मरने के बाद भी  जरूरी  नही कि मर ही जाये !

Har Prasad ji : Baba ji, Dadi ji (BOBO)

In my another blog, I have written the history of my family giving all the facts, I could know from my elders;https://www.blogger.com/u/1/blogger.g?blogID=7434278182063497637#editor/target=post;postID=3162980977026679503;onPublishedMenu=allposts;onClosedMenu=allposts;postNum=2;src=postname

In that blog, I wrote in short about one of my gradfather,s younger brother - youngest brother as following:

Shri Har Prasad Vaish , the youngest of grandfather,s  brother lived in Muzaffarnagar as his wife, Dadi ji  ( popularly known as BOBO) from Dadri was the only child of her parents and she inherited property in Muzaffarnagar. Baba ji was educated, high school , used to speak good English ( how and where was he educated ????); He was a civil contractor; both Dadi ji and Babaji were excellent persons and very social , affectionate and caring people. They were quite visible all over during all the occasions/celebrations  of the family.They had three daughters=Indira ji, Kamla ji and Ramla ji; Indira Buwa ji was married to an engineer, Shri Jai Prakash Agrawal , son of shri (Master) Ram Nivas ji in Bijnor, later settled in Jabalpur. Ramla ji and Kamla ji also settled in Muzaffarnagar after the death of Babaji. He was great man and we have yet to see a person of his style in our family. I have several memories of my own experience with him. I will write them somewhere else.  It is time  now to write some thing about them:

Both of them were excellent persons with all standards. They were most visible persons not only in our family but among all their relations and friends. They were the persons who will take responsibilty by themselves;
1. Dadi jee will be the first person to arrive in all our social functions be it a marriage ceremony, or naming ceremony. She will take responsibility that all the guests are properly served at all the occasions- breakfast, lunch, dinner, milk for the children, their comfort and every thing , no body to blame the main host for any deficiencies and they were not there under her command and control; Her voice was heard every where.She was able and capable managing these affairs perfectly well ; and she was very strong link and coordinator in establishing the relationships among all the family members.
2. My younger brother Santosh had problem getting admission in M.Sc. (Chemistry) with the combination of Geology, Geography and Chemistry in B.Sc. as Agra University did not recognize this combination for M.Sc. Admission. When I failed to do anything in DehraDun and elsewhere, I casually mentioned to Dadi jee about it as I knew that she has lot of influence in Muzaffar Nagar. She immediately accepted the responsibilty and contacted the relevent people connected to College management. Management forced the Principal to admit him out of way and make an acceptable precedence for the University. Santosh stayed comfortably with her for a year during his M.Sc. previous before moving to DehraDun for final year. Commendable, what Santosh is to day with his M.Sc. degree in Chemistry, it is due to her efforts..
3, I do remember another incident when I took admission in first year of Intermediate in DAV College, DehraDun. He of his own initiative visited me in DehraDun and asked about the details of my study programme; discussed at length the prons and cons for the combination I had ( Biology group; Chemistry, Zoology and Botany  ) ; went to the Principal and asked him to change it to Chemistry, Physics and Maths without asking me or my parents. He used his own authority . Who can take such kind of step these days even for his own children? He was a good advisor and councellor .That was the kind of responsibilty and authority , people used to take then. relations were very informal and cordial ; I remember, I used to go and stay with them in Muzaffarnager  without any hasitation. or inhibition. Whole family was very affectionate and caring.
4. My M.Sc. education in BHU was partly financed by Babajee very informally and willingly. The help was offered by him not that we requested him to do so. Of course, I very gratefully tried to refund the whole amount he paid when I got my job with ONGC.
5. On the occasion of  matrimonial engagement, Dadi jee could not come to join my family. She sent Ramla Buwa jee to accompant the family to Aligarh ;
Both of them were most respected persons by all our family members.

Scary moment: Flood in CHHOEYA River

बचपन की कुत्छ और पुरानी यादों में से यह घटना भी श्रावणी के अवसर पर गंगा स्नान तथा पूजा करने की है ! प्रितीयेक वर्ष की भांति , एक और किसि वर्ष , हम ( बाबाजी, दादी जी और मैं )  , दारानगर  गंज  गए थे ! पूजा पाठ , स्नान  आदि से  निपट के पश्चात , लगभग एक बजे  भोजन किया था ! हर साल की भांति  , दादी जी , आलू  , पूरी , अचार के साथ स्वदिस्थ  भोजन लाती थीं ! घर वापिस आने की तय्यारी कर रहे थे कि वर्षा  प्रारम्भ  हो  गयी ! वर्षा का वेग बढ़ता ही गया ! प्रितिक्षा करते रहे  कि वर्षा कम हो तो घर वापिस चलें ! वर्षा तो कम होने का नाम ही नहीं ले रही थी , वोह तो बढती ही जा रही थी! विचार किया, बाबा जी ने कहा कि शाम होने से पहले  पहले निकल लेना उचित होगा ! येहां कोइ रहने का प्रबंध नहीं है अतह वर्षा में भीगते हुए ही हम लोग घर के लिए वापिस चल दिए ! गंज से, सिकन्दरपुर, रेहरुँवा ,गंदासपुर , होते हुए ,  चोव्न्क्पुरी  होते हुए घर जाना होता है ! येही बेलगाडी का उस समय , सब से उचित मार्ग  था ! गंदासपुर से आधा मील दूर गए थे कि छोएया नदी आ गयी ! भरी वर्षा के कारण , नदी तो पूरे उफान पर थी ! गढ़  गधगढ़ात के साथ, छोएये में अतियाधिक पानी , अतियाधिक गती से बहता जा रहा था !  कुत्छ देर प्रितिक्षा की ! शाम तो ढलती जा रही थी, रात्री का अन्धेरा आता जा रहा था! यही नदी जब प्रातः में आये थे तो सुखी पड़ी थी !
छोएया नदी बरसाती नदी है , जो यदि वर्षा ना हो तो लग भग खाली /सुखी ही रहती है! अधिक वर्षा के कारण, विशेषकर, यदि , गढ़वाल  ( हिमालया  के  पहाड़ का भाग)  में अधिक वर्षा हो जाये तो फिर छोएये में पानी आ जाता है! वहीं से छोएये का उद्गम है , और बिजनोर जिले में, उत्तर  से दक्षिण की ओंर  बहते हुए यह  रसूल भंवर अह्त्म्ली  के पास गंगा जी में मिल जाता है ! छोर्ये  पर  बड़े बड़े मार्गों पर तो छोटे पुल हैं परन्तु , छोटे छोटे रास्तों में कोई पुल या पुलिया नहीं है ! साधारण दिनों में सभी ऐसे ही नदी से हो कर चले जाते हैं!
अब तो रात लग भग हो ही चुकी थी, छोएया को पार करना असम्भव था !  सुखन  सिंह,  हमारी गाडी वाला तो छोयेया पार करने के लिए ही कहता रहा , परन्तु  , बाबा जी ने  निर्नियेय  लिया  कि वापिस चला जाये और गंदासपुर  में रात्री में विश्राम किया जाये ! गंदासपुर आ गये ,  हमारे किसान भाई भी बहुत खुश थे कि उन्हें , भगत जी ( बाबा जी को उनके किसान , भ्क्त्जी ही कह  कर स्म्भोतित  करते थे! ), की सेवा का अवसर मिलेगा !

सब ने मिल कर  हमारे  खाने, पीने , रात्री में सोने आदि का अपनी और से स्र्वौत्त्म  प्रभंध  किया ! मुझे तो  वहां
बहुत अछा लगा ! वर्षा तो रात भर होती ही रही ! गंदासपुर तथा उस रेहेनेवाले स्थान का वर्णन करूं तो एक और कहानी बन  जायेगी ! वहां का वातावरण , भीनी भीनी खुशबू ,  पशुओं  की  आवाजें , आदि, आदि ! घर कच्चे थे परन्तु बड़े बड़े और साफ़ सुथरे थे !
यदि हम लोगों ने नदी पार का प्रियस किया होता तो समभ्त , यह ब्लॉग लिखने का अवसर न मिलता, छोएया , हम को , गंगाजी में विलीन कर देता ! यह सोच कर तथा उस घटना को सोच कर भी , आज भी भय भीत हो जाता हूँ! भगवान, स्वम् , उचित मार्ग दिखा कर हमारी रक्षा करते हैं ! 

Scary moments; SHRAVANI PUJA AT DRA NAGAR GANJ

हमारे परिवार की परम्परा के अनुसार, हम लोग रक्षा बंधन का पर्व  नहीं मानते हैं ! प्र्तियेक वर्ष , बाबाजी, श्रावणी की पूजा के लिए दारानगर गंज जाते थे ! बेलगाडी से, मैं, दादीजी  और बाबा जी शीघ्र सवेरे ही गंज की यात्रा पर निकल जाते थे ! वहां जाकर गंगास्नान करते , फिर बाबा जी, अन्य  लोगों के साथ पूजा , हवन आदि करते थे! काफी लोग, विभिन, विभिन, स्थानों से श्रावणी पूजन के लिए यहाँ आते थे ! सभी लोग, गांगजी में खड़े होकर अपने अपने यज्ञोपवीत बदलते थे !
सावन का महीना  , गंगाजी तो अपने पूरे उफान पर होती हैं ! अत्येअधिक जल तथा  गति के साथ बहती हैं ! दुसरा छोर भी दिखाई नहीं देता है ! चारों  ओंर  जल ही जल दिखाई पड़ता है ! गंगाजी के किनारे अछे पक्के घाट बने हुए हैं ! सुरक्षा के लिए घाटों में कुत्छ सीढ़ियों के बाद , एक मजबूत ज़ंजीर भी डाल कर रखते हैं ! घाटों के दोनों और पक्के पुखते होते हैं , जिस से घाट पर जल का प्रवाह कुत्छ कम हो जाता है और उन्ही पुख्तों में  जंजीर भी बाँध देते हैं!
कुत्छ स्थानीय युवक गंगाजी में स्नान करने आते हैं, इस बार भी, काफी युवक  आये थे ! यह युवक , उन पुख्तों से कूद कूद कर गंगा जी में तैर  कर कुत्छ दूर जाते, फिर पास ही से वापिस आ कर , कूदना, तैरना, निकलना करते ही रहते थे ! बड़ा अछा लगता था, इच्छा होती की मैं भी  ऐसा करूं, जब यह कर सकते हैं तो मैं  कियों नहीं कर सकता ?
मैं  छोटा ही रहा होंगा लग भग १० वर्ष का ! कई बार पुखते पर गया , मन करता कि मैं भी कूद कर यही आनंद लूं जो यह युवक ले रहे हैं! किसी अन्तेह कर्ण की प्रेरणा से बस नहीं कूदा ! बच गया, कंही, कूद गया होता तो, पास में भंवर भी, था, मुझे तो तैरना भी नहीं आता था ! अभी भी तैरना नहीं आता! अब कभी सोचता हूँ , क्लोन करता हूँ उस समय की इस घटना की तो, बस भगवान में विश्वास और बढ़ जाता है कि

उनकी प्रेरणा से  मैं नहीं  कूदा ! God takes care of every one especially the children who are ignorant of certain actions and their results.

Regret : पश्चाताप

कभी कभी , कल्पना तथा विचारों में  खो जाता हूँ !  पुराना समय  स्मरण हो जाता है ! 

कल सोच रहा था कि १९६१ से १९७३ तक, १२ वर्षों में ,मैं ONGC में, उस समय के अनुसार उचित पद पर उचित वेतन पर कार्य करता था! इस बीच में,मैं  देहरादून, मद्रास, करैकाल, बरोदा, जोधपुर आदि कई स्थानों पर रह कर कार्य करता था! कभी विचार नहीं आया  कि माता पित्ता को भी वोह सब स्थान कियों नहीं घुमा दिए ! कभी भी, कहीं से , कुत्छ भी नहीं लाया उनके लिए! एक पाजामा, एक, कमीज या कोइ अन्य वस्तु - कुत्छ भी नहीं लाया, कुत्छ भी नहीं दिया, कुत्छ भी नहीं किया उनके लिए ! पिता जी के लिए केवल , उनके अंतिम समय में  ( कियोंके  उनके पास वोह भी नहीं थे ) दो बनयान, अस्पताल में, ले कर आया ! दुर्भाग्य  है , सब कुत्छ होते हुवे भी कुत्छ नहीं कर पाया! आज, बहुत खेद होता है!

इस खेद का का कुत्छ उपचार , निदान हो सकता है?? 

स्म्भाव्ते नहीं, सब    कार्य  अपने  समय से होते हैं! 

one could easily give some excuses of having limited means, money and housing etc. but when other things in day to day life are managed , why not this could also be accomodated. It is a matter of attitude, emotional intelligence at that particular time or period. It simply does not occur to us to think in that direction.

I can think of  main reasons for such kind of situation :

During the age 25-50 years- known as Grahast Ashram, individuals are busy and focused in SELF DEVELOPMENT; career development ; most important in life for sustaining and living a comfortable life ; family development; a natural process designed by God to protect HIS creation- most important responsibility and duty from social, religious and all othe points of view. One has to look after the welfare and development of children so that they can  perform the best in their Brahamcharya Ashram to stand in llife independently. In this process of self development , individuals are so much involved that they can not think of other obligations  for the family or the society. Though, one is not supposed to do much for the society during this period ( from the age 50-75, we have Van Prasath Ashram to meet these obligations)  but one must think a litttle bit of parents especially if they need our support and help. They have done all that for us what we have been doing or wish to do for our children; Our parents must have expected some thing from us as we do from our children.

In fact, we must analyse and assess/ evaluate at time to time at every stage in our life  as what are we supposed  for the individuals - family members, friends and others in the society around

us. We have certain obligations yet to be met.

I have written some of my regrets in earlier blog also;https://www.blogger.com/u/1/blogger.g?blogID=7434278182063497637#editor/target=post;postID=7011055118277005336;onPublishedMenu=allposts;onClosedMenu=allposts;postNum=6;src=postname

My Childhood memories ; Primary School and Middle School

MYSELF:
My Childhood life: Primary and Middle school Education in Jhalu 

I was born in a simple family associated with very affectionate relatives and friends around. Jhalu (Bijnor ) was not a village  even to be called a town with diversified population of 8,000. It was a rural setting with minimum and necessary facilities available for the people. During early days of my life, there was only one primary school , one junior High School (middle school ) in a budding stage. I remember the inauguration of middle school  in a great way in a temporary and an old building where used to be our post office.  later. It was all because of the efforts of Maulvi Abul Hasan ji, a very dedicated person and teacher-perhaps, no body will know even his name as there is no foundation stone bearing his name.
My parents never knew as what I was studying at any stage of my education right from primary school to my M.Sc. Final; my mother not being herself adequately educated enough could not even watch my school work, my father was too busy in his medical practice, had no time to watch or even care as what I was doing . In fact, he did not care much about any one of us .
Primary Education:

Three pictures were taken recently in 2008 when I visited my village along with my family including my grandchildren. My grandchildren were thrilled to look at my school and wanted a photograph of the school with them.


Fortunately, school system was very good with very dedicated and selfless teachers; Preschool teacher, Resp. Haider Ali saheb was wonderful teacher taking full care of so many children in his class. Class one teacher; Shri Makhan Lal ji, very strict but very good teacher; second class: Shri Jaswant Singh ji was strict though very casual kind of person; third class: Resp. Munshi Ram Chandra Mal ji , most respected teacher in the community who used to teach like he has been teaching to his own children, very capable and patient person; Munshi Fateh Ulddin ji , very very strict and serious teacher , determined that we must learn whatever, he wanted to teach us, especially the history and geography; fifth class; Munshi Ram Krishna Lal, also the Head Master of the school, excellent teacher and disciplinarian, a good friend of my father. He was the person who registered my name and date of birth etc. in the school which I carry till now.
I bow and owe to my teachers who were so dedicated and so good; my initial learning has to be credited to them. The school learning environment was wonderful with multifaceted learning opportunities from reading writing and normal creative aspects to learning gardening, art and craft etc. Many of the students graduated from this school have achieved very good positions in their career and life. I only wonder if any body including myself has given back anything  in return to this great institution of initial learning. I finished my primary education in 1947.
My middle school education was done just in the adjacent building of  two and a half rooms without any additional facility of playground etc. We had only two rooms for class 5, 6 and 7,  the other room was half finished and without any roof. I can recall the names of various teachers like Maulvi Mohd Umar , Maulvi Hameeduddin, Shri Ghanshyam Singh, Shri Bundeshwari Prasad ,Shri Chandra Pal Singh.
Our Middle School was the only one with hostel facilities for the students from nearby villages. Education was a difficult concept in rural India in those days. I do remember some of the names of those students from nearby villages; Har Pal Singh, Har Pal  Singh (gora) from village Gadana ,  Ram Pal Singh ( though, he was Gupta), Charat Singh, Chhatar Singh, Sat Pal Singh, Bal Ram Singh etc.
The medium of education was Urdu ; Middle school Examination was conducted by the District Board - a kind of Public Examination System not a local one. A certificate was awarded by the Board to those who passed the examination.
Our examination was conducted in Bijnor for which, we have to stay over there for the entire period of examination. I passed my Middle School Examination in 1950.
No more education facility in the town. Students have to go out of the town. I went to Chandpur.

old friends, JHALU

Right from childhood, a person becomes so busy that he/she does not have time to think around. As the life progresses with education, career and later with family, you mostly forget childhood friends and loose their contacts. I know that unconsciously, at time to time, they all come to mind  but due to several limitations, it becomes very difficult to trace them and to contact them. Now in retirement when, there are no such limitations and obligations, they are well remembered. There is some kind of inner force to contact them, talk to them and meet them. Thanks to Communication technology and social media, I recovered most of the the lost contacts of my friends. Once I found a few, the they provided the links to others to contacts. I feel so happy about it , contacting them, and knowing about them, their progress and family etc.It is quite rejuvenating.
 I contacted some of the old friends from JHALU and I was happy to know their progress;
SATYA BHAN AGARWAL: younger brother of Gahnsyam Das Gupta ( settled in Lucknow after retirement from PWD ; has two daughters, Kajal and Guugun ) settled in Meerut (Ph # 121-251-4821); He has been doing a lot for the renovation of our THAKURDWARA Temple and attached dharamshala in JHALU. But he was disappointed not getting any cooperation from any one in the town and other friends and family members.He was quite critical about Satyendra younger brother of Jitendra; Jitendra's Uncle , Shri Jagdish Prasad recently died at the age of 98;It was quite refreshing my memories about these people. Satya Bhan provided me the leads for Gyanendra and Ravindra, Ravi Bhushan and Vijaya Bhushan etc.

( unfortunately died recently)
Dr. GYANENDRA KUMAR:A friend from JHALU ; we had wonderful time while he was living with his Bua and studying in CHANDPUR; seems to be quite a changed person; settled very well  in Meerut (Ph# 121-260-3549 and Mobile # 941-166-7811); has one daughter and one son, both nicely settled in medical profession; briefly talked about MAHESH and his family ( Gyanendra'swife, RAKSHA is the cousin of Mahesh,; his Mausi,s daughter from Kandhla ) and his younger brother , Yogesh. He also mentioned about my old friend, RAM GOPAL VIDHU ( His son, PRACHUR is a medical Professional ) from JHALU. He has also settled in Meerut after his retirement from defence services.( Ph # 121-262-0366; cell p# 963-948-8117);
RAVINDRA KUMAR; younger brother of Gyanendra also settled in Meerut ( Ph# 121-257-5289 and M# 992-716-9493);
They have another two brothers, PUSHPENDRA and UPENDRA ( an advocate in Binor ;Ph#1342-262-080);

A few months back, I was talking to JAI PRAKASH AGARWAL from CHANDPUR now settled in Baroda after his retirement from ONGC (ph # 265-265-5664).He mentioned then about his younger brother ,

SATYA PRAKASH who has settled in ALWAR after his retirement as PRINCIPAL of a popular Public School of ALWAR; later talked to him; He is quite happy with his family, achievements of life etc.

He then mentioned about JAI PRAKASH son of Shri Hazari Lal, younger brother of my teacher Shri Ram Avtar ( other brothers are Syam Lal, Radhey and ... ); an old friend from JHALU. It was great pleasure talking to them after a long time and knowing that all of them have nicely settled in their lives. 

RAM NATH Goel, ( ph # 942-502-4616; 755-246-5242); retd. as Director, Orthopaedic Services, and settled in Bhopal , now very spiritual; has been writing professional and religious books; one of his daughter is married to the son of our common friend in Chandpur, RAM MOHAN Zindal ( ph # 941-253-4512; 941-101-2394; 983-705-0512);
There is a long list of friends. I will continue supplementing the information about them in another blog.
I wish all my friends very enjoyable life in their future.

JHALU: A small town and its communities in Uttar Pradesh, my town, JHALU;

JHALU: A small town and its communities in Uttar Pradesh, my town, JHALU; 

Here is the description of a typical small town in Uttar Pradesh and the various communities lived with peace and harmony during 1940s and 1950s. Everyone knew every other person or family in the town. People from all the communities used to work together, celebrate social events together.

JHALU in District Bijnor, Uttar Pradesh is/was a small town during 1940s with a population of about 8,000 or so.It was almost kind of a big village.

Infrastructure was very poor with no cement roads, most of the roads were either brick roads or mud roads; no drainage system; a drain for the used over water used to be in the middle of the road; no sanitation facilities; no electricity; no roads or rail roads to connect with other towns.Means of transport was only the bullock carts. Some times, we used to walk from Bijnor to Jhalu in the absence of any kind of transport.No railway Station, no Bus Station. There used to be a coal run bus from Bijnor to Chandpur, used to ply on Katchha road and we used to wait for it near Gol Baghia , sometimes for hours.Now they have good network of roads with all kinds of means of transport.
Education; Only one Government Primary School was there catering the need of neighboring villages where there were no schools at all.Gradually, later a Junior High School was also established with local efforts with very poor infrastructure. The medium of instruction was Urdu, at the fringe, Hindi. English was just to learn elementary things in Junior High School. But the teachers were dedicated and the standard of the education was very satisfactory. After Junior High School, children of well to do families who either had the connection or could afford the expenses of the education will go to other near by towns like Chandpur, Bijnor, Nehtaur, Nagina and Dhampur etc. These towns had good Intermediate Colleges. For Higher education one has to go to Moradabad, Meerut, Chanduasi , DehraDun - only a few towns had Degree Colleges. Agra University was the only University in those days which was an Examining Body for most of the colleges in Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Punjab. A very few students used to go for higher education.

A very few shops to cater the essential needs of the people. The main source of shopping used to be Friday weekly market when farmers used to bring most of their produce, the vegetables, grains and the other things of daily use. This weekly market used to be very  crowdy and interesting; exciting for us to see so many things on the road. Market will start early in the morning and will last late in the evening.Local people will buy the produce brought by the farmers and farmers will buy goods of their daily use/ consumption from the local shops. I liked the seasonal fresh vegetables and fruits in the market. Cart full of water melons and melons of special quality. I especially liked the jafrani watermelon. The most interesting part of the weekly market was that you will get small things, very unique which you never get in the local shops.There were only very few things which people needed during those days.A very busy day for every one in the town.

Medical Facilities:People were normally healthy because of their own and natural way of life style; There was very limited medical facility in the town, my father was the only qualified doctor in the town and for nearby villages. Even the medical facility in District Head Quarter , Bijnor were very limited. Only a few medicines were available.

All comunitives with various castes mainly based on their profession lived in the village; MUSLIM:: Weavers/झुलाये  ( our immediate neighbors and elsewhere ), Saiyads/सैयदस  ( shiyas) , Pot makers ( Kumahar * ), Dhoone/धूने   *, Barbers/नाई , Teli/तेली * , Butchers/कसाई  ( Kasai*) , Pathans/पठान, *, Faquirs/फ़क़ीर *, washermen/धोबी * (Dhobhees), Tailors/दरजी  (Darjees *), Kunjras/कुंजड़े *, ; HINDU:: Farmers/किसान, , Mali/माली  *, Barbers/नाई  *, Brahamins/ब्राह्मिंस , Vaish/वैश , Khatri/खत्री *, Kayastha/कायस्थ *, Jatजाट *, Chowdhuries/चौधरी , Blacksmiths*, Goldsmiths/, Carpenters/बढ़ई *, Gadarias/गड़रिये *, Padkwas/पदकवास , Saini/सानी *, Kalal/*, Bhadbhuje/भड़भूजे * and Schedule castes/ शूद्र , ( charam kars/चर्मकार , Janitors )/सफाईकर्मचारी ;
* a very few families, in some cases only one family only;

Festivals; We used to celebrate a few festivals together like HOLI; Dussehra ( with Day time Ram Leela and in the night Dramas etc.); Diwali though individually celebrated but the lights in the market were very exciting event; Muharram procession was also another exciting event ; Nautanki ( swangs), magic shows, Katha ( especially Ramayan ) , Keertan were also occasional and interesting events;

All the communities lived in perfect harmony, and peace affectionately, friendly and respectfully ; Helpful to each other; very cordial and peaceful environment.

I love my village where I have grown up till 1950 and I have been visiting till my parents were there almost up to 1974. I still go whenever I get an opportunity though I feel like a stranger as no body of my time lives there and children ask my identity. My brothers also have settled elsewhere, so now it looks like that our village will be forgotten by our next generation. Of course, they have no association and attachment with it.
Things have been changing over the years with better facilities of transport, roads, electricity, education etc. connectivity with road network and telecommunication etc., I wish all the best for its development;

Living Conditions in a small town during 1940s: Jhalu, my house

Living Conditions in a small town during 1940s: Jhalu, my house

One can not imagine the living conditions in a small town like my own town, Jhalu. Here, I would like to share with you my impressions  as how we lived in a small house during 1940s. The basic amenities were not there and we were so many people living as joint family in that house. After living in urban areas and big cities and now living with all modern , perhaps the best facilities in USA and Canada, it is simply not imaginable about those poor conditions. A few years back, I took my children and grand children to my town to given an idea as how we lived in that house.

I come from a small town, kind of a rural setting . About my village , I have written somewhere else in detail. https://www.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/7434278182063497637/2213017834987711381

My house like other houses in the neighborhood was a small house, and my family lived independently in that house without sharing any one. All of us, my brothers, sisters ( seven of us )  , my parents and my grandparents lived in that house.
The house had two medium size rooms, two small rooms ( kothries ) on the ground floor ; two rooms and a common toilet on the first floor . The toilet was open toilet without any door or roof. It has to be cleaned every day morning by Mehtrani /janitor . It was highly  unhygienic , can not be imagined now that worms could be seen all over in the toilet space with naked eyes. foul smell from the toilet all around and the flies would be hovering all over.
No bathroom , either you go to the well side or fetch the water from the well and take bath on a small raised platform (chabootri ). Normally gents and boys used to take bath outside on well side and ladies and girls in side on chabbootri. A very small kitchen just for cooking the food and keeping a few utensils.. Our roofs were not cemented, only made with clay which used to leak during rainy season and lot of clay used to be washed away to be replenished every year before rains. Our room floors were also not cemented . They were also made of clay , used to be maintained by cow dung paste with special clay occasionally. Even our court yard was also the same; you can imagine the condition during raining season.. No proper ventilation as rooms were made wall to wall and houses in the neighborhood were made wall to wall. I wonder as where we used to store our personal things and school books etc..Not enough space for every one..But one could imagine as so many people were using this small housing facility ( may be up to 500 sq, ft in all ) for toilet, shower, and sleeping and all other activities There was no electricity or gas facilities during those days, storing materials for cooking was also limited. For lights in the night , we used to have either oil lamp (Diya) or Kerosene

oil lantern.  No chairs or tables or any other kind of furniture in the house; used to have various size of ordinary home made cots with locally made spreads and covers etc.The best part of the house was the chabbotra outside the house in between the kitchen and the well where all of used to sit in the evenings during summer days. Myself and my grandfather used to sleep there during summer.
But I think that we managed all this with no complaints what so ever.In fact life was simple and going..Our needs were limited and we were contended whatever we had. It was not the condition only of our house or our living, all other families in the town were living with the same conditions. Perhaps many other families in the worst conditions than ours.I wonder as how the guests and visitors were also accommodated in that limited accommodation?
During late 1950s and early 1960s, my father renovated the whole house with brick flooring all over; changing the walls in the first floor with big size windows etc. Electric connection was also taken with moderate electrification of the house with light bulbs and a fan in one room. The look of the house changed to be more beautiful and comfortable.
I love my house where I lived for most of my childhood and visited till my parents lived there. It is now gone, sold now to several hands. In fact, nothing is there, the shops, the other houses of other family members; our land, our gardens etc. all gone, nothing remains there to say that this is my village or this is my house. Well, nothing is permanent.

you may ask some questions like as the toilets were cleaned on daily basis? How the guests were accomodated on special occasions llike weddings etc? How the religious rituals like SatyaNarain Katha, Sharadh , community feedings etc.were organised ? Where people used to sit without any kind of furniture?

Organized Crime: A Very Strange Incidents:

In a separate blog, I have written about the brahamin community of the town. These are my childhood recollections from when my perception was limited to understand and analyse the people and their circumstances etc. But this is a strange and exclusive story of a single brahamin family of the town. Ram Swarup Soti was our neighbour, lived with a family consisting of his three sons ( Keshav, Hari and Sooraj) and his wife. Keshav was almost of my age. His house and campus of the house was big, though main living area and boundary walls of the house were made of mud, no bricks. In the courtyard he had some trees and a small flower and vegetable garden. I very frequently visited his house and his family. I was especially attracted  to his nice flower garden. The family liked me very much and always treated me very well.
I never saw any body in the family working for income. Of course the boys were young and school going. So I wonder as what was the source of their income and how the family was managing day to day living expenses?
The family was socially isolated; though the family was a brahamin family but I never observed them performing any religious ritual. At what stage, under what circumstances, the family developed a kind of enmity with some families in the town and Soti ji became very revengeful and criminal to go to any extent to take the revenge. Lala Bhajju Mal's family (Bhajuu mal was also known as Chowkrayat: a person to guide the community for social activities) was one of the victims of his crimes. Bhajju Mal was a small business owner as grain merchant though he was doing well in his business. On one occasion, Soti ji opened the roof of his shop and burnt it; the shop was completely destroyed with its contents. It was a complete  and great loss of the property and his business; other time he mixed the poison in the floor at the grinding mill itself. Most family members were very timely saved, yet still lost their youngest son. This was a great tragedy and unbearable shock for the family. Later, the family left the town to avoid further victimization. Another family was of Dr. Dwarka Prasad. His young son was killed brutally by Soti's family just in the next house. Soti already declared that not only will he kill the boy, he will also drink blood from his heart. He did so by cutting the  chest of the boy and taking out the heart from the body. Later, he proudly declared that he did it what he said. Terrible incident, I never heard of such an inhuman act before or later in life. A devilish (rakshash act) act from a brahamin to a brahamin. I could notice the anger on his face, in his voice and his eyes. In fact, he was born criminal and his family suffered with him with his criminal acts.
Every one in the town was scared of him and would never dare to come to him or talk to him. But I was never scared though I knew all of his acts; I wonder why I was not afraid of him and his family ? The worst part was his training to his youngest son: He used to tie him with a tree and rope and used to beat him with stick for a long time. When I asked him as to what and why he has been doing to his son, he said that he is making him strong enough to tolerate any kind of pain, even the hardest beating by the police. He was preparing him to be a hard core criminal and later of course, he became one of the most famous robber and criminal of the area. He committed all kinds of crime including murders. It is very strange as how a father and mother watched their own son, turn into a criminal before their very eyes??
The family committed several crimes and in the acts of murders and counter murders among the rivals,the family vanished in these acts of crime except that one of the boy escaped, left the town and got employed in some job somewhere .
No wonder such people meet this kind of end.

Born only to suffer; miseries, miseries and miseries only.

A strange but true story of a person who was born to suffer throughout her life. The story is of one of my grandmothers who lived very near to us in the main big family house.
Shri Jagan Nath was the second to youngest brother among five brothers of my grandfather . He died very young, even before I was born and after his death, his family met a very tragic end. I was told that he was not smart and very active person with no means of earning.  He was not very capable or able person to do any thing meaningful in life. He was perhaps the poorest of all his brothers, in all respects. His family gave him responsibility of attending social obligations on behalf of the family ( such as attending wedding ceremonies, other functions in the community, and funerals etc).
My grandmother was born in another nearby town, Tajpur- a famous Riyast in our region. They were two sisters with entirely different fate/destiny to live their lives.

She was married to my grandfather while the other sister was married into a very rich and prosperous family in Bijnor. Shri Ajit Prasad was the top most lawyer of those days in Bijnor . There is no comparison in the lives of the two sisters. One enjoyed the best of the world while the other suffered through out her life with all kinds of miseries and pain.
They had two sons, Krishan Kumar and Om Prakash (commonly known as OMI); all their uncles, especially one of my grandfathers, Shri  Bihari Laj ji  ( who retired as Executive Engineer, and settled down nicely in Delhi) tried to improve them and to EDUCATE them but of no avail.  They had very poor IQ and EQ. They did not do any thing in their lives except loafing around and living on the little income they had from their property and support from the family members(our family  was very strongly bound, collective and united family, impossible now to imagine that kind of cooperation and feelings for each other in the family); They lived  in extreme poverty and very miserable conditions. They had very little intelligence, common sense or understanding otherwise. All of them in that  family came together having very poor destiny. My grandmother had, perhaps the worst kind of fate, never saw any thing good in her life, very pathetic. I never saw her wearing a nice dress, eating good food etc. She struggled through out her life with poverty, starvation and all kinds of miseries.
After having two sons , she became widowed at a very young age. She had to bear the responsibility of bring up her two sons alone. They tortured her through out her life at every stage as they were born with a specific purpose to trouble her and make her life difficult and miserable. She lived in the other house of the family though used to come to our house on a daily basis for something or the other. She was comfortable only with our family. She was never free from problems and troubles. She was very nice person by her nature, very loving, affectionate and soft spoken person.  Though surrounded with all kinds of problems, I never saw her angry or disappointed. I had special consideration and great sympathy for her. I always had a desire in my heart to help her in any way. I always visited her and asked for her welfare. Her sons used to beat her to extract at even the smallest thing she had and used to ask her to come us and ask for money etc.My own family helped her in all possible way, all the time.
 I never saw her praying or worshipping, going to temple etc. as, perhaps she had lost her faith in God. I never saw her visiting any other person or family except our family. Almost socially isolated.
Years passed, her sons though now grown up and adults , but never came to age even to help themselves. Always bothering their mother for their needs.

Her younger sister in Bijnor who was very rich and prosperous visited  her very often and wanted to help her every possible way. But according to the social system an elder sister will never take any help from her younger sister, hence my grandmother never took any help from her. She tried to help her sons in all possible ways but of no use and it was somewhat never ending.

The last part of her life is really pathetic and worth mentioning here. Baba Har Prasad ji, once came from Muzaffarnagar and scolded Dadi ji that she is the only one who has given her sons undue shelter and support and spoilt them. Let her come with him to live in Muzaffarnagar  leaving them alone behind on their fate. This way they will learn their lesson and will do something to live with out depending on her. Fed up with her situation and every day trouble from her sons, she decided to go with him to Muzaffarnagar for some time After she left they started doing some thing here and there as no options left for them., Krishna Kumar  was working in a watermelon farm as watchman , was caught by LOO ( very hot and dry air during the month of May, causing dehydration and many other ailments to the population) and ultimately by severe Cholera suffered a terminating situation and died in a very short time, all of a sudden. Due to poor transportation and medical facilities in the town, he could not be given adequate and proper treatment. Perhaps, he could have been saved if timely help was available for him to take him to District Hospital in Bijnor.(Perhaps, he was not alone, as in those days, how many would have died in the town with out proper or adequate medical facilities?). Dadi ji was called back immediately after his death from Muzaffarnagar, and for what? Just to mourn her elder son. She was terribly shocked and saddened and was broken down from this event. She was very much unhappy, angry, frustrated and disappointed with everyone in the family. She had no option except to accept the fact of the life. She became very quiet and silent after she lost her elder son.
My grandfather, assessing the situation, thought perhaps the marriage of the younger one may bring some relief to her and a difference in her life. He  arranged the marriage of Om Prakash, the younger one with a  girl from a village in Garhwal . Our family arranged this marriage(rather bought that girl for Rupees 5000/-, which was very common practice in those days for the rich people). Anandi Chachi was one of the most beautiful women in our family. She was quite young and certainly no match for Om Prakash who later never cared for her, never treated her as his wife, had no love, attraction or association at all with her. It was his incapability to give any importance to any relationship , not only to his wife. However, it gave some consolation to Dadi ji in her grieved situation. She got busy in looking after her with some hope for the future. The burden of expenses, directly and indirectly came to my grandfather.
Time passed and Dadi was blessed with a grandson, very handsome boy . She forgot all the previous sufferings and got busy looking after  the child. She was very happy, satisfied and contended with this changed situation. I used to go very often to meet Dadi ji as I had great sympathy with her and she was also very affectionate to me. She was very glad whenever I visited her. Once, she asked me that I must take care of this boy and develop him. I promised her to do so and she had a trust in me. I also decided that I will do my best to bring up the boy . After a few years, when the boy was about five years old, he got very severe attack of smallpox and died with its complications(again a case of poor medical care and facilities at home and in the town). Dadi was completely shattered and completely exhausted with the calamities and miseries of life; tolerated the loss of her husband at her young age; tolerated the death of her adult and fully grown son and now the last hope of the beloved grandson is also gone. After the death of her son, frustrated and ill treated by her husband, Chachi ji went back her home in the hills not to come back again. Dadi ji was left alone to bear all the sorrows and loneliness. She died soon after that. No one cared for her son Omi after her death.  He wandered here and there and survived perhaps a few years with bare minimum resources and died in mysterious circumstances. The government did all the last rites. During his last years of life for his survival, he sold out whatever property was left after the death of his mother ( a small house, some shops etc.) .
This is the end of the family, their property, and everything . I do not understand as why God punished Dadi ji and that family so much that they never saw any thing good in their life except the troubles, miseries and sorrows all the time. VERY TRAGIC END. I do not understand the purpose of their coming to this world and their existence.