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?