MAMA KISHAN DYAL AND ME

    

   After the death of my step mother Ratno Rani, in early 30s due to tuberculosis, one year later, a frantic search was launched by my Dada Mallhu Ramji looking for a suitable girl in order to solemnize the second marriage of his son Puran Chand.

       A very tiny village Khajjan, is situated closely at the bank of Jabbar Khad, three kilometers down eastwards from Nurpur Town, on the then pony track leading to Chamba via Chowari. There lived a poor Khajuria Brahmin family, a family which was made pujari and custodian of Mandir Kalyanrai by an order of the then Raja Jagat Singh of Nurpur Kingdom.

      The Mandir was originally installed and inaugurated by the Maharaja himself. However, i is said that the Mandir was later developed by and by and constructed pucca by the Soga family of Nurpur town, who also donated two pucca built up shops in the main bazar of Nurpur to Mandir Kalyanrai for the financial support to the pujari family,

      Pandit Kunj Behari Lal Khajuria, the Pujari of Mandir Kalyanrai had two children. Son Kishan Dyal and daughter Kaushalya Devi. Since the pujari was a short stature person, his both the children were also not more than five feet in height.  Once, while on the way to Nurpur on foot, my Dadaji visited Mandir Kalyanrai to pay his reverence to the deity of Lord Krishna. 

      On having found a peaceful and tranquil atmosphere surrounded by lush green environment covered with fresh fruits and different types of flower bearing plants and trees with pujari's hut situated right in front of the temple courtyard; amidst the bunch of mango trees, he stayed in the temple premises for a while unexpectedly.Pandit Mallhu Ramji was a very well known personality of the area of his times being one of the  great, learned and renowned pandits and joytishacharyas.

        Pandit Kunj Behari Lal, the pujari of the temple also knew personally my Dadaji very well. The Pujari welcomed him   and had a social interaction for a while. He was offered  a basket of some fresh garden fruits as prasad of the temple and also offered a glass of cool pitcher water to drink. The glass of water was brought out from inside the hut by pujari's daughter Kaushalaya. This was the moment, the search for a girl for Puran Chand halted there.

      The pujari was overwhelmed when my Dadaji proposed him  whether he was willingly ready to give his daughter Kaushalaya for his son Puran Chand. The matter was discussed then and there and marriage date was fixed keeping in view the intermediary functions and prevailing customs. Soon thereafter, marriage was solemnized in a simple ceremony and Kaushalaya became another member of Manjhol Parivaar.

      We are four brothers and one sister. Our parents, Puran Chand and Kaushalya lived their full lives and went to their heavenly abode one after the other, leaving behind a void, never to be filled again.  After the demise of Pandit Kunj Behari Lal Khajuria, Kishan Dyal became the custodian and pujari of the Kalyanrai temple, Khajjan . 

      Before his death, my Nana had attached all his landed property to Thakur Kalyanrai in 1917, in order to make sure that the property did not go to wrong hands after him and shall remain intact as mandir property. The time flew past  by and Kishan Dyal grew older in a lonely atmosphere and, as if an abandoned member of once a small happy family of village Khajjan. Kishan Dyal being a feeble minded, lived all his life alone at village Khajjan, in an old and dilapidated house!

     Being an elder among the four brothers, my close association with Mama Kishan Dyal had been since my early childhood age of five. I still faintly remember that a number of times in a month, I was taken to Khajjan by my parents. I used to ascend on Pitaji's back during most of the journey from Ladori to Khajjan, on foot, and parents, wading through Jabbar Khad waters more than ten times, pyjamas rolled over up to knees or sometimes taken out altogether and thrown over the shoulders and slippers held in hands.

        During the year 1953-54, I was studying in 4th class in Govt. Primary School, Ladori. Since I was a weak student in mathematics, I always  felt myself looked down upon and insulted in the class and was considered a careless and obstinate fellow by the then Headmaster, Shri Charan Singh Pathania, who was very strict and also  cruel at times, so far as students' bad performance in the class was concerned. 

      Every child of the school trembled  before him with the unknown  fear of him. No one knew as to when one would get an award of severe physical assault by the teacher, even on a very small, trivial and negligible reason, This bad practice was  prevalent in all the schools in those days. Due to my weakness in mathematics, I used to be the main victim of the headmaster. Therefore, I had always been in a look out for an opportune time or an occasion to go to Khajjan, away from Ladori, every now and then, in order to remain absentee from school!

       Very happy and amused, I walked down to Khajjan from Ladori, on foot. I neither had shoes nor  a pair of chappals. In the previous day, I had borrowed a pair of canvas shoes from one of my friends in the vicinity of my Ladori house. I was primarily happy because I would not go to school for next three days and Sunday thereafter. By now, I had grown so bigger that I used to go to Khajjan all alone. I did not have had sense of fear as I always felt myself confident, fearless and  so called bold minded. Only feeble mind is fearful and discourage you to attempt boldly to take swift and timely initiative.

         From Upla to Chikla Maira-Ghaluin-di-Kuwali-Ternian-da-Tudd-Tootan-di-Khabli-Hindora Gharat and finally Khajjan. By now, I had walked all alone on this route for number of times. Walking  without any company, gave me more thrill, joy and enthusiasm. While walking most of the time on the Jabbar Khad bed, on a zig-zag track,  and wading through knee deep jabbar khad waters at various points, under the blue sky partially overcast, many a times, gave me a sense of pride and romance!

       Not so high hillocks on both the Jabbar Khad banks, used to be densely covered with the big and small trees of various varieties, bushes, shrubs, dark green foliage and green grass and wild flowers. At places, fountains of cool and crystal clear hilly waters coming rolling down noisily and meeting with Jabbar Khad, created an enchanting scene and thrilling experience at the time of the sun going down to the west, for an ignorant school boy of my age.

        At Khajjan house, I always felt that it was another house, another world and yet another lovable place full of peace and tranquility. Fully secured, peaceful, quiet, feeling of nothingness, thoughtful and solitude ambience all around. An old two room double story house, though in bad and dilapidated condition, gave richly interior look of the times gone by with intricately carved out huge double wooden pillars along both the side walls holding up the roof by a large and nicely crafted and carved out wooden beam across the room on the ground floor.

       After toiling hard in the fields, one could find solitude inside the cool and cozy room on a hot sunny day, with deep slumber. Musical sound of buzzing honey bee in the dark and pin drop silence  room, chirping of sparrows outside on the varanda and seldom barking of peacock on the overhanging khadyater meadow, created an enchanting atmosphere so wonderful!

       Outside of the house, in the big open courtyard, full of Tulsi hedges everywhere, ornamental flowers of various types, geometrically prepared soil beds mixed with fine cow dung manure for green home grown vegetables, trees laden with seasonal fruits like mango, orange, mithu, ber, nashpati, bhagugosha, kainth and different types and sizes of seedless amrood, papita, Kandhari Anaar, lugaat, kimb, shehtoot and bel pathar etc. were available aplenty around the house in the backyard garden. 

      Apart from fruits, local novelties like galgal, trunj, ghamiri, nimbu, chalodra were also available in the garden to add a little tinge to spicy food lovers. In this fruit garden, I used to feel free from all sides doing what I wanted at my own will and pleasure!

      There was a  family, in  a close neighborhood, and also being cunning, greedy and conspiratorial that was always in the look out of an opportune and suitable time to reach pre-determined damage to Khajuria family. On the contrary, Pancham, a boy from the same family was so smart, playful, cordial, versatile, innovative and friendly was in a very close friendly relation with me.

       Whenever in those good old days, I was in Khajjan, my most of the time was spent in the company of Pancham. Lalaji, Pancham's father was then a very old person always seen sat on the cot on the varanda of his house. He loved Pancham  and me equally. Pancham was senior to me by 3-4 years. He
was then studying in Govt. High School Nurpur in 9th standard. 

     After passing 5th class in Govt. High School, Ladori, I was admitted in 6th class in Govt. High School, Nurpur. Pancham was a very good player of Volleyball and Kabaddi and he participated in many school and outside sports tournaments and brought laurels to the school.

      Pancham used to innovate toys of different types for small children. I remember when he made a paper snake with the help of his Lalaji. This paper snake was popular among the children of those days. Pancham also used to make mud toys and color them artistically. For Diwali, once he prepared an instrument with the help of a key fixed on a stick and the nail tied with a strong thread for cracking match stick masala giving quite a loud thunder when struck with a force on a lying stone or rock. Me and Pancham had become very good friends, that is why I was always attracted to come to Khajjan time and again.

      Actually, years before settling down in village Khajjan, Pancham's forefathers used to entertain people with their Raas Lila and Bhagat shows on the invitation of different towns and village in the areas near and far beyond. They used to  organize  street shows for entertaining people and to earn their living. When Lalaji grew very old and was unable to accompany the troupe everywhere and anywhere for staging shows, the family decided to close their business once for all and settled down finally at village Khajjan.

     With the passage of time, the income sources of this family deteriorated and the family turned poor and it became difficult for them to even make both ends meet. Accordingly, their relations in the village had a drastic change and soon this family  turned hated and isolated. Pancham, by that time had joined service in Chamba region and also had turned a conspirator and blackmailer of repute who hatched a conspiracy against my Mama Kishan Dyal, to whom he always respected and addressed as Bhai Sahib. Pancham and his associates one day drugged Kishan Dyal and took his signatures on a plain non-judicial paper and grabbed his khadyater land on lease for 99 years with the connivance of local revenue people. Pancham I hate you!

      It was thunderous, cloudy, stormy dark night and raining intermittently. This time Mama had specially called me for accomplishing an urgent and important mission. Before going to bed, Mama disclosed his plan and we both discussed it in detail before sleeping. It was mid night when Mama whispered and woken me up politely. I got up and then we both went out of the house quietly in the rainy and  thundering dark night with heavy draati, phawara and showel.

     As I have already mentioned, Mama had a shop about 200 yards down eastwards from his house, on the main road under a huge Jamun tree, which had been in ruins by then. A notorious and cunning family hatched a conspiracy against Kishan Dyal and occupied the shop plot forcefully, in his long absence from Khajjan and erected a thatched hut on it with the help of wooden ballies, planks covering it with old and discarded tin sheets.

      They allegedly claimed that this was their plot since the times immemorial which was completely wrong as per the temple revenue records. They were simply trying to grab the plot by hook or crook, keeping in view the poor and hapless condition of Kishan Dyal.

      We reached at the scene and within one and a half hours, dismantled the shed and razed it to the ground. Now, the whole construction material and the trash scattered all around, was to be taken down the winding quawali leading to Jabbar Khad one by one and thrown into the swollen Jabbar Khad. It took us another one hour or so for both of us to take the material to the Jabbar Khad and threw it in the gushing flood waters which washed it away leaving behind not an even slightest evidence whatsoever. Next day morning, whoever saw the empty plot, was compelled to think twice as to what happened here in the previous night! The people responsible for encroachment also did not react either..

       After having lived in Ladori and passing 5th class, I was taken to Nurpur Town by Chacha Chakkar Dhariji and admitted in the then Govt. High School, Nurpur in 6th class. My Chachaji was a senior Hindi teacher in that school. In the beginning, I remained mentally disturbed mainly due to homesickness. I was totally unhappy and always cursed chachaji as to why he brought me to Nurpur and isolated me from Ladori and my friends. As there was no other option, I had to compromise with my mind and made up, to continue to live in Nurpur until I completed my matriculation.

      From then on until I completed my matriculation in 1961, I remained at Nurpur. Immediately after matriculation examination, I went to Jammu to my Chacha Udham Chandji and  worked in a factory for few months. Then I left Jammu and went to Bombay to my another Chacha Subhash Chandji and again worked in a mechanical factory there in Andheri until early 1963 on the monthly salary of Rs. 50/-.

      But soon after, I had to return home on medical grounds and  then went to Patiala to my Chacha Ishwar Chandji who was a Religious Teacher in the Army there. After having stayed in Patiala for about seven months, One day I went to the Recruiting Office without informing or consulting Chachaji and got recruited in the Army as a clerk and went to Bangalore for training.

      All these years, at times, I have been listening elders at home talking about the marriage of Mama Kishan Dyal. It was also evident from their talks that Kishan Dyal was always adamant and seemed determined not to marry at all. As and when he was contacted or asked about his consent, he simply smiled and nodded his head negatively without making eye to eye contact and simply looking down on the ground. It appeared as if he had finally decided NOT to marry at all.

      My parents had also tried their best to persuade him but in vain. He never allowed anyone to talk about his marriage. So far his physical health was concerned, Mama was a hero in the village. He had very good physique and one could count the flexing body muscles that he had developed. Though he was of a short stature person but he was as active as lightening.

      He used to work in the fields whole day perspiring, turning big and small rocks lying here and there in his fields that he cleared himself alone. It was his routine to get up at 4 in the morning  and exercise for an hour everyday without fail before going down to Jabbar Khad for taking bath and then sitting on the morning prayer in the Kalyanrai temple till 9 AM. When mandir puja was over in the morning, he used to blow conch so rhythmically and loud that it could be heard in the whole village and the people came to know that days' morning prayers in the temple are over.

      Whenever, in the rainy season, there were floods in the Jabbar Khad and in  the Chakki tributary       Harad when there was no bridge over it in 1950s, Kishan Dyal always offered his services voluntarily to help the travelers to cross the flood waters without any cost and he did this effortlessly until the night fell. Mama was also a very good singer. Whenever there was any social function or gathering in the temple premises, he took initiative to sing bhajans and hymns from holy Gita.

 On Diwali festival, mandir was beautifully illuminated and all the residents specially children of     Khajjan converged there making merry and bursting crackers. Next day, there used to be annual Goverdhan Puja at Mandir Kalyanrai, a function on a grand scale, where guests from far and wide used to be invited including saints, sadhus and other religious gurus participated in the puja. A jag (community langer) was arranged on a large scale where hundreds of local and outside people took part. Volunteers from the village and outside took over the duty of feeding the guests sitting on the ground in

 long rows till late evening.

 Next day, again the volunteers took over the cleanliness job in their hands and cleaned the mandir    premises, utensils, big and small and hand them over to the respective owners properly. This used to be an yearly ritual at Mandir Kalyanrai from the times immemorial. Unfortunately, the Goverdhan Puja was stopped when Kishan Dyal grew old and also slowly developed physical and mental ailments including poverty. Major factor being was stoppage of receiving agricultural produce from all the tillers of the mandir land due to the poor condition of Kishan Dyal.

        Whenever I came home on leave, I always visited Mamaji and inquired about his well being. Each time I came on leave, I found  Mama's financial and social condition worsened and deteriorated further. As I have already told that he did not trust any. this state of affairs continued till his last day and he never allowed anyone to come to his house and stay with him in order to help him.

        Taking unfair advantage of his state of mind and health, mama's neighbor Pancham and his associates took his signatures on a plain non-judicial paper after drugging at his house in an ambiguous gathering,  and as a result, all the adjoining khadyater land was grabbed by Pancham Chand on a lease contract for 99 years with the connivance of local revenue people. The case is pending in the Nurpur court. A shop at Nurpur main bazar has also been forcefully occupied by the tenant for the last more than 30 years and is not likely to be retrieved again.

       In an another occasion, when I was on annual leave, Som Dutt Chachaji met me and told me that some funds are  released from time to time by the Goverment against the khadyater barren land and that funds against such land at Khajjan on the name of Mandir Kalyanrai had been released. This money was to be drawn from the Nambardar of the area. Som Dutt Chachaji also told me that he advised Kishan Dyal to come with him and get the money so released by the government from the Nambardar. But he was reluctant and non cooperated.

       Here too, the reason was that Mama did not trust either Chacha Som Dutt nor the Namberdar as to whether he would give the full amount released by the government or not. One day, myself, Chacha Som Dutt and Mama went to Namberdar's house at Janera to receive the Choharrum amount released by the BDO. Even after making all out efforts by both of us, Mama did not agree to get the money and continued repeating that Nambardar will definitely give us less amount than that released by the government I folded hands before him, touched his feet in order to cooperate but he did not do so. We then had to return home empty handed and the money was perhaps never claimed again.

     It was time when the talk of my marriage was going on in the family. It was the year 1972-73. Mama also came to know that my marriage was being settled with a girl that belonged to the State of Punjab. He was, however, against this relation. He commented sarcastically that 'when maal Punjab ki Mandi mein nahi bika toh Himachal ki Mandi mein bechne chale hain'.

       However, Mama did not know the fact that Rama was brought up and studied up to 6th class in Indora, District Kangra, Himachal Pradesh as she was sent to Indora in order to give company to her Nani who was then 80 years old and lived all alone. Hence Rama was more than a Himachali girl and spoke pahari dialect fluently. She never spoke punjabi like her other brothers and sisters. Finally, my marriage took place on 20 July 1973. Despite our repeated requests, mama neither attended the marriage nor he ever tried to meet Rama, my wife, until his death. 

      I ignored and continued meeting him as usual. It was 1984, when I and my wife decided to shift to Khajjan permanently and we did so. We told Mama clearly that he need not to worry for anything any more and he would  be properly looked after and that he should continue with his mandir puja only. But mama stopped talking with us and started telling people that these people have come here to grab my property even when he was alive. 

       After fifteen days of our stay at Khajjan, we had no alternative but to shift back to Ladori, because Mama was not at all in favor that we stayed there any longer. He thought that we had come there to occupy his property and nothing else whatsoever. He was a peculiar type of person who was neither fully understood by us nor anybody else.. Arun, my youngest brother took over him finally in his later part of life but I doubt that Mama trusted him fully too!

      Mama is no more now. Old house is also no more to be seen either. Arun is presently living in the Mandir complex. He has built up a small beautiful house there by the side of the mandir. He has been trying hard to retrieve the lost mandir properties and upkeep of the mandir itself. In the last days of Mama, Arun looked after him until he breathed last. I may suggest Arun to think, consider and re-commence the yearly celebration of Govardhan Puja at Mandir Kalyanrai at Khajjan with a community langar in consultation with the village elders. This way, a very nice tribute could be given to Mamaji!