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My Nani and Nana:
The earliest recall of my memory is about my Nani ji ( Basanti Devi) and Nana ji ( Ram Swaroop Mal Chobdar ) who belonged to a reputed Zamindar family of Chandpur. Perhaps, I was less than 5 years of age when I with my mother used to visit them often from my town to their place. They used to live in Basanti,s Dharamsala- the only place for community functions like wedding ceremonies etc. and for passengers to stay for over night or for few days. For the standard of those days, it was fairly a big dharamsala and nicely built and comfortable. Its main gate opened in front of Hindu Inter College , back door towards the Railway station. My Nani/Nana used to live in an exclusive and seperate and independent housing facility in dharamsala- in the south east corner of dharamsala, they had a big living room whose back door used to open towards railway station, one small kitchen, a big storage place where my nana used to store all the grains he will receive from his farms; then a fairly big and good tin shed in which there was a wooden chowki where most of the time, my nana ji will sit, or relax and enjoy his small smoking Hooqqa. In dharamsala itself his cows and bullocks etc. also used to live. My nana ji used to be quite busy in his Zamindari work, will hardly be going to town. He used to wear white dhoti, kurta and look always smart with his fair and handsome personality. My nani ji was from Chandpur itself , in fact , where she lived for rest of the life after the death of my Nana ji. My nani ji was actually the second wife married after the death of my nana ji,s first wife. He had a son ( Raja Ram ) from his first wife, we had hardly any relationship or contact with him or his family. My mother was the only child of my nani ji. Her parents loved her too much and I was the most dear person for them. I was like a living toy for them. I can recollect a few incidents of those days;
1. Near the front gate of dharamsala, there was a small room, there used to live one Pandit ji who used to do some pooja etc. so whenever, I will hear the sound of his tiny bell, I will sense that he is going to give now prasad, so I was prompt to reach there every day to get one batasha and one tulsi leaf, so happy to have it and eat it. his place was very neat and clean with lots of yellow flowers with nice smell of Kanair;
2; my nanaji used to put water melon in the well ( which was in the centre of the dharamsala ) to cool it down to eat in the after noon of the hot summers;
3; once, I had a corn in the back side of my foot, he removed it with nehrna ( nail cutter of those days );
4; once my buwaji and phoophaji came from Dhampur, perhaps for some treatment of my buwaji, they stayed for some time in the similar kind of accommodation in which we were living but in the southwestern corner of dharamsala;
5; Nanaji trusted servant to drive him and us in the Bullock cart, Dilawar Singh ( who in fact, worked even after the death of nana ji.till his death in 1950s).
My nana ji, besides the property -shops and houses etc. in Chandpur, had major source of his income from his village-Shekhpuri very near to Sendwar (in Gaga,s khadar; known town as Senadwar, residence of DARONACHARYA ji ); myself and nani ji once went for ganga,s bath to sendwar some times in 1950s;
I had some of his pictures and books which I read when I was living with nani ji during my high school education. "Gul Bakawali " was never ending fantasy novel of those days, it was in a few volumes? in Urdu; His one the frame , perhaps now lost, is well remembered to me for its words : AGAHA APNI MOT SE KOI BASHAR NAHI, SAMAN SOU BARAS KA PAL KI KHABAR NAHI "https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10156893615618109&set=a.10150130484178109&type=3&theater
My nanajee died very young and I missed all his love and affection which my nani compensated later after his death. Unfortunately, I do not have any photographs of any one of them. Nothing else is also remaining, the property in the town, ( two shops in the main market area ) the lands/Zamindari etc. ( one piece of land in Chandpur with SOHAN Singh- a very honest person I have to see such a person ; SHEKHPURI was a big village with his big farming lands ; a main source of income ); I do remember a few persons like Dilawar Singh and Chawwa Singh ) and every thing in the house has been completely lost. only thing remains, the family of my nanaji,s sons family living in their ancestral house. My nani left dharamsala to live with her parental family. My mother used to treat RAJ Bahadur , the grandson of nanaji as the son of her own brother I used to visit that family at time to time without the knowledge of naniji as she will not allow me to visit them.This story ends here.
MY NANI:
Perhaps, my nani was born to take care of me and my brothers. After the death of nanaji, she moved to live with her parental family. When, with my mother visited her for the first time in the new place, no body told me about the demise of nanaji, though I asked about him and out of love, cried for him. I forgot every thing of this place though, we might be visiting her at time to time. I do remember, my first impression of the open air stair case which had very high steps and was very scary for me to get down. Some one has to escort me down. I do remember every thing after I moved to live with my nani in July 1950 for my schooling in Hindu Inter College from where I passed high school in 1953 and Intermediate in 1955. The parental house of Nani was very big. several families were living there; maternal uncle, Hakim Ajudhiya Prasad, ( son of Kedar Nath ), his adopted son Trilokee Nath and his family; ...... and mama Piyare Lal ji, first as single and later with his family.
Nani had special interest for me. I was every thing for her and hence all of her attention, care, love and affection for me. Words will fall short describing her concern about me. when ever, on my vacation , I will go Jhalu, she will be very sad and will cry as I must not go there.
She was an excellent cook, always enjoyed cooking a variety of things, always very delicious. She always used desi ghee, never any other thing . Her PAPPARS were very very tasty very much liked by all.
She was very religious, will observe all the religious festivals and events very sincerely; daily morning worship and prayers was the routine for her ( I remember, I used to wait for my prasad, usually a BATASHA and one Tulsi leaf ); will go for Ganga,s bath very often. I remember going several times with her to Garh Mukteshwar and once Senadwar near our village Shekhpuri where we stayed in our camp (Dera) for a short time.
I can now think of that she has been suffering with High Blood Pressure ( in those days, no body took note of it, so that it could be treated ). As a consequence of that she was suffering with epileptic fits also which became very frequent at later stage. During last phase of her life, she had very miserable life, not taken proper care or treatment. She even lost her memory and senses to recognize things or people. She died in Jhalu though all the last rites including funeral were done by mama ji, shri Jyoti Prsasad ji. Her end was really terribly bad.
When I think of her to day, I feel that if I am in debt, I am in debt for her. She did every thing for me and I could not do any thing for her even in her most needed times to help her and to serve her. I will ever remain under debt to her as I will never will be able to pay back even a bit. These days in 2010, I look back with regrets that I could not do any thing for her and can not do any thing now . I remember her every night and pay my regards to her and wish that we must live together again at some point of time. My brothers, except the youngest one, KML Garg, and my sister Lakshmi lived with her for our education. She was never tired looking after us. I wonder if any one of them even remember her.
She was not educated or even literate but very wise in all the worldly matters. In fact, I learned many of my practical lessons from her especially shopping and dealing with various kinds of people.
The Estate of Ram Swaroop Mal Chobdar was completely over/lost for ever with the death of nani ji.Nothing remains in their memory. The house was very rich with all the things and lot of Jwellary.
see also;https://davendrak.wordpress.com/wp-admin/post.php?post=765&action=edit
The earliest recall of my memory is about my Nani ji ( Basanti Devi) and Nana ji ( Ram Swaroop Mal Chobdar ) who belonged to a reputed Zamindar family of Chandpur. Perhaps, I was less than 5 years of age when I with my mother used to visit them often from my town to their place. They used to live in Basanti,s Dharamsala- the only place for community functions like wedding ceremonies etc. and for passengers to stay for over night or for few days. For the standard of those days, it was fairly a big dharamsala and nicely built and comfortable. Its main gate opened in front of Hindu Inter College , back door towards the Railway station. My Nani/Nana used to live in an exclusive and seperate and independent housing facility in dharamsala- in the south east corner of dharamsala, they had a big living room whose back door used to open towards railway station, one small kitchen, a big storage place where my nana used to store all the grains he will receive from his farms; then a fairly big and good tin shed in which there was a wooden chowki where most of the time, my nana ji will sit, or relax and enjoy his small smoking Hooqqa. In dharamsala itself his cows and bullocks etc. also used to live. My nana ji used to be quite busy in his Zamindari work, will hardly be going to town. He used to wear white dhoti, kurta and look always smart with his fair and handsome personality. My nani ji was from Chandpur itself , in fact , where she lived for rest of the life after the death of my Nana ji. My nani ji was actually the second wife married after the death of my nana ji,s first wife. He had a son ( Raja Ram ) from his first wife, we had hardly any relationship or contact with him or his family. My mother was the only child of my nani ji. Her parents loved her too much and I was the most dear person for them. I was like a living toy for them. I can recollect a few incidents of those days;
1. Near the front gate of dharamsala, there was a small room, there used to live one Pandit ji who used to do some pooja etc. so whenever, I will hear the sound of his tiny bell, I will sense that he is going to give now prasad, so I was prompt to reach there every day to get one batasha and one tulsi leaf, so happy to have it and eat it. his place was very neat and clean with lots of yellow flowers with nice smell of Kanair;
2; my nanaji used to put water melon in the well ( which was in the centre of the dharamsala ) to cool it down to eat in the after noon of the hot summers;
3; once, I had a corn in the back side of my foot, he removed it with nehrna ( nail cutter of those days );
4; once my buwaji and phoophaji came from Dhampur, perhaps for some treatment of my buwaji, they stayed for some time in the similar kind of accommodation in which we were living but in the southwestern corner of dharamsala;
5; Nanaji trusted servant to drive him and us in the Bullock cart, Dilawar Singh ( who in fact, worked even after the death of nana ji.till his death in 1950s).
My nana ji, besides the property -shops and houses etc. in Chandpur, had major source of his income from his village-Shekhpuri very near to Sendwar (in Gaga,s khadar; known town as Senadwar, residence of DARONACHARYA ji ); myself and nani ji once went for ganga,s bath to sendwar some times in 1950s;
I had some of his pictures and books which I read when I was living with nani ji during my high school education. "Gul Bakawali " was never ending fantasy novel of those days, it was in a few volumes? in Urdu; His one the frame , perhaps now lost, is well remembered to me for its words : AGAHA APNI MOT SE KOI BASHAR NAHI, SAMAN SOU BARAS KA PAL KI KHABAR NAHI "https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10156893615618109&set=a.10150130484178109&type=3&theater
My nanajee died very young and I missed all his love and affection which my nani compensated later after his death. Unfortunately, I do not have any photographs of any one of them. Nothing else is also remaining, the property in the town, ( two shops in the main market area ) the lands/Zamindari etc. ( one piece of land in Chandpur with SOHAN Singh- a very honest person I have to see such a person ; SHEKHPURI was a big village with his big farming lands ; a main source of income ); I do remember a few persons like Dilawar Singh and Chawwa Singh ) and every thing in the house has been completely lost. only thing remains, the family of my nanaji,s sons family living in their ancestral house. My nani left dharamsala to live with her parental family. My mother used to treat RAJ Bahadur , the grandson of nanaji as the son of her own brother I used to visit that family at time to time without the knowledge of naniji as she will not allow me to visit them.This story ends here.
MY NANI:
Perhaps, my nani was born to take care of me and my brothers. After the death of nanaji, she moved to live with her parental family. When, with my mother visited her for the first time in the new place, no body told me about the demise of nanaji, though I asked about him and out of love, cried for him. I forgot every thing of this place though, we might be visiting her at time to time. I do remember, my first impression of the open air stair case which had very high steps and was very scary for me to get down. Some one has to escort me down. I do remember every thing after I moved to live with my nani in July 1950 for my schooling in Hindu Inter College from where I passed high school in 1953 and Intermediate in 1955. The parental house of Nani was very big. several families were living there; maternal uncle, Hakim Ajudhiya Prasad, ( son of Kedar Nath ), his adopted son Trilokee Nath and his family; ...... and mama Piyare Lal ji, first as single and later with his family.
Nani had special interest for me. I was every thing for her and hence all of her attention, care, love and affection for me. Words will fall short describing her concern about me. when ever, on my vacation , I will go Jhalu, she will be very sad and will cry as I must not go there.
She was an excellent cook, always enjoyed cooking a variety of things, always very delicious. She always used desi ghee, never any other thing . Her PAPPARS were very very tasty very much liked by all.
She was very religious, will observe all the religious festivals and events very sincerely; daily morning worship and prayers was the routine for her ( I remember, I used to wait for my prasad, usually a BATASHA and one Tulsi leaf ); will go for Ganga,s bath very often. I remember going several times with her to Garh Mukteshwar and once Senadwar near our village Shekhpuri where we stayed in our camp (Dera) for a short time.
I can now think of that she has been suffering with High Blood Pressure ( in those days, no body took note of it, so that it could be treated ). As a consequence of that she was suffering with epileptic fits also which became very frequent at later stage. During last phase of her life, she had very miserable life, not taken proper care or treatment. She even lost her memory and senses to recognize things or people. She died in Jhalu though all the last rites including funeral were done by mama ji, shri Jyoti Prsasad ji. Her end was really terribly bad.
When I think of her to day, I feel that if I am in debt, I am in debt for her. She did every thing for me and I could not do any thing for her even in her most needed times to help her and to serve her. I will ever remain under debt to her as I will never will be able to pay back even a bit. These days in 2010, I look back with regrets that I could not do any thing for her and can not do any thing now . I remember her every night and pay my regards to her and wish that we must live together again at some point of time. My brothers, except the youngest one, KML Garg, and my sister Lakshmi lived with her for our education. She was never tired looking after us. I wonder if any one of them even remember her.
She was not educated or even literate but very wise in all the worldly matters. In fact, I learned many of my practical lessons from her especially shopping and dealing with various kinds of people.
The Estate of Ram Swaroop Mal Chobdar was completely over/lost for ever with the death of nani ji.Nothing remains in their memory. The house was very rich with all the things and lot of Jwellary.
see also;https://davendrak.wordpress.com/wp-admin/post.php?post=765&action=edit
My brothers, Gultoo, Santosh and Virendra may also comment on this as they also lived with her.
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