Acquiring the knowledge of one’s own family’s past is a natural human trait, especially when the family has traversed from a zenith to a nadir, but nevertheless for a progressive family, it’s beneficial to investigate the causes for this journey.Firstly, the family can study the root causes of its downfall and chart a better future and secondly it can reinforce the good principles.
Reading the biographies of famous & well-known persons is one of the best pastimes. It inculcates imbibing of good habits & practices and keeping away from undesirable ones. And the readers of such biographies then develop an interest in making every effort to achieve similar name and fame as their ancestors.
In my heart too, I developed an interest in writing the biography of a person who having been born in the Kashtari family had established his sense of justice and fair play, kindness and generosity not only in the ‘Rooh’ caste but also amongst the miscellaneous & diverse entities. Though I do not find myself qualified to express opinions on a person of this stature, but crave the kindness of the readers who will I am sure overlook the errors of idiom & text. I am neither a historian nor a expert and have not written this biography for any return or goodwill but my natural emotions have forced me to write about this family. This biography largely consists of situations as personally witnessed by me and the contents are complete and verified & nothing exaggerated.
It is worth reading about the affection between brothers, dutiful obedience of parents and organizational rules of running a domestic unit.
This effort of mine is not only to provide a means of entertainment but a study of it should provide the readers a lesson in how to handle their own times of decline and progress in a graceful manner. If this objective is achieved, I shall consider my effort as fruitful.
AT YOUR SERVICE ———————–DEDICATEDLY
AT YOUR SERVICE DEDICATEDLY
- YOUR HUMBLE SERVANT
- MOHAN LAL SHARMA
- GAJRAULA (District Bijnor)
- Bharat Dwij March 1930.
In olden times when Muslim land ownership was on the increase, there was quite a bit of rivalry between,Muslims &Rajputs. Rawat rajputshad almost lost their identity while fighting the Mughals. And more hardships were imposed during the rule of emperor Aurangzeb. Many Rajput families temporarily migrated & settled down to the east of Ganga-Jamuna. Many such families migrated from district Bijnor too and starting making a living through agriculture and land ownership. As a result of living like this for a long period, they lost touch with the circumstances of their family elders and so much was the decline that the words ‘Rawat’ 0r ‘Rajput masses’ too vanished from usage in these families and they were only referred to as ‘Ruh castes’. To the extent that in district Bijnor, the situation deteriorated so much that leave alone deputy collectors, Barristers, even teachers or educated persons were not found.Land ownership also remained only at some places. Only agriculture &labourbecame their means of livelihood. This was used by other communities to their advantage.
In this very family, a person who came to be known as Ratan Singh of Gajraula, District Bijnor, earned a lot of wealth and called himself “Dhanna Seth. From then on, the men in this family started attaching the honorific ‘Seth’ with their names. In this family, Seth Gangaram made considerably more progress than previously in agriculture, Khandsal& trade, built many landmarks including “Diwankhanalibrary&Mahalsara” & earned fame. In his family was born a boy, who became known as “Lekhraj Singh”, whose bent of mind inclined towards prayers & devotion and leaving aside business & worldly affairs, he started enjoying seclusion at home. He prayed to Peepal&SoorajGod and became so involved in his thoughts that he even separated from his wife & started cooking his own food &starting spending his time in meditation.One day early morning, while entering his home, carrying a milk container, he fainted and fell &left for his heavenly abode.
Thereafter Seth Gangaram gave permission to his younger brother –Shiv Chandra’s son, Naubat Rai to get involved with his business affairs. Naubat Rai performed his tasks so well that in his lifetime itself, Seth Gangaram, transferred full responsibility to Naubat Rai. This was in return for Naubat Rai’s intelligence & integrity. Seth Naubat Rai adopted such measures that earned wealth, prestige & fame for the family.
In accordance with old traditions, he had a lot of interest in rearinganimals such as bulls as well as keeping various carriages. So much so that many a times he personally went & bought bulls himself. He used a particular saying for family members & acquaintances viz never trust ‘Bhadbuje’ & those hailing from Deccan side because I have had many experiences with them. And dealing with someone you have already tried out is the second mistake. He was of very simple demeaner but a very impressive personality. A remarkable fact of his life was that he considered litigation as an evil so much so that in daily life he hardly ever had any such experience.
In the month of Chaitrasamvat 1945Vikrami Shukla tirdausi (corresponds to year 1888), fortune smiled on the stars of Seth Naubat Rai & a boy was born. Pundits & fortune tellers considered the time of birth and each created ‘janamkundalis’ to bag lots of rewards individually. Poor were distributed lots of sweetmeats. When the time came for the traditional ‘Naamkaran’, the name which the pundits suggested was very short. But in this world whatever attributes are used for honesty, justice, sympathy and care for the poor were all hidden in this short name (Layaq) and the addition of Ram added a manifold merit to it. Therefore, the full name ‘LayaqRam’ became even more meaningful. Everyone used to speculate about him looking at his face and expression. Whoever knew that this star would shine like the sun and all-stars would be pale in its light. As per tradition, after ten days a public celebration was held, which was attended by allbrahmin families, acquaintances and their families with childrenof the district.
Food was distributed to the masses too. Servants received their rewards in cash & kind. For weeks there were congratulatory celebrations. He was brought up like royalty. He became a playful toy in the hands of family members & neighbors.He was celebrated like the splendor of the moon on full moon nights. In those days another family of the district was also at its zenith, known as the Shah family in which a there used to be person by name SahuLalman Das, who was of educated & balanced temperament, well known amongst the biradrialso and because of his sympathetic behavior he became famous among newer & newer parties.In those days under the agricultural Sajayet(word not clear) act, it was allowed to fix nanshat(word not clear) for Rs.30. This feature was used by him very well in ten districts of his neighborhood. But alas Ishwar did not grant him a long life & he passed away from this world. Since then, his family’s affair came into the hands of sahu Thakur Das.
At that very time, for some unknown reasons, antagonism developed between the shah family & Seth family.
In olden times, the methodology adopted by wealthy people interested in education was to get a teacher at home to teach children in Persian language & for day-to-day business taught them mahajani language. In those days, most of the tutors were Muslims.
In 1894 when he was aged 6 years, he entered the age of acquiring education. Pandit Ram Dayal Ji began with hindi language. His classmates enjoyed a lot of Shagun ki mithai. Afterwards he learnt Persian& trade language from Maulvi Mushtaque Husain Sahab. Though in this family there were members who learnt persian& trade but regular education & learning era began in the family from here. He gained complete mastery in Urdu &Persian whileHindi sounded sweet from him. Even though at that time he was not in a position to learn English language, he picked up society manners very well.
After him in chronological order three brothers Seth Har Pershad, Seth Mangu Lal &Seth Babu Ram were born, about whom brief details are separately given.
In 1904, to keep his memory alive, his father had a big celebration&in BaishakhsadiPooranmashi,named & populated a district in his name near the shores of malan (name not clear) river, where in olden times many great Rishis had meditated and where famous Rishi Kanhuv’s ashram was located, where lord Bharat was given birth to by Shakuntala Devi & after whom our country was named Bharat. Now this district is known as Layaqpuri and is a standing memorial of his parent’s love & affection.
In a very short period, he gained the trust and respect of his family members by his obedience and accomplished every legitimate task without delay. Consequently, his father started acquainting him with affairs of the estate and household tasks, which he picked up in a short while.
Around the same time, he became interested in physical exercise and he started practicing squats & push-ups and other exercises on the upper floor. However, he kept this secret from his father as he felt shy in disclosing it.
Incidentally one day while he was doing squats & push-ups etc, the sound of his grunting reached the Diwankhana. His father thought perhaps the sound is made by a slithering snake and walked upstairs. On seeing his son so absorbed in exercise, his father arranged for a nutritious diet of milk, dry fruits and healthy food. And encouraged his son to develop a first-class physique.
After some time, he married him off in a good family of Barampur.
On July 29th 1919, his father passed away and at that time he felt a great weight of responsibility on himself. He thought that since the elders in the Shah family and his own family had now passed away, it is time to seek reconciliation with the Shah family.
The day when he was to take charge of the estate, he invited all the priests (brahmins) and brethren and also the Shah family.
He spent a lot of money and foodstuff in the memory of his elders and as per tradition awarded a carriage and an orchard to the Acharaj (word not clear) for enjoying the first crop. The masses took part heartily in Pagdi tying ceremony but alas reconciliation with the Shah family did not happen. And right at the time of the meals, they departed to their homes without eating. Much effort was made to remove all misunderstandings but to no avail.
We have already stated earlier that he has three brothers of whom Seth Har Parsad& Seth Mangu Lal have finished their education and are suitable in every way to shoulder their tasks
The third brother, Seth Babu Ram wasat that time being educated in English. In order to avoid distrust& misunderstanding between brothers, to keep family inheritance & estate in one place & not get divided &to keep track of daily income &expenses,Seth Layaq Ram decided to handover Zamindari affairs to Seth Har Persad&treasury & daily accounting matters to Seth Mangu Lal. Regarding Seth Babu Ram, it was decided that he should be appointed to some government position because till then no one from this family had reached any eminent position in Government. No one was in sight to support the coming generation in pulling them up. In those days a prominent position in Government was considered respectable. He himself took the full responsibility of all indoor & outdoor work and assumed the position of chairman of this committee.
All of the brothers discharged their responsibilities so diligently that in a few years a massive change was perveptible. The annual income increased in thousands; supervision & construction of orchards &buildings continued apace. He also started meeting district officials and the ruling beauracracy developed respect for him and his fame kept growing.
The progress & upliftment of his family was largely dependent upon his trust on his well-meaning aides.
In the matter of estate & inheritance, Patwari Chand was mainly responsible. Though he always treated various Patwaris of the district with lot of trust, but had special trust in Kalyan Singh Patwari & it remained this way till the end.
In later times, Dwarka Persad Patwari was considered a key person for estate affairs and in reality, this was proved from his behavior& circumstances too and he was the first amongst all Patwaris.
Though most people use their income domestically, but in his household arrangements a special attribute is worth mentioning. I have seen domestic arrangements of some wealthy people of the district but except for some talk nothing special was seen.
In his case, his arrangement was to keep the family together and at the same time convert his landed possession into aestate. In a family, every individual has different thinking & habits. That is why this kind of treatment or interaction does not feel insulting for anyone. There is regular accounting of income and from all income joint benefits are derived.
To bear all expenses of logistics, travel is organized for which all arrangements are in the hands of Seth Har Parsad and its excellence is clear from his narrative.
Guests are provided food commensurate to their positions with a great deal of sweet talk. Even at the time of parties, there is no ego but in effect whatever happens is done with a lot of respect & love.
The family’s head priest (kul guru) is shri Nashtar Ram ji whose abode is in district Mandavar (name not clear). Even though he is not a very majorVedantischolar but according to his contemporaries, he has read a couple of books on Jyotish Vidya & the Puranas. Sometime he also recites the stories of Ramayan & Mahabharat & with reference to a few Puranas & Shastras he is able to remove some doubts too. According to tradition he is paid annually.
For the day-to-day charity, fasts and festivals, Pundit Hori Lal, son of Pundit Lalman Das, resident of (name not clear)has been made in-charge, who is discharging this duties from early times and is suitable for his job.
To teach English to the children, from time to time, tutors are hired.
The children’s early education is done under Pundit Mohanlal Bharadwaj who is the principal of the primary school, Gajraula. His domestic expenses are also taken care of & an annual stipend is paid to him as a return.
With regard to health issues, Seth Mangu Lal himself supervises the family and minor ailments he treats himself. He has taken personal responsibility of taking care of ailing persons. For special treatments, Hakeem Mohammed Ishaq – resident of village Manda – has been appointed, who, is a respectable and courteous person & who has actually studied Unani medicine & obtained a certificate.
For the sake of safety, the palace is there and the main door is made of iron. Licenses for guns & pistols have been obtained from the English Government.
For ‘Wazan Kashi’ (word not clear)there is Bihari Singh Dalal (word not clear), who is a conscientious, alert & brave Rajput and Pundit Moolchand, who is a person of patience & reconciliatory attitude. Both these are well-wishers of the estate.
In some old houses, changes have been made in keeping with modern trends in which there are additions of Verandas &skylightsfor better ventilation which would help in maintaining general health. For decorating the home, all clean & durable requisite goods are available.
For transport, there are carriages like horse-drawn carts, Bullock carts etc and all of these are clean &durable too. In times of need poor and rich both take advantage of these & for the Ladies Palace all requisite requirements are also made available. The ladies utilize their positions with great care and are very familiar with domestic rules. Keeping everything in an organized manner & care of children’s health & cleanliness are very praise-worthy.
It is a special attribute of this family that if any lady comes to meet them, they are not recounted the anecdotes of wealth and pomp of the family. On the contrary the guest’s complaints or difficulties are heard & sought to be remedied.
Charity & good deeds which are the special attributes of ladies is practiced here and all family members are of happy demeanor. It will not be out of place to compare the ladies of this family to Devis. (saints).
He (Layaq Ram) was very obedient to his parents right from his childhood. As far as possible he avoided upsetting them. Envy or stubbornness was totally absent in him. When his father died, he made his mother even more worship-worthy. One day he went to visit the in-laws of his son, Mubarak Singh (name not clear). Along with him were his younger brothers too. There everyone received goodwill cash. When he returned home, some people were waiting to meet him. But instead of meeting them, he went first to his mother and presented her with the goodwill cash he had received in the house of his son’s in-laws. His mother was very happy at his regard for her. Story goes that once his mother interceded for a village boy saying the boy was unemployed. A position in the circle of Patwari in the nearby district was vacant. If the village landlord would assent, then help the boy. Even though the boy was illiterate, but saying no would have meant disobedience of his mother.
He recommended the boy even though a very important person, who used to believe in him, requested him to take back his recommendation. But he did not get influenced by this pressure & did not take back his recommendation. Instead, he wrote to him that this recommendation is of my mother and as a ’Kashtari’ I have no right to take back the recommendation. And finally, the boy became the ‘Patwari’ of that village.
At the auspicious hands of his mother & paternal aunt, he laid the foundation stones of his room (word not clear)and helped many others in getting employment. Any more elaboration would make the narrative lengthy. In other words, it is clear from his behavior that specially during his time in his family, ladies were very respected.
Guests are provided food commensurate to their positions with a great deal of sweet talk. Even at the time of parties, there is no ego but in effect whatever happens is done with a lot of respect & love.
The family’s head priest (kul guru) is shri Nashtar Ram ji whose abode is in district Mandavar (name not clear). Even though he is not a very majorVedantischolar but according to his contemporaries, he has read a couple of books on Jyotish Vidya & the Puranas. Sometime he also recites the stories of Ramayan & Mahabharat & with reference to a few Puranas & Shastras he is able to remove some doubts too. According to tradition he is paid annually.
Once in 1920 (date not clear)the district ruler while inspecting the ladies hospital pointed out that for ladies who do ‘Purdah’, a maternity ward is lacking for their treatment. He immediately contributed Rs. 4000 to get a maternity ward constructed, where poor &destitute women get treated and send him their blessings.
Although he is not conversant with Sanskrit language, he was very fond of reading the Urdu & Hindi translations of religious books. Consequently,one day he could solve a lot ofancient ‘warbiaprakrati’ (word not clear) crosswords with urdu translations. He was Vedic Sanatandharmi& a firm believer in ancient sanatan beliefs. He believes in Shastras & Puranas.
One day his Purohit was recounting about the last portion of Mahabharat that the bones of the horses & elephants who fell during the Mahabharat were still floating in the universe, which are visible by the medium ofknowledge. I happen to smile at that juncture. Purohit ji immediately realized that perhaps Pundit ji does not believe in this. He asked me whether you don’t believe in this. At that time, I decided to remain silent. Later he explained to me that everything in this world which was earlier visible has now faded. All of those including all the anecdotes are present in the form of particles in the universe.
He also believes in fasts & festivals. He believes each festival & fast basically provides a learning. He shared his thoughts with me about some festivals & knew how to celebrate many of the festivals. A recounting of a few festivals will clarify to the readers how the manner of their celebration was so decent & exemplary.
About two furlongs from Gajraula, there is a Shivji Mandir &estate garden. On Dusehra day, his household armaments & rides are cleaned. Since he is extremely fond of charity, a temporary Dusehrafair is held.
In the afternoon, all his subjects come to greet him, all farmers and land owners pay their tributes. Brahmins are benefitted by rewards commensurate with their positions. The poor &destitute fulfil their wishes by asking for grains & cash. The servants get rewards. Till about 4 pm in the evening this stream of charity continues to flow.
Thereafter Raths, Tum Tum& horse-drawn carriages depart towards the Mandir and he goes to the Mandir on foot. Many people accompany him. After reaching there, after Shivji’s Darshan, the crowd converts to a gathering. Many skilled persons & students show off their skills. Sometimes, the gathering is addressed by a Pundit about his thougths. Horse & Bull races are held. There are aspirations for the sighting of ‘Neelkanth’. By the evening this gathering disperses.
On the day of Holi too, he goes informally in the same way to the Mandir to view the playing of colours&Gulal. With affection & love, even young kids throw colours on his person. He rejoices at this revelry. In this way, every festival is celebrated in a different manner.
If I were to write about various festivals, then it will end up in a separate book!
To write about his courteousness, is like shining a lamp to the sun. From the lowliest persons to the highest officials, all are admirers of his courtesy. He meets & treats all & sundry in a very humble manner. His speech is full of seriousness & firm thoughtfulness.
Whatever is expressed by him is always brief & full of meaning. He hates gossip & he is very particular about punctuality. And living up to promises is the family’s liet-motif.
He despises all addictive substances like alcohol, Opium, Hashish etc so much so that even beetle leaves he does not take daily but on very formal occasions, and that too rarely. However, he does smoke a Hukkabut that too seldom.
After his bath, he prays without fail every day. Due to his worship & abstemious nature, the general public has begun calling him ‘Bhagat Ji’.
With regard to Shuddhi, he believes the system enumerated by Swami Dayanand is correct but he is not in agreement with shuddhi as propagated by current Arya Samaj program. However, the Shuddhi of (word not clear) which is done in district Agra is considered suitable because they have merged with the sect. Otherwise,a new race needs to be created by performing Shuddhi of one or two or miscellaneous Muslims.
Earlier a lot of castes have been created based on occupations.
He considersSeh–Bhoj as merely a scheme which depends entirely on the universe. It is not any religious thing. This started since the time that garnering of votes became a necessity in democratic societies. Every tribe like Aryas, Muslims, Christians tried to annex the scheduled castes with themselves in a legitimate way.
He did not consider it appropriate to eat chapatis made by scheduled castes during festivals. He considers non-genuine sympathyof no value. On the contrary such actions in festivals and gatherings have given the wrong impression to the scheduled castes.
If we consider carefully, he has genuine empathy for scheduled castes and has provided many items of use for them, which they could otherwise not afford due to poverty.
He did not consider it appropriate to eat chapatis made by scheduled castes during festivals. He considers non-genuine sympathyof no value. On the contrary such actions in festivals and gatherings have given the wrong impression to the scheduled castes.
If we consider carefully, he has genuine empathy for scheduled castes and has provided many items of use for them, which they could otherwise not afford due to poverty.
On their request he has constructed rest houses for them in his district and in all of his districts he has made arrangements for collection of water for all Chamars (leather tanners) and other castes at all wells.
Legitimate rights are granted to all scheduled castes.
Feeling personally the pain of the people in distress, endeavoring to solve their problems of unemployment as far as possible, assisting them, making efforts to decry & remove outdated & indecent rituals which take the nation on a downward path, is termed as service to the nation.
These days the following ways of serving the nationare being adopted:
1. Through giving speeches in mass gatherings
2. By publishing pamphlets or books
3. Sending articles to newspapers
4. Becoming member in district boards or civilian Urdu council
5. Helping the masses during plague, famine or floods
6. Doing honorary work as magistrates or in legal service
7. By opening college or school or by giving scholarships to poor students.
8. By distributing medicines to the sick or by charity for the poor
1. Through giving speeches in mass gatherings
2. By publishing pamphlets or books
3. Sending articles to newspapers
4. Becoming member in district boards or civilian Urdu council
5. Helping the masses during plague, famine or floods
6. Doing honorary work as magistrates or in legal service
7. By opening college or school or by giving scholarships to poor students.
8. By distributing medicines to the sick or by charity for the poor
In the present times, an atmosphere is spreading which terms the people who work with the government to serve the people, as backers of the government and their services are considered as a reward by the government. There are many such people who work in conjunction with the government and have great regard for the people and the nation and who do not care for the opposition and remain busy in carrying out their duties diligently. Disregarding the services of such people, if rendered in good faith, would be a mistake.
He is one of such persons who became self-aware of rendering service to the nation and the people. Initially it manifested in the form of financial help and charity.
Sometimes it came to working in an honorary capacity & he started spending a lot of his busy time in in this, which will be apparent from his working philosophy, though at this juncture confusion spread amongst his community, which was expected from this ignorant section.
He has still many aspirations in his heart which would manifest in some way or the other from time to time.
It is the duty of the masses to encourage him. The government is encouraging him day by day.
On August 20th, 1928, the members of the district nominated him as a council member. And at every convening of the council, he was invited.
On February 20th, 1930, a swarm of locusts attacked and destroyed some crop too and left behind some remnants to continue their propagation and cause more crop damage in future.
In these times, his attitude was to get them destroyed and oblivious of his own leisure he used to go to the site with his brothers and get the debris collected and thrown and collect funds to get the locusts destroyed. In other words, save the public crop.
Impressed by his organization, courtesy& justice, the collector of the district recommended the position of a judge for him.
In March 1946, he was appointed honorary judge in of Pargana Karanpur (word not clear) to decide financial cases up to Rs.200. From then on, he regulated his lifestyle even more. He has proposed a time between 12 noon to 4 pm for the court and without fail this time is followed. Most of matters decided by him pertain to reconciliation. His judgements are brief and meaningful. Besides, precedence is not accorded to his leisure time over the difficulties and expenses of litigants.
Consequently, when one day his clerk fell ill and he took leave and went home, he could have easily given alternative dates for these cases.
But keeping in mind the expenses incurred by litigants and delays in cases, he kept deciding many cases every day and did the work of his clerk too himself. This meant working far more than usual but still he felt happy. He overlooks his personal requirements in view of his official duties. He advises both opposing parties in dispute with honest advice to consult their lawyers and recount their true occurrences on their own. His circumstances themselves will show how well he dischargeshis duties. But at this juncture, it will not be out of place to recount an anecdote of his brotherhood. It has been stated earlier that till now the districthad not yet attained this level. They should have walked side by side with him and not let the opportunity of guiding the masses be missed. On the contrary they should have felt proud of him. This pargana is largely populated by Rajputs clan.
He has still many aspirations in his heart which would manifest in some way or the other from time to time.
It is the duty of the masses to encourage him. The government is encouraging him day by day.
On August 20th, 1928, the members of the district nominated him as a council member. And at every convening of the council, he was invited.
Readers can well appreciate what an opportunity was there to save themselves from the expenses and difficulties of litigation but these people had still to cross the deep ravine of ignorance. Some people who were supporters of the ‘Sar Bhoj’ scheme, decided to obstruct court work too by misleading the litigants, whether ‘Sar Bhoji’ or not, that the judge was a non-SarBhoji& we are Sar Bhoji and don’t expect justice from him. This kind of complaint should go to higher court whether complainant is sarbhoji or not. We are not concerned with what was the judgement but the intention was to show him in bad light.
Anyway, whatever happened, this populace should have benefitted from this opportunity. Contrary to this, others backed him with mind & heart.
In February 1930, the government, added 80 more districts of pargana (word not clear) under his jurisdiction, Which is proof of the fact that he discharged his duties in very exemplary manner.
He has two sons who are named Maharaj Kumar & Rajendra Kumar. Maharaj Kumar is a handsome & tall young man but his education was neglected. Due to this his early education started late. And after his wedding when he became quite mature, he decided to appear for inter exam and he privately appeared for this exam from PeoplesPublic English School.
The other son is Rajendra Kumar whose age is at present 4 years and who is handsome &promising.
May the Almighty grant him long life.
Rest of the story will be listed in the next chapter & become an ornament in your hands.
He was born on samvat 1948 in Asadh Badi Amawas (corresponds to year 1892).
He has received good education in Urdu- Hindi. He looks very closely at the intricacies of poetry & prose. His manner of speaking is very endearing. He reads compositions in such a way that he exudes sadness on tragic parts which brings tears to the eyes of listeners while for humorous parts, one cannot but be amused. And he rouses the emotions when he reads such parts.
His liking for poetry is even more. His reading generally consists of prose full of idioms and poems in the shape of songs. He believes in providing well for the comforts of his family & household and their comfort is taken care of in every way. Their every legitimate desire is fulfilled. He is very obedient to his elder brother and does not do anything without his concurrence. He respects him very much. He is a very light-hearted person and full of antics. Most of his conversations are filled with mischievous dialogues. He regrets a lot that he did not receive high education and this reflects his honest thoughts.
At a relatively young age, he was given the responsibility of the land holdingsby the estate. In fact, his choice for this work was very apt. In case of most land-owners, it was heard that the cultivators used to come in the morning and take the bullocks, tie them in the jungle and go to sleep. During the day, plowed a small bit of land but came home and told the owner that 10 bigha has been plowed. The owner too was happy. During sowing season, food grains were carried to the fields but perhaps not even one tenth of it reached the field but most of it found its way into the tummies of the cultivators.
At the time of reaping the harvest, while food grains were delivered to the cultivators in carts, the land-owners got it in sacks. In such disorganization, not only cultivation but even land-ownership was at risk.
Hundreds of land-owners lost their possessions due to these reasons. This is a fact,
But in his cultivation, none of these short-comings were there. While he is a man who likes good things of life, he is an expert in land-ownership & cultivation.
His respected father had a great love for animals and he also has similar attributes. Night and day he goes to the cattle sheds and looks at the animals& specially gets the bulls fed in his presence. Lot of care is taken in their wash & bath. Their cattle sheds are cleaned just like human dwellings. Separate people are employed for driving carts & for sight-seeing. Another person is employed for stables. Cows &buffaloes are taken care of traditionally. To protect the animal feeds, special containers are made, which do not allow moisture seepage.
For the purpose of cultivation, a variety of items are kept in stock. His implements for cultivation are of Indian type. English plows& implements are not yet used.
To save water for cultivable land from wastage, holding protective walls have been provided. Sowing & reaping are done at right time. Watchmen and servants supervise when crops grow. And at sowing time too, the stability of seeds is given preference, so that grains do not wilt.
At the time of reaping, he is personally present and the grains are carefully stored in the estate quota. Food grains for his own requirement are collected very tidily and the grains which are received as land rentare cleaned of all debris & stored in sacks.
For the purpose of collecting land rent, the months of November, January, February, may & June are designated by the government. Most of the land- owners claim their rent in installments. On imposition of installments, some people mortgage their food grains output with a money lender to gain higher interest and then pay the rent.
And Neshkar (word not clear) crop is sold at Rs. 2 or Rs. 3 Shahnagar rates just to pay the land rent even before the crop ripens. And then in the interim theyare so short of money that it is not even possible to make sweetmeats without permission. Many such people have reached a stage of being complained against by Khandsalis (word not clear) for breaking their promise.
In other words, the cultivators neither get grains to eat nor sweets. But in his land ownership, the cultivators have a lot of freedom. There is no enforcement on installments. Most of the people pay their rents at the time of neshkar (Not clear) crop. All the grains during Rabi & Kharif crop are used for food expenses. If full rent is not possible to pay during Neshkar crop, the balance rent is claimed in the next Neshkar crop cycle. No interest is levied on such rent even though substantial balance amounts remain unpaid.
Many landlordsprofit by such interest and the government has also fixed a rate of 1%. That is why as compared to other landlords, his cultivators are in much better condition. But being less educated many of them incur a debt by reckless spending. For instance, they buy garments from Punjabi salesmen or bullocks from Nomadic businessmen on loan wherein they have to pay interest more than the principle.
For manual work, his area is very good. It can be gauged from this that during a party, the cultivator who supplies milk, is paid 4 annas for a seer and a quarter of milk on the spot. And for transporting an unclaimed corpse to the morgue for 4 miles by a tonga (horse-cart), the payment is 8 annas. This is the benefit of such freedom.
I can take a vow and claim that worldwide no cultivators can even dream of this kind of freedom for payment &labour. When the Congress started rousingthe farmers and members of the committee began to provoke them, the best thing was that they could not find any issue which could be used for a fight even though the illiterate masses oppose without any reason too & cast aside the favors of the past.
In general, amongst the rich & landed gentry, abusing and physical assaults are so rampant that for minor issues too beatings with shoes and belts are the order of the day.
But leave aside physical assaults, abusive or harsh language is also not used here. I have observed this for several years consecutively but did not come across a cultivator or the general subjects facing abuses even for mistakes.
His wife is a lady of good character, high – spirit and respect. In view of her generous nature and natural attributes, she is known as ‘Rani Saheba’ amongst the ladies of her family and society. Though this title is commonly derived through the husband, but in her case, it has been obtained due to her own attributes. In her children too, the qualities of cleanliness, intelligence & quick repartee have been passed on as a matter of inheritance.
He has two sons – Krishna Kumar and Vijay Inder Kumarand one daughter (name not clear) who also show promise.
I pray to Almighty to grant them long life.
Please read the rest of the story in the second half.
He was born on Samvat 1956 wekarmiasadh Shukla (corresponds to year 1900). He is the third son of Seth Naubat Rai. His childhood years have been spent in ease & luxury. When he completed primary education, he passed middle school in Hindi & Urdu and gained fluency in English language too. He was very good natured & compassionate right from his childhood. During the period of education when he & I stayed in the same hostel, at that time I have experienced his natural attributes quite a lot. For the students of the village, the doors of his cupboard were always open. He gifted books to many poor students after purchasing them himself. The superintendent of the hostel treated him with great affection. From this time itself, he used to keep accounts & was capable of organization etc.
The superintendent of the hostel had chosen him to keep accounts of income & expenses. His good nature is reflected by the fact that he would take the blame of poor students on himself and became accountable.
Consequently, one night some of the mischievous boys locked up Manu Lal, who was the son of aVaishfrom Gajraula itself, studying in 5th class& stayed in the same hostel. He was ofa simple nature but detested levity &mischief. If he would have been patient for a while, the boys would have unlocked the door themselves. But these kinds of antics were against his nature and he lost his temper and smashed to bits all the mirrors on the door with his fists and as a result the glass pieces pierced his palms and he started bleeding.
He consoled Manu Lal and even though it was midnight, he managed to get a small shopkeeper to open his shop & replace all the mirrors on the doors and till date the superintendent is unaware of this occurrence!
When he reached adolescence, he was given the position of ‘Diwan’ of the estate, even though this was a time when he needed to be carefree but he happily accepted this responsibility. He is most suitable for this position.
Accounts are maintained in an organized manner for all the income & expenditure of the estate. From the smallest of expense to the largest, the entries are made in due time regularly. Separate budgetsare made for each task and it is executed accordingly, leaving no room for criticism of his work.
His compassionate nature can be gauged from the fact that once when an epidemic spread amongst the animals and in a short time a large number of animals were lost, he was very distressed. The area did not have any veterinary doctor. He took it upon himself to prepare a lot of medicines and called for many publications on treatment of animals. He was constantly absorbed in this issue. Even when a poor person sent the news of his animal’s illness, he would visit him immediately and treat the animal. He attained quite an expertise in this and even nearby areas benefitted and recovered from this epidemic. It is claimed that with his treatment, 95% of animals recover from their illness and for this he deserves felicitation.
Suddenly his closest confidant (Wife) contracted a serious illness. Hakeems & doctors from nearby areas too could not diagnose the problem. Great deal of money was spent on this illness. No nursing home whether for men or women or hakeem etc was spared for treatment. Haridwar, Jwalapur etc wherever he heard of good vaid or doctor he consulted them but good health was not regained. Then he decided to study human diseases himself. He purchased a lot of magazines & books on Unani medicine and called for prescriptions from Hakeems from Delhi, Bombay, Lahore & Ajmer etc. He was seen reading books like ’Home doctor’ etc. In other words, at all times he was found with medical books in his hands. Earlier his reading consisted of Spy novels.
But now the books of unani medicine were being seen. By the Grace of God and his good luck, his wife recovered from her illness. He is responsible for the supervision, upbringing, education and health of all the children of the family. During the time of epidemic, his pockets transformed into aclinic. Prescribing medicines for patients, mixing & getting it administered and looking after them till full recovery he considers his bounden duty. For ailments of the eye, he has developed an effective medicine for cataract etc by which thousands of patients have regained their sight even from veritable blindness and observing his good nature with new found sight,they kindle their hopes. Looking at his obedience to his brothers, it would be appropriate to consider his resemblance to lord Laxman.
In fact,this affection pervades to such an extent that sometimes even when the opinions of his brothers are not expressed verbally, he is able to reach the same consensus in his heart and carry out the tasks. He is endowed with the ornamental qualities of sweetness of dialogue, clear narrative and ready wit. He has remained untouched by Pride and ego, because even though he is the Diwan of the estate, his attitude towards his friends remains as informal as before. As a result, while I am only a classmate and he a powerful chieftain, his interaction with me is the same as Sudamah.
His religious beliefs are of very peculiar nature. No person of any belief leaves him unhappy after meeting him. At the same time, he does not get influenced by any party. There are thousands of rallies held of Sarbhoj society and Congress of different religions. But he could not be converted. His wife is a very courteous and serious lady. For a long time, her health has been indifferent. So instead of physical work she influences everyone with her decency & heartfelt prayers. This is evident from the fact that despite the requirement of such long-standing care of his sick wife, her husband’s countenance does not reflect the slightest irritability. Decency and intelligence are quite apparent right from the time of childhood.
He has two sons –one Jagat Singh & the other Veer Inder Singh. Jagat Singh’s ability&good nature is apparent from the fact that in the 4rth standard of his primary education itself, he was chosen the chairman of the school’s “Student reforms Committee” and became the secretary of the school library. During those days, he also studied Ramayan.
Rest of the story is listed in the next chapter.
He was born in Samvat 1960 Bikrami Paus Shukla (corresponds to year 1903). He is the fourth son of Seth Naubat Rai. Keeping in mind the progressive nature of the family he initially attained advanced capability in Urdu & Hindi after which he moved on to English. Even though he began this study after his marriage, when only a few resolute persons succeed, he completed this and passed entrance exam.
After completing his education, he did not get much free time. In April 1926, he was appointed legal advisor in Rai Bareli. Though he was sick during the course of this examination, but still passed. He is a progressive thinking person and has very simple tastes.
Even small tasks he does himself despite having servants. Pride & ego run away even from his shadow.
Even small tasks he does himself despite having servants. Pride & ego run away even from his shadow.
we have many a discussion on the present progress of the program and from those I have concluded that in his young age he has gathered much experience. Though he is a follower of Sanatan Dharam along with his full family, his actual religion is humanism. Every good attribute of any religion is part of his life but his heart does not agree with the policies of the time.
He is respectful and obedient of family and a man of progressive ideas. In the interest of justice, he breaks even the limits of legality.Consequently, he was very distressed at seeing a boy fighting a case against his parents and gave a judgement too. He is extremely antagonistic of corruption.
When he reached adolescence, he was given the position of ‘Diwan’ of the estate, even though this was a time when he needed to be carefree but he happily accepted this responsibility. He is most suitable for this position.
Accounts are maintained in an organized manner for all the income & expenditure of the estate. From the smallest of expense to the largest, the entries are made in due time regularly. Separate budgetsare made for each task and it is executed accordingly, leaving no room for criticism of his work.
His compassionate nature can be gauged from the fact that once when an epidemic spread amongst the animals and in a short time a large number of animals were lost, he was very distressed. The area did not have any veterinary doctor. He took it upon himself to prepare a lot of medicines and called for many publications on treatment of animals. He was constantly absorbed in this issue. Even when a poor person sent the news of his animal’s illness, he would visit him immediately and treat the animal. He attained quite an expertise in this and even nearby areas benefitted and recovered from this epidemic. It is claimed that with his treatment, 95% of animals recover from their illness and for this he deserves felicitation.
Suddenly his closest confidant (Wife) contracted a serious illness. Hakeems & doctors from nearby areas too could not diagnose the problem. Great deal of money was spent on this illness. No nursing home whether for men or women or hakeem etc was spared for treatment. Haridwar, Jwalapur etc wherever he heard of good vaid or doctor he consulted them but good health was not regained. Then he decided to study human diseases himself. He purchased a lot of magazines & books on Unani medicine and called for prescriptions from Hakeems from Delhi, Bombay, Lahore & Ajmer etc. He was seen reading books like ’Home doctor’ etc. In other words, at all times he was found with medical books in his hands. Earlier his reading consisted of Spy novels.
But now the books of unani medicine were being seen. By the Grace of God and his good luck, his wife recovered from her illness. He is responsible for the supervision, upbringing, education and health of all the children of the family. During the time of epidemic, his pockets transformed into aclinic. Prescribing medicines for patients, mixing & getting it administered and looking after them till full recovery he considers his bounden duty. For ailments of the eye, he has developed an effective medicine for cataract etc by which thousands of patients have regained their sight even from veritable blindness and observing his good nature with new found sight,they kindle their hopes. Looking at his obedience to his brothers, it would be appropriate to consider his resemblance to lord Laxman.
In fact,this affection pervades to such an extent that sometimes even when the opinions of his brothers are not expressed verbally, he is able to reach the same consensus in his heart and carry out the tasks. He is endowed with the ornamental qualities of sweetness of dialogue, clear narrative and ready wit. He has remained untouched by Pride and ego, because even though he is the Diwan of the estate, his attitude towards his friends remains as informal as before. As a result, while I am only a classmate and he a powerful chieftain, his interaction with me is the same as Sudamah.
His religious beliefs are of very peculiar nature. No person of any belief leaves him unhappy after meeting him. At the same time, he does not get influenced by any party. There are thousands of rallies held of Sarbhoj society and Congress of different religions. But he could not be converted. His wife is a very courteous and serious lady. For a long time, her health has been indifferent. So instead of physical work she influences everyone with her decency & heartfelt prayers. This is evident from the fact that despite the requirement of such long-standing care of his sick wife, her husband’s countenance does not reflect the slightest irritability. Decency and intelligence are quite apparent right from the time of childhood.
He has two sons –one Jagat Singh & the other Veer Inder Singh. Jagat Singh’s ability&good nature is apparent from the fact that in the 4rth standard of his primary education itself, he was chosen the chairman of the school’s “Student reforms Committee” and became the secretary of the school library. During those days, he also studied Ramayan.
Rest of the story is listed in the next chapter.
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