B D Sharma
My maternal grandfather, Pt Khoji Ram was born in village Sadwal in the then Tehsil Hiranagar in the last decade of the nineteenth century. He approximated his year of birth to some time after the coronation of Maharaja Partap Singh (1885). In those old golden days many people didn’t have the idea of exact dates. They used to relate the important happenings in their lives by linking them to some important events like coronations, battles, epidemic break outs, famines etc with which the ordinary people were hugely effected. Thus Sikhon Ki Naathaen (Dogri word displacement from home) referred to 1845, coronation of Maharaja Gulab Singh (1846), coronation of Maharaja Partap Singh (1885), coronation of Maharaja Hari Singh (1925), Katte Di Bimari (Epidemic of Kartik month of Bikrami calendar),1929 were the important years to which the people related their births, marriages and deaths.
His father had left for heavenly abode when he was still a child. The co-sharers and the neighbouring farmers took advantage of the situation and grabbed lot of the land of the family’s share. He, therefore, was forced to enter the hazardous world of litigation and fought an epic battle to get back his share of land. In the process he acquired an acumen in litigation and it appeared as if he relished in fighting cases in the court of law. In his old age he used to narrate many tales about his experiences of this strange world. Many times he would relishrecollectinghis hard won battles and at other times he disparaged the evil of litigation. He would tell us that litigation was a curse.Resources of many families got squandered away when they entered in litigation andgot ruined in the process.During litigation much time was wasted in visiting courts and offices. Not to speak of employees of the courts/Kutchehries, even the buildings of those temples of justice demanded gratification, he would stress.We sometimes wondered as to why he remained immersed in litigation most of his life despite fully knowingabout all the trials, travails and tribulations the litigation had in store for a person.
Right from his initiation in litigation in about 1910 he had learnt one important lesson for attaining success inlitigation. The simple formula was nothing more than keeping the field officials of Revenue Department and the court officialsalways happy.For securing this end, heused tomake use of his limited resources consisting of his farm produce, namely the pots of milk, curd, Desi ghee, sugarcane juice etc. And at other times the other products like sugarcane stempieces, jaggery, Saag Sabzi, maize flour, melons, and mangoes did make the mare go. The officials received and acknowledged these small gifts gratefullybecause the people of those days were not seeped deep in greed and neither had they high expectations from the people. The rates of all things including that of corruption were very low. Getting gratification in percentages and making huge demands by officials was a later day phenomenon. Nanaji got officials’ gratitude and help in returnpromptly. Henever dealt in cash as his well oiled barter systemworked satisfactorily.Paradoxically despite speaking ill of litigation,these transactions didn’t look to be illicit to him and he seemed to have never sulkedover giving them. In fact he eschewed reviling these gratificationsin derogatory expressions like Rishvat, Ghooskhori or Ghuj. On the other hand he used honorific names for them such as Nazrana, Shukrana, Daali, Sewa, Saugaat, Chaa Paani, Bhaint, Baksheesh,Tohfa, Mahanatana, Jalsa-falsa etc. During those days English terms for gratification such as corruption, bribe, graft, kickbacks, payoffs, speed money, fast buck,palm greasing were unknown to the common folk.
In 1940s,at the fag end of his illustrious career, Nanaji got caught up in a piquant situation. He filed a land case but couldn’t procure any person who would stand witnessin the support of his claim.Having hauled up almost the whole neighbourhood in litigation at one time or the other he had estranged many people in the village.On the top of this the then Tehsildar Hiranagar was an honest man. He hadlately performed the Hajand entered the world of penance. No weapon in the arsenal of Nanaji like milk, ghee or jaggery, could deliver the things for him. He was at a loss to know what to do. Losing a case after such a glorious career of winning cases, would bring a lot of ignominy to him.
The Tehsildars used to be big shots during those days and to establish connect with them was a hard task. After lot of thoughtful consideration Nanaji established contact with the domestic servant of the Tehsildar, who had been brought by the Tehsildar from his previous place of posting and was his confidante. He was aware of all the ins and outs of the working of the Tehsildar. Nanaji succeeded in extracting valuable information from him that the Tehsildarhad ears for only one person, his Murshid, a saintly person based at Jammu. Nanaji wasted no time and decided to visit the holy man in Jammu. As was the wont in those days the journey to distant places had to be taken up very early in the morning, some time even in the thick of night. So he got up at the stroke of bursting of Bahu Fort canon (which roared and heard miles away at 12 AMevery night). Naniji cooked some Desi ghee drenched Paranthas for him while he firmed up the saddle on his horse. He started early for his fifty oddkms journey and crossed the rivulets Basanter and Devak by the time the sun rose. By noon he was in the presence of the holy Pirand narrated his tale of woe to him. The man of celestial pursuits was reluctant to dip himself in the temporal affairs but the repeated pleadings of Nanaji ultimately moved his heart. Nanaji succeeded in procuring a Ruqqa (handwritten letter)from the Tehsildar’s mentor. The Murshid wrote to his Murid that the Firyadi seemed to be a genuine person and if possible some help might be rendered tohim.The Tehsildar gave due regard to the command of his Murshid and started hearing Nanaji’s plea patiently. Nanaji placed three pronged request before him. One was to spare some time to inspect the spot himself which related to the entitlement of one Shisham tree standing on the boundary line of his field and that of his adversary. And the second plea was to record the statements of the farmers of neighbourhood in the presence of open village assembly. And the third that before recording the statements of any other person, the statements of a particular person of the village, who had performed ChaarDhamYatra, be recorded in the first instance. Since none of these conditions interfered with the due process of delivery of justice, so the Tehsildar found no objection in adhering to them.
When the Tehsildar came on spot, he found that only a few people had come to attend his Camp. Normallythe whole of the village folk would attend the Camps of Tehsildars. So the Tehsildar felt let down. The Revenue officers enjoyed lot of powers during those days so he sent through the Chowkidar stern warning to the villagers to come to his presence otherwise he would impose heavy fine on them. Peoplehad no option but to come and present themselves before him. As requested by Nanaji, the Tehsildar in the first instance started inquiring from the same particular person as had been identified by Nanaji. This particular person first showed his reluctance to depose. He submitted that he did no longer stand as witness to anyone because if perchance some untruth happened to be spoken by him he would be divested of all the “Punya” he had earned out of his Chaar Dham pilgrimage. But the Tehsildar didn’t listen to any of his pleas and made him to state what he knew about the case. Since Nanaji’s case was based on truth so the trust worthy Chaar Dhaami deposed in his favour. Almost every body in the village fell in line and repeated the same as had earlier been stated by the Chaar Dhaami. Every body in the village knew that the Chaar Dhaami always spoke the truth. Resultantly the other villagers, including those who were somewhat hostile to Nanaji, were left with no option but to follow him. With the overwhelming evidence in Nanaji’s favour, the Tehsildar pronounced his decision in his favour there and then.
In this way Nanaji won one of his last battles and that too without paying any tribute. A Chaar Dhaami, a Pir and a Haji had come to his rescue.
The episodedepicts some interesting aspects of life of the people at that time and helps us in making some comparisons with the present day life. The intercommunal relations were cordial in the society at the time. A Hindu resident from a far flung village didn’t hesitate to approach an unknown Muslim Pir for seeking his help which he provided on humanitarian grounds. Furthermore it makesus aware as to how simple the people at that time used to be. Life was without the same complications as we witness them nowadays.All the people even at that time were not virtuous and the wicked hada fair share in the society, butthe people have become comparatively more selfish and self centered now. There is a noticeable decline in the moral valuesin us also.Religion played an important role to inculcate moral values in thepeople of those days.It has become more of an object of exhibitionism and showmanship these days.For many of us it no longer remains aninducer of moral values. Inducements and influences can easily sway people from truth these days. Adoption of unfair means by the employees is also changing its contours. It has undergone a change for the worse. Dishonest practices were in vogue during the days gone by also. But the gratifications were in the form of Rasam-O- Rasooms (ritualistic and informal). The gratifications, even if they are small, cannot be condoned in anyway. However, the ferocity of the modern day practices have made the old practices to look like ‘Ye Toh Chalta Hai’. Nowadays the dishonest practices have become formalized, burdensome to the common man and are percentage driven.
Let us try to bring the good things of the past back in our lives. Let us hope that the new social norms, our renewed interest in our religions, the introduction of the modern tools of governance, the induction of electronic gadgets/the AI bring about favourable changes in our lives.
(The author is former Civil Servant)
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