Using Suggi ( a widow from a family of barbers to Dogra Maharajas ) as protagonist, Padma Sachdev takes the reader on a trip through Jammu city right from her childhood days till sometime around 1994-95. In this journey, one visits Panjtirthi locality, where Padma spent her childhood after her family shifted from Purmandal. The reader comes across the steep foot paths (Dakkis) leading to the River Tawi. These paths would come live everyday early in the pre-dawn darkness as men and women went to the River Tawi for bathing. The reader visits the narrow lanes and clean mud houses with courtyards that were made dirt-free using cow dung spread. Wonderfully descriptive scenes have been created around Suggi’s house; tinkling of bells at the Mahalakshmi Temple of Pucca Danga, Jangam Babas at Peer Kho Temple on the Tawi bank, Daunthali Bazaar, Purani Mandi, Kachi Chhawani, Maniyaari shops, warm kitchens with timber burnt for cooking food, the smoked utensils, Chapatis, Daal, Karhi Chaawal, Kachaalu, home made mango pickle, morning Desi tea with sugar and a pinch of salt, Khameer, eating juicy Kimb( citrus fruit ), elders with Hookah, Pateesa, Darbar Move, walnut tree bark used as Daatun and many more easily identifiable lifestyle images of Jammu city’s past.
Every morning, the Gujjar women (with heavy silver anklets), living in hills adjoining the city, walk through steep paths (Dakkis in local parlance) to bring milk to the city. They sit and gossip in a confident and carefree manner with the Shah (shopkeeper). This scene is almost extinct now as milk is ferried to the city by male Gujjars in motor vehicles through roads that connect their houses with Jammu city. As you move through the pages, you find women in tight Churridaar Pyjamas (Suthhan) singing: ……..
‘Pal pal beyi jaana ho jindhe
Raati reyi jaana ho Jindhe’
(Love sit for a while over here too
Love stay for a night over here too.
Women prefer to sit in groups after they finish their work. While sitting, each woman is busy with some kind of work that could be knitting or needlework. Away from their mothers-in-law, young women giggle when a married girl joins to say:
“Breikurr gilli bii balley
Sas gareeban be larre “
(The Breikurr shrub burns even if it is wet,
And the mother-in-law quarrels even if she is poor.
After they finish the kitchen work, women busy themselves with the Charkha and keep singing in a low tone …
“Ladli na rakh baawala
Teri ladali de din thoday
Laadli me Iyaan rakhii ye
Jiyaan kaagdhe de vich sunna”
(Father, don’t pamper your daughter
She has a brief stay at your house
“I have kept my darling daughter
Like we keep precious gold inside paper.)
“Chambe diye daahladiye moiye bindh duaas ni ho
Kal unney aayii ponaa khirri khirri banii banii po”
(O You like a branch laden with Champa flowers, do not turn to sorrow,
Dress up and sit like a blooming flower, tomorrow he shall be arriving.)
Suggi is a witness to the painful events of 1947 and the arrival of refugees from Mirpur, Rajouri, Bhimber and other adjoining areas to Jammu city. Her memory is stored with many tragic events of 1947, when man turned beast. She also narrates with pride as to how some people still retained sanity when people behaved as lunatics. For her, Pakistan was created out of pain and suffering resulting from the killing of many innocent people across both sides of the border. She misses Sialkot, where some of her childhood friends and neighbours migrated. She is sympathetic to refugees who arrived from POK and also misses her Muslim neighbours who left for Pakistan. Unfortunately, Padma Sachdev also lost her father, Sanskrit scholar Professor Jai Dev Baru, in the communal frenzy of 1947.
Once
Suggi goes to the official residence of Bakshi Ghulam Mohammad in Jammu, as
she is thrown out of her custodian accommodation by some
government officials. She motivates Bakshi Ghulam Mohammad to come to her house
in a jeep and make a spot decision. While Bakshi drives the jeep personally,
Suggi sits in the front seat smilingly. To the surprise of her foes, Bakshi
does justice in his own style to poor Suggi. He allots another custodian house
to her during this visit. People gather to see the Prime Minister coming to
meet a poor, destitute woman. While Bakshi delivers justice, a person amongst
the onlookers keeps singing:
“Bhaley bhaley ki sidhaa kardaa
Aey bakshi da dandaa “
“Who is there who has not been set right?
By Bakshi‘s handheld stick? “
Other characters of this novel that are worth mentioning are Nainto, Raano, Pant Ji, Soma Panditaayan, Sainti, Laajo and Shardul Singh ( servant from the Wazir family ). Shardul Singh is a liquor addict. Shardul Singh’s Sahib from the Wazir family is fond of Kalaaris made from milk, and he prefers to have them with his daily quota of liquor. With the Wazir family, Suggi goes on a pilgrimage to the Pashupati Nath Temple of Nepal.
Soma Panditaayan is her childhood friend. Her husband, Pandt Dev Datt, is a respected Brahmin who is always busy performing marriages, Mundans, Yagneopavit functions, Shradaas and other religious rituals for various families in Jammu city. Soma fondly calls him Pant Ji (Pandit Ji). Pant Ji never misses his early morning bath, even during the intense winter season, when he uses a Kangri to warm up his body. Without fail, Pant ji does his morning Thakurdwara (Pooja room or Thokur Kuth in Kashmiri) Pooja before starting his daily routine work. He must also have his glass of milk every day after his Thakurdwara Pooja. Soma puts three or four water-soaked almond kernels in this milk. Pandit Dev Datt is a Shaivite who worships Parthav Shiva with milk, water and Bheil p’atar. The husband and wife live a happy and contented life. Suggi is a frequent visitor to Pandit Dev Datt's house.
And then Suggi remembers how she would join Bhaakkaan singers from the adjoining hills of Jammu city who flocked to Amar Palace on Maharaja Hari Singh’s birthday. These women would squat in groups in the outer lawns for their day-long singing of Pahari songs. Gifts and food would be distributed to them by the members of the royal family. They sang many songs, like:
“Chan maahrra chadeyaa te pahaada aahli kingri
Sajne ki pyaar dena nath karey khingri
Milnaa zaroor meri jaan ho”
(My Moon-faced beloved has gone up a mountain top,
Keeping my nose ring aside,
I shall offer him my love
My love! I shall meet you for sure. )
How painful for Suggi to know that Maharaja was an exile who lived in Mumbai with his ADC, Capt Diwan singh and some trusted servants. The royal status ofthe Wazir and Katoch families of Jammu had also declined with the departure of Maharaja Hari Singh. Some person makes her believe that even during Maharaja’s rule, Dogras were poor and unemployed, as Maharaja Partap Singh and even Maharaja Hari Singh preferred outsiders to fill various posts in the administration. A woman quotes poet Dinu Bhai Pant to support this point of view.
“Lok mheene maardhey dogre da raaj ho
Dogre da bhaag dikho jurrdaa ni saag ho”
(People comment satirically that the Dogras rule the state
And look how unlucky Dogras can’t even afford green vegetables.
And Jammu kept changing. People who were satisfied with Daal, Chappati, Achaar, Lassi, Madra, Kachori, Annardaana, Rajmaah shifted to cold drinks, Lipton Tea, Chicken, Ice creams, sweets, kitty parties and LPG cylinders in their kitchens. With development and newer employment avenues, people from many towns start pouring in and settling in Jammu city. Jammu gets ample connectivity and expands in all directions. With new concrete residential buildings, newer colonies and people pouring in regularly, the city feels pressure on its resources. Suggi is privy to these rapid changes.
And then in 1990, Suggi witnessed once more something like the 1947 events. Terrorised by the armed militants, Kashmiri Pandits run for safety and arrive in Jammu city. They take shelter in temples, vacant semi-finished buildings, tents and anywhere and everywhere they find a cover for their hapless families. Young children, women and elders crowd in a single room, face many odds, and to survive, men from the community take up any offer of employment that comes their way. They live in hell but keep dreaming of the heaven they left behind.
The protagonist of the novel is amazed at the resilience of this community and feels that no curse is bigger than leaving one’s motherland.
Suggi tells Soma Panditayan:
“Look, Soma, women may pass time in banishment as they get busy with other household affairs, but men suffer too much while living in exile. These Pandits used to spread education all over. Now look at how these poor fellows do all types of odd jobs. I curse this government. Bring two families over here. Those two rooms have been locked since long time in our locality. I shall break open the locks. Let the two Pandit families stay over here . Bring Sarvanand Koul’s family here. If nothing is possible, I shall share one room in this custodian's house with that family. One room is sufficient for me.”
Unable to come to terms with rapid changes taking place around her, just before her death, Suggi tells Rano:
“This city does not reflect the Dogra culture anymore. People neither speak the Dogri language nor eat Dogra food. No one dresses like a Dogra anymore. The potter who made Suraahi-type pitchers is dead.No women wears a Suthan (a long but tight salwar worn by ladies). When parents do not speak Dogri, how can children speak Rano Ji? Dogras think that they have come from England. They feel proud in teaching English to their children as a language of communication within their families and homes.”
On her deathbed, Suggi tells Parsino, her daughter-in-law:
“Look, Parsino, this River Tawi is more sacred than Ganga or Yamuna. Let me have a bath in Tawi before I die. Can't Nathi (Parsino’s husband) carry me on his back? I want to see the hills of Mata Vaishno Devi. I shall send my Pranaams to Mata Rani. Parsino, listen carefully, Soma is my childhood friend. Respect her in my absence. During my death rituals, ensure that all women wear the Dogra dress. You should wear a Suthan. I shall be watching everything from the sky over your head. I may become a ghost if you do not act on my words.”
And inspite of her love for the Dogra culture and language, Suggi is open towards accepting changes that are sweeping her Jammu. In fact, she has learnt and adopted many things after her personal interaction with Punjabis, Mirpuris and Kashmiris living in Jammu city. She likes Kashmiri Kahwa tea and crisp Baakir-khaanis. She has a Kashmiri Raffal Dussa that she uses sparingly.
And Suggi watches as Jammu finally turns into a crucible of many cultures and civilisations.
(Avtar Mota)
.
.
