PAGE 7: MY AGRA MEMORIES
Agra, the enigmatic
city of GRAND TAJ MAHAL for the world, but the monument not so much of an attraction
for us because of our frequent visits and easy access, reminds me of a famous
and often recited couplet rendered by poor people:
EK SHANSHAH NE BANWA
KE HASEEN TAJMAHAL
HUM GAREEBON KI
MUHABBAT KA UDAYA HAI MAZAK! (By getting the majestic Taj Mahal
built by one Emperor, Shah Jahan in the memory of his darling wife Mumtaz
Mahal, he has ridiculed the love of we poor people!). I am also reminded of a
very famous husband wife joke related to this monument:
Wife to husband:
Darling when I die will you also get a Taj Mahal built in my memory?
Husband: Oh yes darling, I purchased land for it long ago, but you are the one
delaying the project!
My parents with their
meagre means, had big dreams for me and thus got me admitted in the best school
of Agra, the majestic, sprawling, grand, renowned St. Patrick's Convent for
girls,next to St Peters for boys. I would be given 4 annas for a cycle rickshaw
ride to school. During British rule, and the first decade of independence
(the period of my initial school days), the rupee was subdivided into 16 annas. Each anna was
subdivided into either 4 paisas, or
12 pies.
So One rupee was equal to 16 Annas, 64 Paises of 192 Pies. In 1957 (five years
after my birth), decimalisation occurred
and the rupee was divided into 100 Naye Paise (Hindi/Urdu for new
paisas). After a few years, the initial "Naye" was dropped.
During my school ride, I would travel from Nigam Saheb Ka Makan (House of Mr
Nigam, our landlord, in a suburb known as Gandhi Nagar before we shifted in our
own hose in nearby suburbVijay Nagar) via refreshingly beautiful and
huge Paliwal Park (named after a very famous gentleman of Agra belonging to
our Paliwal community). This mighty community of handful of families from
Rajasthan has the most interesting history and bewitching account!
Drive 18 km west of
Jaisalmer (a known princely city of the State of Rajasthan) and you will
come upon the village of Kuldhara ( embodiment of the architectural wonder in
itself). Once a prosperous settlement of the Paliwal Brahmins, all the
residents of Kuldhara and 83 nearby villages vanished suddenly one night in
1825, having lived there since 1291. In all likelihood they set up base
somewhere beyond Jodhpur but no one has ever been sure.
The Paliwals made
their fortune by the sheer brilliance of their business and agricultural
acumen. They knew the art of growing a water intensive crop like wheat in the
Thar desert; they could identify areas with gypsum rock layers running under
the ground surface to ensure water was retained for the crops. The rulers
depended on the Paliwals for much of their tax revenues.
What made them want
to abandon everything overnight? The Prime Minister, or the dewan,
is believed to have developed a lecherous eye for the chief’s daughter; it is
said the Paliwal women were in general stunningly beautiful. He may even have
imposed unreasonable taxes on them. With pride and honour overruling all worldly
interests, the chiefs of the 84 villages decided to go away in a single night
with whatever they could carry with them.
Where are the
Paliwals now? Scattered all over the world. And generally doing well going by
their genetic lineage. It is said they even left a curse on the villages,
bringing death and suffering to anyone who tried to live in these villages. For
the Paliwals, this was not the first migration. Before Kuldhara, according to
some accounts, they had left Pali near Jodhpur from where they originally came
from; it was to escape additional war taxes being imposed by the king.
Looks like the
royalty of Rajasthan had made an art of killing the geese that laid golden eggs
for them.
Images of Paliwal Homes at Kuldhara and Pali near Jodhpur from where Paliwals originally came from
Comments
Post a Comment