Settling in Panipat
When my uncle Sh Inder Jit Singh left to join his job in Simla, we decided to leave Faridkot and headed for Delhi. As our train halted at a station named Panipat, it did not move further for a couple of days. It looked it stopped for good. We came out of the station and camped outside at a huge open space. The city was about half a mile away.
There was shortage of literate people to run the government machinery. The Government was looking for people who could help them to restart and construct a newly formed country. During this period, one of the first priorities of the Government was to meet the requirement of basic food for its people. To organize that everybody gets his/her share equally, the government opened a Rationing Department. My father applied for one of the openings of a rationing Inspector. He was selected after an interview. He was posted as a Rationing Inspector in the city of Panipat.
He started going to the city making a round after round for his job and doing the inventory of the houses. He helped making a data base of the people living in the city. He was also given an official Identity card which will allow him to move around the city during the prevailing curfew conditions. The city was divided in Wards. He was allocated for doing the duties for Ward 9, 10, and 11 . He was a given 4 in by 3 in black painted iron plates( very thin like used in bill boards) which were nailed on every house that existed. A house number in white paint was marked on the iron plate on each house that existed.
Camping at the railway station Panipat, two more families were set up near by. One was Master Ganpat Rai and his wife with their three sons Sita Ram(from first wife), Yudhishtar(Banna), Bala and Tulsi. They were from Multan. The second family was from Shorkot. Lala Ganesh Dass and his wife(a jeweller) from Shorkot had three daughters Krishna, Kailash, Shanti and three sons Hari Krishan - Nathu, Ramesh and Chander. They had an older daughter Kushalya married to Bhuvnesh working for courts at Pipli, but were living separately. My father will leave my mother, grandmother Smt Kesar Bai and us two kids in their supervision and go for his job the whole day. The families became friendlier day by day and decided to live together in the city. As my father had a Government pass to move around in the Curfew conditions, was asked by these two families to locate a good house where all the three families could be accommodated and live together.
The newly formed alliance rejected many houses which my father proposed as they wanted to live in a place where security was at the top priority. So finally a big house number 391 in ward 12 was selected and my father being in the government job and influential and got the house allotted in all three names. My father got the best and bigger house which had a plateau as a Veranda and a big room with another small room with in the room. The inside room was so dark that we did not use the same for many years. My Dad selected this part and occupied. While Sh Ganesh Dass got one big room at two ft lower level. And we were separated by a brick compound to be commonly used. The entry was through another room called a 'Deuarhee' a nearly unusable room which opened to the outside street of about 70 ft leading to the main bazar. Master Ganpat Rai was adjusted for one room at first floor as Barsati. He had to go to his Barsati by going through ‘Deuarhee', brick compound, raised plateau and then the stairs for reaching Barsati' .
He started going to the city making a round after round for his job and doing the inventory of the houses. He helped making a data base of the people living in the city. He was also given an official Identity card which will allow him to move around the city during the prevailing curfew conditions. The city was divided in Wards. He was allocated for doing the duties for Ward 9, 10, and 11 . He was a given 4 in by 3 in black painted iron plates( very thin like used in bill boards) which were nailed on every house that existed. A house number in white paint was marked on the iron plate on each house that existed.
Camping at the railway station Panipat, two more families were set up near by. One was Master Ganpat Rai and his wife with their three sons Sita Ram(from first wife), Yudhishtar(Banna), Bala and Tulsi. They were from Multan. The second family was from Shorkot. Lala Ganesh Dass and his wife(a jeweller) from Shorkot had three daughters Krishna, Kailash, Shanti and three sons Hari Krishan - Nathu, Ramesh and Chander. They had an older daughter Kushalya married to Bhuvnesh working for courts at Pipli, but were living separately. My father will leave my mother, grandmother Smt Kesar Bai and us two kids in their supervision and go for his job the whole day. The families became friendlier day by day and decided to live together in the city. As my father had a Government pass to move around in the Curfew conditions, was asked by these two families to locate a good house where all the three families could be accommodated and live together.
The newly formed alliance rejected many houses which my father proposed as they wanted to live in a place where security was at the top priority. So finally a big house number 391 in ward 12 was selected and my father being in the government job and influential and got the house allotted in all three names. My father got the best and bigger house which had a plateau as a Veranda and a big room with another small room with in the room. The inside room was so dark that we did not use the same for many years. My Dad selected this part and occupied. While Sh Ganesh Dass got one big room at two ft lower level. And we were separated by a brick compound to be commonly used. The entry was through another room called a 'Deuarhee' a nearly unusable room which opened to the outside street of about 70 ft leading to the main bazar. Master Ganpat Rai was adjusted for one room at first floor as Barsati. He had to go to his Barsati by going through ‘Deuarhee', brick compound, raised plateau and then the stairs for reaching Barsati' .
To be continued and edited...
© preet mohan singh., all rights reserved.
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