Dark Room and Moms Grand Green Trunk

Dark Room Treasure

It's fascinating to write about the dark room, initially unused for years, became a source of intrigue for the neighbors who suspected hidden treasure within. It was quiet common during the partition of the country, the families leaving their ancestors home had buried jewelry and valuables under the floors. So it was decided to open the dark room to dig out it’s floor and walls. With the help of Jeweler Basant Ram, we finally opened it and found an abundance of the finest Chinese crockery concealed within the floor. The booty was shared.

Hundreds of quarter plates, half plates, smaller plates, and a complete tea set adorned with a tea pot, sugar pot, milk pot, six cups, and plates emerged, surprising us all. We've dined using this crockery for decades, even after moving to the USA, and fortunately, I still possess some parts of the cherished tea sets. They remain a true treasure for our family.

Part of the Treasure still with me in USA

Moms Grand Green Metal Trunk

My Mom would meticulously tidy and replace clothes in a grand green metal trunk, a dowry gift from her parents. This trunk had hidden compartments for valuables and jewelry. It sat discreetly in a dark room within our main living area, requiring a lamp even in daylight. There were ample hidden safe locker in the Trunk where my mom would keep Rupees 100 currency notes concealed - a huge sum in those days. This part money was balance of Rs 1000 gifted to my Mom (in fact to all daughters)  by her father. She would pull out from hidden safe locker and count it again and replace it back in supposedly the world’s safest place. This trunk always remained secured with a huge lock. We were warned to keep this information as most discrete. 

My Dad ingeniously created a sunroof— a 2x2 ft hole in the roof with cross iron rods inserted for safety. When sudden rains struck, we kids would scramble on the roof to cover it with an iron sheet, hastily summoned by our mother's urgent calls of ‘Rush, Rush, Rush’.

My sisters - Bobi, Ambu, Bhagwant, and I would rush, while Tipi, the youngest, often lingered. We called the hole 'Manghh' and one day, forgetting to cover it led to rainwater damaging our quilts stored in the dark room. It took many days to dry our wet bed sheets and comforters in the cold wintry weather.

Tragically, our puppy Moti, an off shoot of Rosy of our cousin Goga, fell through the hole, breaking his leg and finally passing away. I harbored resentment toward that hole until I acquired a new dog decades later a stuffed one, 'Pearl,' who I cherish and who will never leave me.