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(Continued from previous post)
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| Dhua Dhar Falls |
Das
had worked up a good friendship with the politicians of the district. An MP
from Katni was one such politician. He asked us over for lunch on a Sunday.
While the food was fine what was more interesting was the way his younger son
handled an American Willys Jeep. It was smaller than its Indian counterpart and
was petrol driven. He asked us to join him for a ride. First he took us outside
the town where he came across a herd of spotted deer (chital). He cornered one
against a wall in a manner that the animal had no way to escape. Using his carbine
Das fired three shots but none hit the deer which, like cats, seemed to have
nine lives.
From
Katni towards Shahdol a few miles up the road we came across a herd of black
bucks. Some of them were in a playful mood and some other were prancing around.
As soon as they saw the vehicle they took a sharp right turn and ran hard on
the barren earth. Not to give up, the MP’s son gave them a chase; and what a
chase it was – like the one we had seen in the film Hatari. Bouncing on the
rough and bare ground we went at full speed after the black bucks which gave a
show of their prowess of running hard and leaping high up in the air covering several
yards in the process. It was a sight to see against the setting sun. We watched
them till their coiled dark horns faded in dust raised by their hooves as they sprinted
away from us – a sight I am unlikely to forget until I die.
That
road – Katni to Damoh – used to host fifty years ago such incredible wildlife.
When our batch mates posted in Damoh and/or Sagar would come to Jabalpur for
meetings they would often report sighting of a tiger or a leopard. All that
seems to have gone with our watchword “vikas”! We haven’t been able to carry
our natural world along with us even with our Hindu Rate of growth of 3%.
Jabalpur
had that incredible sight Marble Rocks on the River Narmada. The River flows
through gorge cutting the marble rocks on two sides On full moon nights it is an
unearthly sight. There are boats available on hire with expert boatmen who can
steer their boats safely through the deeper parts of the River. Close by is a
fall that becomes aggressive as the monsoon progresses.
In
around seven month’s time Das was posted out to Sagar. But before that I had
moved out to the Narmada Club into a single room tenement where Dungee would
often drop in during early evenings. Das’s replacement was Vinod Pandit who
became a friend in no time. Our common factor was that his wife happened to be
from Gwalior which was my birth place and we would go in our childhood to the same
Hukkus where she and her family would often drop in.
The
All India Congress Committee meets every year at some place chosen by its big
wigs. Since it was the only political party worth the name and since it was in
power at the centre and numerous states its annual meet used to be a very big
affair. Those were the hey days of the Congress. We would receive directions
from the headquarters in Delhi to provide all kinds of facilities to the
delegates. In 1967 the AICC decided to meet at Jabalpur. The state government
allocated a rather small building for a Posts & Telegraph Office. The
divisional Engineer Telegraph was One Mr Tripathi and a good friend. He offered
to do up the building and the surrounding patch of land. And what a job did he
do! Freshly whitewashed and immaculately painted he even turned the front patch
into a garden with potted plants.
He
asked me to do up the inside. I asked our furniture maker to provide the best
he could and he did so. Our boys went on a spree to decorate the building with
whatever departmental posters they could lay their hands on. A few photographs
of Bheda Ghat were the toppings for the cake and the place was ready for
business.
Mr. Khan, our Director was asked by the PMG to
check whether we had done our bit. I went to receive him at the station on a
borrowed scooter. On my way back I had a fall that broke my shoulder. The boss
went and saw the place we had created and came back very satisfied. He informed
the PMG accordingly from my residential telephone. Much later when I had been
transferred and was in Bhopal I got a letter of appreciation from the Member of
the P&T Board. It seems, the minister of communications visited the office
during the AICC session and wrote in the Visitors’ Book that he had been
attending AICC sessions for thirty years but he never came across such a
handsome looking Posts & Telegraph Office. I was sorry that this did not
come earlier so as to enable me to share it with my junior colleagues who had toiled
hard to make it what it became. Anyway, it was good recompense for the effort
put in.
(Concluded)
*Photo from internet
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