Neemuch-- a kaleidoscope of memories
Ochterlony
An
ordinary town in many ways, *Neemuch in Madhya Pradesh
still holds a very special place in my heart. What
follows is a recollection of memories associated with
the town and its history and growth over the years
which have always interested me.
Neemuch
Cantonment, as it was called, when we arrived there in
1935, was not really a Cantonment. The British had
established this Cantonment in 1822 by taking on lease
about 8 square miles of territory from the then Gwalior
State. By the side of the city now called "Neemuch City"
the Cantonment was established with Major David
Ochterlony as the first Commandant. He got built and
lived for sometime in what is now CRPF Mess.
Subsequently due to some differences with the Governor
General at Delhi he resigned and moved to Meerut
where he died in 1825 and is buried in the cemetery
there. The Ochterlony Column at
Calcutta Maidan commemorates his name.
(see Link) When the meter gauge rail track was laid
in 1880, the Cantonment lay in between Neemuch City and
the Railway station. If you study the rail alignment in
the map you see how rail alignment has been steadily
turned from Ratlam to reach the present Railway Station
of Neemuch.
Cantonment officials relied upon a
few shops in that 8 square miles of lease area mainly to
serve their needs for groceries and provisions and
allowed a few bungalows to come up with investment from
private parties. The Cantonment was disbanded in 1935
and the barracks were left empty. So were the various
bungalows built by private investors to house the army
officers. Naturally, in the 1857 uprising Neemuch must
have played its part but that's another
story.
The town had no electricity or water
supply in the 1930s. Water was generally transported
through bullock carts and supplied as a private
arrangement while kerosene lamps provided light in
homes. At the principal intersections of roads there
were installations of a few kerosene gas lamps and as a
daily ritual a lamp lighter, appointed by the town
authority, used to bicycle down to lower the lamps and
raise them back after lighting them up. It was
something, we as children, used to love to watch. But
there were good roads, though not tar, and the main mode
of transport was through horse drawn carriages available
in the city. For individuals, bicycle was a popular
vehicle. There were only three cars in the entire town,
all belonging to one Englishman the Officer-in-Charge of
the Govt. Opium Factory. With the raising of the Crown Representative’s Police (CRP) in 1939 more cars arrived
in the town and an officer named Churcher got even a
small plane! The plane crashed one day in the open
spaces but luckily he survived.
There was a
primary school and a middle school up to eighth grade
and that was all the education available in the city.
For further education one had to travel to the nearest
district town of Mandsaur about thirty miles away or to
other destinations. The city did have a municipality to
look after the roads, sanitation, public health and such
needs. There was a small hospital headed by a qualified
doctor with only a LMP diploma. There is an interesting
incident about it. Once my father took me there for some
minor ailment and found the doctor sitting idle. As
there was no queue we walked in and my father greeted
the doctor with his remark 'How is it there are no
patients?'. The doctor was prompt in his reply "The
town is healthy, not my fault"
In spite of above
shortfalls the town could boast of an open air fair
weather cinema for entertainment some thing present day
generations would find it hard to imagine leave aside
would want to enjoy. One could see a romantic full moon
scene on the screen as also a full Moon up in the sky.
It had four grades of seats for the customers. The
lowest and naturally nearest to the screen was a
Durrie right on the ground
with a ticket of one Anna. Next were Benches
for two Annas and then
Chairs for four Annas and for
the elite and Sahibs were
Mondha for 8 Annas. The movie
was shown with a single projector and therefore, with
the running out of each spool there had to be a break of
show and lights were put on. Simultaneously, one could
hear outside Channa Jor Garam, Khasta Moongfali,
Thanda Meetha Lemonade and Chai Garam with adjectives
like Bey Nashe Ki Pyali Dil Khush Karne Wali Chai Sab Ki
Pyari Garma Garam Chai Hamari etc. The cinea was
run by one Parsi gentleman Shapoor Ji Tavaria and his
younger brother Bhika Ji Tavaria used to take classes in
physical training in the middle school. He was a good
Referee too in football matches, known to be one without
any alignments and naturally enjoyed confidence of
all.
Another well known land mark of this
little town was the Protestant Cemetery which is
the final resting place of many dignitaries of their
time including the grand daughter of the discoverer of
the source of Nile. Many graves have marble imported
from Italy.
Though small, as a town of 10,000,
Neemuch had the reputation of being elite in the area
perhaps because of the presence of the British for well
over a hundred years. Although subsequently abandoned by
the military, the city was destined to keep its
pre-eminent position well into the future. First the
Govt. of India established the Opium processing factory
here in 1935 and then in 1939, when the British Govt.
was looking for accommodation to raise the Crown
Representative's Police the empty barracks in Neemuch
were the natural choice. One battalion comprising of
five companies of 200 each was the start up of the CRP
though these letters now stand for the Central Reserve
Police. (see Link)
As a result of the
establishment of the CRP in 1939, the town again started
bustling with activity. This forward march of the city
never stopped. In the 1940s the adjoining area towards
Jawad was surveyed by the ACC for limestone deposits
mainly through the efforts of Shri Sitaram Jajoo but it
took another forty years for a cement plant to be
established. The Nayagoan cement plant was commissioned
on Basant Panchmi day in January 1980. The main reason
for the delay was the reluctance of the Railways
then to make a commitment for the movement of cement
loads. But the limestone deposits proved their worth by
forcing the Railways to agree to bring the broad gauge
line to this area and thus Neemuch was linked to
Kota.
The opening of the Opium Factory at Neemuch
in 1935 presented another challenge. There were no banks
in the city and the Opium Factory had no retail sales to
receive funds but it needed money for day-to-day
operations and for payment of salaries to staff.
One of the leading financiers of the town, M/s Premsukh
Shyamsukh & Co. offered to help out by agreeing to
provide funds to the Opium Factory and collect cheques
in their favor from the Residency at
Indore.
Continuing its forward march the city
acquired the status of District Headquarters in
Nine-tees. Neemuch District of Madhya Pradesh was
established on June 30th, 1998 comprising three Tehsils
of Neemuch, Jawad and Manasa with headquarters at
Neemuch. ( between the parallels of latitude 240 .15 -
240.35 North, and between the meridians of longitude 740
45 - 750 37 East.) Total area : 3875 square kilometers.
Population: 7,25,457. Elevation: 452 M (1483 ft)
Today Neemuch is known as India's eye-donor capital
as it accounts for the highest per capita eye donation
rate in the country.
The Malwa
Plateau
Malwa, is a plateau of volcanic
origin (area over 30,000 sq. km) in the western part of
Madhya Pradesh State and south-eastern Rajasthan. The
following districts are in this area. Dewas, Dhar,
Indore, Jhabua, Mandsaur, Neemuch, Rajgarh, Ratlam,
Shajapur, Ujjain, and parts of Guna and Sehore, and the
Rajasthan districts of Jhalawar and parts of Banswara
and Chittorgarh Average elevation of the Malwa plateau
is about 500 metres, and the landscape generally slopes
towards the north. With Indore 550 M, Neemuch 452 M and
Bhilwara only 100 M shows how the Malwa Plateau gently
slopes Northwards.
Neemuch town is situated, close to
the border with Rajasthan, at the edge of the Plateau
that gently merges into the plains of
Rajasthan.
The Moguls are reported to have been
so enchanted by the cool breeze during summer
nights of Malwa region that in summing up their
impressions of Hindoosthan they said
"Subh-o-Banares, Shame-e-Awadh, Shub-e-Malwa
!
* The area of
Neemuch originally belonged to Udaipur State. The
following write up is from
Internet.
"The city site was the
location of a palace in the district of the Ajmer
province. Originally a part of the territory of Udaipur
State, it was given to the **Scindias in 1768 to
pay of debts incurred by the Rana (King) of
Mewar.After that it became a British Cantonment of the
Gwalior Princely State, except for the short periods in
1794 and 1844.
The Neemuch Cantonment played a
significant role in the Indian Mutiny (1857-58) and was
the centre of disturbance in Malwa. The city became the
Head Quarters of Malwa Agency, a sub division of the
British Central India Agency, in
1895."
**NB. It is for this
reason that in 1930s the Neemuch town was
connected to the state capital Gwalior by a bus service
called G N I T. (Gwalior & North India Transport)
These buses also plied in Delhi in those times as city
transport.
CRPF
GNIT
Eye Donor Capital-BBC Story
Images
RUDYARD KIPLING
NEEMUCH RAIL CONNECTIVITY
REGINALD HEBER (1783 – 1826)
BHATNAGAR PAPERS