Indra’s Drishtikona (Viewpoint)

Album and Autobiography-8

Posted : May 23, 2010 at 9:57 pm [IST]

Sitaram Misra was the name of the father of Yamuna and my father-in-law. He was the lone surviving male child of his parents with a cousin whom his mother distanced from the family. However, he had four or more sisters too. After my mother-in-law from Dharkana, a village nearby came in the family, she brought his cousin in the family fold. He was very helpful. My father-in-law couldn’t continue in school for long. His mother stopped him from going to school as the school teacher who was from minority had punished her son. The family had a good amount of land holding. The land was very fertile and well irrigated by canals built by Britishers, so his mother took that step. My father-in-law grew as adamant child of a rich widow. He hardly understood the village politics and lost because of the ignorance of the laws of the land.

As Yamuna narrates, her maternal grandmother came to Madhukarpur in disguise of a beggar to find out if my father-in-law was a good match for her daughter. She might had heard it, may be from her mother or elder sisters.

The only family in Bodarhi, who had helped us in getting the land of my maternal grandfather registered in my name, had married Sona, the daughter of Late Ramjee Rai with Yamuna’s middle brother Ram Bilash. Unfortunately Sona is no more alive (photo shows Sona with Ram Bishal, her husband). She must be a few years older than me. As Yamuna says, Sona had been narrating some story of my childhood, and that I had played with her in Bodarhi. It was Ramjee Rai, and his cousin brother Rama Rai who approached Jamuna Baba, the younger brother of my grandfather with the proposal of the marriage of Yamuna with me about the time when I was just appearing for my school final examination. Jamuna Baba consented even knowing full well that I was not ready to marry. My grandfather had to relent. In the summer on June 14, 1955, we got married. Madhukarpur became an important habitation in my life with Yamuna coming from there.

As I remember and my grandfather wrote in his diary, my marriage party came in bullock carts from our village with few palkins. My father came on his horse. My grandfather had hired a car, the usual Ambassador car to join the marriage at Madhukarpur with Chandra Mani Tiwari, my maternal uncle and Ram Dular Rai of our community from Assam whose family initially was from a village Rampur in north of ours before his father migrated to Assam. The marriage was grand. Jamuna baba had hired Chhotakaa Babbanwa (Babban, the younger) from Surajpura to entertain the marriage party. On my insistence, I was in plain dress. The villagers found it difficult to recognize the bridegroom. Unfortunately, my grandfather forgot to engage any photographer. In villages, the photography was hardly known.

I visited Madhukarpur only few times after Yamuna started living with me in Hind Motors. I have few old black and white photographs of the family that I clicked on my Yashica camera, when we attended a marriage there.

Two years ago, Yamuna visited her village for few days with Mansa. She could get me some photographs. But old persons are gone and the younger ones whom I knew have become too old.

Yamuna’s joint family is today divided in three families of her three brothers and their sons are running the farming business pretty well. Unfortunately, none could do very well in education and I feel bad about it.

I wish they would have taken education of the children seriously.

- Indra

Category: Personal |