My Dear Gopal,
I have not been able to trace a copy of the family tree and all the details connected with it and it is a shame that the termites had the better of our tree. You could restart the work by writing to all the known family members including the children of our two Buaji's and recollect the information. Tough task, took me several months but would be worth the effort. My father, RaiSahebDr. MelaRam Sharma, born on Oct 4, 1902 died on Oct 14th, 1968. According to what I have heard, he went to school in Kalerkala up to 8th standards, and then shifted to Gurdaspuralongwith his elder brother Dr. SukhDayal. They both studied there for their 9th& 10th class. One incident which he used to relate was connected with the family of Mr. Ashwani Kumar, the famous IG-Police. One evening my father and SukhDayalji were studying under a street light as where they were living, there was no electricity. A gentlemen walked by and asked them what were they doing and when he learnt that these two boys were from a village and were studying in Gurdaspur and had no place to study at night except the street light, he very generously invited the two boys and gave them the servants quarter in his high bungalow. He was a Civil Surgeon. I have visited that house several years ago thanks to Mr. KhushalBahl, I have seen this servant quarter where the two brothers had stayed and completed their matriculation.
After their matriculation they both went to Lahore where SukhDayalji studied MBBS. He was a brilliant student, unfortunately in the final year there was one paper where only one topic was given on which the students had to write an essay. He misunderstood one word and therefore, wrote the answer on the paper on a totally different topic. As I was told, the Principal who was also the examiner, called him and told him 'as you have not answered the paper correctly I should give you zero marks, but as I see you have been standing first all along and even this year you are standing first in all other papers, I will not give you zero, but I will give you the minimum passing marks." Thus Jai Dayalji qualified for MBBS and became a Doctor. I have his photograph, a copy of which is with Balbir and you both.
My father Mela Ram joined the veterinary department of Punjab, started as a Demonstrator but later got posted to Simla, which was one of the prestigious postings because in summer months Simla was not only the capital of India, but also of several Punjab States. He thus got the opportunity to interact, at a very young age with highest bureaucracy and aristocracy of India, particularly North India. After completing his term in Simla, he was briefly posted to Jalandhar, then Ferozpur and then he was posted to Delhi in 1938. He was the Dy. Superintendent in Charge of the veterinary hospital which then used to be located next to NDMC office, in fact between the NDMC and the YMCA. From 1938 to 1945, we lived in the Superintendent's bungalow in the hospital.
In 1945, by sheer accident, while he, as a Junior Officer, was accompanying Lord Linlithgow, and the then Secretary, All India Cattle Show Committee, at the Willingdon Stadium, which is now called the National Stadium. An accident took place, the Secretary who was an English man, suddenly collapsed while escorting Viceroy Lord Linlithgow, and died on the spot. The cattle show was to be inaugurated next day by Lord Linlithgow. At the spur of the moment, Lord Linlithgow asked my father, 'You take over right now and continue with the cattle show. He appointed him as 'Secretary of the Cattle Show Committee'. My father was too junior to hold that posting, but then nobody dare in the Government challenge the decision taken by the Viceroy. Thus by sheer accident of life he superseded several officers and was given the job. He retained the job for several years and finally retired in 1963.
After his retirement we shifted to Sunder Nagar, a home that he had built with his hard earned labour and money. This plot was bought in the auction but if I correctly remember for Rs. 11,600/- and the complete house was built at a cost of slightly over a lac of rupees. This was a fortune for him and he used all his resources and even had to take the favour of one of his former clerks who had by then become a contractor, by paying for the bricks several years later.
Once in Sunder Nagar, he continued with his passion for the dogs and was practicing from Sunder Nagar. He was Advisor to the Delhi Zoo and for a brief period he was Advisor to the Dog Squad of the India Railways. He died of a sudden heart attack, leaving behind his wife Santosh Devi and his two children - son Inder and daughter UshaLakhanpal.
You could edit this for your purposes. If you are including anything about ladies of the family, I will be happy to send you a note about my mother.
As regards my connection with the village, it was very short and brief. Every year, at least twice, my mother and I used to go to Punjab. My mother's family came from Amritsar. We used to travel to Amritsar by Frontier Mail, traveling by second class. In those days there were four classes on the train – first class, second class, inter class and third class. I was very fond of eating on the train. Even though the Frontier mail used to leave late in the evening, I used to insist that my mother carried the paratha's and we would eat while sitting in the train. From Amritsar we used to visit Gurdaspur where buaji, the elder sister of my father, used to live. Her husband was in the health department of Punjab Police. We used to stay with her at least 4-5 days and to this day I remember the delicious hot parathas, stuffed with potatoes, that she used to feed us with. The family was vegetarian and the food was superb. During our stay in Gurdaspur, we would visit our village traveling by tonga from Gurdaspur to Dhariwal and then walking along the canal to our village. I still very fondly remember the mango tree and our village well. There was a small tank near the well and I used to sit in that for long periods and enjoy bathing in that chilling cold water. Water in Lalowal even now is cold.
Another thing I distinctly remember is sucking on mangoes while sitting near the well. My mother and I never spent a night in our village, but I do remember a small shop that my father's chachaji used to run in the village and the kachcha family home. He had the first room built of bricks in the village, that is where dadaji used to sit. He had taken a vow after the death of his elder brother never to enter the home where his young widow bhabi, i.e. my grandmother was living. For all practical purposes we considered him, loved him and respected him as our dadaji. Nobody knew his exact age but he certainly lived beyond 100. He used to tell us about his visit to Delhi with his friends in 1911 to see the durbar. What an initiative for a village boy in those days.
As I mentioned he had taken a vow not to enter the home. But living with us in Sunder Nagar, as my mother was sick.one day he decided to visit inside the home. He was very fond of her and that is the time he slipped and fractured a hip bone. He was removed to the hospital and in the beginning looking at his age, the doctor felt they could not risk an operation, which meant he would live in the bed all the time. Dad consulted the top surgeons of Delhi and finally decided an operation in Irwin Hospital now called LokNayak Jay Prakash Narayan Hospital. Fortunately, due to his good health, the operation was a success and he was able to limp around the house once again. He was very fond of his hookah and was a noble soul. Never a bad word for anyone. It is due to blessing of our elders like him that the family is today what we are.
Sorry for this longish email, but please feel free to edit it and reshape it. Once again thank you and I deeply appreciate what you have started.
God Bless.
Warmest,
