Bless Seembla, loveliest village of the plains

My grandfather moved to Seembla village in Haryana after leaving Lahore during Partition. Since he was a doctor, he was immediately appointed to treat patients at refugee camps in Ambala. Due to his responsibilities, he was allotted the spacious haveli that I live in today.

I served in the tea industry like my father and this haveli stayed with the family. Since my father and I lived in far away Assam, Seembla village was a destination mainly for holidays. Later, I was away pursuing a career for 30 years and did not realise when I was to retire, destiny would bring me back to my roots, in Seembla. I am in a situation where I can juxtapose the past with the present of this village. My observations related to changes over the decades are, in a way, an important segment of history.

Seembla’s nearest town, Barara, has a railway station. When I was a child, we would disembark at Barara after a journey from Delhi. Cabs were rare in Barara and it was routine to settle into a tonga drawn by a healthy Katiawar horse. The link road leading to Seembla was shaded by kikar trees, in disciplined rows, with their umbrella-shaped canopy. Simul trees were also a part of this sylvan avenue and Seembla was named after them. At the approach to the village is a lake called ‘dabbi’ in local parlance, which goes back to Mughal times when travellers on horseback would stop for their horses to drink water.

Villages are free from the hustle and bustle of city life. They are peaceful, with more greenery where one breathes fresh air. Villagers are close knit so every evening many of the men would assemble at a chosen courtyard. Some of them would pause in their chatting to smoke their hookahs, with its soothing gurgling sound. There were hookahs engraved in brass and men who smoked a hookah from a past generation used ones where the pipe piece at the end was made of silver. Niranjan Das Vaid, a high-ranking resident, was responsible for a large area of farm land and would visit us; his hookah, brought by an attendant, would precede his arrival.

Niranjan would discuss plans for converting the village school into a brick cement structure. He would plan the infilling of trees along the avenue at the approach to the village. He would update us on our family temple established by grandfather and family. The Radha Krishna temple, as it is named, is integral to religious activities in the village. Its Mughal style pillars at the front reveals its architectural excellence and today it is almost 70 years old.

The relative quietude of this village is a welcome retreat for a writer. One still hears the lowing of cows. Though fewer people keep cows or buffaloes, those who maintain cattle sell the milk to a dairy cooperative nearby so one still relishes pure milk brought home in a can not in a packet.

The rows of kikars have gradually disappeared and to an extent have been replaced by the eucalyptus. Farmlands with ongoing cultivation will continue to hopefully give Seembla peace and tranquility.

May these words of Oliver Goldsmith bless this place: “Sweet Auburn! Loveliest village of the plain.”

CABS WERE RARE IN BARARA AND IT WAS ROUTINE TO SETTLE INTO A TONGA DRAWN BY A HEALTHY KATIAWAR HORSE