Agra village rewinds to 1959, free date with Eisenhower
Old timers say access was free, security was not a big concern
AGRA : The visit of US President Donald Trump on February 24 has set the Taj city aflutter, with multi-tier security arrangements in place.
Small wonder old timers in Laramada, a non descript village in the district, recall the sepia tinted good old days, when the then US President Dwight D Eisenhower came calling with the then Prime Minister Jawahar Lal Nehru in an open vehicle on December 13, 1959, and there was a much freer rural encounter with the VIPs. The radio given by Eisenhower and the appreciation letter received from the White House after he returned home are prized possessions of the villagers.
Kela Devi (80), sister-in-law of the then pradhan Karan Singh was a new bride in the family and in her late twenties when President Eisenhower visited her house. Rewinding to that winter six decades ago, she remembers Nehru asking why all women were in ‘ghoonghat’ (veil).
“We all showered flower petals on President Dwight D Eisenhower who came in an open vehicle with the then Prime Minister Jawahar Lal Nehru. The US president had to bend his head because he was tall and the door was low,” she recalled.
Barfi Devi’s memories have faded and she cannot reply to questions. But the 90-year-old loves telling tales of Eisenhower’s visit to her house five decades ago.
“They (Nehru and Eisenhower) moved freely in the village, visited the school, the pond and the ‘panchayat ghar’ (built in 1954). Later they presented a radio to the ‘panchayat ghar’ and equipment for modern farming. Nehruji also handed over a dholak and manjira (musical instruments) for cultural events at the ‘panchayat ghar’,” recollected Pooran Singh (80).
“Both Eisenhower and Pandit Jawahar Lal Nehru were at RBS College in Agra to inaugurate a library. They wished to visit an ‘adarsh gaon’ (model village) and so they came to our village Laramada, 12 kilometres from Agra city. Security never came in the way for villagers out to meet the guests moving in an open car,’’ he said. Former pradhan Mahaveer Singh was born in 1966, seven years after Eisenhower visited the village but said he had grown up hearing tales of that memorable visit.
“My uncle late Karan Singh was village pradhan in 1959 and got the privilege to welcome the guests at his house. This village was declared an ‘adarsh gaon’ due to the efforts of the villagers and so they were rewarded by this visit. Even at that time, the village had ‘pucca’ lanes with drains and markets,’’ he said.
“Due to the Nehru-Eisenhower visit, our village was included in the joint Indo-US scheme for rural electrification and finally got electricity in 1964. The ‘panchayat ghar’ where the guests addressed the villagers is not in good condition now but fund of ₹17 lakh has been sanctioned for its renovation under a government scheme,” he said.
“We would have loved it if US president Donald Trump had visited our village to repeat history but understand the security concerns now. Former US president Barack Obama had gone to a village in Rajasthan when he came to India in 2015. So we all wait for the day when a US President will come to our village again,” he said. The official visit of President Eisenhower to Laramada village in 1959 was covered by late Kailash Nath Sharma, owner of Fine Art Studio on Mahatma Gandhi Road in Agra.