By Anil Raturi
These days I visit my maternal village “Chaund”, Patti Bharpur, District Tehri Garhwal, every month. During these visits, which are generally for a couple of days, I reside in a cottage that I have recently built there. Growing up in Mussoorie as a child I used to occasionally visit this village. In the winter of 1971, my sojourn in the village–at my maternal uncle Pandit Gajadhar Prasad Pandey’s house– extended to about three weeks. During that stay, I got an opportunity as a child to observe the village life very closely. The village until then was still unconnected to the external world. It did not have a motor road, electricity or running tap water. Bereft of any market and other external forces, the village was a microcosm of a mountain society that was seeped in a culture and civilisation that was distilled through centuries of living along the Ganga in the precipitous Himalayan terrain. The lack of city comforts was compensated by the warmth, affection and sense of kinship exhibited by the inhabitants of the village. In such pristine and sylvan surroundings, I fondly remember meeting many a wise man there, who had a deep knowledge of classical Sanskrit texts, Vedic Mathematics, Jyotish and Ayurveda.
The fond memories of all those visits to this village are indelibly etched in the deepest recesses of my mind. This exposure during childhood quietly laid within me the foundation of all that is today called Uttarakhandi culture.
Now, as a man of 65 years, I have become intensely aware of this rich and refined heritage that I have had the good fortune to be part of!
In today’s selfish world of trickery, materialism and violence, the humane culture of Uttarakhand is a healing balm for all humanity.
Austerity, hard work, frugality, honesty, compassion, humility and patriotism are values that are subliminally instilled by the mountain society into its inhabitants.
As a human, I feel it is a great privilege and good fortune to have been shaped by such a refined culture!
But, alas, this beautiful society of which the village was the core unit is slowly dissipating! My maternal village has almost become a ghost village. Very few people are now living there. Most have migrated out. The aesthetically beautiful architecture of the old houses is in ruins.
Perhaps it is necessary for all Uttarakhandis to revive their links with their native villages in order to protect the great heritage and culture!
(Anil Raturi is a retired IPS officer and former DGP of Uttarakhand.)
