Brij Mehta Diaries

In early 1959 my father who was in the Army moved from Mhow to Bhuj on posting and  then moved with a  Grenadiers Battalion to Satwari in Jammu 1960.It was here that did my schooling from 6^th to 8^th Class at Govt School Satwari. I was usually given award for being the best dressed Student of the Class and presented a Pencil as an appreciation. I had to attend Tution at our Teacher’s (Mr Vishwanath Sudan ) residence. I used to go to Nai Basti from Satwari quarter and while crossing a Canal over old Railway line. The width of the girder was just enough for a foot but risky for my age then as the canal below must have been around depth of 30 feet. Later when I visited in 1980’s it’s a double two way road bridge to Airport & Miran Sahib & RS Pura. Results of Board exam for 8^th Class were announced over Radio and in Local papers. I used to play Hockey and Football with the Children of my age group. Three sons of an Air Force Sergeant of a neighbour (Pranab,Prateek &Polash ?)were regulars with us in playing and studies at the school. While going back from school used to carry Patti & slates. Patti was cleaned at “Sua” ,a minor tributary of canal with Gachni (or Multani Mitti which was used to act as a surface after drying and with the help of black ink ‘Kalam’ or known as Kana  made of Wild Grass or Sarkanda for writing alphabets/numerical)

Since the Quarter was located in the battalion lines area were able to see various Sports events which motivated me to play sports.It was here that during Indo China war of 1962 huge and long convoys of tanks and heavy vehicles moving next to our school. The unit location was next to Air Force station and used & frequently watched  IAF Helicopters and AOP(Air Observation Planes) fixed wing  Auster & Otter Planes. During the 1962 war I remember seeing the newly delivered Russian light transport Aircraft which were later rechristened as Avro after manufactured in India.Few of these are still in service for communication duties with IAF.There were no security checks then and one could easily walk on the road to Airport which was alongside the Boundary fencing of Airforce Station. There used to be a Civil Dakota flight from Delhi ,we used to see people alighting from the aircraft and were allowed till Car Parking area. Flights departing for Srinagar or arriving was visible clearly uptpo Pir Panjal ranges. Whole of Jammu people used to descend at the airport to welcome & have glance of Pandit Jawahar Lal Nehru who used to travel in open Car then and Sadar e Riyasat Maharaj Hari Singh ji & also drew Jammu people to Airport. There was not an inch of space from Satwari Airport to Jammu City during their move toward the city palace. We (friends) used to go to an area adjacent to Runway to pluck Ber(Berries) and were regular at Pir Baba Shrine across the airport. The shrine of Pir Baba is revered a lot from all walks of life & still visible near the take off point of the runway at Jammu. It was here in Jammu for the first time that I attended the Eid festivities when I was allowed to accompany Hav Clk Siddiqui of father’s battalion for Namaz and followed by Lunch at a Dhaba.

There was a network of “Sua’’ canals and tributaries near the family quarter . We used to keep our Matkas/Jerricans filled up with water  in shallow tributaries of Sua  so that water gets cold enough to drink in Summers. Similarly Watermelons and Mangoes were submerged in cold water as there were no Refrigerators then.

It was here in Satwari that I developed interest to listening to Radio. Jammu station used to broadcast Fauzi Bhaiyon ke lie programme around Lunch time while Radio Kashmir Srinagar was popular with “Wadi ki Awaz’’ hosted by Nikki at 10 PM at night and not to forget weekly Binaca Geetmala. Transistors were not much visible and relied on Radios working on Electric Valves and a small Wire cage antenna had to be put to receive signals.

It was here I witnessed Dussehra mela & Ravan Dahan being held opposite the open ground in front of Air Force Station. This open and huge space had Lavatories for Jawans on one end and an single officers block for Officers of the battalion where I met some of unit officers which motivated me to do well in studies /life and become an officer in the Army. As I recollect Lt Col DP Lahiri was the CO of the unit ,and also interacted with his son who was almost my age and officers like Major BS Hada & Col Hakam Singh who were outstanding Hockey player (met him again in 1975 at near Jammu when he was commanding the unit).They had a formidable Hockey team which combined well to win many trophies. Notable other NCOs being Jagpal Singh,Lal Singh ,Siddqui & Anti Ram Jahkar ji some of them I met again after my joining army and commissioning in the Army as they had great respect for my father.

I remember walking to Kaluchak along the canal route with other Jawans to watch other sports events and met Hav Leela Ram of another Grenadiers battalion  who had returned after winning at CWG Gold in Wrestling and Indian Hockey team custodian Sub Shanker Laxman at an Hockey championship.

Also it was here I remember watching Ram Leelas at night which was held across the boundary fence of family lines and incidentally one of our classmate at school played the role of Sita in this. Another Class mate’s father had a Shop dealing in Tobacco just opposite our school. Also joined and witnessed Puja Festival organized by Bengalis at Cantt Board Auditorium in Satwari.On some weekends father used to take us to villages in RS Pura where some Mohyals (our community) were settled. After the unit moved to Damana visited the Mango Orchards there..It was very convenient to visit and pay obeisance at Raghunath Temple.I remember visiting Bawe Wali Mata few times .My brother used to take me along for a few movies in Jewel & Shankar Cinema Halls as well as open air theatre of Tiger Division. Since there was no ban on Pakistani films they were also screened in these halls. There was a single one way bridge over River Tawi and traffic was regulated by Police from each side but main entry to City which was unrestricted was from Satwari side. Army day & Ceremonial  Parades, may be Republic Day was initially held in Parade Ground and later at the Bakshi Stadium Jammu. I was also fascinated by the mere site of Motor cycle/Jeep Pilots escorting Military and civilian dignitaries from the Airport to City or vice versa blowing Sirens for the traffic to clear the roads. After I cleared my Middle Class Examination I was to be moved to Delhi for further studies as father was on the verge of retirement.

Much has changed since then when I returned to Jammu region after my child hood years and saw the change when I returned in early Mid 80’s and then in last  twenty years and Jammu has lost its old charm and now a concrete jungle and vastly expanded due to development projects ,increasing population and changed security scenario.