Charan evictees still await rehabilitation

Temporary hutments raised by the Charan khad slum evictees at Chetru. (Image Credit: Harshil Thakur)

By Harshil Thakur

Tears still roll up in Bhau Dass (65) eyes when he recollects the eviction drive at Charan Khad two years before. “We have lived there for more than 35 years since our ancestors settled at Charan”, he says. “It was a black day in my life”, he said.

It's been more than 2 years now, but no development project has yet been started on the site near Subzi Mandi in Charan Khad which the Municipal Corporation of Dharamshala (MCD) has cleared by demolishing hundreds of hutments on 17 June 2016. Evictees like Bhau Das are still waiting rehabilitation.

Life is very tough for Bhau Dass and other families at their temporary settlement at Chetru, a village 13 kilometers from Dharamshala, as they do not get jobs easily to earn a livelihood. Elderly people and women have to stay at home, making half of the people jobless while the young men of the community work for Municipal Council Dharamshala, mainly as waste collectors for a meager wage of Rupees 200 a day.

Charan Kahd evictees at their temporary shelters at Chetru, 13 kilometers away from Dharamshala
(Image Credit: Harshil Thakur)

At Chetru, they have set up small hutments in a private land. Owner of the land who is an influential person of the area collects rent for each hutment here. "He threatens us to burn our shelters if rent is not paid on time”, said Das. Arranging RS.700/slum a month is a daunting task for them.

The slum dwellers at Charan Khad were nomadic tribes from Maharashtra and Rajasthan who came to Dharamshala during the drought in Maharashtra in the 1970s. They were accepted by local people and with time became integral part of the local community. But the situation changed when they received a notice by MCD on 16 May 2016, ordering them to vacate the place within 10 days.

Local residents still share fond memories about them and are angry with the government to displace the poor migrants in the name of hollow development  promises. "Rajasthan wale matka banaate the, Maharashtra wale kachra uthaate the" (Migrants from Rajasthan were potters and Maharashtrians were garbage collectors), remembers the vegetable vendors at Charan Khad. Many in the neighborhood of the erstwhile slum in Charan Khad are of the view that government should not have allowed them to settle there earlier but after living at a place for 35 years government should have provided permanent shelter to them.

The decision was taken after a complaint to MCD by Irrigation and Public Health department accusing these migrants of damaging sewage pipe lines and for open defecation which, according to authorities, had increased chances of epidemic in the area.

After multiple review petitions against the eviction drive by Karan Kumar, a local resident, were rejected by the Court, eviction started by MCD on 17th June 2016 which ended on 21st. During the drive, 150 hutments were destroyed, forcing the slum dwellers including toddlers and pregnant women to spend several nights on streets until they moved to Chetru.

At Chetru, they live in 40 to 50 jhuggis cramped into a small area very close to the river bed. Evictees who are migrants from Rajasthan have moved to another area, setting up similar temporary shelters there, says Bhau Das.

Without proper waste management options, residents of these temporary shelters live in dangerously unhygienic conditions. Several of the kids here suffer from diarrhea and respiratory illness. Poor access to primary medical facilities has resulted in rampant malnutrition and lower vaccination rates among the children.

“There is no access to clean water, no sanitation and the area is subject to flooding in the monsoon”, says Brigid Whoriskey, member of Tong-Len, an NGO helping out the evictees. “The families have to travel long distances to beg or scavenge in the rubbish and there is evidence in some families of malnutrition”, she said.

Locals in Chetru are also of the view that government should provide them permanent shelters. However, many of them are also concerned about the littering by the slum dwellers. The land owner or the authorities have not provided any toilet facilities or electricity connections here.

Slum dwellers complained that they approached government officials and the MLAs several times for help, but with no result. “No government official or service reach us, our life has become hell", says Bhau Das in a low voice.

The Millenial Way

Indian millenials like juggling several assignments than a single job. (Representational Image)

By: Ajay Kumar

Working a single, 9 to 5 job and building up a career along was the norm of the day. That is now a thing of the past. Millennials have begun creating their own definition of work life. They love juggling multiple jobs across different fields.

Manpreet Kaur, (24) from Bhatinda, Punjab, has tried being a salaried employee and a freelancer juggling multiple projects. She works as the Head of Marketing Operations at Brijraj Fashion in New Delhi. But she also works part-time as a content creator, editor and a digital marketing consultant and enjoys it more. She finds social media and affiliation marketing as fruitful avenues of revenue generation. “There’s a huge scope. You can make good money if you are good at the job”, she said.

Social Media provides a great platform for them, primarily by bringing people closer, opened up new opportunities. Social media marketing, online business applications, digital asset monetization, e-commerce are vistas where these job-hopping millennials find new opportunities in.

But make no mistake. It does not mean that you can just make some quick buck here. “Digital marketing is much more complicated than posting social media content. People have to understand that before trying to pursue this as a career. It is a job that changes every day and you have to stay on track or you lose,” cautions Manpreet.

What, then, is their motivation for taking up various projects? “It’s definitely the money because I like to be independent. The current economic situation across the country makes it little hard on everyone’s pocket and part time opportunities help you as a cushion when you fall back.” Says Arun Kumar, who works in the HR sector, writes for a website and dabbles in ad films.

Many who have settled for more stable jobs cherish the other work life. Sumedha Choudhary, an ICSSR Research Assistant at Central University of Jharkhand still fondly recollects her time being a freelance journalist. “I’m doing fulltime job at CUJ but I enjoyed that phase of my life where I used to do freelance reporting besides writing for blogs,” she said. She was engaged in research as well. “It kept me active round the clock and helped in gaining more knowledge”, remembers she.

For some, a full time job is not a reason for dropping off their passions in life. So they juggle such roles in their free time. Ankur Chakravarty is a Corporate Communication professional with a renowned healthcare company in Ranchi. But in his heart, he is a hardcore film enthusiast and film maker. So he nurtures his passion for filmmaking whenever the full time job throws up an off. “I am an Independent Filmmaker and still pursue it actively despite my fulltime job. I have been associated with Prasar Bharati and academic circles as part of my effort to pursue my film dreams,” says he.

But how do you manage such an ‘unstable’ and ‘insecure’ work life? It may appear ‘foolish’ in the older generations’ idea of work life. But the millenials calls it a ‘professional approach’, which fits their idea of a better lifestyle. Here you are more independent, can do things which you enjoy and get paid for that.

The basic prerequisite is the ability to prioritize things, says Rupesh Sahu (25), from Ranchi who juggled many jobs and presently working as a journalist. Before this, he worked as a call center executive, video editor and a blogger. For him, full time jobs take away all the precious time in your life with their rigid working hours. “I am that guy who always race to finish the assigned work as early as possible so that I can have some quality time myself. That’s why I stick with part time assignments. They save time, make me feel independent and pays too”, says he.

Mausam aayenge jayenge…hum tumko bhool na payenge - the ghazal legends, Hussain Brothers

By: Sunil Kumar Mishra

Ustad Ahmad Hussain and Mohammed Hussain during a performance (Image Credit - The Hindu)

Mausam aayenge jayenge…hum tumko bhool na payenge (Seasons will come and go but we can never forget you) is a great ghazal by Hussain Brothers (sons of Rajasthan based renowned thumri singer and ghazalkar Ustad Afzal Hussain ). This ghazal is a favoutrite of many ghazal lovers.

The Pink City (Jaipur) in Rajasthan, the city to which Ahmed Hussain and Mohammed Hussain (Hussain Brothers) belong to, have made deep impressions in their compositions.  The city's influence in them is acknowledged by several of their work, like...

 “Musafir hai hum to chale ja rahe hai, bada hi suhana gazal ka safar hai;Pata puchte ho to itna bata dun, hamara thikaana gulabi nagar hai”

The duo started their career in Thumri, by singing as  child artists for All India Radio, Jaipur. Guldasta was their first album, which was released in 1980. It brought a lot of success in the life of these two brothers and made them legends in Indian gazal history. 

Since then, they have released about 50 albums in which Rahnuma, Sarmaya, Veer-Zara, The Golden Moments - "Purkaif Hawayen Hain" The Golden Moments - "Pyar Ka Jazba" The Golden Moments - "Mausam Aayenge - Jaayenge”,Ai-Saba, Tasveer , Pyar Ka Jazba , are few prominent albums.

Their recent album under Saregama label "Khwab Basera" is also a very notable one among the large corpus of popular ghazal performance from Hussain Brothers.

Music cuts across all barriers in case of Hussain Brothers and those who love their music. The bhajans composed by them on Hindu deities for albums like Shraddha , Bhavna, Anupam Vani are very popular.

In an interview with Rajya Sabha TV, Hussain Brothers acknowledge several factors which influenced their style. Almighty Allah, their father and the Mishra family of Jaipur, Sitara Devi, Kalyan Ji and Anand Ji played great role in shaping up the style, they said.

       Shakhsiyat with Ustad Ahmed Hussain & Ustad Mohammed Hussain

Hussain Brothers got lot of accolades for their performance of the qawwali –“Aaya tere der pe diwana”. It attained mass appeal when included in the popular Bollywood movie Veer- Zara in 2004, on the request of Yash Chopra.

Hussain brothers have performed in different countries and have mesmerized people with their music across national boundaries. Fans of their work have even started a Fan Club for them in the US.

The use of slow and high pitch is integral to their distinctive style that made them different from other gazalkars. In the words of Ahamad Husaain; Gazal ko samajh kar gana he gazal ka asli maene hai kyonki; ‘ai gazal tere adeb ki missal kya deta, tu tawaif ke labo par bhi be-adeb na hue’ (It is important to sing ghazls with understanding its real meaning).

Listening to their work, where the mesmeric rendition is enmeshed with the way in which the ghazal  communicate the deep philosophy and the sad reality of life, is the zenith of bliss for any ghalzal over. Like they sing in this ghazal on the journey of life.

“Zindagi ki raah me, aise makam aate rahe

Chod de manjil to manjil ke payam aane lage

Ajnabi mahfil se bhee abto salam aane lage

Zindagi ki raah me, aise makam aane lage”

काँगड़ा का किला ,खूबसूरत वादियों में एकमात्र अजूबा

By:  पूजा ठाकुर

463 एकड़ के क्षेत्र लगभग 4 किमी में फैला हिमाचल प्रदेश के कांगड़ा जिले में सबसे प्रमुख आकर्षणों में से एक है कांगड़ा किला ,यह हिमाचल प्रदेश का सबसे पुराना किला माना जाता है।यह किला कांगड़ा शहर से  धर्मशाला तक तकरीबन 15-20   किलोमीटर दूर स्थित है। पुरातत्व सर्वेक्षण के मुताबिक, यह देश में 8 वां सबसे बड़ा किला  है । कांगड़ा किला एक पहाड़ी के ऊपर स्थित है, इसके एक तरफ बाणगंगा नदी और दूसरी तरफ पाताल गंगा नदी बहती है। इस किले में बहुत सारे दरवाजे हैं जो कई राजवंशों के शासकों द्वारा बनाए गए थे । किले के प्रवेश द्वार को पत्थर की नक्काशी के साथ बनाया गया है | किले के द्वार का अगला प्रवेश द्वार है जहानीरी दरवाज़ा , उसके बाद अहिनी और अमीरी दरवाज़ा । किले के अंदर तीन मंदिर अंबिका देवी मंदिर, शीतलामाता मंदिर और लक्ष्मी नारायण मंदिर हैं। यहां एक मंदिर जैन तीर्थंकरों को समर्पित है जहां पर भगवान आदीनाथ की एक पत्थर प्रतिमा स्थापित है। शीतलामाता और अंबिका देवी के मंदिरों के बीच में एक सीढ़ी शीश महल की ओर जाती है |

यह लगभग 3500 साल पहले कटोच परिवार के वंशज महराज सुशर्मा चंद्रा द्वारा बनाया गया था। किंवदंती यह है कि एक समय था जब देवी अंबिका (देवी पार्वती का एक रूप) एक क्रूर दानव से लड़ रही थी । लंबी और कठिन लड़ाई में, देवी की पसीने की एक बूंद पृथ्वी पर गिर गई। इस चन्द्रवंश (चन्द्रमा कबीले) के भू-चंद उभरा, जिसने देवी को राक्षस से लड़ने में मदद की। आशीष के तौर पर, अंबिका ने उन्हें त्रिगर्ता का राज्य दिया, जो तीन नदियों - सतलज, ब्यास और रवि के बीच स्थित था। कांगड़ा इस क्षेत्र का एक हिस्सा है।

                                     

यह माना जाता है कि कटोच वंश के महाराजा सुषमाचंद्र ने कांगड़ा किला बनाया था उन्होंने महाभारत युद्ध में कौरवों के लिए लड़ाई लड़ी कौरवों की हार के बाद, सुषमा चंद्र अपने सैनिकों के साथ कांगड़ा आये  और अपने राज्य की रक्षा के लिए किले का निर्माण किया।

लगभग सभी शासकों ने कांगड़ा किले को अपने नियंत्रण में लेने की कोशिश की थी।इस किले पर पहला हमला कश्मीर के राजा के द्वारा 470 एडी में किया गया था। महमूद किले में पैर कदम रखने वाला पहला शत्रु था।

कांगड़ा किले में 21 खजाने के कुएं होते हैं - प्रत्येक अच्छी तरह से 4 मीटर की गहराई है और परिधि में लगभग 2 और एक आधा मीटर-ग़ज़नी के सुल्तान ने आठ कुओं को लूट लिया, 18 9 0 के दशक में ब्रिटिशों ने पांच और कुओं को पाया। 1619 में, मुगल सेना ने लगभग 14 महीनों तक किले को घेर लिया, जिसके लिए अकबर द्वारा 1615 के बाद से लगभग 52 असफल प्रयास किए गए थे।

महाराजा संसार चंद ने सफलतापूर्वक स्वयं को एक शक्तिशाली शासक के रूप में स्थापित कर लिया और जय सिंह (कांगड़ा घाटी के जयसिंगपुर के राजा) के साथ एक समझौता करने में सक्षम हो गया और किले पर नियंत्रण प्राप्त किया। उन्हें बदले में जय सिंह को कुछ मैदानों को देना था।

4 अप्रैल, 1 9 05 को एक भूकंप में भारी क्षति हुई किला 4 किमी लंबी बाहरी सर्किट के माध्यम से दोनों तरफ एक बड़े क्षेत्र में फैला हुआ है। पूरे किले को बड़े बड़े हिस्सों और काले पत्थरों की विशाल दीवारों से संरक्षित किया गया  है। मंदिर की आंगन दर्षी दरवाजा (पूजा का द्वार) द्वारा बंद कर दिया गया है, यहां से ऊपर वाले द्वार का नाम महल का का दरवाजा (महल गेट) कहा जाता है। मुख्य मंदिर द्वार के बाहर अन्धरी दरवाजा (अंधेरे गेट) नामक पहला रक्षा फाटक है।

                      

आजादी के बाद, भारत के पुरातत्व सर्वेक्षण ने राष्ट्रीय महत्व के एक प्रबंधन समझौते के तहत किला को महाराजा जयचंद्र को लौटा दिया। अभी भी वर्तमान परिवार के नियंत्रण में किले का एकमात्र हिस्सा मंदिरों और महलों के अंगारों के कुछ हिस्सों में शामिल है । कटोच अभी भी अपने देवता, देवी अंबिका देवी को अपनी प्रार्थना करने के लिए आते हैं, जिसका मंदिर अभी भी किले के भीतर बना  हुआ है ।

Bathu ki ladi- Nature’s best kept secret

By Akriti Mahajan

“Heaven is a myth, Dharamshala is for real”

Himachal Pradesh, known as the land of Gods and Goddesses, has many hidden treasures for explorers in the form of lesser-known historic sites.

One such Nature’s best kept secret is Bathu temples popularly known as ‘Bathu ki Ladi’, a string of 8 temples with towers and outer protection walls. The temples are located near Dhameta in Kangra district in Himachal Pradesh. It remains immersed in Maharana Ptratap Sagar, the reservoir of Pong Dam for almost eight months of the year. The unique thing about these temples is that they are  only  visible during four months (from March to June) in an year when the water level in the reservoir drops.

The beauty and color of Bathu stone used for construction is mostly intact except that some plaster and bricks have washed out.  Despite being submerged in 50 to 180 feet of water in the reservoir for the last nearly 50 years, there have been no substantial harm to these historic buildings so far.

The temple is made of very strong stone and even after 30 years of being submerged in water it is standing tall and beautiful. The big Pillar next to these temples is the only visible thing you get to see when the Pong Dam Lake is very much in water as all the temples are submerged in the water.

It is said that the temple  have been built around 14th to 16th Century A.D. by Raja Hari Chand Guleria and his descendants just when other forts in the area came up around this period.

The temples receive an influx of tourists during the time when it is visible. As , the temples are in the midst of river, one has to ride a boat to reach the temple complex.

Spending a slow day at Bathu ki ladi, can be the most sought-after weekend where on one side you have vast meadows devoid of any plantation and a little further there is a water body so huge that seems to have no end. The water in the lake is crystal clear and blue giving a similar glimpse of Pangong Tso river of Ladakh.

You can spend few hours at the bank of the water body, enjoying boating or just gazing at the sheer beauty of the lake. Sunlight falling on the blue water of the lake makes the sight even more enticing. One may spend a hushed afternoon here by just sitting at the bank where the light breeze kisses the face and get mesmerized by the serenity in nature.

भोटा में घने चील के पेड़ों के बीच बसा बाबा बालक नाथ मंदिर

By: वर्षा रानी

यूं तो सारे हिमाचल मे बाबा बालक नाथ जी के मंदिर हैं पर हमीरपुर के भोटा के पास जंगल के बीचों-बीच एक खास मंदिर के बारे में मैं आज आपको अवगत करवाने वाली हूँ| बाबा बालक नाथ हिमाचल के कई परिवारों के अराध्य एवं कुल देवता हैं |

दियोटसिद्ध के बारे में तो सभी लोग जानते ही हैं लेकिन ईस जगह के बारे मे बहुत कम लोग जानते हैं, और यह मंदिर काफी प्राचीन है अभी कुछ समय पहले ही फिर से जीर्णोद्धार किया गया है| जंगल के एकदम बीच में स्थित इस मंदिर तक भोटा वाई पास के थोड़ा सा ऊपर से पहुंचा जा सकता है साईनवोर्ड लगे हुये हैं|                                                                                                                                                     

  

इस मंदिर और जगह के बारे में कहा जाता है कि जब बाबा तपस्या के लिये जगह जगह घूम रहे थे और गोरखनाथ जी से बचकर अपनी तपस्या में लीन हो रहे थे उस बक्त बालक नाथ जी इस जगह में ठहरे थे व उन्होंने कई दिनों तक तपस्या की थी, सामने देखने पर नज़ारा एकदम शाहतलाई की तरह दिखता है | 

                                                                                                               

  पास के कई गांवों के लोग इस मंदिर के प्रति अटूट आस्था रखते हैं जिसके बारे मे चमत्कार जैसी चीजें सुनने को मिल जाती है| इस मंदिर में भी महिलाओं का गुफा के पास पहुंचने पर पाबंदी है| 

ऐसे कई वाक्य हुये हैं जिनके कारण भक्तों के अपने आराध्य देवता के प्रति काफी आस्था बनी हुई है| झंडे का रिडा - झंडा मतलव ध्वज और रिडा पहाडी बोली में उच्ची चोटी या पहाड को करते हैं|

HPCA imposes fee for stadium visits- Locals and tourists hassled

By: Aakriti Mahajan

Dharamshala: Sitting at 1457 meters above sea level, the Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association Stadium at Dharamshala is widely known as one of the most picturesque cricket stadiums in the world. Every day, hundreds of tourists throng the stadium to experience its vivacity and splendid construction. But, with a new move from HPCA to impose visitors' fee of Rs 20 from March this year has hassled the tourists and the local community.

A board which shows the newly imposed visitors fee near HPCA Stadium 

in Dharamshala. (image: Aakriti Mahajan

According to officials at HPCA, the move was meant to avoid locals unnecessarily using the stadium premises and destroying the property of stadium. With imposing of a nominal fee of Rs 20, the HPCA authorities said that they have been successful in avoiding locals lazing around in the stadium premises for hours. However, it appears that it has affected the influx of tourists to the stadium as well.

According to Vipin, a Supervisor at the HPCA stadium, imposing of fees for visiting the stadium is essential to avoid unwanted locals who used to come and laze around for hours in the stadium premises. According to him, they were several instances where such people destroying the chairs of the stadium. Moreover, the visitors fee has turned out to be a new revenue source for the upkeep of the stadium. “With the imposing of fees, we have been able to get enough revenue to keep a cleaner stadium especially by using it for cleaning washrooms and to provide other services to the visitors.” added Vipin.

However, the move has affected the local people and tourists a lot. “It was our usual place to have a chit chat with friends, but since it’s chargeable now, we don’t have any place to sit and spend time with friends”, said Suchita, a student at the nearby Government College in Dharamshala.

Baldev ji, a vendor outside HPCA stadium telling how the stadium fees has affected the influx of tourists and their business

The influx of tourists has considerably reduced  according to the street vendors outside the stadium. “The number of tourists have gone down very much compared to the past. Tourists have become a bit reluctant now to pay fees to see a place that is built for public.” said Baldev, a street vendor outside the stadium.

However, the stadium authorities believes the move to implement visitors' fee is reasonable. “The decision to impose fees is not irrational. We do not want stadium to change into a public park. We want responsible citizens and locals to visit the stadium and value the property of the stadium. The imposing of fees was essential due to this reason.” said Manuj Sharma, operational manager of HPCA stadium.