Recreations continues....


He organised several Mahajan conferences at Jammu with the help of Sardar Lalman, a Toshakhana Officer of Maharaja Partap Singh, and a very influential person. Along with father, I attended the first Mahajan Conference in 1903 at Nurpur when I was a young boy. Like other visitors in affluent circumstances, I wore a gold necklace and gold bangles to show off father’s wealth! While at Gurdaspur I attended another conference in Jammu in father’s company, and enjoyed my first elephant ride. Maharaja Partap Singh was very hospitable to all who went to Jammu and treated most of them as state guests. When conferences were held, he lent state shamianas, elephants and carriages. Father presided over this conference. I organised two conferences during my five years stay at Gurdaspur. They were held under a shamiana in the compound of Diwan Sant Ram’s house. He was president of the reception committee and I was its general secretary. R. B. Bakshi Sohan Lal presided over one of them or over both. These were great gatherings of the Mahajan brotherhood, and all leading men attended them. There was community feeding on a large scale. All, rich or poor, high or low, joined in community lunches and dinners. Subscription was collected from all over the Ilaqa. At one conference there was great excitement over the question of widow remarriage. The orthodox community led by Lala Hans Raj staged a walk-out, but ultimately, at my persuasion, the consideration of the resolution was postponed.

The resolution, which was quite moderate, suggested that girls who had become widows before entering the husband’s house should be allowed to remarry. But even such a limited measure met strong opposition in the community. Our deliberations were mostly about bad social customs and how to eradicate them. On the death of old people sweets were distributed. Siapa was performed for a year. Child marriage was common. People used to take marriage parties of two to three hundred persons and misbehave at the bride’s place. Dowry was exhibited and criticised, marriage parties stayed for four and even five days at the bride’s place.

to be continued...