A Marriage is Arranged Continues......


His Highness, Raja Bhuri Singh of Chamba was on very friendly terms with father. He had told my father that the spring water at Satkulara was good for digestion and father decided to give it a trial. His Highness made arrangements for my father’s stay there in very well furnished State tents. The forest officer was ordered to look after us and vegetables were daily sent to us from Chamba, a distance of over ten miles. We went to Satkulara in the month of September when the courts were closed.

Father had decided to go alone with a Rajput friend of Mamoon village who was a good musician to keep him company. Mother had prepared delicacies for father’s stay in this holiday place. As edibles were being packed, I got scent of this trip and went on a hunger strike. When mother discovered what all the fuss was about, she persuaded father to take me also with him!

We reached the place in the evening after crossing the Chaurai pass. Nature, of course, was at its best and there was any amount of good spring water. Our tents were pitched on a fine piece of level, grassy ground, surrounded by splendid pine and deodar trees. But no sooner had we reached our camping ground, than it began to rain.

Since the rains did not stop for full ten days, we were confined to the tents all the time: There was a Gujar hut nearby offering plenty of milk, cream and butter. I made full use of its resources but was otherwise soon fed up with the place. So father decided to leave for Chamba as soon as the rains stopped.

At Chamba where we were State guests, we were looked after with princely hospitality. After a short stay at Chamba, we went to Dalhousie, then a popular hill resort, mostly visited by the British. Father came to Dunera in a rickshaw, as there was no tonga service then to Dalhousie and I came on horse-back.


to be continued....