My First Brief Continues...

The first halt was at Bhawarna. I rode there in the company of my friend Sunder Das Pasricha, who as the public prosecutor was engaged in some of my cases but on the opposite side. Rai Bahadur Sham Lal and Lala Hanmant Das appeared in the rest of these cases for the opposite parties. It appeared that Mr. Pasricha who was fond of good food like me, had wrapped up a roast fowl in his bedding. On the way he suggested we should eat it. I said we should tackle it when we reached our destination. He told me that this would be difficult as we were both staying for the night at the house of the Suds who were strict vegetarians. I assured him we would manage it somehow. Our hosts put us up on the first floor of their shop and they were so attentive to our
comforts that they would not leave us alone. But we had to create an opportunity for tackling the roast fowl. At last we managed to send them away, locked the door and fell to it. We were, however, soon disturbed in the repast with our hosts knocking at the door. We ignored the noise. As a stolen pleasure the fowl was doubly delicious. Now the problem of the disposal of the bones arose. The house had a slate roof. I opened up a slate and threw the bones outside where they fell with a thud in the Bazar below to the amusement of all who saw it! We then went to the house of our host for a nice Pahari vegetarian meal and dispatched it also with the same gusto.

I argued some cases at Bhawarna and spent the next night at Lambagaon, then capital of Maharaja Jai Chand, the descendant of the great Kangra Katoch King, Raja Sansar Chand. Maharaja Jai Chand was a great man and a brave fighter. He fought in several wars on the British side, was promoted a Major General in the British Army and was given the title of Maharaja.

to be continued...