I thank everyone for appreciating my last blog describing my entry to Tanakpur on 14th April 2017.
Those who haven't read it yet, can find it at :
Before continuing , I sincerely thank my wife Anisha Ray for helping me a lot to make
this story into current presentable format:
It was 14th April 2017 and here we go...
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| Tanakpur Barrage |
After having a late breakfast, I started to
look for means to reach the bridge on the river -'Sarda' (also called 'Kali')
which marks the border between India and Nepal along the entire eastern limits
of the state of Uttarakhand. This is the same river that originates near
Lipulekh and is the cause of border dispute between India and Nepal which has
cropped up again in May-June 2020.
I found a teenager boy with his e-rickshaw
who agreed to drop me to the bridge for Rs 80. Soon I was out of town and
travelling parallel to the downstream flow of the river. I could see that it
was not a bridge, but actually a barrage. Within 10 minutes I was standing on
the entry of a 500 metres long barrage where no vehicles are allowed and people
travelling to Nepal were supposed to cross it by walking.
As it was getting hotter, I quickly crossed
the barrage and reached the other side. I realized that I was still not in
Nepal and that the border was a zigzag
affair and that the limits of Indian
territory still existed for 100 mt more (filled with dense trees) at the point
where the barrage ended.
Interestingly, an upstream travel parallel
to the river for 1 km would make us enter Nepal and reach the village of
Brahmdev. However, the territory of India doesn’t stretch for those extra 100
mt beyond the riverbank at that point. Only God can understand these border
markings done by the British.
This part of Nepal is actually a no man's
land except for the village of Brahmdev on the foothills of 'Kala Pahaad'. The
nearest town of Nepal, Mahendranagar (Bhimdatta) is about 12 km downstream and
there is another bridge from Banbasa to Mahendranagar where vehicles are
allowed to cross into Nepal.
Coming back to barrage, I discovered that
all the Indians crossing to Nepal were headed to the village of Brahmdev to pay
visit to the famous 'Siddha Baba Temple'.
There were some teenager boys with bikes
who were driving people to the village as a pillion rider for Rs 20. I hitched
a ride with a Nepali boy who was driving a bike
bearing an Indian number plate and got off
at Brahmdev in less than 5 minutes travelling through a rocky dirt road. Just
at the entry of the village, I spotted a small pillar marking the border
between India and Nepal. The village had only 2 rows of small shops and
restaurants on both sides of a concrete road. Needless to say, that the
existence these villagers was solely dependent on the devotees/tourists
visiting the 'Siddha Baba Temple’.
I spent about 20 minutes in the temple
which I found very peaceful and nicely maintained. The 'Siddha Baba' was a
staunch devotee of Lord Shiva and the temple is dedicated to him, though
Lord Shiva is also worshiped there. On exiting the temple and approaching the
main road, I was very surprised and the source of this surprise being a shop
selling chilled beer and soft drinks, only 30 mt away from the temple gate.
Such a bravado is impossible near any Hindu temple in India. As I sipped a
chilled can of beer in the hot afternoon, the owner told me that none of the
guys from Nepal had ever objected to this beer shop near the temple, mostly it
is the Indians who express their surprise on seeing the shop before helping
themselves with some beer.
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| Siddha Baba Temple |
On finishing my lunch at a small restaurant
after having a can of 'Nepali' beer, the restaurant owner introduced me to
another guy who asked me if I was interested in clubbing and gambling at a
casino. He made me realize that the town of Mahendranagar (Bhimdatta) was
actually a gambling den and a party spot for Indian guys. He turned out to be
an agent whose duty was to get customers for casino/pub. He was ready to take
me there on his bike without charging anything. I showed my empty wallet and
politely refused all his offers and headed back to India as a pillion on bike
of another Nepali boy.
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| Brahmdev, Nepal |
Thanks to the chilled beer and lunch, I was
walking leisurely, though it was past 1:00 pm and very hot. Owing to the
leisurely pace, I could observe the huge difference in the water level of the
river on both sides of the barrage and a thought struck my mind as a
lightening. What a fool was I to overlook the fact that my father had come to
Tanakpur to collect invoices for steel structures used for construction of a
dam.
Now I was absolutely sure that I was
walking on the same structure.99% people in India (or elsewhere) actually
cannot distinguish between a 'dam' and a 'barrage' and my father was no
exception. My doubts were cleared when I read the specifications of the barrage
written on a pillar. It was written that the 'Tanakpur barrage ‘owned by
National Hydroelectric Power Corporation (NHPC) and was commissioned in March-1992. I
felt like achieving something great in life just by crossing that barrage twice
that day. I was very happy on locating the barrage and decided to avoid the
afternoon heat and wait till the sun lost some of its anger before I visit the
next point in
my itinerary - The Tanakpur Railway
Station.
It was past 6:00 pm when I got out of the
hotel. It was almost time for sunset, when I started walking along the new
tracks from the bus stop to reach the Railway Station. Each step taken by me
increased my heartbeats as I was walking to a place which I was so attached to
for last 25 years without actually being there even once.
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| Tanakpur Station (Under Demolition) |
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| Old Shed |
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| New Tracks |
The Professor was
right. They were demolishing the whole Railway Station which had hosted the
'Meter Gauge' route for decades and didn’t fit in the development plans for
upcoming 'Broad Gauge' tracks.
Standing on 'Platform 1' under fading
sunlight, trying to trace anyone to talk, I realized that the 'Platform
2&3' was already gone and there was a new concrete bed being laid for new
platform instead. After spending more than 10 minutes, it sadly dawned on me
that there was not a single soul at the defunct Railway Station and that
whatever I was seeing there that day would also get demolished in next 2-3
weeks.
My father had come and visited the 'Goods
Office' at Tanakpur in 1992. As per standard design of smaller Railway
Stations, a 'Goods Office' was supposed to be either at one end of 'Platform 1'
or just beyond 'Platform 2&3' parallel to it. With my knowledge of Indian
Railway, it took no time for me to guess that the 'Goods Office' at Tanakpur
must have been beyond 'Platform 2&3' before getting demolished.
Instead of getting out to the city side, I
crossed the 4-5 tracks to the other side. It was the place where my joy knew no
bounds when I discovered myself standing in front of a row some old Railway
Quarters.
These Quarters were certainly standing there even in 1992. Suddenly,
a serious question struck my mind. 'Which was the Quarter allotted to Mr
Harishankar Jaiswal?'. Mr Jaiswal was in charge of the 'Goods Office' at
Tanakpur in 1992 and he was the person who spent time at office till 9:00 pm on
20th October 1992 to ensure that my father got his work done on the same day
and could start his return journey on the next day. He even took my father to his Railway
Quarter for dinner as there were no restaurants/canteen in Tanakpur at that
time.
On trying to locate the name plates on each
Railway Quarter, I realized that all of them were empty and abandoned. Tanakpur
was going to get a new set of Railway Quarters along with a brand new Railway Station.
Or maybe there was a plan to just do away with the concept of Railway Quarters
as they have been doing in bigger cities.
With disappointment reigning heavy in my mind,
I continued exploring and on reaching the last building in the row, found a new
ray of hope.I was standing in front of the 'Railway
Guest House’. There was no doubt that this was the same place where my father
had spent a night in 1992. I thanked my lucky stars that it was not abandoned
till the day of my visit. Some boys who were part of the demolition team were
staying there in 2017.
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| Rly Guest House |
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| Rly Guest House |
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| Demolition Team |
On seeing a big camera with me, they
requested for a picture to which I happily obliged. They told me that the
Quarter and Guest House were to be demolished in 2018 after the resumption of
train services.
After taking some more pictures, I started
walking back to the hotel along the tracks. Each footstep made me feel more
like a defeated person.I was physically there, but still not
there. I visited the Railway Station but could only see it getting it
demolished. I could locate the 'Guest House', but the 'Goods Office was gone. I
could not find a single person to talk to about Tanakpur Railway Station of
1992.Maybe, I should had visited Tanakpur a year
ago. It was almost dark and walking back felt like leaving a part of myself
demolished there along with the Railway Station.
In spite of this irony, my Bollywood-infested
mind didn’t forget to draw a parallel. My mind made me feel like walking back
dejected and defeated like 'Kamal Hassan' at the final scene of the movie
'Sadma' though there was no 'Sridevi' at Tanakpur.
The next 2 hours were even more
disappointing as I met at least 30-40 people on the streets and shops. None of
them were present in Tanakpur in 1992.
According to 2011 census, the population of
Tanakpur was about 17,000. It must have been just 3000 or 4000 in 1992 and none
of those people were traceable to me in 2017.
That night I decided to give another chance
to myself. I didn’t want to go back to New Delhi as a defeated person.I cancelled my proposed trip to 'Purnagiri
Temple ‘the next day and decided to visit the Railway Station again.
It was 8:00 am on 15th April 2017 and I
took the road to the main gate of the Railway Station instead of the tracks. I
reached there in about 20-25 minutes and was happy to see the Railway
Reservation Office. Soon I met 4-5 Railway Employees while I was clicking pictures
of the main gate. After clarifying that I was not from any media group, I told
them the purpose of my visit and my connection to Tanakpur. They made me
realize that 25 years was a very long period as most of the Railway Employees
there served for maximum 4-5 years before getting transferred.
Also, no employee stayed there after
retirement. Some retired employees were living at Khatima, but they were not
sure about Mr Jaiswal as they had never heard of him.
After chatting for about 30 minutes, I
thanked them and walked back to the hotel after clicking pictures of the Guest
House and other Quarters.
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| Defunct Time Table |
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| City Side Gate |
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| Rly Guest House |
I again walked back along the tracks instead of the road taken in the morning. On passing by each of each older building/structure being in various stages of demolition, all my disappointment got vanished when a positive thought came to my mind.
It was a pleasant morning which made me
realize the brighter part of the story. Soon Tanakpur was going to get a Broad
Gauge track and a 'Shatabdi Express' to New Delhi. Soon there might be trains
for Mumbai,Kolkata and Bangalore too. An obscure tiny town was ready to enter
the mainstream on India's map and I was witnessing this transformation. Lord
Shiva had decided to 'Destroy' the old Tanakpur to help it 'Transform' and
welcome the new era.
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| Abandoned Rly Quarters |
Though I had tear in my eyes walking back, this time my Bollywood-infested
mind made me felt like 'Salman Khan' at the final scene of the movie 'Kuch Kuch
Hota Hai’. Again, there was no 'Kajol' or 'SRK' there.
Fast forward to February 2018.I was again
busy in my routine professional and personal life, shuttling between New Delhi(work)
and Mumbai(family), with occasional flights to Raipur(hometown) when I received
a call from an unknown landline number.
It was the hotel manager from Tanakpur who
had called me to inform that the Broad Gauge track was completed and Tanakpur
was to get its train to Delhi in a week. I asked him about how and why he
remembered me and called me to give this news. He said that he had seen many
tourists visiting Tanakpur for different reasons, but it was only me who
visited that place just because of my love for Tanakpur.
He invited me to visit there by train and
with my family next time which I accepted. Maybe, I will take this journey
soon.
Also, there were 5 interesting people whom
I met in those 2 days and would love to meet again apart from seeing the new
Railway Station.
I will describe those 5 people some other
day.
I was able to locate Mr Harishankar
Jaiswal, who lives in Gorakhpur now, on Facebook in 2019. Though he hasn’t
replied to any of my messages yet, one of his relatives (also found on Facebook)
confirmed that he was the same person who was posted in Tanakpur in 1992. I am
still waiting for his reply.
As on today, things at Tanakpur have
started growing exponentially after the new Broad Gauge Railway Track. Although
the movie 'Miss Tanakpur Haazir Ho' has no real connection to the place, there
are numerous pictures/videos and online groups on social media which highlight
the transformation and current vibrancy of the town. We can find many
interesting things online today, but no search on Google tells us 'How was
Tanakpur like in 1990s?’.
It seems no one has yet preserved or
published anything about Tanakpur as it existed in that period of time.
Owing to my research, I can proudly
proclaim that the 3 pages of my father’s diary are probably the only documented
source that preserves the tiny town of Tanakpur as it was in October 1992.
