Coolie to office Superintedent

1967, I was posted at Jammu.  Those days Jammu city was confined to Panj Tirthi to Gumut. One could meet anybody from the valley without any appointment in advance at Rugh Nath Bazar or Residency road. For closer proximity to their office most of the Pundit employees from the valley lived on rental accommodations at Jullaka Mohalla, Pirmitha, Upper Bazar and areas around Mubarak Mandi, while the Muslim employees from the valley preferably  took rental accommodation at Ustad Mohalla and Khati Talav. Some would call Julla ka Mohalla, Ganpatyar of the valley. Both these areas had respectively Pundit and Muslim bakeries.  Vegetable and meat markets, mandir, masjid were also around these areas. Jammu was not connected with railways. Nearest railway station was in Punjab at Pathankot. Bus fare from Srinagar to Jammu was Rs.11 and from Jammu to Pathankot Rs.1.25

Parade road served as the district and interstate bus-stand for interstate and inter district busses.  Services of coolies with ‘pithue’ from both the provinces were available in abundance. Kashmiri coolies were preferred. They knew geography and name of most of the Kashmiri tenants in these rented houses. Their knowledge about the host made job of the newcomer in locating his destination easier. Besides, there was no language barrier with them. For their capacity to carry heavy loads and work harder, even this time Kashmiri coolies are preferred by wholesale merchants at Kanakmandi, Rajinder Bazar, Nehru market and even in Amritsar and other towns in Punjab. Handcarts to carry heavy loads were not in practice those days. Loads consisting of a few heavy trunks and heavy bedding piled up and tied in the ‘peithue’ were carried by the coolie on his back. The only help he would ask for was to give him hand to stand in a bent position. I confess that those days my holdall concealed rice in place of bedding. Ration rice in the valley was @Rs.0.25/kg and Rs.1.50/kg at Jammu. To escape price variation, smuggling was the only alternative.

We had taken the house of Ved Ji on rent in the interior of Julla ka Mohalla. Ved Ji and his brother were running a grocery shop in the Molalla. Besides, his brother was a post office employee. The two served as Resident directory also.

One morning, on way to my residence, I heard someone calling me from distance. I was on head of the lane. A coolie with a ‘pithue’ hanging by his shoulder came running to me and wished me adab arz mahra. I reciprocated and expected that I may have to fill up money-order form for him or write a postcard for him.

He said: “Mahra mai chivea na purznavan” (Sir, don’t you recognise me?).  “No, I don’t recognise you. Who are you and how do you know me?” said I.

He said: “Sir, I am your student.”

Astonished! My student, and that too, a collie! I said: “You have placed me wrongly. May be you have taken me for someone else”.

“No sir. Are you not B K Dass, who was our teacher at Government High School Verinagh in the year 1961” said he.

I said: “You are correct. I am B K Dass and I was on the teaching staff of Verinagh High School in the year 1961. Why have you not completed your education to at least tenth level”.

He said: “I am matriculate and have passed 10^th class in second division. Kindly help me in getting a job”.

Those days, 10^th pass was enough and minimum requirement for a job. I took him to Ghulam Hassan Malik, the then Joint Registrar Cooperatives J&K. He was from Doda. He too was moved. He offered a leave arrangement for three months and assured permanent job subject to vacancy. The coolie did not accept the temporary arrangement. He rightly said that during leave arrangement, he would have to put on an official dress and in case he failed to get the permanent or leave arrangement any further, it would not be possible for him to pickup ‘pithue’ again and go back to the collie dress code.  Next, I took him to my friend J L Pandita, retired DIG, the then Dy. S P. Both being from Verinag was an additional point that I counted on. He said that he would try and manage to get him recruited as a constable in the Police department. The collie said nothing less than a head constable.

One day, G M Sadiq the then Chief Minister of the state had to attend some function at Teachers’ Training College, Jammu. I drafted an application for a job and asked him to submit the same to the CM and in the same collie dress code with the ‘pithue’ hanging by his shoulder. He acted as directed, but was arrested by the police for stopping car of the CM. After the function was over, Sadiq Sahab looked for the Collie and asked the police to get him to him.  The police had already released him with some ‘muchlaqa’. Sadiq Sahab’s persuasion, the police had no alternative but to trace him out. The Collie was appointed as a clerk in TEO’s office at Akhnoor. After some years, he recognised me again at Old Sectt. Srinagar in official dress. He was collecting some books from Directorate of Education for District Education Officer’s office Anantnagh. I believe, he must be retired by now and enjoying retired life at Verinagh.