It is said that a person
always tend to remember his childhood.
There is great impact on rest of his life for whatever he learns during growing age whether through formal education,
extra murals and experience, rightly known as formative years.
Baosa, my father was posted in Barmer district, therefore, he
preferred to settle in Mokalsar, a village with facilities of good housing,
abundant drinking water, schooling and government medical facilities.
Ramdan Hundia Govt Primary
school was my alma mater. My sister
Kamla was teacher who got me enrolled to
school.
We had a big house with open
space. In those days there were typical
names of parts of house like Ora (room), Saal (hall), Basali (front room), Bada
(space where cows were kept), Rasoda (kitchen), Malia (First floor) and so on.
In 1987 I happened to go to
Lunavala and Khandala from Mumbai after my training at GTC, Mumbai. I saw a great rush of public enjoying water splashing, natural fountain,
falls, water canals and mountains. The
90% of the crowd was from Mumbai and they all were cheering the beauty of
nature. Though it was really a nice site,
but then I realized how I had been lucky.
For urbanites these beautiful
scenes are only for the purpose of excursion once in a blue moon, but for us
this was a routine in Mokalsar, particularly in rainy and winter season. The whole village is resting in the lap of
high hills known as Chhapan ka Pahad.
The hills have various layers.
Between two hills there are natural valleys. The streams of water coming
from up hills become fast flowing canals.
It looks like the various branches of family coming together at single
point and they flow jointly.
Mamaji ka Than had multiple small ponds with crystal
clear running water. It was great fun to
come there after climbing a hill for
about one hour or so. Behtalab was again a great fun during
monsoon. There were great falls and
number of small ponds and lakes forming
out of gushing water coming from a radiant gravitational force. Almost all kids and elders alike used to
enjoy such bounty of nature. There was no restriction either by parents or anybody, so it was free affair at any
time.
The complete inhabitation of
the village was based on caste and religious lines. Therefore, you can easily be identified where you are staying. There used to Chhota Rawla (small thakurs),
Bada Rawala (Big Thakurs), Brahmno ki gali, Kumahro ka bas, Lunkaro ka bas,
Pani ki seri and so on. Gori Pipli used
to be the main Bus Stand where a huge Peepal tree gave cover to the passengers and vendors alike. The
oswal community was very rich and they had magnanimously donated for the
welfare of society. Hundia family had
done great service to community by building primary, higher secondary schools. They also constructed hospital, hostals and
done many more philanthropic
activities. The architecture of the
Jain temple is similar to that of Dilwara temples.
During our time there used
to be three schools one middle school for girls, one primary school for boys
and one secondary school for both boys and girls. Mostly classes were regular. Lot of focus was on physical activities. Every day parade and exercise on drum beating
for around one hour was compulsory. Independence Day and Republic Day functions
had special significance. Rehearsals for
cultural events and ground cleaning used to take place at least 15 days in advance. We used to wait for the day. Shri Dau Lalji Sharma, our head master was
full of energy and he had command our English language. He started mock tests and pre board
examinations to ensure better results for metric students. The sole credit goes to him for making school
results 100%. Our soul will always thank
him for making school a very sacred place.
During recess time, he would play Bhajans of great singer Pradeep on
loud speakers that had imbibed great
musical values in us.
Like any other village, Mokalsar is also vibrant and a colourful village that not only
leaves fondest memories but is also infectious. The culture of this village is
well known for its ethnicity and vividness.
Fairs & Festivals of Siwana Tehsil creates a
sense of colour that covers the entire place adding to its beauty. The
preparations for festivals, big or small are always elaborate. Every festival
would have religious and mythological, seasonal or historical significance. Different
fairs are associated with different reasons such as fairs with religious
importance or associated with changing seasons to welcome monsoons or spring or
something else, reason may be any each fair is celebrated in joyous spirit. The
Fair of Chamunda Temple in midst of
hills was of special significance. To
see Bhopa (person who encompass deity in his soul) and solving problem of
village folks had special effects on our mind.
Folk Dance & Music of Mokalsar are graceful and energetic forms, which
reflect vigour and dynamism. The expressions, spontaneity, exotic & bright
coloured attires are all part of Rajasthani styles of dances. Some of the
popular dance form performed here are Ghoomar, Holi, Kacchi Ghodi and Ger. It is not just an art
form that exists for entertainment or as an expression of creativity it is also
a source of livelihood. The musicians create a soulful melody with its various
instruments such as sarangi, kamaycha, dholak, harmonium, matkas, etc. Bheels used to play special mouth organs. Though I was very young, but it was special
pleasure to enjoy the whole night “Rati Joga” or “Jagran” when local folk
musicians used to lift the whole atmosphere to new height of spirituality. I still remember the eulogizing Ganesh with the starting prayer..*The mare
ghar me aaijo re….*
Though anybody would long to live in such beautiful
environment, but my destiny had something else in my account. So left village in June 1979.
