Mokalsar Days

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. 

 The village was blessed with many such places known as Mamaji ka Than (Place were local deity Mamji were worshipped), Beh Talab (Running lake), Abotio ki Beri (The Sacred Pond), Chopla (small lake with entry from four sides).

 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.