Nostalgia runs deep for the elderly in villages

Juzar Singh

In Punjab, a ‘khooh’ or well is not defined as just a source of drinking and irrigation water, it refers to a complete settlement, including big trees, cattle sheds, fields and residence in some cases. Wells have always been a part of Punjab’s culture, literature and folklore.

However, several wells in the state are now out of use or deserted because of two main reasons — depleting level of water in the past few decades and pumping water from wells being a hard and time-consuming practice.

There are five wells in Dhanas village on the periphery of Chandigarh. They have been reduced to a structure of bricks. However, the story of these five wells is a little different. The lost their relevance not because of water level but due to the birth of the City Beautiful.

The wells irrigated the fields of Dhanas village untill land was acquired for setting up a new city — Chandigarh. Elderly residents of the village share their tale of settlement and resettlement. They said two centuries ago, the Raja of Mani Majra gave a piece of land to their ancestors as an award for bravery shown in a battle and they permanently migrated from Majha region of Punjab to this place where they established six villages, including Khuda Lahora, Dhanas, Sarangpur and Dadu Majra. People were practicing agriculture and wells were their source of irrigation as canal water was unavailable to them. Government’s plan of making a city in the Shivalik foothills totally changed the life of these people. Most of the land of Dhanaas was acquired for this project. A big part of Panjab University is built on the land of Dhanas. Decades ago, when the land was being acquired for Chandigarh, in addition to the price paid for the land, the authorities gave Rs 2,100 as the price of each well.

Amrik Singh, a resident of the village, said with a fading memory that three wells fell within the boundaries of Panjab University. He remembered the name of these wells: ‘Bhagtan Da Khooh’ and ‘Kishne di Khoohi’ and ‘Sayiye Da Khooh’. The writer followed the instructions given by Amrik Singh and found these wells on the campus. Out of the three, one is near the Gurdwara Sahib at the PU, another is in the Botanical Garden and the third is in a mango orchid. The well near the gurdwara is smaller in diameter, apparently the one used for domestic purposes, and there are also remnants of a bullock cart lying on the edges of the well. The one at the Botanical Garden is now used as a water reservoir. Another well, situated in a mango orchid near Ankur School, is covered.

Villager Kesar Singh lamented in his ‘Puwadi’ accent: “Kaka apne khooh ged ke pani peen wale ab Rs 200-300 bill de rahe, esa sama agea (those who were owners of wells are now paying Rs 200-300 as water bill, that’s the tragedy of our times).”

People like Kesar Singh, who have never owned a phone in their lives, are disturbed because they have seen things falling apart.

Gurmail Singh Rurki, whose village lies dead under Sectors 17,18, 21 and 22 of Chandigarh, was shifted to Dhanas at that time. He said wells were a place of work and joy. Everybody in the village used to gather at wells in their leisure time, he said. He remembers the melodic sounds of rattling of chains in wells, running water, tweets of birds, especially peacocks. “Now, there are only abandoned wells but no farmers, no bulls, no water and no fields,” say teary-eyed residents.

Kaka Singh talks about the well is in the centre of the village and outside a dharamshala, “where they received their primary education as modern-day schools had not come up then”. He says: “This well is now filled up with soil. One well is located near the gurdwara in the village. This one is well-preserved but dry. There is a ‘sath’ (a place of village congregation) near the well and is considered as the central point of the village. The elderly still gather at the ‘sath’ after breakfast.”

Wells, which once were lifeline to people, crops and animals, are now lifeless. They should be preserved as the heritage of the villages that paved the way for the City Beautiful to be established.