Book session, heritage tour in ‘City of Palaces’

Young bookaholic women from Jalandhar, who are members of the Bookworms Club, went on a heritage tour to Kapurthala. The tour, which provided them a peek into the ‘City of Palaces’, also included two interesting book-reading sessions on the go.

Twenty-eight women, including Anjali Dada, Pritika Thukral, Ruchika Aggarwal, Rashima Singh, Seema Chopra and Manpreet Khanna, were a part of the group that travelled from Jalandhar to be a part of the heritage tour.

“All members were welcomed by the beats of dhol and garlands and banners that read — ‘Horn na bajao, rania safari te ne’. We had hired two comfortable vans for the tour as we set off for Kapurthala at 8.30 am. Our first stop was for ‘poori chana’ and coffee at a famous eatery, followed by a tour to the Villa Buona Vista — the house of Brig Sukhjit Singh (retd), the descendent from the Kapurthala’s royal family. We made sure that we reached the villa well in time,” shared Dada.

At the villa, Brig Sukhjit and co-author Cynthia Meera Frederick read out some interesting anecdotes about Maharaja Jagatjit Singh of Kapurthala, mentioned in their book ‘Prince, Patron and Patriarch’.

“The session was moderated by Bookworms Club member Nandini Miangi. All members had already purchased the book and had started reading it before the tour. Brig Sukhjit was courteous to sign all our books. He patiently got selfies clicked with every visitor to his place. We also got pictures clicked with the 15 feet 10 inch gharial nailed on a wall of the verandah of the village. The creature was shot by Maharaja Jagajit Singh in 1913. Every moment of the tea session spent with Brig Sukhjit Singh and the childhood memories that he shared made our day,” shared the members showing the pictures clicked by them.

The next destinations, planned by historian Harbir Inder Singh Randhawa for the club, was the Darbar Hall and Golf Kothi, the residence of Ranis, followed by the Moorish Mosque. The members were enticed by its beautiful architecture and were fortunate to have Maulvi to offer prayers for them.

The lunch was planned at Heritage Haveli. Owner of the haveli Inderbir S Sidhu had got prepared kadi chawal for the club members. Over the lunch, Seema Chopra, the author of ‘Timeless Trails’, shared her writings from the book about the royal city. The lunch concluded with a special barfi, a specialty of the city.

The members said, “It certainly was a trip to remember. We have returned with beautiful memories and insight about Kapurthala. We all felt that the heritage places in Kapurthala need to be preserved more carefully.”

Bookworm and artist Manpreet Khana presented Brig Sukhjit Singh with a hand-calligraphed plaque in Gurmukhi script, which he immediately touched to his forehead in reverence. Interior designer Rashima Singh presented him with a dog house in sustainable material.