Munshi Lal Grandchildren - 21

1. Kirori Mal (7) - Anand prakash Vedprakash Laxminarayan Padamprakash Ramniwas Premprakash and Shriprakash
2. Ramchander Das (4) - Manoharlal,Jaiprakash,Adityaprakash and Brijnandanprakash
3. Ramprasad (5) - Dharamprakash Indraprakash Ramesh Satish and Suresh
4. Shiam Lal (5) - Ravindrakumar Anilkumar Chaitanyaprakash Sunilkumar and Atul

30 male members

1. 15 grandson of kirorimal
2. 3 grandson of Ram Chandra Dass ji
3. 7 grandson of Ram Prasad
4. 5 grandson of Shiamlal

1. Munshi Lal was born around 1865.He and his brother had common Zamindari.
2. 4 Male members Kirorimal; Ram Chander Dass,Ramprasad and Shiamlal,were born to him with wife Lado. Two daughter Bishambri and Chandro were also born.
3. Bishabri ,our bua lost her husband while she was a child and she lived as child widow all her life in Kharar.
4. She was very simple and pious lady and was respected by all members of the Pranu family.
5. Chandro was married but died issueless.
6. Elder cousin had two sons Chander bhan and Bharat ,both of them had a son each and their family went on reducing.
7. All families till this time were confined to the village in the haveli constructed under the supervision of Deena nath.
8. Ram Chander Dass was married at Kairana and this was perhaps the first visit to the tehsil town for the family after the marriage of Munshi Lal at Kairana.
9. After quite sometime when R.C.Das ji passed his B,sc from Banaras things started for the betterment.

1. Called as bhaji perhaps a changed form of bhai ji which was very commonly addressed to father
2. lived throughout his life in Kharar except going to Kairana where he was married in early 80s of 19th century.
3. Two daughters ,and 4 sons namely Kirori mal,Ramchander dass,Ramprasad and Shiam lal were born to him through Lado.
4. He was extrmely simple and religious man.
5. He will go to shivala every day without fail so much so that in rains when the passage to shivala was in knee deep dirty water he will go there wash his feet did pooja and returned back. Again he washed his feet.

1. He will eat his food as it was and even if there was no salt in the vegetable or daal,he will tell ladies afterword to put salt in it.
2. It was his instruction that the lady serving the food should not offer him more once he has indicated to finish.
3. His view was that food which has been made available by the almighty and is not available to so many should not be disrespected by refusing it.
4. There use to be big stock of wheat stored in underground Khattees as they were called, he will collect every grain that has split on the ground giving respect for foodgrains.
5. On the On ther hand Dadi used to eat many rotis but started refusing after two.Ladies knew about this and will feed her till she is finally full.
6. Though Munshi Lal was very polite with every body never had a tussell with any body but so much change in Lado's habit some time he will be angry and will not talk to her.
7. There is an interesting story. Lado will put the glass of milk on the ground under his cot and say....na mharay koi bole chale na mhare koi hai, khat tale doodh dhara hai peena ho to peelay.

1. There is anoyher incident about him.
2. BHAGIRATH,the s/o a carpenter was the childhood friend of Kirori Mal.
3. As there was no source of livelihood in the village and the lower caste people serving the people did not get any thing in cash but were paid food grain in the form of faslana.
4. He asked my father if he can be helped with some loan so that he could go to Shamli and do some labour work or somebusiness.
5. Kirori Mal naturally asked Munshi Lal if it was possible.
6. His reply was very clear and said that give it to him if you want but I will advise you that don’t repent for your action if it is not returned.
7. Give it as a help and not as a loan.
8. Bhagirath whome we called TAUJI did business at Shamli and earned name fame and money and property.
9. He developed Dhimanpura and we stayed in his outer house when we shifted to Shamli and wanted a house.
10. It was clear instruction to my father that if you have to sell 5 kgms of wheat give him 250 grms extra.
11. Munshi Lal did not allow a criminal case against his nephew who has done a fraud by manupalting record books.

1. His elder daughter ,Bishambri became a widow in her childhood.
2. She remained in Kharar thereafter.
3. She was a very pious lady loved and respected by the family and all the villagers.
4. Shiamlal has written in his notes about her that every body in the family was instructed not to disobey her or show any disrspect, the punishment for ladies was the chopping of her head whomsoever has done that.
5. Of course this may be an axegration but shows how much care the brothers took about her.
6. She died in early 20th century in the famous plague, when all the members fled to Muzaffarnagar to save themselves and only Munshi Lal, Lado and Bishabri remained in Kharar serving the patietnts.
7. People bowed her head in respect to her and said a Devi has died and took away plague with her as there was no death due to plague thereafter.

1. younger daughter Chandro was also married but died without issue.
2. Chandro's husband remarried but use to come to our family and I have seen the respect for him and his wife.
3. thier sons still come to our family in all the social functions.

1. very pious doing morning and evening sandhya in Aryasamaj style.
2. In summer vaccatios he used to perform Pooja and Havan and swadhyayai from 7am to 2 pm and took one time meal.
3. He was quite fat but used to walk to and from his school which was 4 kms.and that too at 2 pm.
4. A very popular science teacher and a hockey player.
5. All children who studied in Birla school were regular hockey player with Ram Chander Dass as goalkeeper.
6. He was a social worker and an Aryasamajist.
7. Everybody in Mittal family in general and Munshi Lal family in particular respected him more than their parent.
8. Any body could defy his father,mother or elder brother but not to him though he was not taugh and loved all without showing it.
9. He had seen so much miseries in his life but he faced them like a sidhprush in Bhagwat Gitas sense.
10. Sukh,dukh hani labh, all took with out any feelings, did not disturb him.
11. Kirori Mal said to me that he is a true Sant ,living with the family doing as much as he can do.
12. This was the comment of none other than his elder brother to whome he repected very much.

1. He was bestowed with a very very illustracious son Aditya prakash who rose to all India fame as an architect.
2. He,together with French architect la Carbo se and Mr.Mathur were responsible for designing the beautifull city of Chandigarh.
3. He was the founder principal of college of architecture in Chandigarh..a premium institute of the country.
4. He was the director of a drama club for which he performed directed and even wrote the dramas in English and hindi both.
5. He died at the age of 86 in a train journey while he was going with his troup to Bombay to perform in a drma.
6. In his death the elite people of Chandigarh lost a friend a philospher an educationalist an artist and a very humourous men .

1. At a party arranged by Lakshmi narayan bhai sahib ln 1955 as the Jasuthan of the new born son Ajay.
2. I was a student in Meerut college and living with Laxmi Narain.
3. Shiamlal and Lakshmi Narain were not on speaking terms.
4. 3 years before he has moved to a rented house due to some altercation.
5. Shiamlal was not invited and bhai has refused to the requet of even his father to go to saket and call chachaji to attend the function .
6. Ram Chander Dasscalled Lakshmi Narain in the drawing room where all elder male members were sitting and asked him to go and request chachaji and chachaji to attend the function.
7. Laxmi Narain did not say anything and remaind weeping for a few minutes...which I had not seen him before or after that though he had passed very very tough times as every body knows,stood up took his cycle went to Saket and requested them to come to his residence.
8. That shows his respect for his uncle.

Another incident was in Delhi.He had just come from school walking a distance of 4 kms.

1. Dadi ji told him that no body has gone to the flour mill for atta piswane.
2. Without taking his food without asking any body the reason he took the canister on his shoulders and gone for the purpose.No body expected this.
3. The reason was that some brothers had a grudge with Brij Nandan that he never goes for this or any other work and that we will see that he goes today.
4. I had seen Brij Nandan as a very week youngman and would be in a state of fit now and then.
5. We had to do lot of labour in bringing him to senses.
6. More over in last few years Ram Chandra Dass lost two of his married sons and a married daughter.
7. Naturally he was considerd a delicate case and was not pressurised to do things which he did not want to do.
8. Padam bhai took the canister from him and went for the job

1. Ram Chander Dass gave the highest regard to Kirori Mal like a father and Kirori Mal in turn gave the highest respects to his younger brother Ram Chander Dass.
2. Once Kirori Mal said to Shri Prakash that master ji (Ram Chander Dass) is a true SANT and deserved respect from everybody.
3. Kirori Mal, also known as Lala Ji, remaind in kharar exept some time in Delhi Meerut or in his Sasural where he had to go in some family function.
4. He had to go to Muzaffarnagar to attend court in conection with legal work which later was done by Vedprakash.
5. He had very sharp features and exceptionally fair complexion, which only dulari, his first born daughter, could get.
6. Kirori Mal's wife was dark but very stout and hard working and very loving.
7. Shiam lal used to say that we respected our bhabi more than our mother because she loved us and took full care of us.same feeling was expressed by wife of Shiam Lal.
8. Kirori Mal could not study exept reading and writing hindi and urdu, which was the official language of the courts.
9. He studied Sanskrit of his own so that he could read dharmik books.
10. There being no urdu Sanskrit dictionary he started preparing one but could not complete.
11. we could not get that manuscript,or some selected words which he must be using so often.
12. Kirori Mal regularly did his Pooja without fail.
13. Every morning he will have a havan jn the aryasamaj style.
14. The regularity was upto the limit that if someday he could not do havan due to long journe,which was rare ,he will do it next day and then take his food after 24 os 36 hours.
15. He had a special flavour for taste using extra salt.Whenever he went to Muzaffarnadar he will bring thing of his taste particularly adrak karela etc.
16. It was quite a job as the distance was walked.
17. Though living in village his dress was always very clean in sharp contrast to the other persons.
18. His Sherwani was so nice that every body appreciated it whenever occasionally it was used.
19. In Laxmi Narain (son) marriage seeing him dressed Rattanlal (son-in-law, husband of Dulari) said in humour that Kirori Mal looks more atteractive than the groom.
20. He was exteamly generous,helping and loving.he would clean the sitting plate form of the shop before calling the servant to get up.
21. Ved Prakash always said as to why he does not ask the servent to get up early and his reply was that he will be working non stop before going to sleep.
22. He was always on the lookout of someone who is hungry or some sadhutype persons take him home and feed him.
23. His children were studying at Delhi or at Meerut.
24. He never asked if there was any problem particularly about food perhaps number onehe was sure that with the type of family values we have there will be none or,two he had learnd fom gita and othere hindu books not to have attachment greed and other evils.
25. His love for everybody around him was well appreciated by one and all.
26. This was with the domestic cattles and agriculture help also.

1. Vedprakash purchased 2 bulloks for ploughing the fields.
2. By purchasing a tonga now movement around also became easy.
3. These bullocks were amazingly fast.
4. None in the district could match them not even a horse driven tonga.
5. They will not allow any other vehicle to remain before them.
6. Forgetting the teaching of non attachment or his sympathy with them Kirori Mal will see to it that they don’t get any inconvenience, so much so that he will never allow them to urinate on the ground and collect it in an earthen pot which was tied to long rod.
7. If Ved Prakash had used a rod having a nail to accelerate the speed and Kirori Mal had seen the small clot of blood he will be disturbed and will not take his dinner.
8. Ved Prakash used to wipe such clots before coming home.
9. The ghee prepared at home was given to them and if needed we used ghee purchased from the market.

He came to shamli together with other members of the family in 1946. He passed away on Sharad poornima when all of us were there after a visit to Shshkubri devi in Saharanpur district. His heart stopped without any pain while he was talking to Anand Prakash. He was about 79.

Kirori Mal remained in kharar upto 1947 till the partitian of the family. After that he came to Shamli to live with his son Ved Prakash. The land which was developed as agriculture land which every body took as his source of livelihood and which was taken as being Kirori Mal share was suddenly demanded by Ramprasad as his share in the partition. Ved Prakash left Kharar immediately and came to Shamli to do something for the survival of his family. In a few years Ram Prasad sold that land and went back to Budhana.

1. The reason for migrating to Kharar which is in the interior of distrct Muzaffarnagar appears to have no atteraction is not imaginable.KHARAR is 8 km from Tehsil headquarter Budhana 12 km from Shamli town and forty km from district head quarter Muzaffarnagar.
2. Either our ancesters were forced to leave the village Bhatu kheri or were not finding means of livelihood or some body known must have advised to shift to U.P where in the course of time they could establish themselves.
3. I have come to know that so many families shifted to U.P because there were better agriculture crops.
4. In the British period they might have got Zamindari which was genrally given to Vaish or Thakurs.
5. Looking back to those days there was no cycle or any other means of movement except walking on foot for near and far distances.
6. Some families were able to keep a bulluck cart which was pulled by bullucks
7. Marriages were fixed in nearby villages in a radius of of 10 to 15 km or in some cases as far as 20 to 25 km.
8. Marriage parties used to go either on foot or in tongas Persons going to Muzaffarnagar called as shaiher had to walk 40 km and at a later stage 25 km wherefrom they could get a horse driven tonga.
9. This distance was usually coverd in 2 days and with the availability of tonga in one day.
10. Budhana was 8 km away ,for any purchases or legal work in tehsil they use to go on foot and return back in the evening.
11. Shamli or Kandhla which were connected to Delhi by train were about 12 or 15 km.
12. To reach Delhi was 10 to 12 hours job.
13. To add to this if somebody had to carry a canister,box or gathri it was on the head.
14. There was no light and the movement stpped at 6 pm in winter and at 7 pm in summers.People got up as early as 4 am.
15. Eight to four was sleeping time.
16. There was earthen pot...sarson ke tail ka dia...for light which was placed on a bracket in the room and there was enough light to move around in the room.
17. If one has to go to other rooms or some other work the dia was taken in one hand saving it from other hand lest it may blow.

1. This work was aiso finished before dawn,as by that time children started getting up after a sleep of 10 hours ...7 to 5.
2. Immediately their dmand for something to eat was met with rotis prepared in the night with sugar gur or pickle.
3. Next or priore to this cows or buffallows were milked which was put on the earthen chullah for boiling with gober uplas.curd was churned with a raee to take out butter and the butter milk was used or distributed to those who needed it.
4. Lunch was early by 10 or 11 consistig of rotis and dal...urad...with butter milk achar and gur or raw sugar...khand.
5. Unless the v illage was closed to a river in whose basin green vegitables were grown.
6. Nothing exept Alu Arvi or Pumpkin was available.
7. In some villages there were weekly markets...painth..where hawkers used to bring spices,foot wear cloth,kitchen needs ,comb,mirror needle all petty requirements,some raw sweets chat and Prasad material.
8. That was quite important day for the village and people waited for this.
9. All purchases were msde by men.
10. Purchasing power was very very poor though things were very very cheap.
11. Wheat was 5 to 7 rupees for 40 kgms gram was for Rs 4 ghee for Re 1 for 1 kgm 4 pieces of chat pakori for half paisa known as dhaila.
12. As a chiled I wore a dhoti for half of a rupee and a shoe still cheaper.
13. Most of the transaction were made in ANAS,PAISAS,or in parts of paisa such as a Pye.
14. The only entertainment for the men was playing cards...kot peace and sweep..,chopad played with kodi or dices or even astam which was drawn on the ground pieces placed on the intersection and played with dice.
15. The first entertainment came in the form of radio and became popular with transistor which could be played with cells.T.v changed the entire scene as every body could have visual pictures.

1. Another surprise for the young generation to day wil be the lack of toilets in the house or even in the village or even in the towns.
2. Ladies use to get up early and before the movement in the village go out for this purpose in an open space without any facility to sit or wash.
3. You can imagine how they might have handled the situation and they had to do it much before the dawn or going to the agriculture field in the vicinity of the village.
4. Men could go to places near waterpond...johad..which existed near the village.
5. They could go any time in the day wash in the johad water.
6. When a toilet was built in our haveli at the second floor for ladies and the refuse was taken to the field by the sweeper it was a talk of the village.
7. They criticized that these people have made their home as toilet.
8. Now for the water most essential thing in ithe life of human beings.
9. There use to be deep wells of diameter 6 to 10 feet.
10. Water was fetched by a bucket which was tied to a rope ,taken to the house on heads in bronze or brass vessls.
11. There were no buckets.
12. In such condition ladies usually did not bathed daily may be twice or thrice a weak depending on the status and caste.
13. Only 3 or 4 liters of water was used for bath.Cloth washing was very much limited and one set was used for 3 to 6 days.
14. There was no system of undergarments for men and even for women who wore shirts like men.
15. Men used kurta and dhoti or a cotten hand sewn banyan known as bandi throughout the day.Kurta was a formal dress.
16. Any day they wanted to take bath they will go to the village well,fetch two bckets of watrer and poured on their heads,took one part of the dhoti squeezed it and used it to wipe their body.
17. Putting some water on the dhoti threshintg it on the floor of the well and squeezed it.
18. Every day bath was very very uncommon.
19. Gents used hardly a liter of water in the house in the form of drinking it after the meals.
20. Even in marriages or other functions where ladies did not go,men usedto take bath in the open on the bench provided for this and as a special favour for bratis, water was made available in a drum.
21. Kids wore only a shirt long enough to hide their private parts.
22. They did not wear briefs even upto the age of 5 for the boys and 2 to 3 for girls.
23. Hand pumps were developed around thirties which reached in villages in forties and fifties.
24. When hand pump was devolped and the water was available at 20 to 30 feet depth people who could afford got a pump bored in their house.
25. It was a very big relief for them and the neighbours if they allowd them, which usually they did.
26. This brought a big change in the life style.Utensils which were so far being cleaned by ash of uple...though it was very hygienic and safe...now were washed with water.
27. Bathing and washing became very easy and the use of soap for bathing and washing started.
28. The floors in the houses were of mud and could not be washed.A mudey mixture of gobar was pasted on the floors once or twice a month.
29. Ladies were very busy throughout the day which started at 4 am.First thing was to go to toilet much before dawn.
30. Then they processed wheat to make flour..Atta..in a hand moved grinder.
31. There was no machines in the village and if a village had one after the arrival of electicity people went there covering a distance of 4 to 5 km.

1. There were no schools.
2. Some so to say an illiterate persons was given the charge of teaching the children who taught them counting from 1 to 100,tables from 2 to 20 and reading and writing on the wooden plank the hindi alphabet and sentences he was known as padha .
3. when primary schools started in some villages they imparted education upto 4th class.
4. Middle schools started in selected village and children of the village and near by villages studied upto 7th class;
5. Those who wanted to study further went to towns for 10th class and for 12th class went to district place.