Rai Chan Singh to Rishabh Deo Singh memorial Trust at Kaithi and Varanasi.
In the event of my untimely death in a year or two,I am,sort of drawing-out a “Will and Testament” for the management of the acquisitions made through my personal efforts and my NRI earnings over last fifty years and invested by my able spouse ,wisely,creating a stir among near and dear ones,specially but sadly,so as to spell-out my intentions in a bold and clear message to all and sundry and which may be registered,duly.
At the outset of my venture to Kaithi,after only ten years sea-service,so as to stop the selling spree of the land,by the revered elders,little did I know ,for certain,that I was to go so deeply,in the random professies of Pd. Parmeshwar Dwevedi and the Coffee-house table-mate and a district judge Mr. Srivastava,that I am destined to explore the past of my ancestors,handing it on a platter to the coming generations.Guided profusely by my wife,I went to sea,across the Indian ocean and achieve a non-resident-Indian status for taxation purposes,my various companies opening my accounts in exotic sounding foreign banks,one after the other.I would accumulate dollars and stop sailing,till it was all exhausted,in constructing a massive house in Varanasi.Then, I would again head for the sea,to earn more.And then stop sailing again,for all the fifty years,till the ripe old age of seventy.I like to think of the World-conqueror Raja Raghu,who operated in the same manner,and gave away every thing till he was left with only earthen-bowls in his hands(see my translation of Kalidas in the” plebeians”).
I came to firm conclusion that it was Rai Chan Singh judeo,who was installed in Kaithi at the tender age of five,by his father,Rai Khem Raj Singh judeo in around 1485 AD.And his living quarters later became the first residential house of his grand-son Sees Chand ,in which we ,now ,reside,although having weathered a severe shock on 28th of june,1952,when my father Babu Rishabh Deo Singhji died of suspected poisoning,for the purpose of eliminating the first line of descent of the first house of the Raghuvansies of Katehar,from the ownership of large tracts of alluvial and dryland portions in the village,apportioned ceaselessly and carefully by the great sage of the family Bharat Singh,between 1882 and 1944. So as the story nearly came to end by designs of the unscrupulous and unrelenting,in 1952,with the demise of Rishabh deo Singh,except for my several concentrated efforts to reestablish in the Sees Chand Mansion,to the displeasure of all and sundry,I too am constrained in making a memorial-service,at that point of our stay in Kaithi,the Ayodhya of the Raghuvanshies of Katehar.
Jaipal Singh Hall of Fame of the 1st House of the Raghuvanshies of Katehar,at Kaithi.
I may or may not be able to do the above,as a certainty,so I designed a hall in my Varanasi residence at Vinayaka(N 16/132B),Kamachha,for housing the ancestors of Kaithi from Rai Chan Singhjudeo to Rishabh deo Singhji(1485-1952),and called the structure as R.M.House,viz.Raichan Singh to Rishabhdeo Singh”Memorial House.
After the demise of myself and my spouse(whose name has been used as the owner),the enigmatic problem of it’s upkeep will arise.So, I make all my children responsible for not only it’s upkeep and maintenance,but expansion and acquisition of appertant and adjoining properties,open to sale,by their full-fledged involvement in the memorial house,in way of allotting them all portions for their use(and as for as possible avoid subletting them,on a regular basis),for which they shall deposit Rs.100,000/-yearly,in advance,in the Funds created for running the Trust(the details of which shall be formulated by an advocate).There shall be a review of the annual rentals,every five years,so that about fifty lakhs shall be in the reserve for alterations and major repairs,if need be.In fifty years time,there should be two crores in the reserve and a total over-haul of the building can be undertaken,if need be.There is no reason why my children shall not follow in my footsteps in maintaining a property created as a memorial to their ancestors as well.At the same time,they are at liberty to opt out of the cumbersome responsibility,stated above,and shall just remain happy by only kindly guiding the Board of Trustees to carry-out their onerous task thoughtfully,where they will be honourable permanent invitees cum trustees(as the advocates finalise the issue).The responsibility will not be thrust upon anyone,it has to be shared willingly and faithfully,as for as my own children are concerned.
Incomplete as at 11.20PM on 24th of july,2009,at Spaghetti,Nevi- Mumbai-410210
Penned by Suresh Pratap Singh,himself.
Furthermore,on the 8th of August,2009.
A clarification for the children and the advocates of the Trust andthose involved in drawing the minutes of the Trust,intended by me about the R.M.House in Vinayaka,Varanasi,the nature of the intended possession without rancour and ill-will on anyones part,is to maintain harmony between brother and the two sisters and let no one feel deprived or given a special treatment by me or my wife,but always bearing in mind that it was raised to honour my ancestors for which duty I seem to have been born and not for making anyone rich or ambitious and over-possive just because I have fathered him or her.No squandering of my property shall be allowed by anyone,including my wife,in case she survives me,just because her name has been registered in goodwill and good faith and no child shall be permitted to hoodwink or bully her in making any will in anyones favour,as the final Will is hereby being made by the man who built the memorial by his own earnings,notwithstanding continuous encouragement,support and exhortation by the better half, but she is hereby,being stopped from making any of her own will except for canceling any part of my will on account of ill-will or misbehaviour by any one of the beneficiaries or their descendants and children.No one ,not even me can stop her from being the master of the ceremonies and all actions so long she is alive.
More later.Suresh Pratap Singh at Navi Mumbai on 8.08.09
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
Jaipal Singh Hall of Fame of the Raghuvanshies of Katehar.
7.08.09 at Spaghetti,Kharghar, Navi-Mumbai.
Need to raise a memorial hall in the memory of the great martyr of 1857 war of independence,in my life time,which may be only a short distance away or even forty years away,who knows?
I propose building it on the exclusive property in my name,adjacent to the Sees Chand Mansion,in which both myself and Jaipal Singh had the privilege of being born,a hundred and forty years apart.
This could be of the same width as of the Sees Chand Mansion,which could be called it’s length and it’s width could be adjusted in the Bailva of yester-years,with three feet corridor left on the south and north sides ,surrounded by a thin wall supported in-between by piling driven pillars seven feet apart,the over-head space to be covered by some ingenius device,so as to allow the air to pass but thieves and intruders to hold.
All along the southern boundary of neighbors,our own piled supported srut should have a 3inches wall(owing to steep rise in the brick-prices,and there after a wind tunnel three feet wide all along,turning left at the juncture of Babu Baldeo Singh’s bakhari,till in line with the southern wall of Sees Chand Mansion,unless hard –pressed for a few more feet in Rishabh Deo Singh’s bada,adjacent to the hata(compound )of Babu Baldeo Singh,now in possession of Munna and Laddoo.A room and a kitchen would be built for the purpose of catering to the demands of the tourists visiting to see the Jaipal Singh memorial Hall of the 1st house of the Raghuvanshies of Katehar dedicated to Baba Pukar Rai and his eldest son Rai Khemraj singh’s foray in Kaithi in order to install his eldest son Rai Chan Singhjudeo,as a five year old youngster in Kaithi,on the spot where his grandson built a permanent abode,while his father Madan Chand and Grand-fatherstarted living in his newly acquired jagirdari of Pargana Bayaleesi in distt. Jaunpur.Madan Chand may have traveled to Kaithi,once in a while,however the credit for the present house goes to Sees Chand,built at the turn of the fourteenth century into fifteenth.It seems I was born to tell the Raghuvanshies all about it,through the charts and genealogy tales of Banshi Kavi,our bard’s descendant since we left Ayodhya around 1194AD. In a way it is a great historical monument,but as these are not the days to talk about all that ,so we will stick to 1857-martyr Jaipal Singh and the memorial hall built in the commemoration of his martyrdom.
I dare say I have failed in my latest bid to emulate my world conquering ancestor Raghu Maharaj,in going around the world like him when the ex-chequer is devoid of requisite wealth.Hence my programme shall be executed with limited means and most simply devoid of ostentation of any sort except for the future’s security arrangements and security of future. I shall certainly abhor any help from any corner except from my own son,which may be done by pledging my Mumbai flatm,in lieu of his donation to my project dealing in the past,which is wont to my family,specially my own spouse,who is sitting pretty lording over the investment of my maximum collection of wealth from around the world,which has been desired by me to be converted into a memorial trust in the name of Rai Chan Singhjudeo to Babu Rishabh deo singhji,celeberating their uninturpted stay in the Sees Chand Mansion between 1465 and 28thof june 1952.Any one desireous of future use(after my wife and myself are no more) shall be made fully and sincerely responsible towards the up-keep of the so called R.M.House(short for RaiChan Singh to Rishabh deo Singh Memorial Houise),simply by paying in the Trust created already or to be created by the descendants of myself and my wife Savitri Devi Singh Raghuvanshi,for making certain that the edifice shall not fall apart for next 300 years in it’s originality and if necessary for building another memorial in the same names in the same place.Much will power will be required to wish to go and stay in that House built by me by my own earnings around the world and building operations supervised wholly by my good wife abovenamed.The working of the above trust is not a matter tom be discussed here.
So in case the good old Sees Chand Mansion becomes a heritage property,we shall be ready to move-on,while maintaining the old Mansion for the Archeological Survey of India.
It can be foreseen that with a flat in Mumbai and a Mansion in the Town ,hardly anyone would venture out like me in 1971 against the wishes of all in the family,again to stay put,despite my call in my Blog to all to return to Kaithi,even if waiting for the great holocaust.But I shall make arrangements,in the infra-structure like in Mumbai for thr future generations to invest and adopt beautifications and decorations in the interior and even the exterior.It will be my utter desire with the Architect to build and design to save from the excited and unruly youngsters of the locality to damage the window-panes,like they have been doing on the first floor rooms of the old Mansion,while enjoying our hospitality of playing cricket and volleyball in my back-yard.A wire –mesh to all glasses is a must as our stayis occasional and minimal of a day or two and we are not able to maintain a guard,over already a property which is costing us moolah.
In the western end a place to sit for visitors ought to be created since Thakur Ram Rup Singhji had allowed Kaka to convert Bharat Baba’s Baithaka into his temporary living quarters,we are devoid of a baithaka ourselves and I received visitors in my late father’s day room and even Thakur Ram Rup Singhji had wished for a Men’s baithaka whenever he visited Kaithi in the eighties,during the alluvial problems created by the river Gomti.So it can be created,by and by where our Anjahia bakhari used to be,facing north and another aisle facing east to gather sunlight earliest in the mornings as in my lifetime I do not wish to disturb the settings as created by the permission of my late uncle,although better alternatives can be worked-out.After all there are family members with erroneous notions that it was only his property.We are no trespassers we have come as legal heirs of my grand-father and I am beneficiary in sale-deeds also,which came to light in some legal wranglings for ten years over erroneous assumptions.I have entered the house of my birth after the expiry of three months notice to all the co-parceners,in 1971,after I returned from sea for the first time in fourteen years.Yet I have invited in some blog of mine for all coparceners to come and take charge of the Mansion and save it from falling-over,I have done it off and on,whenever any murmur has risen.But no body is interested in the upkeep,but only in the booty.While on the contrary,my devotion is satiated when some kith and kin visit their ancestral house,the ancestry of which they are not aware of.So I thought before I leave this world I shall endeavour to leave no bone of contention for the kith and kin to claim that it is only theirs and anyone else is an intruder.But for God’s sake let them be willing to undertake some burden of maintenance as well.One might argue,that as I live in it I shall maintain it.Good enough reason.But then since 1989,we are not living in it and we come here off and on and spend big some on redoing the faulty and leaky ceilings and mud-hatched brick walls with in-roads of water all round.This house belongs to the descendants of late Thakur Ram Rup Singhji and his own younger brother late Babu Rishabh Deo Singhji and all are wecome to come and stay but after my demise anyone before claiming it his own shall also come forward and do the necessary repairs at that time and undertake maintenance through-out with the guidance of an engineer and an architect (like I have been doing ) and be prepred to employ a watchman to ward-off many more claimants,like the after death period of my father,between 1952 and 1971.
Suresh Pratap Singh(Kaithi)
Need to raise a memorial hall in the memory of the great martyr of 1857 war of independence,in my life time,which may be only a short distance away or even forty years away,who knows?
I propose building it on the exclusive property in my name,adjacent to the Sees Chand Mansion,in which both myself and Jaipal Singh had the privilege of being born,a hundred and forty years apart.
This could be of the same width as of the Sees Chand Mansion,which could be called it’s length and it’s width could be adjusted in the Bailva of yester-years,with three feet corridor left on the south and north sides ,surrounded by a thin wall supported in-between by piling driven pillars seven feet apart,the over-head space to be covered by some ingenius device,so as to allow the air to pass but thieves and intruders to hold.
All along the southern boundary of neighbors,our own piled supported srut should have a 3inches wall(owing to steep rise in the brick-prices,and there after a wind tunnel three feet wide all along,turning left at the juncture of Babu Baldeo Singh’s bakhari,till in line with the southern wall of Sees Chand Mansion,unless hard –pressed for a few more feet in Rishabh Deo Singh’s bada,adjacent to the hata(compound )of Babu Baldeo Singh,now in possession of Munna and Laddoo.A room and a kitchen would be built for the purpose of catering to the demands of the tourists visiting to see the Jaipal Singh memorial Hall of the 1st house of the Raghuvanshies of Katehar dedicated to Baba Pukar Rai and his eldest son Rai Khemraj singh’s foray in Kaithi in order to install his eldest son Rai Chan Singhjudeo,as a five year old youngster in Kaithi,on the spot where his grandson built a permanent abode,while his father Madan Chand and Grand-fatherstarted living in his newly acquired jagirdari of Pargana Bayaleesi in distt. Jaunpur.Madan Chand may have traveled to Kaithi,once in a while,however the credit for the present house goes to Sees Chand,built at the turn of the fourteenth century into fifteenth.It seems I was born to tell the Raghuvanshies all about it,through the charts and genealogy tales of Banshi Kavi,our bard’s descendant since we left Ayodhya around 1194AD. In a way it is a great historical monument,but as these are not the days to talk about all that ,so we will stick to 1857-martyr Jaipal Singh and the memorial hall built in the commemoration of his martyrdom.
I dare say I have failed in my latest bid to emulate my world conquering ancestor Raghu Maharaj,in going around the world like him when the ex-chequer is devoid of requisite wealth.Hence my programme shall be executed with limited means and most simply devoid of ostentation of any sort except for the future’s security arrangements and security of future. I shall certainly abhor any help from any corner except from my own son,which may be done by pledging my Mumbai flatm,in lieu of his donation to my project dealing in the past,which is wont to my family,specially my own spouse,who is sitting pretty lording over the investment of my maximum collection of wealth from around the world,which has been desired by me to be converted into a memorial trust in the name of Rai Chan Singhjudeo to Babu Rishabh deo singhji,celeberating their uninturpted stay in the Sees Chand Mansion between 1465 and 28thof june 1952.Any one desireous of future use(after my wife and myself are no more) shall be made fully and sincerely responsible towards the up-keep of the so called R.M.House(short for RaiChan Singh to Rishabh deo Singh Memorial Houise),simply by paying in the Trust created already or to be created by the descendants of myself and my wife Savitri Devi Singh Raghuvanshi,for making certain that the edifice shall not fall apart for next 300 years in it’s originality and if necessary for building another memorial in the same names in the same place.Much will power will be required to wish to go and stay in that House built by me by my own earnings around the world and building operations supervised wholly by my good wife abovenamed.The working of the above trust is not a matter tom be discussed here.
So in case the good old Sees Chand Mansion becomes a heritage property,we shall be ready to move-on,while maintaining the old Mansion for the Archeological Survey of India.
It can be foreseen that with a flat in Mumbai and a Mansion in the Town ,hardly anyone would venture out like me in 1971 against the wishes of all in the family,again to stay put,despite my call in my Blog to all to return to Kaithi,even if waiting for the great holocaust.But I shall make arrangements,in the infra-structure like in Mumbai for thr future generations to invest and adopt beautifications and decorations in the interior and even the exterior.It will be my utter desire with the Architect to build and design to save from the excited and unruly youngsters of the locality to damage the window-panes,like they have been doing on the first floor rooms of the old Mansion,while enjoying our hospitality of playing cricket and volleyball in my back-yard.A wire –mesh to all glasses is a must as our stayis occasional and minimal of a day or two and we are not able to maintain a guard,over already a property which is costing us moolah.
In the western end a place to sit for visitors ought to be created since Thakur Ram Rup Singhji had allowed Kaka to convert Bharat Baba’s Baithaka into his temporary living quarters,we are devoid of a baithaka ourselves and I received visitors in my late father’s day room and even Thakur Ram Rup Singhji had wished for a Men’s baithaka whenever he visited Kaithi in the eighties,during the alluvial problems created by the river Gomti.So it can be created,by and by where our Anjahia bakhari used to be,facing north and another aisle facing east to gather sunlight earliest in the mornings as in my lifetime I do not wish to disturb the settings as created by the permission of my late uncle,although better alternatives can be worked-out.After all there are family members with erroneous notions that it was only his property.We are no trespassers we have come as legal heirs of my grand-father and I am beneficiary in sale-deeds also,which came to light in some legal wranglings for ten years over erroneous assumptions.I have entered the house of my birth after the expiry of three months notice to all the co-parceners,in 1971,after I returned from sea for the first time in fourteen years.Yet I have invited in some blog of mine for all coparceners to come and take charge of the Mansion and save it from falling-over,I have done it off and on,whenever any murmur has risen.But no body is interested in the upkeep,but only in the booty.While on the contrary,my devotion is satiated when some kith and kin visit their ancestral house,the ancestry of which they are not aware of.So I thought before I leave this world I shall endeavour to leave no bone of contention for the kith and kin to claim that it is only theirs and anyone else is an intruder.But for God’s sake let them be willing to undertake some burden of maintenance as well.One might argue,that as I live in it I shall maintain it.Good enough reason.But then since 1989,we are not living in it and we come here off and on and spend big some on redoing the faulty and leaky ceilings and mud-hatched brick walls with in-roads of water all round.This house belongs to the descendants of late Thakur Ram Rup Singhji and his own younger brother late Babu Rishabh Deo Singhji and all are wecome to come and stay but after my demise anyone before claiming it his own shall also come forward and do the necessary repairs at that time and undertake maintenance through-out with the guidance of an engineer and an architect (like I have been doing ) and be prepred to employ a watchman to ward-off many more claimants,like the after death period of my father,between 1952 and 1971.
Suresh Pratap Singh(Kaithi)
Tuesday, August 18, 2009
programming the Hindi version of "the plebeians"
18.08.09
My dear HN,
You are one of the just four people,to whom I addressed on the ninety-third anniversary of my father’s birth.You are quie right and I had planned likewise,when I told you that I was going to get a wagon-R,after sailing for three months,before settling down in Kaithi,for good.But the Shipping Co. tried to get my services without remunerations,as they sent me on a ship,without handing me a copy of the Contract,playing on my truthful revealations of my future agenda,and they thought this foggy old chap is too hard-up and will join the ship anyway.There is so much corruption in the shipping business,that there was no redressal from the DGShipping ,POMMD,and the Shipping Master,who are placed here to look-after the interest of the seaman and the matter has gone up to the ministry.
Though I have sent my representations,by email , registered and courier mails,I have asked them to let me come and elucidate personally,for which I will be in Delhi,around the 27th and 28th of Aug.We can meet then,whenever you have some time.I will put-up at the New Delhi Railway Station’s Retiring rooms(thanks to Madhav Rao Scindia),as it would be convenient to go to the ministry(1,Sansad Marg),Ansari Street,Darayaganj(for publication of “the plebeians”) and meet Dr. Karan Singhji,for a “Foreword” to my book,which is pending for long.My phone on roaming will be 09935398306.
Hope to see you,with much longing to complete the Hindi version of “the plebeians”,where we will put-down details of each of our families,to our heart’s content,as you have mentioned in your email,howsoever much ,sometimes ,it being a risky affair to my self,letting the cat out of the bag , of the old forbidden past.
With best wishes to yourself and the family.
Sincerely
Suresh Pratap Singh of Kaithi,Katehar
At Navi Mumbai.
My dear HN,
You are one of the just four people,to whom I addressed on the ninety-third anniversary of my father’s birth.You are quie right and I had planned likewise,when I told you that I was going to get a wagon-R,after sailing for three months,before settling down in Kaithi,for good.But the Shipping Co. tried to get my services without remunerations,as they sent me on a ship,without handing me a copy of the Contract,playing on my truthful revealations of my future agenda,and they thought this foggy old chap is too hard-up and will join the ship anyway.There is so much corruption in the shipping business,that there was no redressal from the DGShipping ,POMMD,and the Shipping Master,who are placed here to look-after the interest of the seaman and the matter has gone up to the ministry.
Though I have sent my representations,by email , registered and courier mails,I have asked them to let me come and elucidate personally,for which I will be in Delhi,around the 27th and 28th of Aug.We can meet then,whenever you have some time.I will put-up at the New Delhi Railway Station’s Retiring rooms(thanks to Madhav Rao Scindia),as it would be convenient to go to the ministry(1,Sansad Marg),Ansari Street,Darayaganj(for publication of “the plebeians”) and meet Dr. Karan Singhji,for a “Foreword” to my book,which is pending for long.My phone on roaming will be 09935398306.
Hope to see you,with much longing to complete the Hindi version of “the plebeians”,where we will put-down details of each of our families,to our heart’s content,as you have mentioned in your email,howsoever much ,sometimes ,it being a risky affair to my self,letting the cat out of the bag , of the old forbidden past.
With best wishes to yourself and the family.
Sincerely
Suresh Pratap Singh of Kaithi,Katehar
At Navi Mumbai.
Friday, August 14, 2009
birth of Rishabh Deo Singh coincides with Lord Krishna's.
Rishabh deo Singh born today,in 1917 at Kaithi,Katehar.
My father was born on the Krishna-janmasthami day at mid-night,coinciding with the birth of Lord Krishna,many centuries ago,as the second son of Thakur Raj kumar Singh and a grandson of Mahayogi Bharat Singh,in the House of Sees Chand,the grandson of Rai Chan Singh,who was established in Kaithi,at the tender age of five,by his father Rai Khem Raj Singh,the eldest son of Baba Pukar Rai of Niyar deeh Kot, in 1465AD.
There was a great commotion in the household,specially in the ladies quarters,of the Maha Yogi,as coinciding the birth of the new child with that of the Yogiraj Krishna,was held to be inauspicious as for as the life-line of the child born,simultaneously with that of the Kanahaiyya- NandLala, the Girdhar Gopal in the Janmashthami being announced tumultuously with conches and jingling of bells in the adjoining temples and houses of the other Thakurs of the village
The great astrologer,Pd.Satya Narain Pandey was sent for,with urgency from Bharat baba,who responded immediately,as he was held so dearly by the Mahayogi.The almanacs were duly consulted and what the naïve women feared was found to be true.Indeed,the newly born had a very short span of life,as the purpose of his birth was to produce progeny who would carry the lineage of Sees Chand and Rai Chan Singh for long and far and wide around the continent.Bharat baba was aghast and as the child was seen as a progenitor,he called him “Rishabh”,meaning a bull,then added “Deo”,which became the name of the first Tirthanker of the Jainees,situate nearby,next to the demolished mud-fortress of Doman Deo.
Rishabh Deo Singh fathered three sons and a daughter and died at the age of 35 in 1952 on 28th of june,in Varanasi,in all probability by poisoning.The other part of the sooth-saying is in progress,with bitterness amongst themselves,for doing away with the property,for the consolidation of which Rishabh Deo Singh gave his life,as exhorted by his elder brother,in his letters from Bareilly,for upholding the dignity of the most prominent house of Kaithi(his concept stopped at that)
Similar scenes had taken place at the time of the birth of the first born of Thakur Raj Kumar Singh on the 12th of Dec. 1901 ,after Satya Narain Pandit consulted the horoscope of the newly-born,then.Again women folk started to wail as he had his great grand-father’s fate in the end of his life ,i.e. Sanyas-ashram and total “Virakti ”, WHICH WAS ONLY PARTIALLY TRUE ,owing to my persuation of guiding me in order to overcome the utter disaster for the village,brought about by the the change of course of river Gomti on 7.9.1980,by which suddenly the village seemed to have lost 626.04acres of alluvial and most precious cultivable land of the village,overnight and all of us were bereft of livelihood.
Even Sri Bhanu Pratap Singh was born on the Krishna-Janmashthami day in 1917,but not like my father,where the time was exactly the same as that,reputedly of Lord Krishna.
This is a tribute to his father from his eldest son,burdened with the duties of honour and survival of the first house of the Raghuvanshies of Katehar,on the father’s birth anniversary,in 2009,to seek blessings and guidance,honesty of purpose and courage to carry-on regardless,aspiring and dreaming of the raj(as Dashrath-bo malhain would say) of Bharat baba,and yet facing the slings and arrows of the outrageous fortune and still facing the murderous streak of the elements that had done my father in,long long ago,as the fight in side the brotherhood of the Zamindari scions,continues unabated,just as described by the famous appointee of Lord Cornwallis,viz.Jonathan Duncan,the instrumentalist of the permanent settlement,upto Varanasi commissionerate,in1793,had described in his letters to the Board of Revenue at Calcutta and to the Governor General in Council.They are still going for the jugular,to retain old primacy,with the help of newly acquired wealth(buying the thana wholesale).
I hope to build “Jaipal Singh Hall of fame of the 1st House of the Raghuvanshies of Katehar”,before I too have my rendezvous with death,naturally or otherwise.In my considered opinion there was only one flaw in the exalted and short life of my father,viz. his early demise and I don’t want to follow suit,in that undoing,as there may not be another to complete my own and my late,lamented father’s mission.If Ram Rup Singh lived life akin to royalty,his younger brother was a nobility incarnate and I am , forever, proud of him and it is my honour to have been born as his son,and the eldest at that with the privilege of forever being in the mire,even for the good deeds done,off and on.I shall prod on ,nevertheless,thinking of my father.
His adoring son.
Suresh Pratap Singh
At Navi Mumbai
14th of August,2009.
My father was born on the Krishna-janmasthami day at mid-night,coinciding with the birth of Lord Krishna,many centuries ago,as the second son of Thakur Raj kumar Singh and a grandson of Mahayogi Bharat Singh,in the House of Sees Chand,the grandson of Rai Chan Singh,who was established in Kaithi,at the tender age of five,by his father Rai Khem Raj Singh,the eldest son of Baba Pukar Rai of Niyar deeh Kot, in 1465AD.
There was a great commotion in the household,specially in the ladies quarters,of the Maha Yogi,as coinciding the birth of the new child with that of the Yogiraj Krishna,was held to be inauspicious as for as the life-line of the child born,simultaneously with that of the Kanahaiyya- NandLala, the Girdhar Gopal in the Janmashthami being announced tumultuously with conches and jingling of bells in the adjoining temples and houses of the other Thakurs of the village
The great astrologer,Pd.Satya Narain Pandey was sent for,with urgency from Bharat baba,who responded immediately,as he was held so dearly by the Mahayogi.The almanacs were duly consulted and what the naïve women feared was found to be true.Indeed,the newly born had a very short span of life,as the purpose of his birth was to produce progeny who would carry the lineage of Sees Chand and Rai Chan Singh for long and far and wide around the continent.Bharat baba was aghast and as the child was seen as a progenitor,he called him “Rishabh”,meaning a bull,then added “Deo”,which became the name of the first Tirthanker of the Jainees,situate nearby,next to the demolished mud-fortress of Doman Deo.
Rishabh Deo Singh fathered three sons and a daughter and died at the age of 35 in 1952 on 28th of june,in Varanasi,in all probability by poisoning.The other part of the sooth-saying is in progress,with bitterness amongst themselves,for doing away with the property,for the consolidation of which Rishabh Deo Singh gave his life,as exhorted by his elder brother,in his letters from Bareilly,for upholding the dignity of the most prominent house of Kaithi(his concept stopped at that)
Similar scenes had taken place at the time of the birth of the first born of Thakur Raj Kumar Singh on the 12th of Dec. 1901 ,after Satya Narain Pandit consulted the horoscope of the newly-born,then.Again women folk started to wail as he had his great grand-father’s fate in the end of his life ,i.e. Sanyas-ashram and total “Virakti ”, WHICH WAS ONLY PARTIALLY TRUE ,owing to my persuation of guiding me in order to overcome the utter disaster for the village,brought about by the the change of course of river Gomti on 7.9.1980,by which suddenly the village seemed to have lost 626.04acres of alluvial and most precious cultivable land of the village,overnight and all of us were bereft of livelihood.
Even Sri Bhanu Pratap Singh was born on the Krishna-Janmashthami day in 1917,but not like my father,where the time was exactly the same as that,reputedly of Lord Krishna.
This is a tribute to his father from his eldest son,burdened with the duties of honour and survival of the first house of the Raghuvanshies of Katehar,on the father’s birth anniversary,in 2009,to seek blessings and guidance,honesty of purpose and courage to carry-on regardless,aspiring and dreaming of the raj(as Dashrath-bo malhain would say) of Bharat baba,and yet facing the slings and arrows of the outrageous fortune and still facing the murderous streak of the elements that had done my father in,long long ago,as the fight in side the brotherhood of the Zamindari scions,continues unabated,just as described by the famous appointee of Lord Cornwallis,viz.Jonathan Duncan,the instrumentalist of the permanent settlement,upto Varanasi commissionerate,in1793,had described in his letters to the Board of Revenue at Calcutta and to the Governor General in Council.They are still going for the jugular,to retain old primacy,with the help of newly acquired wealth(buying the thana wholesale).
I hope to build “Jaipal Singh Hall of fame of the 1st House of the Raghuvanshies of Katehar”,before I too have my rendezvous with death,naturally or otherwise.In my considered opinion there was only one flaw in the exalted and short life of my father,viz. his early demise and I don’t want to follow suit,in that undoing,as there may not be another to complete my own and my late,lamented father’s mission.If Ram Rup Singh lived life akin to royalty,his younger brother was a nobility incarnate and I am , forever, proud of him and it is my honour to have been born as his son,and the eldest at that with the privilege of forever being in the mire,even for the good deeds done,off and on.I shall prod on ,nevertheless,thinking of my father.
His adoring son.
Suresh Pratap Singh
At Navi Mumbai
14th of August,2009.
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