Forgotten Mono Rail

By Jupinderjit Singh

THE year is 1907. An unusual train called the Patiala Mono Rail huffs and puffs its way into a railway station situated in the heart of Patiala city. The hustle and bustle of passengers and coolies fills the station. It dies only after the train moves out of the station.

Today, an eerie silence prevails at the sight where the train station was located 90 years ago. The station was located in a jungle then. It is now surrounded by a jungle of a different kind — a concrete jungle commonly known as Sher-e-Punjab Market and Dharampura Bazar. And one finds a ‘PWD store’, instead of the railway station.

The completely changed setting makes it hard to believe that there was an era when an engineering marvel called the Patiala State Mono Rail Trainways used to wind its way through the fields and forests of the erstwhile princely state of Patiala. It connected two routes — Sirhind to Bassi and Patiala to Bhawanigarh (a town near Sangrur city). This latter route now has no rail link.

Though the residents of the city have forgotten about the train, few rusted remnants of the Patiala State Mono Rail lying half-buried in sand and vegetation at the PWD store and Sher-e-Punjab market still manage to reveal the curious saga of the train.

The P.W.D. store, situated in a crowded market, does not give any indication of the mono Rail or its station. One sees tar drums, pipes and junk strewn all around the place. Amidst this scrap, one beholds a contraption resembling a wheel. It lies half buried in sand and grass. Close to it is a long iron rod looking like a railway lever used for joining rail lines.

The PWD storekeeper Sham Kumar says, "This place was a railway station and these things belong to the Patiala State Mono Rail that used to run before independence. it was here till the 70s. I don’t know what happened to the train after this.

Sham, however, remembers the time when his father had first seen the train in 1948. "My father Ram Parkash, who died recently, was the first storekeeper of this store in 1948. He used to tell us that this was an isolated place. There were two royal steam engines and some carriages made of wood with bronze inlays. It was called ‘Mono Rail’ as it used to run on a single line with two large wheels running on the road to keep it balanced. The route was from Patiala to Bhawanigarh, (a town 30 km from Patiala on the Sangrur Road).

He himself used to play in the train when he was a child. He also showed another rusted trolley covered with wild vegetation and said that it was actually a compartment of the goods mono train.

According to R.C. Verma, co-author of a history book on Patiala, not much exists on record about the mono rail and it is only remembered by few old citizens.

He said that the idea of the rail line was mooted in the beginning of this century when a regency council was in power as Maharaja Bhupinder Singh was still a minor. He said that a British engineer was specially employed for the job. The train was, however, discontinued after some years as it did not prove profitable to the princely state. The train could not also keep pace with the new and relatively better modes of transport.

After gathering rust for more than 50 years, the Mono Rail finally found its due resting place at the National Rail Museum in 1978.

According to the information brochure of the museum, the first section of an unusual railway on the "Ewing system" connecting Bassi with Sirhind (6 miles), started in Patiala in 1907. Col Bowles, who designed this system, became the state engineer and laid the Patiala State Mono Rail Trainways (about 50 miles in length from Sirhind to Alampura and Patiala to Bhawanigarh). The track was a single rail along one side of the road. On this ran the load-carrying wheels of the train while a larger single wheel at the end of an outrigger ran on the road to keep the train upright.

Originally, these trains were pulled by mules to make use of the more than 500 mules maintained by the army of the state. In 1909, Orenstein & Koppel of Berlin supplied four unique locomotives for this system. M/s Marsland Price & Co. constructed, maintained and managed these lines until 1917 when the working was taken over by the state-appointed contractor. On account of the tough competition with other modes of transport and difficulties faced in maintenance, this line was gradually abandoned and finally closed down in October, 1927.

In 1962, these locos and coaches were discovered half buried in the PWD scrapyard at Patiala and were subsequently restored and put in working order in 1976 by the Northern Railway workshop, Amritsar.

The present coach at the Rail Museum is a reproduction body built at the Amritsar workshop in 1976 on an original underframe. The coach was the private inspection saloon of Col. Bowles who built the trainways in 1907. Wooden seats have been fitted for passengers in place of the original cane chairs.

Though the Rail Museum authorities have preserved the mono rail for all times to come, it is unfortunate that it is not where it actually belonged.

The mystic poetry of Rajasthan highlights the various aspects of the Chishtia Sufi order, says Joginder Singh Bedi

Soulful expressions of the golden sands

THE state of Rajasthan is widely known for its pink city of Jaipur, the historical forts and monuments of Chittor, Jodhpur and Jaisalmer, telling tales of the patriotic fervour and valour of the Rajputs, the Brahmakumari ashrama of Mount Abu and the rich marble stone industry of Kota.

But there is much more to it. The very first vision of its golden sands, the vastness of its deserts both in time and space, the continuity of its rugged and joyous life are indeed fascinating.

Besides, the way its sand buries and reveals and then something hidden gets so suddenly exposed for an instant and then going into oblivion reminds us of the soulful expressions of the Rajasthani poets, who have enriched Indian literature like their Kashmiri counterparts.

These mystic poets belong to the Chishtia Sufi order founded by Hazrat Moinuddin Chishti at Ajmer in AD 1192. Inspired by Chishti’s piety and secular outlook, they were determined to improve Hindu-Muslim relations, which were at a low ebb. Through their poetry they established that there was no cultural conflict between the two communities of Rajasthan.

In a short span of time the Chishtia concept of universal brotherhood started appealing to all the communities. The oppressed and downtrodden classes were particularly drawn by the saintly personality of Hazrat Chishti.

Hazrat Chishti firmly held that the source of knowledge obtained through reverence for God cannot be controlled by the rigours of logic. It is always present in the subconscious mind.

True to mystic tradition, he advocated that ideal living comprised purification of the self from the filth of worldly pursuits. This was possible by embracing poverty (faqr) and renunciation (tawakkul). By doing so, one would shed anger, jealousy, greed and vanity and find ways for complete identification with the divine. The dargah of Hazrat Chishti at Ajmer is a major Muslim pilgrimage spot and even Hindus offer prayers to seek his blessings.

In the beginning of the 13th century when Rajasthani, Gujarati and other regional languages were in a nascent stage, moral and ethical values also gained prominence, with the result that both Hindu and Muslim saints got an opportunity to preach against the evils prevalent in Rajasthani society. Influenced by the teachings of the saints, the mystic poets of Rajasthan preached that "there is nothing mysterious about mysticism.

The only proximate means of union with God is faith, and no vision, no revelation, however sublime, is worth the smallest act of faith in His eyes."

In the galaxy of the immoral mystic poets of Rajasthan, Meera is the brightest star. She expresses the pangs of her separation from God in the following striking words:

Kadhi Kaleja main dharun,

Tu Kaua le jai,

Jyan desan pi basant hai,

Va dekhat tu khai.

She firmly believes that only a mystic can feel the pulse of love. She says:

Dube so bole nahin, bole so anjaan,

Gehro prem-samundran, kou dube chatur-sujan.

Regarding the concept of mysticism, Meera excels from among all other poets. She sings:

Nainan banaj basaun re,

Je main sahib ko paun,

In nainan mera sahib baso,

Darda palak na lagaun.

Dadu was also a great mystic poet-saint of Rajasthan. He is worshipped in the same manner as Hindus and Sikhs worship Guru Arjan Dev, the fifth Sikh Guru, in Punjab. Dadu sings:

Preet to mere peev ki baithi pinjar mai,

Rom rom pivu pivu kare, Dadu dusar nai,

Pritam kun patiyan likhun, jo kahun huya bides,

Tan mein, man mein, nain mein, toko kaha sandes.

The concept of "prem-tava" as expressed by Dadu is the hallmark of the mystic poetry of Rajasthan. He sings:

Jab man lage syam syun, anat kahe ko jaye,

Dadu pani loon jyun, aise rahe samai.

Habib Khan is another mystic poet, who like Baba Sheikh Farid of Punjab, expressed his love for God in not only simple but impressive language.

Significantly, both Habib Khan and Kazi Mohammad never made use of erotic symbolism in their verses. Their thought was essentially mystical. Habib Khan writes:

Ajhun na aye syam, murjhani man mein,

Kahat Habib Khan,

Kaise dharun dhir dhyan,

Saravan ghav kino,

Phari-phari tan mein.

Kazi Mohammad goes into raptures about the sublime conception of all-conquering love which forms the real basis of worship. He says:

Main niguni gunwanta sai,

Kirpa kari mhara ghar aaee,

Kazi Mohammad garib-gusai,

Danwadol hun thare tai.

In the mystic tradition of Rajasthan, poet Bakhtawar is mentioned with great reverence because he successfully repelled criticism of the Chishtia order by saying that it is complete lack of commonsense if one believes that a mystic professes a hypocritical piety.

He countered by saying that when a mystic poet is thrown into a state of ecstasy, his enchanting verses contain all meaning. Bakhtawar said:

Govind ghadho chhoji dil ka mit,

Iss mit syun prit na kini,

Bahi gae dinra bet,

Jab-jab ai achan gahego,

Karsi bhot fajeet,

Nam ki dhal gahao sir upar,

Bakhtawar sowo nachit.

Poetess Chandrasakhi revolutionised mystic poetry by introducing an ideology differing slightly from that of mystic poets like Pipa, Shah Hussain and Jambhoji. A staunch Prem Margi Chandrasakhi said that God dwells secretly in her breast, and this sweet embrace is made in the depth of the soul. The hurdles that separate the soul from union with God must be removed. She eulogises:

Kod jatan kari bandhyo chhai nehado,

Pritam pyare mhasun nehado nibhavoji,

Sab taj dinyo bala, tharo sang kino,

Pritam drigan syun, dur jin jaoji,

Men thari dasi, syam sukhrasi,

Mohan man syun, mati chitkaoji,

Ber-ber binti hai brij-jan syun,

Chandrasakhi ki ghar began aoji.

The mystic poetry of Rajasthan highlights the various aspects of the Chishtia Sufi order which dominated the religious scene of north India for centuries.

This order is more relevant today than it was in the 12th century India, mainly because the need of the hour is to foster unity among the communities of different faiths to strengthen the roots of secularism and nationalism.