Raja Bhadri’s enduring love for canines

Raaja Bhasin

One of the more unusual men to become the Lieutenant Governor of Himachal Pradesh (the position was upgraded to ‘Governor’ after the state was granted full-fledged statehood in 1971), was Raja Bajrang Bahadur Singh of Bhadri or ‘Raja Bhadri’ as he was popularly known. 

The Raja, as the name indicates, belonged to the princely family of Bhadri, which was a ‘talukdari’ in old Awadh – now in UP. The state of Bhadri had had a tumultuous history and most battles and skirmishes had to do with increased revenue demands from its Awadhi overlords and a reluctance to pay these. The last person to hold the title of ‘Raja’ was Bajrang Bahadur Singh, who passed away in 1973. The title as it was, and the estates then passed to the often-in-the-news politician of UP Raghuraj Pratap Singh, who is better known as ‘Raja Bhaiya’. 

In 1955, Raja Bhadri was appointed as the second Lieutenant Governor of Himachal and he held the position till 1963. He was master of several subjects that included aviation, painting, photography and agriculture. He was responsible for creating several aviation clubs in Uttar Pradesh. In Himachal, two things stand out as his legacy – creating the state’s Fisheries Department and raising the first police dog squad. 

He wrote an excellent book on dog training that was published by the state police in 1961. The illustrations of this book were done by Bina ‘Twinkie’ Bragg, who was married to AJ Bragg, an American settled in Shimla. Much of this book was based on notes he had made over the years and discussions he had had with Major JW Goldsmith, who came to India to set up the kennels of the Maharaja of Jind. 

It was during Raja Bhadri’s tenure, that the film ‘Love in Simla’ was shot in town. Starring Joy Mukherjee and Sadhana, the film went on to become a hit. A part of the film crew in Shimla, at the time, was Jimmy Bharucha. His family had once had a business of horse and mule-drawn carts that plied between Mumbai and Mahabaleshwar. Not unexpectedly, Bharucha was an expert animal trainer, who provided horses and dogs to the film industry. The Governor spoke often with Bharucha and they shared experiences in the handling and training of dogs. 

It was Raja Bhadri, who supported the setting up of Himachal’s dog squad. It was two unsolved murder cases that led to its creation. In one, an old couple, living in an isolated house, was killed. In the second, a well-known citizen was murdered in Solan; the police were able to reach the spot within minutes. In both cases, there were ample clues such as the instruments of murder and footprints. Yet, both cases went unsolved. It was after a conversation with Raja Bhadri, in the context of these cases and what could be achieved with canine help, that Indar Singh, head of the state’s police, was convinced of the utility of creating a dog squad. The first canine recruit to the dog squad was a majestic male German Shepherd, who was imported from Ireland and was appropriately named ‘Hero.’ 

Raja Bhadri’s great affection for the canine world was reflected in former PM Jawaharlal Nehru’s majestic Golden Retriever — Madhu. Trained by Raja Bhadri, Madhu would be sent up to Shimla every summer for a ‘refresher course’. Among the Lieutenant Governor’s other canine connections, there was his wife’s Pekinese, who loved grapes, while their Dalmatian enjoyed mango pickle. There was ‘Motu’ who ate the same food as his master, complete with masalas – and as the Raja fasted on Tuesdays, ‘Motu’, too, would not eat.

(The writer is an author, historian and journalist)