Ch. Banwari Lal Dalal

Chaudhary Banwari Lal was born in 1913. He used to constantly fall sick from childhood.  When he was about 12 years old, he suffered from a severe attack of rheumatism. Thereafter, he hardly regained health and vigour in later life.  However, he was a very intelligent and skillful young man with a strong foresight towards life.  He inherited the administrative qualities of his parents and grandparents, and possessed a deep sense of justice.  He used to adhere to a just cause, with great determination and strong willpower.  The village panchayat always sought his views and respected him for being unbiased.

He was generous and believed in doing social work for the larger interest of the village and the villagers. He also donated a valuable piece of land in the vicinity of the village abadi[1] for the construction of a Chaupal[2] which was held up for years for the want of a suitable site.  Banwari Lal could only do that very easily without taking a prior consent of his parents/elders. The Chaupal was a great asset to the villagers. Even today the villagers remember him for his generosity.  Banwari Lal was a cowboy at a young age for many years. It was his luck, as they say, that in his time all the buffaloes produced she-calves and all cows, he-calves.  The wheat produced under his command and supervision of the ‘Persian Wheel’ produced a record yield.  At times, he used to get annoyed and refused to take meals.  At noon, his mother used to carry special lunch for her son Banwari, after walking a mile and on her appeasement he used to take lunch gladly.  None else could bring him around to take meals.

Chacha Banwari Lal was married to Saraswati Devi from the village of Bijwasan in Delhi State. Her father was a well-known figure in the village and a wealthy farmer. The couple had a son, Ram Singh and a daughter Parmeshwari Devi. Unfortunately, their daughter passed away at a very young age when she was a child.

He once went to meet his relatives at Panchkuian Road in New Delhi where he caught a cholera infection.  So he was brought back to the village where despite continued medical aid and good care, he breathed his last after three days and left for his heavenly abode on 11^th May 1938. This day was Ikadshi which is known to be a very auspicious day.  This came as a sudden shock to all the family members and especially to his grandmother who was very old.  In her long span of life, she witnessed such a tragic event for the first time.

His wife, Saraswati Devi was remarried to his elder brother, Hardwari Lal-II, who was the only son of Dada Roop Chand offered to support the family of his younger brother. So after the lapse of one year of his death, the remarriage was performed as per the Aryan custom of KAREWA (Chadar Andaji) which was in the presence and blessings of all the elders from both families. Thus, Saraswati was again established in her life. This was a real sacrifice made by the elder brother of chacha Banwari Lal.

[1] vicinity

[2] common place for villagers to use