Ch. Rampat Dalal

Chaudhary Rampat, the father of Dada Roop Chand was born in the year 1830 in the village Mehandipur – Dabodha Klan, district Rohtak. He was a well-built person, very industrious, bold and courageous. He was a God-fearing man with a religious bent of mind. He was a practical farmer who was well known in the area for his knowledge of farming and other related aspects of rural life. He used to keep a pair of strong and hefty bullocks and always ensured that they were well fed and maintained good physical health. A pair of bullock could carry a heavy load of 1.5 to 2.0 tons in the bullock cart with wooden wheels from the village to the mandi at Bahadurgarh, which is about six miles.

In the monsoon season, when lands get infested with weeds and the bullocks had to bear extra strain for deep and thorough ploughing for the preparation of Rabi season sowings, he personally looked after the bullocks and gave them special attention by providing productive ration of cotton seed, boiled gram, gur, ghee and lumps of salt. During those days, normal practice was to provide as much as 20 seers of desi ghee to a bullock when young one was put under the yolk for various field operations. He was extra particular in providing proper rest to the young ones during such operations.  The care for keeping the bullocks in good health can be assessed from the fact that he used to keep awake for long hours to collect bullocks urine in a pot fixed to cleft bamboo and sweep the dung with a ‘phara’[1]. As such, the bedding of the bullocks was not allowed to get moist and become uncomfortable to the animals to rest during night hours.

Great grandfather (Pad-Dada) of the Presenter, Chaudhary Rampat was a fearless man and with strong will power.  He used to travel   on foot 40 miles in a day from his village to Rohtak and back, when required to attend the court in a land dispute case.  He used to milk his buffalo early morning before setting out to Rohtak and again milk it late in the evening after returning from there.  So great was his vigour and vitality that rarely anybody could compete with him. Today, it may be unbelievable for younger generation as to how one can travel 40 miles on foot in a day.  He used to take nutritious and wholesome diet. His daily diet included four Chapattis with sizeable amount of butter, some quantity of gur (jaggery) and about two seers of lassi (butter milk) early in the morning   before going to the field.  He used to take one ‘Bassi roti[2]’ with rabri[3] mixed in lassi as a sort of forenoon ‘nashta’ at about 10.30 a.m.  At noon, only two rotis of wheat flour and one green vegetable and some lassi[4] were taken as lunch.  In the night hours (Dinner) he used to take either Rabri with milk or Dalia[5] or Khichri[6] as per the season.  He was also very particular to see that all his grandchildren also received nutritious diet.

Pad-Dada Rampat used to prepare the land so well that the crops gave better yields, which were invariably the highest in the entire village.  Thus, he became prosperous and economically sound to help other villagers in a short period because of his hard work.  He was counted as the most enlightened farmer, who was fully aware as to what crops rotation was to be followed in a particular field, to obtain higher yields.

The standard of farming of Chaudhary Rampat proved a good deal with the sinking of a surface percolation well.  A small side business of purchasing food grains (mostly gram) at the time of harvest of crop at comparatively low rates and selling, later on, at higher rates further enhanced the family income.  In later years, money lending on nominal rate of interest was also started which added to family income substantially. Subsequently, these types of business activities were further expanded and elaborated by his son Roop Chand.

Pad-Dada Rampat was known to be a popular man who was God-fearing and always believed in social justice in the area and a distinguished representative of the Panchayat of Dalal Khap.  He was invited to settle local disputes and controversies not only in the village but in Joint Khap Panchayat of 55 villages (12 villages of Dalal, 24 of Mann, 10 of Deswal and 9 of Sihag or Suhag). He was a man of great moral values with iron muscles and steel nerves who inspired others to follow his examples of a high character, strong will-power, firm determination and social justice.

It is worthwhile to mention here that Ch. Rampat was a special invitee to the Sarva Khap Panchayat Sammelan organized in village Gandhara in the year 1923 where resolutions for reforming the bad and wasteful social customs were adopted after long deliberations.  Chaudhary Chhotu Ram was made representative of the Dalal Khap in this Sammelan.  The credit for this goes to Chaudhary Rampat and his friends, who patronized Chaudhary Chottu Ram.  Later on, 55 villages became part of the constituency of Chaudhary Chhotu Ram from where he was elected as Member of the Punjab Legislative Council.

Pad-Dada Rampat built a number of ‘Piaos’ on road-side for drinking water facility for travellers.  One such Pioa still exists on Badli-Mandhothi road. The land for this ‘Piao’ was donated by a family of adjoining village Silothi for a good cause to serve humanity. He used to visit to this ‘Piao’ very often for offering drinking water himself to the tired travellers. There was also an in-built area to take rest by the travellers. Although at present the Piao is non-functional but the concrete structure with a small water-well (Kui) can be seen even today. This place is very close to our lands. There is an engraved stone indicating that it was built by ‘Jat Rampat of Village Mahandipur Dabodha for his son Roop Chand’. Pad-dada Rampat dedicated his last life-period to help and serve the needy people of the society.

Pad-Dada Rampat left for his heavenly abode at the age of about 90 years in the year 1928.  He forecasted about his death around 12 hours in advance.  On the fateful day, early in the morning he stopped the ploughman from yoking the bullocks, sent Hari Ram (the eldest grandson) on horseback to bring his younger grandson from the school at Bahadurgarh.  There was no mourning in the family in the whole village as Chaudhary Rampat died at a mature age after a very successful career as one of the best farmers of the area.  However, Roop Chand (his only son) was the only exception who was seen weeping in a corner of the room on the upper storey of the old Haveli sobbing and saying as to whom he would consult for guidance in the absence of his father in domestic affairs.  Elderly people consoled him saying that Chaudhary Rampat’s death at such a mature age should not be lamented for.  When the funeral procession started for the cremation ground, it was attended by a very large gathering of people from Mehandipur, Dabodha, Mandothi and other adjoining villages.

Pad-Dada Rampat was really a very fortunate person having seen four generations of his family.  He had desired that his mortal remains be burnt in peepal wood, which was arranged from a dried old peepal tree available in our land. This was used for the purpose. Such peaceful end of a great soul was rarely seen and known in the area.

[1]  A wooden tool, just like wiper to drag cow dung / waste material from one place to another

[2] Left over roti cooked on previous day(s)

[3] Material of partially crushed bajra seeds cooked on slow fire and mixed with butter milk

[4] Butter milk

[5] Partially crushed wheat seeds and cooked on slow fire (porridge)

[6] Cooked mixture of dal and rice seeds on slow fire