Neemuch

Neemuch-- a kaleidoscope of memories

An ordinary town in many ways, *Neemuch in Madhya Pradesh still holds a very special place in my heart. What follows is a recollection of memories associated with the town and its history and growth over the years  which have always interested me.

Neemuch Cantonment, as it was called, when we arrived there in 1935, was not really a Cantonment. The British had established this Cantonment in 1822 by taking on lease about 8 square miles of territory from the then Gwalior State. By the side of the city now called "Neemuch City" the Cantonment was established with Major David Ochterlony as the first Commandant. He got built and lived for sometime in what is now CRPF Mess. Subsequently due to some differences with the Governor General at Delhi he resigned and moved to Meerut where he died in 1825 and is buried in the cemetery there. The Ochterlony Column at Calcutta Maidan commemorates his name. When the meter gauge rail track was laid in 1880, the Cantonment lay in between Neemuch City and the Railway station. If you study the rail alignment in the map you see how rail alignment has been steadily turned from Ratlam to reach the present Railway Station of Neemuch.

Cantonment officials relied upon a few shops in that 8 square miles of lease area mainly to serve their needs for groceries and provisions and allowed a few bungalows to come up with investment from private parties. The Cantonment was disbanded in 1935 and the barracks were left empty. So were the various bungalows built by private investors to house the army officers. Naturally, in the 1857 uprising Neemuch must have played its part but that's another story.

The town had no electricity or water supply in the 1930s. Water was generally transported through bullock carts and supplied as a private arrangement while kerosene lamps provided light in homes. At the principal intersections of roads there were installations of a few kerosene gas lamps and as a daily ritual a lamp lighter, appointed by the town authority, used to bicycle down to lower the lamps and raise them back after lighting them up. It was something, we as children, used to love to watch. But there were good roads, though not tar, and the main mode of transport was through horse drawn carriages available in the city. For individuals, bicycle was a popular vehicle. There were only three cars in the entire town, all belonging to one Englishman the Officer-in-Charge of the Govt. Opium Factory. With the raising of the Crown Representative Police (CRP) in 1939 more cars arrived in the town and an officer named Churcher got even a small plane! The plane crashed one day in the open spaces but luckily he survived.

There was a primary school and a middle school up to eighth grade and that was all the education available in the city. For further education one had to travel to the nearest district town of Mandsaur about thirty miles away or to other destinations. The city did have a municipality to look after the roads, sanitation, public health and such needs. There was a small hospital headed by a qualified doctor with only a LMP diploma. There is an interesting incident about it. Once my father took me there for some minor ailment and found the doctor sitting idle. As there was no queue we walked in and my father greeted the doctor with his remark 'How is it there are no patients?'. The doctor was prompt in his reply "The town is healthy, not my fault"

In spite of above shortfalls the town could boast of an open air fair weather cinema for entertainment some thing present day generations would find it hard to imagine leave aside would want to enjoy. One could see a romantic full moon scene on the screen as also a full Moon up in the sky. It had four grades of seats for the customers. The lowest and naturally nearest to the screen was a Durrie right on the ground with a ticket of one Anna. Next were Benches for two Annas and then Chairs for four Annas and for the elite and Sahibs were Mondha for 8 Annas. The movie was shown with a single projector and therefore, with the running out of each spool there had to be a break of show and lights were put on. Simultaneously, one could hear outside Channa Jor Garam, Khasta Moongfali, Thanda Meetha Lemonade and Chai Garam with adjectives like Bey Nashe Ki Pyali Dil Khush Karne Wali Chai Sab Ki Pyari Garma Garam Chai Hamari etc. The cinea was run by one Parsi gentleman Shapoor Ji Tavaria and his younger brother Bhika Ji Tavaria used to take classes in physical training in the middle school. He was a good Referee too in football matches, known to be one without any alignments and naturally enjoyed confidence of all.

Another well known land mark of this little town was the Protestant Cemetery which is the final resting place of many dignitaries of their time including the grand daughter of the discoverer of the source of Nile. Many graves have marble imported from Italy.

Though small, as a town of 10,000, Neemuch had the reputation of being elite in the area perhaps because of the presence of the British for well over a hundred years. Although subsequently abandoned by the military, the city was destined to keep its pre-eminent position well into the future. First the Govt. of India established the Opium processing factory here in 1935 and then in 1939, when the British Govt. was looking for accommodation to raise the Crown Representatives Police the empty barracks in Neemuch were the natural choice. One battalion comprising of five companies of 200 each was the start up of the CRP though these letters now stand for the Central Reserve Police.

As a result of the establishment of the CRP in 1939, the town again started bustling with activity. This forward march of the city never stopped. In the 1940s the adjoining area towards Jawad was surveyed by the ACC for limestone deposits mainly through the efforts of Shri Sitaram Jajoo but it took another forty years for a cement plant to be established. The Nayagoan cement plant was commissioned on Basant Panchmi day in January 1980. The main reason for the delay was  the reluctance of the Railways then to make a commitment for the movement of cement loads. But the limestone deposits proved their worth by forcing the Railways to agree to bring the broad gauge line to this area and thus Neemuch was linked to Kota.

The opening of the Opium Factory at Neemuch in 1935 presented another challenge. There were no banks in the city and the Opium Factory had no retail sales to receive funds but it needed money for day-to-day operations and for payment of salaries to staff. One of the leading financiers of the town, M/s Premsukh Shyamsukh offered to help out by agreeing to provide funds to the Opium Factory and collect cheques in their favor from the Residency at Indore.

Continuing its forward march the city acquired the status of District Headquarters in Nine-tees. Neemuch District of Madhya Pradesh was established on June 30th, 1998 comprising three Tehsils of Neemuch, Jawad and Manasa with  headquarters at Neemuch. ( between the parallels of latitude 240 .15 - 240.35 North, and between the meridians of longitude 740 45 - 750 37 East.) Total area : 3875 square kilometers. Population:  7,25,457. Elevation: 452 M (1483 ft) 
Today Neemuch is known as India's eye-donor capital as it accounts for the highest per capita eye donation rate in the country.

The Malwa Plateau

Malwa,  is a plateau of volcanic origin (area over 30,000 sq. km) in the western part of Madhya Pradesh State and south-eastern Rajasthan. The following districts are in this area. Dewas, Dhar, Indore, Jhabua, Mandsaur, Neemuch, Rajgarh, Ratlam, Shajapur, Ujjain, and parts of Guna and Sehore, and the Rajasthan districts of Jhalawar and parts of Banswara and Chittorgarh Average elevation of the Malwa plateau is about 500 metres, and the landscape generally slopes towards the north. With Indore 550 M, Neemuch 452 M and Bhilwara only 100 M shows how the Malwa Plateau gently slopes Northwards.
Neemuch town is situated, close to the border with Rajasthan, at the edge of the Plateau that gently merges into the plains of Rajasthan.

The Moguls are reported to have been so enchanted by the cool breeze during  summer nights of Malwa region that in summing up their impressions of  Hindustan they said "Subh-o-Banares, Shame-e-Awadh, Shub-e-Malwa !"


  * The area of Neemuch originally belonged to Udaipur State. The following write up is from Internet.

"The city site was the location of a palace in the district of the Ajmer province. Originally a part of the territory of Udaipur State, it was given to the **Scindias in 1768 to pay of debts incurred by the Rana (King) of Mewar.After that it became a British Cantonment of the Gwalior Princely State, except for the short periods in 1794 and 1844. 
The Neemuch Cantonment played a significant role in the Indian Mutiny (1857-58) and was the centre of disturbance in Malwa. The city became the Head Quarters of Malwa Agency, a sub division of the British Central India Agency, in 1895." 

**NB. It is for this reason that in 1930s the Neemuch town was connected to the state capital Gwalior by a bus service called G N I T. (Gwalior & North India Transport) These buses also plied in Delhi in those times as city transport. TOP