Col Satish Singh Lalotra
‘The old order changeth yielding place to new and God fulfills himself in many ways lest one good custom should corrupt the world’—-Alfred, Lord Tennyson.
Though I have been writing for quite some time on myriad subjects that fancy my sight or past / present experience which have crossed my path in the course of my personal or professional life, it is with a sense of anticipation that I am touching this hitherto relatively untouched topic which though visible to many of us has been pushed to the backburner. The relative ease and incongruity simultaneously of archaic and outmoded lifestyles co-existing with that of contemporary ones in the ‘City of temples’ aka Jammu is what baffles me the most. The fact that this co-existence of outmoded lifestyles, long lost social mores, practices bordering on the bizarre with that of ultra-modern lifestyles espousing the emerging aspirations of a neo-rich class of people in the ‘city of temples’ has much for the social scientists to mull upon and figure out the way the ‘Social reengineering’ is being effected in this part of the UT of J&K. Hence the prime reason for my touching this all too ubiquitous topic, but yet hidden from the prying eyes of the public. The present effort of mine is primarily to get to the so called ‘Cross -roads’ of modernity and the antiquity found obtained in the city of temples. The year of 1991 under the prime ministership of late PV Narsimha Rao was a watershed in the lives of countless Indians who were ushered into the LPG (Liberalization, privatization and Globalization) regime that was further given a fillip by his redoubtable finance minister Dr Man Mohan Singh in all his sincerity. The advent of LPG doctrine in turn ushered in a culture of ‘consumerism’ in the Indian masses that hitherto were smug in their own world of restricted marketing practices. Though the city of Jammu was tad slow in catching up with the rest of the country in matters concerning consumerism, but then a host of factors viz an exploding population, stress on the living spaces, both horizontal and vertical expansion of the city limits, an increased shifting population, opening up of the market to outside forces, a decartelization of transport business as well as that of a concerted push by the Central Government to make the winter capital a valued destination in terms of business opportunities have had an environment that pushed the aspirational levels of the people to astronomical limits.
It is no secret that the primary source of conflict involving cultural or religious identities are the ‘de facto’ harbingers for ‘Clash of civilizations’. The American political scientist ‘Samuel P Huntington’ in his seminal work as mentioned above has theorized that future conflict cum fault lines will be based on the above premise; and the ability to bridge the above fault lines will test our ‘Salience’ in maintaining a modicum of societal balance on a much larger scale. The ‘City of temples’ aka Jammu, off late has been experiencing this typical ‘Clash of civilizations’ that encompass a bevy of activities, places, way of life etc. Seeped in traditionalist way of leading their lives, the masses of Jammu have been bombarded with an onslaught of ultra-fast paced facets of their existence ranging from an exposure to typical ‘Nine to five’ jobs that demand quick on the move decisions to eat, travel and reach office at the appointed time to spending their leisure time. This called for a revolutionized road systems with an equally fast way of commuting. The roads of Jammu which were on the brink of getting on the nerves of the commuters have now been given a total face lift accompanied with a state of the art fly overs, over bridges, by passes etc.
This was just not possible a few decades back, when the narrow serpentine roads of the city were clogged with an equally antiquated transport system consisting of old tempos, horse driven tongas, cycle rickshaws, bullock carts and the ilk. The proverbial ‘Icing on the cake’ which proved the coming of age of transport system of Jammu was all too evident recently when innovative e-autos, and e-rickshaws part of the JSCP ( Jammu smart city project) won the ‘National award of excellence in urban transport ‘ at the’17 th Urban mobility India conference and expo- 2024’ held in Gandhi Nagar , Gujarat .The award conferred by union minister for housing and urban affairs , ML Khattar recognizes the project in the category of ‘City with most innovative financing mechanism’. What more stamp of approval of a revolutionized system of transport could be spoken of than conferring of this prestigious award on Jammu? Approximately 800 low income families in Jammu are benefitting from this green initiative. CEO of JSCL (Jammu smart city limited) Dr Devansh Yadav along with his team received the award. Dr Yadav’s refrain was directed at three key objectives while receiving this award -providing economical end -mile connectivity, promoting pollution free transportation and enhancing employment opportunities for low income families. Now compare these high voltage achievements with the milieu of the bygone decades of decadence of transportation in Jammu. Just not comparable. But then there are certain outlying areas of Jammu city where still the outmoded models of transport (read tongas, tempos etc) are doing rounds. This is what one would call meeting point of archaic with the contemporary – so very seamlessly stitched in the overall mosaic of Jammu city.
The burgeoning population of the city had its first brush of non-resident Jammuites , when in the early 1990s it experienced the influx of KPs (Kashmiri Pandits) from across the Pir Panjal mountains reeling under the onslaught of militancy. The city never remained the same thereafter. Every other nook and cranny of the city was under the resident ship of these hapless people who even defined new limits of the city by settling at places that were hitherto ignored. It prompted the city planners of Jammu to rejig their mathematics and extend the civic amenities to these areas thus making possible new settlements come into existence which overshadowed the traditional living spaces of this city of temples. The old settlements of Jammu had equally old and archaic names to go by. Names like ‘Fattu Chaugan’ , Purani Mandi, Pakki Dhaki ,Gummat , Peer Kho had a halo about themselves which boasted their linkages to the Dogra royals of the bygone era. Even today these settlements have an air hanging about themselves which give a whiff of times long gone by, with many of the people living in these places refusing to unclog their associations with the times now confined to pages of Dogra history. Juxtaposed with the new high rises that boasts of both horizontal and vertical expansion in areas across the river Tawi , only accentuates the inevitable— the clash of civilizations. Even today a passerby can spot tarot card readers based on parrots, half-baked quacks claiming mastery in dentistry displaying their wares on the road leading to ‘Gummat’ trying to entice them with all their aplomb. The fact that even in this day and age these quacks are doing a roaring business speaks volumes about the unflinching faith and unwavering resolve that these people have had on the mental firmament of the locals. A perfect example of co-existence cum confluence of archaic with the contemporary. It further proves that even toady the constant media bombardment by ‘manufacturing Mughals’ has failed to unhinge some of the time tested tenets of living in the minds of the masses of Jammu city.
The spread of the ‘Mall culture’ in this city of temples is another facet that has driven masses from their chosen places of shopping like the iconic ‘Raghunath Bazar’ and ‘link road’ in the city’s center to that of the burgeoning malls which are now a staple choice with the young generation to splurge their money. Spoilt for choice , the so called ‘Generation Next’ never had so good to fulfill their ‘Bucket of choice’ ,that off course has had some adverse effects on the long standing ‘customer – shopkeeper’ relation built on the anvil of years of trust, bonhomie, mutual respect and more value for their money. The fact that these malls are spreading a quick sense of gratification ,with most of the times the above mentioned qualities missing from their wares as well as marketing strategy has seeped into the psyche of the younger lot too ; who have willy nilly imitated these values of instant gratification in their personal and professional lives too. This loss of personal contact between a prospective buyer and seller is the most precious ‘transactional loss’ which often is reflective in our today’s society too. A typical side kick of this emerging mall culture has been the sky rocketing prices of the real estate in Jammu city (more often than inflated) leading to nefarious designs by the builders to indulge in encroachments on government lands , obfuscating the details from the prospective buyers thus duping them of their hard earned money. A vicious circle of gratification which has no beginning and end in sight. But despite these inroads by the modern consumerists , the ‘bastion of palate’ is still retained by some age old names like ‘Pahalwan di Hatti’ & ‘Billu di Hatti’ who have no equals in churning out some of the most mouthwatering delicacies this side of river Ravi. This popularity of old eating hubs over the sprouting new ones in the city goes to prove the ‘Discerning nature’ of a consumer who doesn’t bat an eyelid while loosening his /her purse strings to get what he or she wants.
As if the above developments are not enough, the authorities too have realized to give a total facelift to the city of temples yet retaining its pride of place that defines this centuries old bastion of Dogra land. The Jammu master plan and ‘Smart Jammu city project’ with the sole objective-‘Of the people, for the people and by the people’ which is an epitome of sustainable and healthy living and a city where ‘happiness quotient’ reigns supreme is the new buzz word. Vertical gardens ( KC Chowk to Dogra Chowk) , refuse compactors, signage and way finding, smart Aganwadi centers, cycle tracks , façade lighting illumination of Bahu fort, TRF (Tawi river front), cable car are some of the new facets that would put a new spring in the gait of Jammuites. And why not? It was not for nothing that Lord Tennyson stated-‘The old order changeth yielding place to new and God fulfills himself lest one good custom should corrupt the world’. It is but natural that a cacophony would rise when old meets the new, but herein lies the sagacity and resilience of the people of Jammu to accept the both with a sense of equanimity to convert this cacophony into a symphony.
(The writer is a retired army officer.)
Follow our WhatsApp channel
