Ghumakkar Interview : In an insightful chat with Rakesh Bawa

Rakesh Bawa is probably the only true ‘Professor‘ Featured Author on Ghumakkar in recent times. I know that Reema is (or was) a Lecturer but I do not remember anyone who has been a ‘Featured Author’. Now when you are going to interview a ‘Prof’, you should be fully aware of what you are getting into. Usually it is the other way round. What I try to do once every month i.e. asking questions, probably Rakesh is doing many times every day i.e. giving answers. I did need special preparation which I must shamelessly confess of doing none. In the backlanes of Ghumakkar editing hub, we have this monthly ‘Editorial Meeting’ and this so-called phobia didn’t stop our editorial panel lead, Archana, to nominate Rakesh as our ‘Featured Author for July 2013’. So be it. I have read all of his stories. I have also interacted with him over email, so many of times. Unlike the last time, when our ‘Featured Author of June 2013’, Abhee, was ‘Saat Samundar Paar’ (across 7 oceans) , Rakesh is just a few shouts away, at saada (our) Jallandhar. “Then what is this fuss all about?”, I tell myself and picked the phone. As I waited for him to answer, I remembered that he often addresses me as ‘Captain’. I am at 99 posts now and this is my best chance to not falter and reach the coveted mark.

Presenting Rakesh Bawa in an insightful chat with Ghumakkar.

At famous Kangra shrine, 8 October 2000

Ghumakkar: Congratulations Rakesh for being our ‘Featured Author for July 2013’. I hope you are enjoying your time out here.
Rakesh: Thank you Captain. I feel privileged to be chosen as the featured author of the month. And yes, I am fully enjoying my time here.

Ghumakkar: How did you find Ghumakkar? Was it through a Google search? When was it?
Rakesh: I was planning a vacation and was searching on the net when I hit onto Ghumakkar. I think it was a log on Mathura or Vrindavan. Then I read more.

Ghumakkar: Do you remember the authors or the stories? I think they would be very happy to know.
Rakesh: I am not 100% sure on the story but I do remember, reading logs of Sandeep Panwar and Sahil Sethi. These two names that come on top.

Ghumakkar: Both of them are not active here. But it is interesting to note that how you leave legacies. Of the two, Sahil joined us very early and was one of the prolific writers. I sometimes get a mail or two from him.
Rakesh: Great to know. You are right. I think when we write, it is not only for ourselves but it also impacts a lot of other people who read you.

Ghumakkar: And what prompted you to write here?
Rakesh : My wife and daughter motivated me to write also so it happened with my Rajasthan series though I was always apprehensive about it.

Ghumakkar: How was the reaction from the community on your first few logs? Did you wait for comments?
Rakesh: The response was indeed great, as they say, the response to first piece of publishing an article is a moment of joy for anyone. I waited for  comments, frankly speaking, but was not too excited for it. I still remember without looking back, that the first comment I got was from Sushant Ji and from you Captain sahib. Sushant Ji told me not to worry about Maruti 800 as it was signature vehicle of the company. All the readers comments were valuable.

Ghumakkar: After the Rajasthan series, you followed it up with a long and rich series on Kashmir. What kept you on?
Rakesh: I liked the format. I think it is a great mix of personal experience as well as information about a place. It is addictive and enriching.

Ghumakkar: Was this your first serious writing? What about in your younger days?
Rakesh: I was not hooked to serious travelling in my schooling stage or even during my college days. Books and All India radio ki Urdu service were my constant companions. I still believe that those voices on Urdu service of Mariam Kazmi, Tahira Niazi and Ahmed Zaki still lingers on in my ear. But as the time changed, internet became popular, I also got hooked to it and found it to be a treasure of knowledge and entertainment.

Ghumakkar: But you do have a flair ? No? Something tells me that you wanted to write.
Rakesh: Hehe. Frankly , I know that I could write but was not confident. The stories, the encouragement, the love which I got filled that gap. You know my ultimate dream is to write a bestseller as I am very much into reading fiction and biographies and anthologies. I dream of writing a book but often think that if it wont get published. Now as far as writing is concerned, this site has become part and parcel of life, a necessary thing, dear.

Ghumakkar: Wishes for you best seller. A lot of us Ghumakkar authors dream of getting published some day. Insha Allah. May be one day, Ghumakkar would be able to at least publish a hard bound book chronicling best stories of a place or a region or some such thing.
Rakesh: Insha Allah.

Ghumakkar: One of the things we try to do through these interaction is to know our Authors more and my attempt is to further share with our readers on what I discover. In simpler words we want to know more about your personal life.
Rakesh: Please go ahead. I am prepared. Actually when I read the interviews, I am also looking more about the person. hehe.

Ghumakkar: You are currently at Jullundhar in Punjab. Were you always here ?
Rakesh: My surname surmises that I am a Punjabi with Punjab as my birth state. I was not in Jallandhar from the beginning. To be specific I was born in the pious city of Sri Amritsar in a locality near to Harmandir Sahib and Jallianwala Bagh.

Ghumakkar: Indeed, Amritsar or Ambarsar is the crown jewel of Sikh pilgrimage. How long you were there before you moved out ?
Rakesh: My father Late Sh T.S. Bawa was in a bank job (highly transferable) so my Ghumakkari you can say started at quite early age if you ever call it Ghumakkari and as per his job requirement I stayed at various places like Abohar, Merrutt, Mathura, Faridabad, Moga and Chandigarh with the longest stay at Moga (Punjab) with where majority of my schooling took place  till 9th class.

Ghumakkar: I think this is true for a lot of us where they moved along with their parents. Please also tell us about your siblings.
Rakesh: I am the youngest of my siblings with my elder sisters and elder brother being married while I was still in schooling age.

With Savita, my wife, and Kids

At Gurgaon, Sister’s home

Ghumakkar: So no sibling fighting then. What kept you busy in your younger days?
Rakesh: I developed an everlasting interest in books from quite an early age . I still remember my eldest sister gifting me a set of Amar Chitra Katha when I was in 3rd class.

Ghumakkar: Well, my wife has hundreds of ACK, neatly bound together and very proudly displayed on our book shelf. So you finished your class IX in Moga. Then what ?
Rakesh: Finally, I did my matriculation and graduation from Chandigarh. After that I finished by my post graduation and M.Phil from H. P. University SHIMLA . This institution helped in grooming me to a large extent. I happened to clear the eligibility test for lectureship in my first attempt . My brother-in-law , who has retired since was a Professor in department of Chemistry there. I used to stay with my sister and sometimes in the hostel along with friends.

Pavani as a new born baby

Ghumakkar: Were you a studious kind?
Rakesh: No, I was not a scholar kind of a person, never, as I believed in holistic education, more busy in generalised education, an interdisciplinary approach with varied interests in different subjects. I was a student of History but was found more in literature section and sometimes philosophy section. This kind of approach, some may criticise but I was like this only. All this helped me in coming in contact with theatre personalities, doing plays, conducting quiz programs in the main auditorium, winning laurels in debates and quizzes(my specialty was hindi films of bygone era).

Conducting stage at my former work place

Ghumakkar: Tell us about your pursuits in Theatre. Any juicy experiences, which you still vividly remember?
Rakesh: I  got into firstly reading about theater personalities and read a lot about Habib Tanveer, Girish Karnad etc., read their plays. In Chandigarh I used to visit SPIC-MACAY, an organisation to promote classical music and culture. The organisation used to hold programmes in Punjab university Chandigarh. In Chandigarh there is deptt. of Indian theater which used to hold plays in its open theater. There I got influenced by theater personalities like Neelam Man Singh Ji whom I saw working there.

Ghumakkar: Yes, Spic Macay was very active in ‘University of Delhi’ as well. Infact for one of the ‘North Zone Fests’, back in 1994, a large contingent from DU was in Chandigarh . I was part of the theatre group from Kirori Mal College. I was pretty impressed with the overall infrastructure. So did this continue post college?
Rakesh: Yes. When I joined H.P. university Shimla, I simply auditioned for the plays to be held during annual function and student organisations functions and did 7-8 plays there during that stint, not more. But I was more a part of their Quiz team and Debate team which I used to enjoy more as I was a good quiz master to be sure, if not perfect and was highly influenced by Siddhart Basu’s programme Quiz Time. During the University days, I once interacted with Vijay Kashyap ji, the theater personality and local theater artists .

I remember one name, Deven. Nothing specific or any juicy titbit about those days except for long rehearsals and endless cups of tea in dhabas.  A great influence on me , those days was of Prof. A.R. Khan, who is no more. He was an eminent historian though I was not his student as he taught medieval India whereas I was student of modern India. Simla is famous for Indian Institute of Advanced Studies and I and him used to go strolling there from campus discussing intricacies of history.

At Simla – College Friends

Ghumakkar: Those were the days. For us, it was the college auditorium and later the canteen at Sri Ram Centre, Delhi. Let’s move on, before I get started. Game for a trivial music quiz, if you allow me to.
Rakesh: Please go ahead. Its been a while but I am game.

Ghumakkar: Tell me a hindi movie song where Rafi, Kishore and Mukesh, the three legends, worked together and lent their voices to three stars.
Rakesh: Captain, quite easy that one, Hamko Tumse Ho Gaya Hai Pyaar, Kya Karen. Not only the three legends but this song also features Lata Ji, who sang for all the three leading ladies.

Now, can I ask you a couple of questions if u allow me?

Ghumakkar: Please go ahead. I am game.
Rakesh: First an easy one, name the movie and the song having same lyrics , for which Kishore Da and Rafi saahab lent their voices.

Ghumakkar: Hehe. ‘Tum Bin Jaaon Kahan, Ki Duniya mein wake’. It is from ‘Pyar Ka Mausam’, music by RD. And it always leads to the famous debate on who is better and so on and so forth. I was a Kishore Fan and it took me many many years to understand that we are so piddly folks to even earn the right to debate on ‘Who was the greatest’. Now I find Rafi’s free, effortlessly-perfect singing much more soothing. Anway, second question please.

Rakesh: So now a difficult one, Who was the music director of movie Anuradha.
Ghumakkar: Hmm. No idea. I am guessing that it won’t be a mainstream music director.

Rakesh: It was Pandit Jee. Pt. Ravi Shankar. One of the rare films where he was a music director.
Ghumakkar: Thank you.

Ghumakkar: Books, Music, Theatre. What else ?
Rakesh: I am a a cricket enthusiast also with sometimes watching even English county season also… Actually I want to get the maximum from life in almost every field, whether I become specialist of something or not, it doesn’t bother me. I personally feel that people do doctorates in almost every subject,  become doctors in field of literature, history, engineering and all other subjects but apart from financial incentives in their careers.. have these degrees helped the society get better? NO! STRICTLY NO… Then are those persons who are not the “scholars”, a lot  better, who are doing their bit working for the less privileged and under privileged?

and Captain I am just 43 , my salt and pepper beard is a mirage. hehe.

Ghumakkar: Oh, really. I was wanting to ask this but was not sure whether it would be appropriate. So after M.Phil, where did you begin your professional life ?
Rakesh: During my M.Phil only my research guide helped me in getting a temporary job at Kotkhai, Distt Simla, a small hamlet famous for apple orchards where after 2 months of service , I became permanent, thus starting my career as a teacher in the college. Kotkhai was a beautiful place to live in for those who wanted to live in serene surroundings. You shall be surprised to know that the town resembled just like a locality of any big city and everyone almost knew about other persons by name. Job was permanent there but what I felt personally was that growth in the career was minimalist there and other type of exposure that is needed for kids and yourself was somewhat missing besides the reason that basically me and my wife were from Punjab added to the reason of shifting my base. Some unforeseen circumstances  also played a role of catalyst and finally spending 9 fruitful years in Himachal Pradesh, I came to Jalandhar and joined as a lecturer at Daroli Kalan near Jalandhar.

My workplace now, Guru Nanak Khalsa college, Daroli Kalan with Principal, Dr. Sahib Singh

As they say, you can not fight with your destiny,  just flow with the time like river is the best Sutra and I also believe in this. Never ever try to turn the odd,s but to strive hard in the direction provided to me.

Ghumakkar: So how long you have been in Jallandhar now and who else is there in your immediate family ?
Rakesh: I am at Jalandhar residing here for last 10 years. I have two daughters. My elder daughter , Bhakti is studying in 12th class and the younger one Pavani is in KG . Bhakti is more travel oriented whereas Pavani is more Doremon oriented. My wife originally belonged to this place only. She has done her M.Com but is now fully devoted to the growing up of kids. For sometime she had been a working woman at Kotkhai in a school.

Ghumakkar: And what do you teach ?
Rakesh: As per as my job is concerned I try to teach the subtle points of History to my students but as our education system is more of an examination system, History gets limited to 15-20 important questions with due apologies to all Historians. This is the practical situation. Humanities are taking a back seat and this is a dangerous trend I feel. With all respect towards technical subjects, we need Humanities also and a job market favoring those subjects too.

Shaktipeeth – Sri Devi Talaab Mandir at Jalandhar

Ghumakkar: Wishes. Tell us more about Jallandhar. I do not think there is even a single post on places in Jalandhar.
Rakesh: Jalandhar is the center point of Doaba belt of Punjab. As Punjab is divided into 3 main belts, Malwa, Majha and Doaba with Jalandhar being the hub of Doaba area situated between rivers Beas and Sutlej. It is the main media hub of Punjab with many newspapers being published here and also fast becoming education hub of Punjab. Along with Amritsar and Ludhiana it is among top 3 cities of Punjab in area and population. A specific feature of Jalandhar is that this belt is called NRI belt as per the craze of people to settle abroad.

Now Jalandhar as such is not a tourist place if one takes this word tourism seriously . The city can boast of Science city (about 16 km ), Sri Devi Talaab mandir and one or two parks along with Sodal Mandir where annual Mela is a regular feature. Punjab , as a tourism destination, lacks somewhere I feel and an aggressive marketing is the need of the hour. Apart from Chandigarh (U.T) and Amritsar, other cities of Punjab have very few footfall. It is a culture rich state but I feel that we attach the word culture more with states like Bengal, Gujarat, Orissa somewhat due to their marketing in this fields and some due to genuine reasons.

Bada Imambada in Lucknow

At Vaishno devi pilgrimage

At Ramoji film city, Hyderabad

At SajjanGarh Palace

Ghumakkar: I think some bit of rural tourism is catching up here. I did visit a placed called, ‘Kikar Lodge’, few years back in the backlands of ‘Ropar’ (or Roopnagar). May be more such places would come up.

Ghumakkar: So this family of four plans a lot before going out on a vacation ?
Rakesh: My style of Ghumakkari is not very specific . It is very unorganized as far as I am concerned. Where to go in the vacations is a very tricky question in our family and the decision is often taken by throwing the coin (Sholay style) or slip system with Pavani picking up the slip. Nandan, this happens really, we are like this only and if we are travelling by car, destination is chosen only one week before the actual trip.

Ghumakkar: Do you and other members of the family prefer going by car? Your Rajasthan trip was in your car and for your Kashmir trip, you travelled again by road.
Rakesh: I prefer travelling in railways and second choice is by car where as it is vice versa in case of Savita. But how many states one can visit from Punjab in car is the argument we often have. But still lately we are doing Ghumakkari in our Maruti 800 and that salso surprises people, What? Maruti 800? Why not? Is that not a car? May be I’ll change after some years but now it is our dear companion. All the packing stuff and preparation for Ghumakkari is done by wife and daughter with me taking responsibility of driving only.

Ghumakkar: What kind of places excite you more ? Rajasthan was heritage whereas Kashmir was natural beauty.
Rakesh: We are not very specific about the destination to visit still wherever I go I make it a point to know the local culture there and not to visit modern places as a preference (say malls, multiplexes, shopping plazas). My dream is to cover as many places of India as I can, God willing.

I was very happy along with my family members exploring Ahmedabad through heritage walk. One thing we always do is to relish street food and local dishes during our days in that city, for sure. As strictly vegetarian family, we relished Fafdas, Khakhras, and Bhakar waris in Gujarat. I believe in the dictum that to know a place closely roam about like wanderers by foot inh the streets. Adventurous trips like Praveen Ji takes is a strictly no for me as I always go with my family so those trips not happen.

During Heritage walk in ahmedabad

Ghumakkar: Very well said. I think if we just stick to ‘Points of Interest’ and just do the ritual of visit, click a photograph and run back to our cars then probably we are missing few things. What are some of the destinations, you have been to ?
Rakesh: I have visited so far and those are not so many places. I have visited Hyderabad, Gulbarga, Bidar, Amritsar, Ayodhya, Mumbai, Lucknow, almost whole of Himachal Pradesh, Kaashmir valley, Ahmedabad, GandhiNagar, Amba Ji, Mount Abu, Udaipur, Ajmer, Jaipur, Nathdwara, Chittorgarh, Delhi, Mussorie, Haridwar, Rishikesh, Chandigarh, Jammu, Mathura and Vrindavan.

At Chamunda Devi Shrine

A mesmerising view of Dalhousie

A glimpse of Mussorie

Ghumakkar: And if you have to choose one among top which really had a lasting impact on you, then which one ?
Rakesh: I am mesmerised by the beauty of Udaipur. Its serene and calm ambience with a lot of things in store for tourists make it as my fav. destination till now, till other places come in my Radar

Ghumakkar: Where next ?
Rakesh: Central India as my next destination perhaps, if coin permits…

Ghumakkar: Indeed. Ensure that on both sides of coin, you have the same thing. Sholay Style. hehe. Coming back to Ghumakkar. Who are some of your favourite authors ?
Rakesh: You shouldn’t have asked me this question, Captain, as I can’t be diplomatic and my forthrightness would not look nice… hahaha. I’ll answer this question in a different manner as I can categorize some of the authors on the basis of their writing style and the posts which I read instantly. Otherwise, everyone is here to give something to the readers and they all have to be encouraged and motivated, I feel.

Sushant Singhal Ji… appreciate for his deep insight of photography skills a la a professor of some renowned photography training school but frankly I have gone through all his posts except photography one as I felt as a backbench-er in this respect.

Praveen Wadhwa Ji… for his travelogues which seems to be too good to be true. I sometimes wonder whether that is a fiction or travelogue.

Abheeruchi Ji… for her methodical way of putting the things on paper…. may be called as Rahul Dravid of this field.

Nirdesh Ji… for making history so interesting even for me.

Amitava Ji for his insight into Bengali culture which I deeply like through subtitled movies of Satyajit Ray and Bengali literature.

So I mean to say that everyone has been there to give something. Some of the names here only….among all the writers of Ghumakkar whom I don’t miss, and yourself, I look into as mentor in this field and Archana Ji for producing beautiful editorial write ups is laudable. Thumbs up for everyone……..

Ghumakkar: When we write as an author, I think we have to follow a certain code of conduct. Without sounding preachy, would you want to suggest few things.
Rakesh: I would go back to the discussion we had in the beginning of the interview. I liked the logs because there was a good balance between personal travel experience as well as about the character of the place. One should be able to read my log and benefit from it. If I writing my own personal story, it may be good to read but it may not be useful. If I am writing my stay at a particular city then it should have some facts, useful information around what to do, what not to do, what I did and so on. If it become my own long story then it is at best a good piece of fiction, which in my opinion is not the goal of this site.

Ghumakkar: I think we should force you to join our Editorial team. hehe. Very well articulated.
Rakesh: Hehe. I think all of us often get carried away. If we can focus then probably you last longer.

Ghumakkar: Before, we wind up this interaction Rakesh, I have one last question. What can we do as a community to further this goal of traveling. Any thoughts which have been haunting you and you would want to share with us.
Rakesh: Yes, there is one. There are many persons who want to go to a pilgrimage or some place they dream about but they really do not have means so why not with consensus start a corpus for such persons with a token amount say Rs. 100 per person per month who are active on Ghumakkar (a kind of travelling fund). This is my personal viewpoint . I strictly feel that travelling widen your horizon and helps in pulling the person from dogmas and rigid thinking. May be , this is not a practical proposition, may be yes.

Ghumakkar: I think, you never know. It is a very interesting concept. I think as a society, we have associated traveling with fun and not as a tool of learning. But I guess it is changing now. And I think it is a great thought to finish this episode of our interaction with you. With this, I also complete my century, so to say.
Rakesh: Captain, I am blessed that you are hitting a century on a pitch which is suitable for making shots, ball coming at the right pace, no swing at all, a perfect belter. Hehe. I thoroughly enjoyed our interactions over last week, over multiple mediums.

Ghumakkar: Thank you Rakesh for your time, I wish you luck and success. Take care.