When I tell people that I love my Kanpur they think that I am mad. I retort with these Hindi words: “Duniya kahta hai mujko pagal,Mai kahta hoon, Ai duniya tu hi pagal” (The world calls me mad, I say, you yourself are mad), because you have failed to recognize a good thing.
When people come to know that my family originally belongs to Goa they think that I should really be in the loony bin. Half of India is rushing off to the tourist paradise of Goa, with its sunny beaches and swaying palm trees; and here I am sticking on in Kanpur, when so many others have deserted the city seeking greener pastures elsewhere.
However, this phenomenon of emigration, especially of aspirational young people, is not limited to my ethnic group or community. Seventeen years ago I relocated to Krishnanagar in the eastern suburbs. Almost every household is bereft of young people, leaving their aged parents behind. They have moved to Gurgaon, Noida, Mumbai, Hyderabad and Bangalore, in pursuit of their careers. On the other hand we also see immigration from the hinterland of young people coming to study in the plethora of educational institutions and coaching hubs. So there is two way traffic and all is not lost.
I have emotional, family, social, civic and commercial roots in Kanpur, dating back 163 years, when my great grand father came to Kanpur from Goa circa 1856, and established business in 1858. So I am a bit like Kanpur’s famous Budha Bargadh (old sycamore tree) that cannot be easily uprooted. It would in fact be fraught with danger.
Before I revert to my personal bonding I would rather highlight two aspects of Kanpur that make it unique. The first is the cost of living. Many people, when they first get transferred to Kanpur, feel that they have come to an overgrown village, because it lacks the glitz and glamour of bigger metros. However, they change their minds at the end of the month when they find that they have saved half of their salaries! This is because of the low cost of living. The only two other metros that have a similar cost of living are Chennai and Kolkata. It is for this reason that several defence personnel in particular, have chosen to settle down in Kanpur, post retirement.
The second reason is its hospitality and magnanimity. Kanpur is often described as the big town with the small town mentality. I take this as a compliment. Big towns are known for their anonymity; and villages for their community living. Kanpur comes somewhere in between, because it has not lost that community spirit. In metros hosts will entertain their guests in a restaurant. In Kanpur we welcome them into our homes, and serve them home made food, laced with love. I also recall the words of one of Mother Teresa’s disciples. She had been posted in many places, but found that the people of Kanpur were more generous and magnanimous.
The city no doubt has its drawbacks, like traffic chaos, but they are not limited to it. There are two major causes of traffic congestion, neither of which are insurmountable problems. One is blatant encroachments, especially commercial ones. Political will and a strong administration can easily tackle this. The other is of stray animals – cattle, pigs and dogs that rule the roads. This menace has increased phenomenally in recent times. Here again political and administrative will is required.
There is another area that needs redressal – that of spitting in public places. In days gone by the Nawabs, who chewed paan, carried their spittoons with them. Today everybody thinks that he is a nawab, and the entire city is his spittoon! It is a sad commentary on our city. Some years ago I had suggested that we make Kanpur “thook mukt” (free of spitting). I was laughed at. Five years ago the then District Magistrate, Dr Roshan Jacob IAS, had launched a massive no-tobacco campaign under the “Cigarette and Other Tobacco Products Act 2003”. We again need such steely resolve to eradicate this menace. “Painting the town red” has a different connotation in the English language!
During the British era Kanpur was described as the “Manchester of the East”, because of its manufacturing prowess. The first phase of industrialization was no doubt done by the British, followed in the early twentieth century by Marwari magnates, notably the Singhania family of the JK Group. But there are two lesser known sobriquets that the city has earned. When Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru visited sometime in the 1950’s he called it the “Dustbin of the North”. In the 1980’s India Today termed it an “Industrial Graveyard”. This is not entirely true, though cropping changes, militant trade unionism and unscrupulous business practices did contribute to the demise of the once flourishing textile industry. However, there are several other medium and light industries that are flourishing. This is evidenced by the fact that Kanpur leads in tax contribution to the State exchequer.
There are three current events that merit attention in this piece that is being written on Janmashtami, the birthday of Sri Krishanji. According to Dr Munishwar Nigam, President, Kanpur History Academy, (I was the Secretary) Kanpur was founded by Raja Hindu Singh Chandel of Sachendi on Janmashtami in 1688 CE. Kanha being a derivative of Krishna, the place came to be known as Kanhpur, subsequently anglicized into Cawnpore. The tourist department would do well to restore the mahal of Raja Chandel in the Old Kanpur area, to its pristine glory.
The second current interest is the upcoming Boat Club constructed by the Kanpur Development Authority upstream of the Ganga Barrage. Few residents today would know of the grand Boating Regatta held on 12/9/1925 at Broken Bridge, Jageshwar, Nawabganj, by arrangement of the then Cawnpore Municipal Board. My grandfather, W.C. de Noronha was the Chairman of the Committee (invitation attached).
Then again, the five Ordnance Factories in the city are on a one month strike. Our family firm M/s M. X. de Noronha & Son (established 1858) was the approved Govt auctioneer for these factories. I have correspondence to show how grandfather complained to the British army authorities of various corrupt practices. As Life President of the All India Cantonment Residents’ Association he also took on the British army for treating Indians residing in the Cantonments as “natives” or second class citizens. A photo of a national conference held in Ambala in 1926 is attached.
Because of his fight for the Cantonment residents, Canning Road, named after a British Viceroy, was renamed as Noronha Road after Independence. Other landmarks of the Noronha family are Noronha Crossing on the arterial Mall Road, where our ancestral house was built on what was then known as Sondeha Maidan on the eastern bank of the Lower Ganges Canal, after which the Canal Road is named. My family was also running the Post & Telegraph services through the Noronha’s Exchange Post Office that was situated opposite our ancestral house and has now been relocated to Shantinagar in the Cantonments. The fourth landmark is the Indian Medical Association (IMA) building at Parade. It was built by my grandfather with 2000 silver rupees and named after his wife as Mrs CRC Noronha Hall. My uncle Dr M.X. de Noronha later became the IMA President and his bust is erected on the premises.
There is so much more that I could write about Kanpur and my family’s contribution to it, but that will have to be left for another occasion. For now I hope the cynics and doomsayers will understand why I love my Kanpur.
AUGUST 2019
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