LEOTINA  BERNADETT LAKRA

INTRODUCTION

Oraons are one of the tribes of the Chota Nagpur belt. The other tribes being Munda, Kharia, Santhals, Ho, etc. The name KACHHAP literally means tortoise in pure Hindi.This is not a title but a sirname or ‘gotra’

MADI ORAON   1860 AD approx

As far as I remember and whatever has been told to me by my parents and my grand mother the oldest ancestor was Madi Oraon. He was a ‘sansaar’  by faith. Sansaars are tribals who have not converted to Christianity but continue worshipping the Nature. He used to stay at the village called Kaimbo near Mandar. Nothing much is known of his family life.

PAKLU ORAON 1885 AD approx

Paklu Oraon was Madi Oraon’s son. He came to Ranchi to earn a living. He made a house for himself which was still there till 1990 and was on rent. It was my parents as well as my idea of bringing down the house and rebuild it again in a modern way. It was an earthen house having on living cum bedroom, a verandah, a kitchen and one more small room. No toilets and no bathrooms. A small compact house in a one katha land. He worked for the Pahans of Sirom Toli. He was dark and tall and had sharp features and had perhaps three marriages. One with the daughter of the Pahans, Second into a GEL Church family at Hindpiri and third at an RC Church family at Bergawan village at Namkum. Present Sunami Fufu is my father’s cousin sister from the GEL Church family at Hindpiri and the present Dominic Bara Baba is my fathers cousins brother from the RC Church family at Bergawan village at Namkum. We have relatives at Kanke, Arra and Namkum due to the marriage of Paklu Oraon at Bergawan village at Namkum and have relatives at Hindpiri and Haathi Khaana at Doranda. Binod Ekka was my grand father in relation. His son Edward Ekka used to study with me in St.Xaviers. The relatives of the first marriage to the Pahan family are not known. It may be noted that this wasn’t some sort of a bigamy but the marraiges took place to the the death of  the wives in the first and second marraiges.

Thus due to marriage at the GEL Church family at Hindpiri, Ranchi and also the third marriage at the RC family of Bergawan Paklu Oraon converted to Christianity-first to GEL and then to RC.  

But inspite of all this facts it seems Paklu Oraon was staying alone at Sirom Toli. He had once gone to his father’s place at Kaimbo and was surprised when he saw that all ancestral properties i.e land and house had been taken away by the villagers. The told him that his property will be returned to him only on one condition-He had to bring one Umbrella of rice and Rs nine as fine. It is not known how Paklu Oraon felt but he returned with a heavy heart back to Sirom Toli and never went back to Kaimbo

PAKLU ORAON’S CARREER

JOSEPH KACHHAP        1910 AD

Joseph Kachhap was Paklu Burha’s son. It seems he took the initiative to put the sirname ‘Kachhap’ which is the actual ‘gotra’ instead of ‘Oraon’ which simply denotes the tribe. Joseph Kachhap’s early childhood is not known much. However he became a lorry driver and used to work for some Marwari businessman in Ranchi and used to usually shuffle between Rajgangpur, in Orissa and Ranchi. He was known to be an expert driver and a good mechanic. He had a friend named Jacob Kispotta who was also a fellow driver like him. Jacob Kispotta was married to Marsaleem Nag of Rajgangpur and on their regular visits to Rajgangpur they used to visit Jacob’s inlaws house. Marsaleem’s younger sister was Marium. Joseph Kachhap somehow got attracted to Marium Nag. Marium Nag was a ‘Munda’. They got married at the Kesramaal Parish Church. After marriage the couple shifted to Ranchi.

Our present relatives at Rourkela, Rajgangpur and Pathalkudwa are due to this fact. Present Paul Bara baba,George Chacha, Mary fufu and Kirpa fufu are all Jacob Kispotta’s children.

My granny used to recall about her husbands driving adventures. Once Joseph  Kachhap had overturned his lorry in an accident and escaped unhurt. The Saranda Jungle still exists till date. It was very dense during those times and how once when my grandpa was driving through the forest one tiger attacked on him. The animal was jumping over the vehicle, in criss cross mode, as the vehicle was moving along the road. However on pulling at my grandpa’s turban, which was flying outside the window of the car, the tiger stopped the chase.

CAESAR PAUL KACHHAP 1932 AD

But luck wasn’t written on Marium Kachhap’s fate-my dear granny. Joseph Kachhap died due to some mysterious disease suddenly. Marium was married at quiet an early age of seventeen years and was pregnant during that time. She lay in a state of shock. She was in a bad physical condition during the delivery. She stayed at the Sadar Hospital, Ranchi during the delivery for a long time. My father’s  birth was not the usual one but was through a caesarian operation. Caesarian operations were quite uncommon those days in 1932 and the doctors, all British, were quite happy after the delivery. They requested my grand mother to name her son as Caesar and she did adhere to their request. My father came to be known as Caesar Paul Kachhap.

My father had one regret in life that he was unable to see his father. Meanwhile Paklu Burha took good care of her daughter in law Marium and grandson Caesar. My father used to be quite fond of his grandpa and used to call him nana. Paklu Burha had taken all the pain of getting my granny treated. During the British period things were straight forward and I don’t thing  any money was spent on hospital or medicines as Sadar Hospital was a government hospital. My granny was in a bad shape for a long time and my father was breast fed by Dominic Runda’s mother whom we nowadays call ‘Bara Baba’. The exact relation is not known but as I have mentioned earlier there was some relation of Paklu Oraon with Namkum. It is not known whether  Dominic Runda’s mother used to commute from Namkum to Sirom toil or was staying for some time at Sirom toli till my granny got well.

CARREER OF MARIUM KACHHAP

Soon after the delivery and after becoming well my granny left my father with Paklu Burha and left for her home at Rajgangpur for getting a job as Paklu Burha had retired and the financial condition in the house was worstening. The house at Rajgangpur is near the Railway line. My father used to be very mischievious as he had just learnt to walk. He used to scroll towards the Railway line. Once he was found rolling near the railway tracks while a train was approaching. The driver stopped the train carried the child to the house and was very furious on my grand mother. She now used to tie her son’s feet to the bed post using a soft long cloth so the the child again won’t scoll down towards the railway tracks while she was busy working around the house. There was one man known as Kendra Nana with whom my father used to play as a child in Rajgangpur.

My granny used to recall her first experience of an earth quake. She was once ill and in the day time had gone to the woods on nature’s call. While she was squatting on the ground she felt her head spinning. She thought about what would happen to her only child if she dies here. She heard voices calling out ‘Horiboal-Horiboal’ and the earth was trembling.

She finally landed up with a job as an Ayah in a German family in Brajraj Nagar in Orissa. She had to stich clothes and look after the children. The German officer used to work for the Paper mill which perhaps still exists today. [see photo]

My grandmother recalls the happy family life of the German family. How he used to come back my office and used to put on the gramaphone and dance around the house. He even used to have a projector at his bunglow and used to show personal movies which he used to shoot during his tours. My granny had perhaps seen the sea for the first time in these movies only.

The area wasn’t densely populated that time and might have been covered with jungles. She used to recall how one leopard attacked one of the maids in the house itself. It came through the window. However the leopard was later shot and the maid also survived the attack. Again while coming from the Brajraj Nagar Railway station to the Bunglow one night she spotted a Cheetah right in front of her. Scared my granny spent the whole night on the Railway station and started for the bunglow only on daybreak. She also recalls how one day she accidently had Cheetah’s meat for dinner. She used to complain a lot about joint pains and the locals mixed the Cheetah’s meat in her meal secretly.

The second world war had started by that time perhaps and my grand mother recalls that the police came and took away the German officer and his family. Nothing is known as to what happened with him later but the fact lies that the British and the Germans were against each other during World War II.

My grandma knew nothing of the World War II scenario. She was was born on 17^th September 1914 when World War I was in progress and had only studied till call IV. She recalls how buses used to run on coal, perhaps due to the scarcity of diesel during the time of war, and how one day she saw one aeroplane catch fire and fall on the earth.

Now since the German officer was gone she lost the job and came back to Ranchi. My father used to usually get drunk and abuse my granny as to why she left him as a child with the old man and went away to work. However my granny did show me some pictures of my father when during the school holidays he visited her at Brajraj Nagar. She was jobless at Ranchi and was in desperate need of a job. Since the war was still continuing job was still at hand. Along with the women folk of Siromtoli she started going to the Namkum Military Camps for stitching tents on daily wage basis. My father recalls how she used to bring ‘jalebis’ for him after returning from office

YOUTH OF CAESAR

The financial condition of the house started to improve. My father was happy as his mother was back. He was studying in Bethesada school and later joined St. John’s School – A top school of Ranchi during that time.

There is nothing much my father told about his school days. However he was quite active in sports and had shown me his medals and certificates he won for the relay races and high jumps.

Once I had found a very old note book of his of St. John’s school and to my amazement I found that he used to write his name as ‘Caesar Paul Kachua’. Logic perhaps might have been that when you are all ready a tortoise then why write ‘Kachhap’ or ‘Kashyap’ or whatever.

The punishments in the class rooms were quite tough and the teachers used to tell the student at fault to bring two pebbles and kneel over them.

Once my father had along with his friends had gone for a swim on the River Sawarn Rekha at Namkum and one friend who didn’t know swimming was trying with a football bladder. In an excitement suddenly the bladder slipped and the fellow sank in the river. He was never found.

ADVENTURE IN THE SARANDA

Once my father’s bara baba i.e. Jacob Kispotta had visited Sirom toli along with his son George. They had come with a car and were returning to Rajgangpur. My father insisted that they also take him along as he was having holidays and it would be nice going by car from Ranchi to Rajgangpur. At that time one had to go to Rajgang pur via Chaibasa. There wasn’t any route via Simdega and beyond Chaibasa they had to enter the deadly Saranda forests. It was already evening five pm and the watch man at the jungle gate was very reluctant to allow them to pass the jungle at such a time. The jungle gates used to close at four pm and open only at six am the next day. But my father and uncle were thinking otherwise-This was one life time opportunity to see a jungle in the dark and who knows they might see some wild animal. Secondly they were also aware of the fact that the Old man would very easily retire for the night with a bottle of whisky while these two young lads wouln’t get sleep the whole night. They coaxed the gateman into opening the gates and forced Jacob Kispotta to drive through that jungle.

Once into the woods the car crawled slowly through the jungle road having lot of twists and turns and with a cliff on one side a deep gorge on the other side. They were making a lot of talking and shouting in exitement when suddenly Jacob Kispotta slammed the brakes. The car stopped and he signed to my father and uncle to stay quite as a large tusker was standing in front of them. The tusks of the elephant were almost touching the ground. They rolled up their windows and stayed still. The old man was switched off the lights. There was no way to go back. They waited for some time but the tusker didn’t move. It was standing there all alone. Seeing no alternative Jacob Kispotta started flashing the lights of the car so as to distract the animal and they soon saw the animal slowly sliding down the gorge. On seeing the road clear ahead they immediately rushed forward expecting not to meet a herd of elephants later. Jacob Kispotta was very furious with his son and my father as now they had risked there lives by entering the forest.

On further going ahead they saw some fire approaching them. It was a local villager carrying fire to keep away elephants. He was returning to his village after working in the woods. The anxious trio asked the villager whether they would again meet any elephants and the man said that now you won’t meet elephants but meet some tigers ahead and started walking down.

They moved forward slowly occasionally switching off the lights as the tiger is attracted towars light. On further going down they saw some red glowing objects on the road looking as if someone had spread charcoal fire on the road. However on nearing they saw it was a herd of cows-the neel gaey. Relieved they proceeded further and it was another shock when they saw three tigers quenching their thirst by the pond.

Now this was too much for the old man and he told his sons that at the next village they are going to retire for the night and proceed only after daybreak. They car stopped at the next village and they took shelter in one house. All houses in the village were fenced with heavy logs and there was only one small gate so that only one person can pass through. This was done to protect themselves from the wild animals. The fate of Saranda Jungle is not known now but it used to project a grim picture to those who used to cross it during those days.

They reached Rajgangpur the next day in the afternoon.

DEMISE OF PAKLU BURHA

But Paklu Burha had grown weak and very old by this time. Whole day he used to lie in the bed- unable to get up or even go to the toilet. For one whole year my granny took great care of Paklu Burha-Cleaning him up every day and throwing his feaces. She recalls she used to get up at four. Cook food, clean up the old man, take bath and start for Namkum on foot by Five thirty in the morning. No gas, no geyser, no electricity  and no conveyence. She later recalls she never knew of those things at that time and was quite comfortable.

Paklu Oraon passed away silently in sleep one night.

Meanwhile World WarII was also coming to an end and my granny again lost her job at the Namkum Military Camps.

Later she took up a job again of an Ayah in an affluent Bengali family-The Dey’s at Ranchi itself. That house is perhaps still there near the old railway level crossing-presently it is just situated below the Overbridge on Doranda end.

CARREER OF CAESAR

Meanwhile my father passed his Matriculation exams from St.John’s School. He understood the hardships going on and thought of discontinuing studies and hence started doing stray jobs.

He initially took up a job of calculating salaries in a Colliery near Ranchi Road. He recalls how one day he traveled on foot from Ranchi Road to Ranchi, a distance of about 55-60 kms on foot. Later he left the job and joined the job as a telephone operator at the Calcutta Telephone Exchange, Calcutta (presently Kolkata). He recalls how one day the then Prime Minister Pt. Jawaharlal Lal Nehru came over phone and fired him-jaldi line connect kijiey. At that time there was no STD, no automatic exchanges or electronic exchanges. Operators used to sit constantly on their chairs with their head phones and patch cords connecting trunk calls.

One day he caught typhoid at Calcutta and was brought back to Ranchi under serious conditions.

He was in the sick bed for almost one year. The local Parish priest Fr. Demister used to bring communion for him on Sunday afternoons. He used to bring along with him Magazines like Reader’s Digest for my father to read. My father caught the penchant for reading during this period only. My grandma recollects how the neighbours at Siromtoli were discouraging to her and used to tell her that her only son wouldn’t survive. She never retaliated but used to pray that he get well. His clothes were also not allowed for washing at the nearby well saying that the disease was contagious.

My father started getting well. My granny recalls how he after getting well presented one hat for Fr. Demister. Now there was now no going back to Calcutta. My granny was strictly against this. My father applied for the Air force but was stopped from going with the fear that he might fall from the sky. A job for a war photographer was also lost meanwhile. My father used to regret losing the chance to join the Air Force. Later he used to usually tease my grandma as to she was the main obstacle in not allowing him to join the Air force. He seemed to be quite fond of Pilots and aeroplanes.

FRIEND SHIPS OF CAESAR

He had two great friends during this time-Jena Minz and Mogo Hans. When my father went to work as a telephone operator at Calcutta, Jena Minz  went to Bombay to join the Navy. Meanwhile Mogo Hans continued his studies and joined the third batch at the recently opened Bihar Institute of Technology, Sindri. He turned out to be an excellent Electrical Engineer and joined the Heavy Engineering Corporation at Ranchi which had recently been commissioned. [See photograph of my father with Mogo Hans, year 1960 approx.]

It was 1960 then when Pt Nehru came for the opening of the Heavy Engineering Corporation at Hatia, Ranchi. My father recalls how Pt Nehru instead of cutting the ribbon himself called one ‘reza’ from the crowd. He told – these are the actual people who have done the work. The curtains which had been made to operate electically for the opening did not function and Punditji was quiet furious.

Jena Minz  mean while was having quite an adventurous life in the Navy. He used to write frequently to my father. Quite a good handwriting and good English. He used to often write about Japan and England. He was the one who brought a transistor to Siromtoli for the first time during one of his holidays. He also told the local lads about television. They used to recall how Mogo Hans used to string his Radio Antennae on bamboo poles and how people of Siromtoli were surprised on seeing the transistor with a small ariel.  

The trio viz Mogo, Jena and Caesar were considered to be quite active and successful go getters. They used to take active part in all social activities of the locality and the elders took pride in them. My father also took plenty of interests in church activities. The crucifix at the Alter of All Saints Church at Doranda had also been painted by him and at that time Fr. George was the Parish Priest. Mogo and Jena Minz used to practise the Sanatan dharm and were not involved in Church Activities.

 My father also used to recall that they ere very fond of skating and used to often skate from Sirom toli to Kanta toli Chowk and also from Bahu Bazaar to Church Road. The roads were told to be very fine during those days. Swimming was another passion. They used to go to the ‘Khajur Talao’ in Club road climb the tall date palm trees and dive on the water. Occasionally they used to teach swimming to others using a earthen pot also. Mogo was the seniormost and next was Jena. My father was the youngest.

They used to recall how they used to play Cricket with the British Soldiers Camping at the GEL mission complex. Fielding for them and getting an occasional bite at their biscuits. The soldiers used to call them ‘cheeko’.

Jena Minz one day also took my father to Bombay and showed him how it was. My father used to recollect how there was no Backbay Reclamation at that time. Only Marine drive and Chowpatty beach were quite prominent-No Air India Building and no Oberoi Sheraton. However I have always felt that my father was quite fond of Bombay. He used to often recollect his visit to the city during any drinking sessions.

There was one framed picture in B&W of a Naval Ship in the drawing room of Jena Minz’s house. My father told me that it was the INS Vikraant and Jena uncle used to work on that ship. A very active part was played by the Navy in the release of Goa from the Portugese. Jena Minz had participated in this and used to often tell stories  about how Goa was freed.

While Jena Minz was staying at Navy Nagar, Bombay and Mogo Hans worked for HEC,  my father got a job as a Clerk in The Accountant General’s Office, Ranchi. Meanwhile my granny was still working for the Dey’s. 

My father was also quite friendly with one Francis. Francis was an Anglo Indian and was working as a teacher at the St.Xaviers’s School, Doranda, Ranchi.

Mogo Hans got engaged with Jhunu Dayal. She was perhaps working as a nurse somewhere and was a Chrisitan belonging to the Anglican Church. They got married and settled at New Garden Sirom Toli. Jena Minz also got married with Rekha. He took his wife along with him to Bombay.

LEOTINA  BERNADETT LAKRA

My father also had developed some attraction to his neighbour Leotina. She was doing her graduation in Arts at the St. Xavier’s College, Ranchi. Till then my father was a simple matriculate but her attraction might have given him some inspiration and he also enrolled himself in Commerce at the St. Xavier's College, Ranchi. Since the Commerce classes used to commence at 06:30 am and finish by 10:30 am hence study while working wasn’t a problem. Commuting to College and Office wasn’t a problem as by this time my father had bought for himself a Bicycle. It was a Robin Hood and costed Rs120/- during that time.

Leotina Bernadett Lakra belonged to somewhat affluent family. Her father Paulose Lakra was the Head Master at St. John’s School. He had fourteen children and Leotina was the second girl child. He had married twice. My mother was born from the first wife named Mary Margaret. After Margaret died he married Rahil. Margaret expired due to severe cold and cough. My granny used to visit her often and she use to say that during her last days she was unable to speak even as her throat was choked with cough. She was quite fair and pretty.

Margaret was herself a resident of New garden Sirom Toli. Her Parents Christopher & Josephine Kispotta inherited quite a large part of the then Sirom toli and a Palatial House from Chistopher’s father Puran Prasad. The house is being said palatial considering the standards those days. The house is still there. Christopher and Josephine Kispotta had nine children-Joseph, Mary Margaret, Matilda, Albert, George, Clara, Jetrute, Simon and Ursula.

The eldest son Joseph died in his youth and later Simon who was working in Railways also died

Paulose Lakra ‘s ancestors belonged to Mamarla Village. He came to Ranchi to teach at St. John’s School. Due to lack of accommodation he had put up at Gudri, in Church Road, Ranchi at the house of Lachu Burha. Lachu Burha had later converted to Christianity and was known as Louis Lucas Lachu. He had two daughters Josephine and Anna and a son Joseph. So it was finally Josephine who married Christopher and gave her daughter Margaret and arranged land also at Siromtoli for them to live. The house was constructed at Sirom toli by Paulose Lakra taking financial and material help from Mamarla.

Paulose Lakra had six children from his first wife-Mariana, Leotina, Regina(Riju), Roseline(Roji), Emiliana, Aren, Nelli, and Christoper(Kisto). and another six-Louis, Silvanti, Pushpa, Christina(Dholo), Veerchand and Mridula from the second wife. He also stood for the elections one time and left the job of Head master at St. John’s. He had acquired a huge amount of land at Bero, which is around 30kms from Ranchi and had finally settled there.

Emiliana and Aren died at the tender age of 4 years.

He gave his house at Sirom toli to his eldest daughter Mariana, who was married to John Ekka, on rent. John Ekka was working as a Civil Servant for the Bihar Govt. and usually used to stay outside Ranchi. He was an Honest  Magistrate. Mariana along with her children used to stay at Sirom toli.

The third daughter Riju was also married off to           in  Melani Murto village very early as she wasn’t interested in studies.

After graduation Leotina got a job as a teacher at St. Mary’s School in Nagrakatta. Nagrakatta is a place near Siliguri in West Bengal. She taught Sanskrit and Hindi. She didn’t tell us much about the life at Nagrakatta except that they would watch Aeroplanes landing and taking off from the Bagdogra Airport which was near by.

Caesar Paul and Leotina were finally engaged with both families consent and got married at Bero in Dighia   Parish on 29^th December 1964. [see marraige photographs] My granny used to describe the marriage as to how preparations were made and how some one had brought a khassi and had walked along with the goat from Ranchi to Bero. She had bought a new pair of Bata Chappals for herself. George, my father’s maternal cousin had come from Rajgangpur to attend the marriage.

People had taunted my grand mother Marium as to how she got a graduate bahu. Even the Deys where she worked were surprised as to how their Ayah was getting such a qualified bahu for her son. After my parents married she left the job of Ayah at the Dey household.

Now after marriage my mother had to move to Nagrakatta to continue her job as a teacher. This was however no acceptable to my father and he coaxed her to resign. Jobs weren’t much of a Problem those days and my father could finally secure her a job as a clerk in the same AG Office.

Things were fine and the financial conditions were very much improved.

My mothers elder sister Mariana had by that time four chidren. They were Peter, Chunnu, Georgie and Sushil. She was to have ill health and was quite worried about her eldest son Peter who used to create a lot of mischief-beating his younger brothers or hiding somewhere. But my father used to be quite fond of Peter.

Mariana’s Husband John Ekka used to visit his wife frequently and together with my father they would sit for a drink.

John Ekka belonged to the Arra village. He was the second son of his father. They belonged to a affluent family and had large area of land. Elder son Joachim used to stay at Arra along with his wife looking after the fields. The third son Abraham had skipped studies run off to Bombay to join the Navy. The illusion in mind that after joining Navy one doesn’t have to study soon faded away as there he had to study and also work-cleaning the decks of the Naval Ship. He along with his friend planned an escape. They jumped into the sea one fine day and escaped.

He was young and without work. His elder brother John took a sympathetic view and purchased a second hand Chevrolet for him so that he could earn a living by using the car as a taxi. But as we say once a bay boy always a bad boy-Abraham had by that time got into the habit of drinking and often get involved into accidents. Finally he banged the car against a tree and that was the end of the Chevrolet.

Later he got married at Ranchi and started doing stray jobs.

The younger brother Tobias was of the studious type. Initially he had gone to the seminary to become a priest but later changed his mind and he also joined the Bihar Govt. just like his elder brother John. He had presented one Latin song book, which filled with plenty of Codes and pictures, to my mother.