Malawan, 230 km from Delhi

Temple in Malawan

In Malawan I stopped to collect interviews and do some sketches from the roadside.  A small white temple stood out, with its minarette decorated by reflective bits of enamel.  The town was up early in the morning and our interview about the Hindu temple quickly drew a crowd of people who seemed both curious and shy towards our questions of the road.  Several people corrected us and said this was the Sher Shah Suri Road. (Grand Trunk Road is the name given by the British during occupation).

Here are some quotes/interviews.

"It is being told that, one day, a groom’s marriage procession was going on this road. And due to some punishment by a god, they all become stones, also the food. This temple is made of those stones."

-        -  Pramod Singh and Ram Avtar, men, age 45 and 42

(Discussing road development) "Profit is there, what can be the loss? It’s like both are there, those thing s which give you profit also gives you loss. This is a necessity."

- B. Sibsebak Mishra, 55 year old man.

 

(Is the road is the same as it was in your childhood?) "Why this should be the same? (Is your business developing?) Nothing is happening, just happening well. (Has your business been affected?) Nothing, it is all the same, like a single ware.  There is only one pottery." (General laughter followed this response.)

--          “B.”,  potter, age 43

Barbershop in Malawan

 

Outside Malawan, road marker showing NH 91

Village Bhadwas

We spent a night with Bhai Tej Singh, the father of a friend from Delhi, in Village Bhadwas near Etah.  His family has lived in the area for generations and he has a powerful standing in the community as evidenced by the number of people coming and going from the house to seek his company and advice.  Mr. Singh gave us a tour of the area- pointing out several of the roadway’s original features as designed by Mughal Emperor Sher Shah Suri in the 16^th century.  Emperor Suri developed the road on top of an older trade route to connect his hometown Sasaram with Agra, the capital (it was later extended from Sonargaon, Bangadesh to Kabul, Afghanistan).  His innovations included sarais, or guest houses, which were built at regular intervals, as digging as water wells near the road.  The road facilitated the flow of people, trade goods, military units, and communication.

Bhai Tej Singh outside of his home with a neighborhood puppy.

Near Bhadwas, I stopped to take a look at one of the original sarais, a simple structure that has existed as a mosque for many years.  The local people were proud to show me the building.  

A sarai in Bhadwas dating from the 15th century, converted to mosque

Water pitchers at the sarai

Tracking down one of the original water wells proved harder as it was overgrown with brush.  Still, we found it, although it had been filled in some time ago.

An original well dug near to the GTR

That evening we talked about the road and the way it has changed the communities next to it.  Mr. Singh spoke in a supportive way about the improvements for the community vs. the way it existed 10 or 20 years ago.  From these first conversations, I was struck with how broad the topic of the Grand Trunk Road could be- and how this might complicate people’s personal connection to it.  While I was searching to record personal accounts, it seems the road tends to be a litmus test for issues like regional development, upward mobility, and even how people communicate with strangers.

"Though the traffic was so slow during my childhood, we were not allowed to go there because my father was afraid that may someone kill me. Even I was not allowed to ride bicycle to run over the road. In a broader sense, it was the fear of all the nearby villagers"

- Bhai Tej Singh, 50 year old man.

GTR near Bhadwas at dusk

Buffalo (note the child's shoe around its neck, as in "I'll put my shoe on you if you mess with my buffalo")

A statue of Dr. Ambedkar, writer of the Indian Constitution, in front of a village house

Stopping at Nanau, 152 km from Delhi

Delhi to Kanpur

For this trip, I had the opportunity to take a closer look at the first portion of the Grand Trunk Road. Geographically, there’s a slight difference in the older and newer highways from Delhi to Kanpur (about 1/3 the trip to Kolkatta or 429 km); National Highway (NH) 91 follows the ancient GTR and is the slower of the two, while the wider and faster NH 2 follows a southerly route which includes Agra. We took the northern route to stick with the GTR and also to gain a glimpse of what the modern highway, NH 2, might have looked like before it was expanded in the past 5 -10 years.  It was mostly 2 lanes with sections mired by giant potholes.  (Google maps claims the NH 91 route is faster than NH 2, but on the last trip it took me 8 hours to go 150 km on that road).  I also began to collect interviews with people near to the road with the help of Delhi artist Raj Mohanty.

Near the village of Nanau, I stopped to do a painting (152 km from Delhi, stop #3).  The road crosses a small river and after talking with people in the area, we discovered that although the main market is set back from the highway, that is where the original GTR passed. The new road (and bridge) are relatively recent additions.  Painting proved to be tough as a crowd gathered almost immediately.  But I was able to record some of the colors of the place.

Painting at Nanau

Here are some quotes from the interviews we collected on site.  

(Pointing at the old road through Nanau) “First, look the ‘kankar’ (red concrete), then the cement bond, then concrete. It was here and now its the bypass. (the shifted road).

-          - “A”, 68 year old man

“There was a water mill near this nala (canal). People came from distant villages to grind their wheat, to make bread in their houses. Now, all cities have electricity network so electric mills are there. Here, the mill was closed since the last 20 years.”

-          - Mahesh kumar, 49 year old man, schoolteacher.

“Every side of people go through this road.”

-        -   Ramdulari, 60 year old woman, waiting for a bus.