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