I happened to visit Indore (my birth place) which is also known as mini Bombay and I was astonished to see the way it has developed in last 5-10 years. Indore which is a major trading & educational hub, business capital of Madhya Pradesh boasts on its location on National Highway and good connectivity with Mumbai and other trading centers and that is the reason it is also called mini Bombay.
The founder of the Indore dynasty was Malhar Rao Holkar (1694-1766). In 1724, the Peshwa at Pune,delighted by his soldierly prowess, gave him command of 500 horseback soldiers and appointed him as the Peshwa's chief general in the Malwa with headquarters at Indore. In 1733, Peshwa gifted him the Indore area, thereby catapulting him to the ownership of a vast domain stretching from the Deccan to the Malwa table land. He gradually became independent of the Peshwa central rule and by the time of his death, he was the de facto ruler of Malwa.
Though Indore dynasty was ruled and established by Marathi speaking people, today Marathi language is heard rarely rather it is lost in the city. I remember real gentlemen (Marathi manus) of Indore and the congested streets which have been taken over by swanky buildings and roads and life style has taken a sea level change.
There is no one to take care and preserve the heritage (I mean language here) of the city and worry for the Marathi manus, the story does not end here, there are other cities who have the same story, Ujjain, Gwalior, Boarda (Vadodara) are the other cities which I believe are in the same league. There are lot many Palaces which has been converted to school, colleges, hospitals, museum but people living in the vicinity of those palaces, or enjoying the services hardly know the history and neither the people living in those cities try to preserve the heritage.
People are busy with there own agenda’s and the common man is getting lost in the concrete jungle. City has progressed a lot in last years but at a cost of what?
Very apt said. I feel pity and angst also at the same time. My birth place is Shivpuri and I was brought up at Gwalior & was in Indore for years during my P.G. When I go back to Gwalior, I was amazed to see that lot of marathi families have left the city and moved to Maharashtra. My family is also one of them.
ReplyDeleteWhy????????????????
I think that is the price you pay for so called development. I have been reading lot of bad news about Indore. There have been increase in the crime. Chain snactching, roberries are so common these days. It seems people have lot of free time at their disposal. I am from Ujjain and I used to live in the Old Ujjain area (City area). This used to be almost 100% Marathi speaking neighbourhood but these days it is only my family and couple of others are left. During all the festivals, it used to be such a nice environment but now it is all waste. Some of the Marathi's who are still living there are goons and drunkard. Such a shame. Darpan
ReplyDeleteI am from Ujjanin and have spend most of my childhood in Ujjain.
ReplyDeleteWhenever I travel Ujjain or Indore I regret many things and one of them is no development plans of Govt and limited Job Opportunities specially for Marathi Manus.
Marathi manus belongs to middle class and are knowladgeable, inteligents and hard working also the very importent negative aspect of us is we try and get adapted in any circumstances for the growth and livehood.
It is most unfortunate that we were force to move out of our locations due to poor infrastructure and limited opportunities.
I also blaim little for we bing not motivated properly towards our culcture like other communities and not supported as well like others.