We all, the kids raised in Simla of the Sixties, carry a little of Simla with us whatever may be our lifestyle today or wherever we may be living in the world today!
I can say so with conviction atleast for kids of my humble neighbourhood raised in Simla of the Sixties!
“Drawing room” was a term, much alien to the culture of our mohalla. This term was either read about in novels or referred to the elite houses on the Mall….atleast this was what my nitwit brain understood!
We had our own Desi version of the Drawing room…a “Baithak”! A Diwan covered with whitest of white Dasooti bedcover, with “Kasooti” embroidery depicting deers, flowers, swans or even lions!The thread used would be in multi-shades with gradieting tones. It would look amazing against white background!
The white would be bluish depending upon how much “Neel” was added diring the final rinse. How naive we were to believe that whiter the bedcover…better it would be…more the neel…whiter it would be! The circle which would go on and on! We were never supposed to sit on this bedcover…it was a mere decorative item where choicest of guests, if any, could put their posterior on!
A few trunks would be covered meticulously with blankets, sheets and anything soft….and again covered with a fancy cover to give it a semblance of a setty! A few cushions would be like throws to add colour to the Baithak. They would be covered in embroidered cushion covers!
There would, invariably, be an open sitting space, preferable to one side, where women and kids would sit all through the day doing mundane tasks. This floor space would have a rug…a Kashmiri rug which was warm and soft, embroidered in chain stitch on a blanket like thick cloth, if one could afford it. Some houses would have cotton mattress or one or two Khinds made of old clothes instead of Kashmiri rug…of course covered with a thick bedcover or even a Nanda during the harsh winters.
Ah…the setty and the Diwan was always positioned where it would be away from the floor seating area. A few framed pictures of gods, some calendar or a photograms of a family member we wanted to display, on the wall, would complete the decor. That was “The Baithak”!
Looking back I notice with amusement that the women and the children would get up and down, quite effortlessly, from the floor, hundreds of time during a single day! No one complained of stiff joints….how could anyone when the joints were getting the best exercise one could think of albeit unknowingly!
A Baithkoo was offered to someone who came visiting. It was amazing social order in real practice. Not everyone was to sit on the floor seating area as this was for the family members and a few close neighbourhood friends. And rightly so, as this floor seating area would convert into sleeping area during the nights. There was nothing like separate bedrooms for everyone like today!
So for some….low in the ladder of social stratification a “Baithkoo” was offered….Now these Baithkoos ranged from a jute sack (Bori) to an old cushion embroidered on jute or even a wooden Patdaa or a low height stool!
I loved the floor seating area as it was so very functional… One could knit, do embroidery, read a book, stich on sewing machine or simple gossip sitting on this space!
So my way of carrying a little of Simla and introducing it to my kids was to have a floor seating area wherever we lived! We moved houses but one thing that remained constant was this seating area!
My kids loved this space the most. This was my “Baithak” or living area….living as well as breathing! What a pleasure it is for all of us to sit together discarding the sofa and chairs…. gossiping, watching TV or even stretching our limbs!
My grandchildren just adore it! The bonus is pain-free joints and agility while getting up from the floor! How grateful I am to those simple life lessons that we lived and learned in the narrow lanes of Lower Bazaar!! What a lovely and lively life it was in those small cosy humble houses in the narrow lanes of Simla of the Sixties!!!