Meerut in the year 1940: During the year 1940, Meerut was a prosperous town and was the hub of western districts of UP. Highway running from Delhi to Meerut, Muzaffarnagar and Roorkee and going upto Haridwar and Rishikesh on one side and to Saharanpur, Dehradun and Mussorie on the other, passed through the heart of the city and divided it into two distinct parts. Land and buildings of Meerut Cantonment lay on west side of the road and Meerut City had its spread on the east side. Second World War was heating up due to German blitz. British forces were under tremendous pressure and were retreating on all fronts. All colonies were harnessed for providing material and manpower resources for the war effort. V for Victory signs had propped up on all hoardings at all public places and were stamped on all official papers and documents of the government for boosting up the sagging morale of the people. There was an unending demand for transport drivers and all types of technicians and trained manpower on the war fronts. It was a common scene to see convoys of old and worn out cars, busses and trucks passing through thoroughfares of the city, driven by learner drivers. A large number of offices, directly or indirectly connected with the war effort had sprung up throughout the city and naturally, there were long queues of people seeking employment and or some sort of opportunities for work at these places. A sleepy town had instantaneouly sprung up to life. There was tremendous shortage of living accommodation for the people. All available accommodation was requisitioned and controlled for activities connected with the war effort. There was an all round scarcity of almost all types of items of daily consumption. Rationing was introduced and the common man was left with almost no choice.
Jawahar Quarters: Begum Bridge, popularly known as Pul Begum was a popular landmark of the town on Delhi Road. Jawahar Quarters was a major housing complex developed by Rai Bahadur Mathuradas and Jawahar Lal on the north-east side of Begum Bridge along Abu Nala. The complex occupies about 100 acres of land and had about 200 residential houses, including sprawling bunglows, rows of three to four room residential houses and modest accommodation for people from low income group. It was almost like a mini-city with self-contained essential services. That was the only housing complex of its type in the city at that time. On movement from Bundi to Meerut, our father had settled down in one of the houses at Jawahar Quarters in 1940. The house that he had occupied was a two storeyed spacious house with sufficient open space in the front and an open courtyard in the rear. After spending a year at Kota, we joined our father at Jawahar Quarters in Meerut during the summer of 1941. We stayed at Jawahar Quarters for about a year and then moved to another house on the western side of Abu Nala in the cantonment area, close to Bombay Bazar. Finally, we moved to Thatherwara, where the younger sister of our mother had sufficient accommodation for the family in her newly built house.
Clock Tower: Clock tower or ghantaghar used to be the hub of Meerut City. There was a bus-stand outside ghantaghar for all busses coming from Delhi, Muzaffarnagar, Bulandshahr and other outlying places. There was no state transport at that time and all busses were run by private operators. Delhi Meerut highway was a single lane kankar road and the traffic was very limited. There were no Indian Railways and all railways in country were owned and operated by private companies. Delhi Meerut Muzaffarnagar railway route was operated by North Western Railway. Meerut Bulandshahr Aligarh railway route was operated by Eastern Railway. There was a lot of competition and rivalry between rail and road during those days and therefore, the railways used to provide transport coupons to all passengers, who got down at Meerut Junction Railway Station to enable them to reach Ghantaghar in a horse driven tonga, with a view to avoid competition from busses and to draw traffic from the town. The tongawala was reimbursed 3 paisa per passenger by the railways for a trip from Meerut Junction to Ghantaghar. All local transport in the city was through horse driven tongas. There were no busses or taxis. Mostly people moved on foot or on bicycles. Ghantaghar was a gateway to busy fruit and vegetable stalls on both sides of the road leading to Valley Bazaar, Bajaja and Khairnagar Bazaar, which were the main marketing centres of Meerut City. Bombay Bazaar and Sadar Bazaar were the main marketing centres of Meerut Cantonment.
Nauchandi Fair: Nauchandi Mela was normally organized after Holi and was a special event of the town. It used to be like a great festival for people for shopping, food and frolic. Nauchandi Mela attracted shopkeepers and exhibitors from remotest parts of the country and people had an opportunity to have a glimpse of the latest trends and fashions, to enjoy and relax and to make bulk purchases of clothing and other common items of household consumption. Nauchandi also served as a social and cultural event of the year for the people of the town.
Educational institutions: The spread of education in the country in 1940 was extremely limited. Agra University was the only affiliating university for the colleges of UP, Rajasthan and Central India. Meerut College was established in the year 1892 and was the only post graduate college in Meerut division, drawing students from all districts of western UP. The college was well equipped for running arts, science and commerce classes for intermediate, undergraduate and post graduate studies. The college had liberal facilities for outdoor games and sports at their Victoria Park campus. Apart from Meerut College, there was one intermediate college for boys and one intermediate college for girls in the city. The city also had one government high school and a few private high schools for meeting the primary and secondary education needs of the city. The city did not have any technical or professional institutions.
Quit India Movement: Congress had passed an independence resolution in November 1929 and independence day was celebrated symbolically, for the first time on 26 January 1930. In the year 1940 all congress ministries in the country had resigned to press the case for independence, although the congress pledged to continue unqualified support for the war effort. Mahatma Gandhi and other top leaders of the congress were in continuous parleys with the British Government and at the same time, they were trying to rouse the people of the country. Pandit Nehru was all fire, when he addressed the people of Meerut at townhall grounds outside ghantaghar in July 1942. Congress passed Quit India resolution on 8 August 1942 for the British to leave India. Top leadership of the congress including Mahatma Gandhi, Jawahar Lal Nehru and Vallabhbhai Patel were arrested on the same day. This was followed by a sudden crack down all over the country. Almost every known congress leader and active worker of the congress, at the central, state or district level was arrested leaving the congress organization completely paralysed and leaderless at all levels. Those who were able to escape the dragnet, went underground and tried to maintain contact with the people through pamphlets printed by lithopresses. There was regular picketing at all schools and colleges and for almost three months and during that period all schools and colleges stopped functioning. There was tremendous pressure by the administration on all parents to send their children to the schools and colleges without much of response. Ultimately, there was some change in environment at the political level and the students were back to schools and colleges from the middle of October 1942. Mahatma Gandhi went on a three week fast for pressing the issues and for self purification in January 1943, which was enthusiastically supported by all sections of the people through the organization of hawans and prayers throughout the country. The war had started taking its toll on the British Government. They were finding it difficult to keep the colonies under subjugation. Initially, there were offers about transferring some powers to India, which were followed by proposals for allowing dominion status to India. However, as the war ended and labour party assumed power in Britain, the decks were cleared for the transfer of power to India. Indian Independence Act was passed by the British Parliament in 1947 and Lord Mountbatten, the last Viceroy and Governor General of India was entrusted with the task of transfer of power to India.
Our association with Meerut: After retirement from the services of Bundi State in 1940, our father got a foothold at Meerut and was able to set up a small business, which kept him going for some more years. His main concern was completion of our education. I joined Meerut College in July 1941 and completed B.A. with Maths and Economics in May 1943. My younger brothers joined Nanak Chand High School in July 1941 and completed their early schooling at Meerut. Most of our close relatives were living at Meerut for decades. We had an opportunity to meet them during festivals and family functions. Some of those bonds provided a sense of belonging and homeliness during our short stay at Meerut.