Bundi in 1930: Our father moved from Banswara to Bundi, sometimes in the middle of the year 1930. At that time, Bundi was a small princely state, with very limited financial resources. Bundi city was land locked and had very limited communication links with the neighbouring states or the outside world. Bundi did not have a railhead. It did not have proper roads, electricity, radio, telephones, piped watersupply or sewerage. Education and health services were extremely limited. Vehicular traffic was confined to horse drawn tongas or buggies. Bullock carts were commonly used for transport of goods as also for passengers. Motor vehicles were not being manufactured in India at that time. The ruler of Bundi had a modest collection of different makes of British and American motor vehicles. Apart from the ruler, there were hardly any people who maintained motor vehicles at that time. There were no trucks or motorized transport vehicles. A few passenger busses were in operation. They usually plied between Bundi and Kota making one or two trips in a day, taking about two hours to cover a distance of about 38 km. The people of Bundi were mostly living and doing business in the walled city. There was hardly any development outside the walled city. Maharao Raja Ishwari Singh was the ruler of Bundi at that time. Major W.F. Webb a British Army Officer was the Dewan of Bundi and most of the senior functionaries of the state, who were also members of the Mehakma Khas, the so called cabinet of the state, were drawn from outside the state. Those were the conditions, when our father joined the services of Bundi as State Engineer.
Construction of buildings: Father was responsible for the construction and maintenance of all types of buildings of the state. He was also responsible for all works related to additions, alterations and maintenance of Taragarh Fort and other palaces. Some of the prominent buildings constructed by him during his tenure at Bundi were Civil Hospital, King George V Jubilee High School, Webb Club (Officers’ Club) and Dewan’s Bunglow. All these buildings were constructed outside the walled city along Bundi-Kota road and thereby, the construction of these buildings opened up the process of development of the city in that direction.
Civil Hospital was designed as the central hospital of the state, intended to serve the people of Bundi city as also the people coming from the far flung areas of the state. The Civil Hospital building had liberal accomodation for common indoor and outdoor medical facilities and emergency services. It was constructed on a large plot of land to accommodate residences of staff and for providing sufficient space for future expansion. At that time, all services of the hospital were free for the people.
Bundi had only one High School in the state at that time known as Durbar High School, which was functioning from an old building in the walled city. King George V Jubilee High School building was constructed in the year 1935 outside the walled city on a large plot of land on Kota road, in commemoration of the silver jubilee of the reign of King George V. Thereafter, with the completion of the building, Durbar High School classes were shifted to the newly developed campus of King George V Jubilee High School. King George V Jubilee High School building had a massive structure in line with the colonial architecture of those times. It had spacious sports grounds and other associated facilities.
Webb club was designed and constructed on a large plot of land on Bundi Kota road to serve as an officers’ club. Our father was an active member of that club. He was fond of playing tennis, when he was working at Banswara and continued to play at Bundi, when Webb club started functioning.
Dewan’s Bunglow was constructed on Bundi Kota road at about 5 km from the walled city. It was a magnificent structure of that time. All outside visitors to Bundi made it a point to see Dewan’s Bunglow during their visit to Bundi. It was an isolated bunglow, with well laid out lawns and a lot of empty space left on all sides from considerations of safety and security.
Construction of Roads and Bridges: Kota was a progressive state, lying on the south eastern side of Bundi. The two states had fraternal ties with each other. The cities of Kota and Bundi were connected through a gravel road at that time. The total length of the road was 38 km of which 28 km fell within the boundaries of Bundi and remaining 10 km passed through the lands of Kota. There used to be a regular border and customs post, at the point, where the road crossed the border between Bundi and Kota. Bundi portion of the road passed through three low level causeways on rivers Mangli, Ghorapachar and Talera involving delays and disruption of traffic during rainy season. Kota portion of the road had a high level causeway on river Chambal outside Kota city. Bullackcarts and tongas moved freely on the road. The few passenger buses plied on the road in a very leisurely fashion and took almost two hours to cover the distance of 38 km between Bundi and Kota. They used to have a number of stops on the way and a long stop at the border between Bundi and Kota. Our father had an opportunity to realign the road and to construct a fast moving metalled road within the borders of Bundi State. High level causeways were constructed on the rivers to minimize disruption and delays in movement of traffic.
Kota Junction was the nearest railhead for people of Bundi at that time. From considerations of providing an independent railhead for the state, a link road was constructed from Talera to Keshoraipatan. After the construction of the link road, Keshoraipatan railway station on the broad gauge railway line from Delhi to Bombay was renamed as Bundi Road railway station.
On the northwestern side of Bundi, the gravel road ran from Bundi to Deoli and then from Deoli to Ajmer and Deoli to Jaipur. Our father was responsible for the realignment and construction of the road from Bundi City to Hindoli and beyond upto the border of the state. This included construction of a major bridge on river Mez. At that time a passenger bus known as Royal Mail used to run from Ajmer to Kota carrying the postal mail and through passengers. It used to pass through Deoli, Hindoli. and Bundi. While passing through Bundi, Royal Mail used to run through the the paved street inside the walled city. It used to stop at the post office in the city for dropping and picking up postal mail and taking local passengers. The gates of the walled city were installed in the good old days from considerations of safety and security in times of war and were intended to obstruct and slow down the movement of the invaders. As through traffic on the road from Kota to Deoli developed, movement of motor vehicles through the walled city became inconvenient. Our father was responsible for the survey, alignment and construction of a byepass road by cutting through the side slope of the southern hill. The byepass links Kota Bundi road on the east side with Bundi Deoli road on the west side. The byepass road runs through the southern hill, at a level higher than the built up areas of the walled city. It provides a panoramic view of the city, while considerably facilitating speedy movement of through traffic from Jaipur and Ajmer to Kota without disturbing the peace and tranquility of the walled city.
Construction of an aerodrome: The daughter of the Maharao Raja Ishwari Singh was married sometimes in the year 1935. Although Bundi was a small state with very limited resources, the ruler of Bundi used to be ranked very high in the Rajput hierarchy. Some of the ruling princes, who were invited for attending the marriage indicated that they would be coming to Bundi by air. Bundi did not have an airport at that time and from considerations of Rajput sense of honour, it was decided to construct a temporary aerodrome at Bundi.. Our father was responsible for the construction of this makeshift aerodrome. It involved levelling and compaction of a vast stretch of land and construction of temporary accomodation and provision of necessary infrastructure to make it suitable for landing and takeoff of a few light aircrafts.
Electrification of Bundi: Bundi did not have any electricity in early thirties. Sometimes in the middle of the thirties, our father was responsible for the construction of a thermal powerhouse outside the walled city and for providing distribution lines for electrification of the city, including street lighting and electrification of public buildings.
Departure from Bundi: After working in the state for a period of ten years, our father retired from the services of Bundi State in the year 1940. Those were very hectic days for him. He was always on the move in his tonga from place to place. His shelf was full of technical books, which were his main resource and guide. Those were the days when construction materials, skilled labour and transport facilities were not available locally. It is really very difficult to imagine, how he made things work under those conditions. I have some memories of visiting some of the works under construction with my father in the versatile horse driven tonga, during those days. Our father used to be meticulously dressed and was always calm and collected. He maintained personal rapport with almost everybody involved in the construction and was able to look to the minutest details on works, thereby, every structure carried his personal marks. He left Bundi log stock and barrel in the year 1940, as soon as he was relieved from his formal responsibilities in the state . However, the lore of Bundi never left him.