- Name: The Raj on the move: Story of the Dak Bungalow
- Author: Rajika Bhandari
- Genre: Non Fiction/History
- Book Post No. : 59
- What is it about? : During the days of the British Raj in India, the officers of the Indian Civil Services used to travel throughout the length and breadth of the country touring their domains to discharge their duties. On these travels they needed accommodation, sometimes in some of the most remote corners of India, and most often, Dak Bungalows offered this. These bungalows, variously called Circuit houses or Forest Rest houses, were set up by the methodical British in their efforts to bring order to a chaotic country. In Raj on the move, Rajika Bhandari combines her love of Dak Bungalows with some fine writing to bring out the essence of these forgotten buildings. She talks about the buildings in multiple chapters each devoted to one aspect of the building including purpose, architecture, food, locations and perhaps most interestingly for some, myself included, the famous resident ghosts.
- How I came to read it? : Since my last book read I was suffering from a bit of a ‘reader’s block’. I picked up 3 different books only to drop them after 20 or so pages. I needed to get out of it so I searched my bookshelves to see if I can find a nice interesting book to rejuvenate my reading. Raj on the move seemed perfect for this. Many years ago, when I was living in a small remote town in Central India, working in a thermal powerplant, I used to spend my off days juggling between planning travel trips, going on trips and reading books. My reading sometimes takes up a theme on which I then read multiple books. One such theme which was running back then was British era travel. I read some amazing books related to these like Begums, Thugs and Englishmen and Confessions of a Thug which was a fiction novel published in 1839. I have always been interested in these particular niche since childhood. I do not remember what started if off but I think Ghost Stories from the Raj, which is a collection of horror stories from the days of the British raj in India, definitely gave it a big boost. Then later on I read City of Djinns; The Last Mughal; and White Mughals all by William Dalrymple which are some of the best books on history I have ever read. Also Khushwant Singh’s Sahibs who Loved India. All of these books combined to paint a somewhat wistful picture of those times when the relations between the British and the locals was not as acrimonious as they turned after the first war of Independence in 1857. All of these books and esp. the Ghost story selection always had mentions of Dak Bungalows and that’s how my love for these was born. I thought I had a weird fascination with them until I found out about Rajika’s book. I ordered it online and read it (This was around 2016). She shares a similar fascination and there are lines in the book that seem like they are speaking my exact thoughts.
7. Did I like it?: Absolutely loved it! This book is born from the author’s fascination with a subject which is often overlooked. How many people do you know who love Dak Bungalows? The author’s love for these structures shows in the pages of the book. And how do you translate this unexplainable liking into something that can be read and made sense of by the reader. Rajika manages this beautifully by taking a systematic approach. She has neatly split the book into chapters each dealing with one aspect of the bungalows. She starts off with purpose or uses and then moves on to architecture. Architecture wise there wasn’t much to Dak Bungalows and many of them were extremely plain in appearance. What set them apart was the location. Usually they were located on hill tops giving the residents the perfect views of nearby areas.
The food served by the caretakers or khansamas of these bungalows is the topic of the third chapter. There are many anecdotes in the book about the dishes served by some of the most legendary khansamas, many recounted by the British guests in their memoirs. There are dishes which trace their origin to Dak bungalows like the Dak Bungalow chicken and many which, though did not originate here but were very popular like fish cutlets.
The next chapter is about ghosts. Against the dying rays of a setting sun, a weary traveler arrives at the spectacularly located but extremely remote Dak Bungalow to rest his weary legs only to find out that the Dak bungalow is haunted. Does that not sound like a perfect setting for a ghost story? Given their remote setting the Dak bungalows were susceptible to many supernatural tales. Rudyard Kipling has written about it in his writings. Coincidentally Rajika mentions one of my favorite horror short stories which I read in the Ghost Stories of the Raj collection I mentioned earlier, A Ghost in Burma. This story is set in the thick impenetrable jungles of Burma (Myanmar) where a group of men stumble upon an isolated and abandoned Dak bungalow. Everything seems normal as they explore it except one thing. There is a cubical stone in the verandah which seems like its almost 5000 years old. What is a 5000 year old cube doing in this part of the world in this house and what happens next. Read the story to find out.
Next, Rajika talks about the memsahibs who spent their times in these shelters. There were many British women who have written about their experience in India and in these Dak Bungalows. Rajika once again mentions another one of my favorites from this time, this time its a person, Fanny Parkes whose amazing adventures in India are recounted in the book Begums, Thugs and Englishmen. She also mentions Alice Perrin and other ladies
You cannot be born and spend your formative years in a country like India without accepting the truth of that famous statement that Shakespeare put into the mouth of Hamlet; “There are more things in Heaven and Earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy.” by M.M. Kaye
8. Positives: Its mere existence (because not many books on Dak Bungalows exists), short, evocative writing, brisk, covers multiple aspects of these wonderful buildings.
9. Negatives: Rajika only talks about her own visits to Dak bungalows in the last three chapters. I felt the starting of the 6th chapter where she talks about her visit to a Dak Bungalow in Madhya Pradesh should have been the opening paragraph of the book. It lays the foundation of what’s to come. The layout could have been better in that sense. A better mixing up her own journeys with historical anecdotes and facts would have been nicer.
10. Any other personal notes, observations, fun facts etc.:–
Since the last 12 years or so I have, myself, been in search of a Dak Bungalow to spend a few days in. The fancy started around 2013s during my time in Chhattisgarh when I was living in a remote area. I asked my friends and connections if they knew about any Dak Bungalows or Forest Rest Houses nearby but did not have any luck. I even tried to go on a trip to Sikkim where some of these bungalows were converted into some nice homestays. Again no luck as due to various reasons I couldn’t go on that trip. Finally in 2018 I was able to spend a weekend in a small town called Mamanduru in Andhra Pradesh which had a version of the circuit house. Even here I coudnt only stay in the main bungalow and had to contend myself with a normal cottage in the complex. It was still an amazing experience. The way me and my friend reached that place itself was quote interesting. An excerpt from my blog post about that trip.
The bus dropped us off near a gateway which had the words ‘Mamanduru Forest Stay’ written on it. Trees to the left. Trees to the right. Trees ahead, divided by a muddy road in the middle which vanished ahead as it took a left turn. We could see nothing else which suggested any signs of a forest stay. We decided to follow the path anyway. After a walk of around 1.5 kms we came across a crossroads. As we looked around, we spotted a speck of red in the sea of green to the right. It turned out to be the British cottage of Mamanduru, our destination. This had me all excited. True to what I have read about the British selecting the best locations for their forest cottages, the location here too was excellent. The road ahead of us lead to a small hillock atop which was perched this cottage with a gleaming red tiled roof. It was surrounded by thick cover of trees allowing only a small view of the cottage. The road ran around the hill enveloping it and gradually leading to the top. This was for vehicles. Since we were on foot we simply took a shortcut which climbed up straight ahead. To our left we spotted the cottages for tourist’s stay. Climbing up we reached the British built cottage.
Books I have read which are in someway related to the British in India:
- Ghost stories from the Raj compiled by Ruskin Bond
- Begums, Thugs and Englishmen: The Journals of Fanny Parkes (William Dalrymple)
- Sahibs who loved India by Khushwant Singh
- City of Djinns by William Dalrymple
- The Last Mughal by William Dalrymple
- White Mughals by William Dalrymple
- The Last Nizam by John Zubrzycki
- Hyderabad: A Biography by Narendra Luther
- The Raj on the move by Rajika Bhandari
- Confessions of a Thug by Philip Meadows Taylor
- Inglorious Empire by Shashi Tharoor
- The Moonstone by Willkie Collins
- Man Eaters of Kumaon by Jim Corbett