The Haunting Truth about the Meerut Cantonment

A cold winter evening. Swirling mist... as you walk down the Mall Road in Meerut, head down, shoulders slightly hunched, battling the cold wind as it howls and swishes through the trees lining the road.

If you are a passer-by, out quite by chance, your footsteps will hurry down the shadowy road, your mind focusing on a warm hearth and home. But if you happen to be a member of the elite Wheler Club, you have just that well-deserved glass of wine in the warm bar room taking up your attention. Wheler Club – built in 1863 AD, by Col. Wheler, under the aegis of the Her Majesty, the Queen of all she surveyed. Suddenly, you look over your shoulder.. what was that you just felt? Who was that shadow that flitted across your path? Can you see the smart young officers wearing tail-coats and hats over their eyes? Can you hear the laugh of the lady in the evening gown? That talented artistic genius, that young British Officer, who is sitting quietly in a corner of the bar, observing, and making brilliant sketches of his colleagues . Why are they so faded then, as they adorn the walls of the club? Did you just find yourself in another time and place, a hundred and fifty years back? - The high-domed halls of the club, the white facade, the sprawling gardens, and the clock on the table in the main hall, which was presented by the Duke of Connaught -  are they really here, or also a figment of your imagination?

The Duke of Connaught lived from 1884 – 1886 in the building now occupied by Allahabad Bank . So he must have presented his clock to the club as an inaugural gift.

As you halt mid-stride, you see the dark trees swaying to the cool breeze across the road. You know you are near Gandhi Bagh, also called Company Bagh locally. Ever wondered where the name “Company” came from? - The East India Company, of course! It houses a musical fountain now, and a grand cricket field inside. Walls of prison height surround it now, built by the De fence Estate Office some years ago.

Walk further, and you will see the famous Officer's Mess of the 2nd Lancers.. where the 200th year celebrations are going on.  The Chief of Army Staff and many of the top brass of the Indian Armed Forces are here. It is a grand, warm, well-lit Mess, but has  no windows.. Because they say, Bahadur Shah Zafar was once imprisoned here, and all the windows were hence walled-up.

Lost in your thoughts, you just reached the Meerut Cantonment railway station, which bears the mantle of the legacy of history. It was built in 1869 and is now managed by Northern Railways. There is also the Martyr' Memorial (Shaheed Smarak, as its now called), close to West End Road. It was supposed to have been built in memory of Ashoka, the Great. Your footsteps have reached the Augernath Mandir. Sigh! You are safe! The ghosts of the past seem to have been left behind somewhere.   The comforting clang of the bells shakes away your fears.

Then why did you just imagine the patter of hundreds of horses hooves? And the battle cry of the Indian soldiers led by their prince,as they reach the Kali Paltan Mandir to seek blessings from their deity , ready to ride out on yet another victory procession. The old part of the temple  has an ancient “Shiva Linga”, which is fabled to have risen out of the earth itself!

No, you are definitely not safe from the haunting shadows of the past here too! You quickly retrace your steps, and hurry back. This cantonment of the town was after all established in the early 19th century by the East India Company. Thoughts of the glories of the lives of the British families who lived in this town flit through your mind, and you find you are at the other end of the Mall Road! The tolling of the church bell jerks you into the present ! You walk towards the St. John's Church, carefully avoiding the ancient graveyard, where the moonlight shines on the magnificently sculptured tombs of the nobility and the officers and families of the British Raj, that came, conquered and perished on this fertile land between the Ganga and Yamuna rivers.

The first War of Independence of 1857, cannoned Meerut Cantonment into a fireball of fame. You can see the people dressed in their Sunday best, as they emerge from a service in the church on  10th of May. The icy fingers seem to clutch at your throat.. were those shots you just heard? The Indian sepoys clutching guns running out of the bushes firing blindly! And nary a shot fired inside or outside the church premises on that fateful day! The screams of the ladies and the frightened whimpers of the little boys and girls, as the sepoys of Her Majesty's Army rose in rebellion as one. The oldest church of North India, established by Chaplin Reverend Henry Fisher on behalf of The East India Company in 1819, and completed in 1822 was dedicated to these people by  the Mitred Minstrel (Poet Bishop) Reginald Heber, Bishop of Calcutta. It is said that he travelled all the way from Calcutta on an elephant, and took three months to reach here!   The church that could seat 2,000 people, seems suddenly empty. The scars of the mutiny are here for you to see in your mind's eye. The burial register with the names of all who died here that fateful day, lies carefully and proudly maintained within its walls today.

No, you cannot shake off the ghosts of those that lie buried in history. Not as long as you walk down the Meerut Cantonment. There are too many of them to fight. Just join them, and walk hand-in-hand with them, and re-live the magical history that makes the place what it is!

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[This article was published in the Meerut Plus edition of the Times of India.]