OverView of Chunni Khurd

History of Village Chunni Khurd (Or Chhoti Chunni)

Introduction

There is no written history of village Chunni Khurd before this one. This is an eyewitness account of Chunni Khurd and its people starting in 1946.

Why is it Called Chunni Kurd?

In 1946, Chunni Khurd was a large village. However, the name of the village implies that it is a small village. The word “Khurd” is an Urdu word and it means small. That is why in Punjabi, the name of the village is “Chhoti Chunni”. “Chhoti” is a Punjabi word meaning small. So if Chunni Kurd is quite a large village, then why is it called small?

 It so happens that there is another village close by named Chunni Kalan. The word “Kalan’ is also an Urdu word which means big. In Punjabi Chunni Kalan was called “Badi Chunni”. “Badi” is a Punjabi word meaning big. So to make the long story short, Chunni consists of two sister villages: One Chunni Kalan (Badi) and the other Chunni Kurd (Chhoti). The distance between them was only about 200 meters in 1946.

Since Chunni Kalan was bigger than Chunni Kurd, it was better known than Chunni Khurd. Even today, it is easier to find Chunni Kalan on the map than Chunni Khurd. In any case, each of these villages is bigger than any other village within 5 Kilometer radius.

Chunni Khurd Location

In 1946, the nearest paved road from Chunni Khurd was about 10 Kilometers away in a small city called Kharar northeast of Chunni Khurd. The nearest train station was about 12 Kilometers away in the small city of Sarai Banjara (Southwest of Chunni Khund). People, who needed to go to other far away cities, had to walk 10 to 12 Kilometers to take the bus or the train. Because of the lack of paved road, Chunni Khurd village was quite isolated.

North and South Sides of Chunni Kurd

Even in 1946, Chunni Kurd was a large village. On the north side of Chunni Khurd, there was a large pond (Tobha). Animals used this pond to drink water and to bathe. People on the south side used to call the north side as Doua Passa (That is; second side of the village).

South side of village Chunni Kurd had a Gurudawara, a temple and a Maadee (Naag Dev’s place of worship). It also had large open space (more about this space later on) where kids used to play.

During summer, a celebration was held at the Maadee. They beat big drums (called Nagaras in Punjabi) during this celebration. Nagaras are big hemispherical drums with stretched leather on one side. They stood on the ground with slight slant. People used sticks to beat these drums.

During this celebration, people who really believed in Naag Dev sat around a fire and waited for the spirit to enter their body. When it did, the person would get up and use hot chains to whip his own back. The person did not feel any pain (At least that is what the person said after the spirit was gone).

Houses in Chunni Khurd

In 1946, most houses in the village were made of mud bricks plastered with mud-straw mix. Streets were unpaved. No house had running water or electricity. Open fields were used as toilets. Wastewater from homes flowed into the open drains in the middle of the streets.

In village Chunni Khurd, a typical single family home had one room.  However, it’s area was equal to four rooms. It had a brick pillar in the middle. This pillar and other four pillars along the mud brick walls supported the roof structure made of wooden beams covered with straw and then mud. It had no windows because the sidewalls and the back walls were shared with homes of neighbors. For light during the day, there was a hole in the roof. In Punjabi, this hole in the roof was called “mohga”. In winter, family slept in this type of room.

A typical house had a veranda in front. On one side of the veranda, there was an area to cook meals using buffalo chips and wood. The other side of the veranda had an area to take bath using a bucket of water and a tin cup.

 A typical house had a walled compound (called “behda” in Punjabi) in front of the veranda. In some houses, there was a tree in the compound for shade. A small part of the compound was reserved for animals such as a buffalo and her calf. The rest of the behda was used to sleep in summer season. People used jute cots to sleep.

In summer, some people slept on the roof of their house. There was better breeze on the roof than at ground level. In addition, one could enjoy watching stars in the Milky Way galaxy. Absence of pollution and electric lights made it possible to see shooting stars

Large families had extra rooms, which served as guest rooms (called Baithak in Punjabi). Some families also had rooms for animals to protect them from cold winters.

Life in Village Chunni

In 1946, village Chunni Kurd was a farming community. There were farmers and there were people who supported the farmers. The village looked self-sufficient in every way.

There was a “Peenja”, whose job was to fluff cotton to make quilts for use in winter season. He used a bow like device to fluff cotton. He would make the bowstring vibrate with a stick. Vibrating string would fluff the cotton. He repeated the process hundreds of time to fluff enough cotton for one quilt.

There was a “Tailee”, whose job was to extract oil from mustard seeds and cottonseeds. He used a device called Kohloo, which was an ox-driven device. People used mustard seed oil for cooking and in lamps during Diwali festival. They also used this oil for their hair and as body lotion. The residue (called Khal in Punjabi) from the oil extraction process was used as feed for domestic animals.

There was a blacksmith, a carpenter, a shoemaker, a cloth maker, a tailor, a pottery maker, a barber and a waterman. There were also people who helped the farmers in the fields to sow and harvest crops. They were all paid with either grains or money.

There were two wells in South Chunni. Water table was very low. That is why there was no Persian wheel for irrigation. Farming depended on natural rain. People used a rope and a metal bucket to draw water from the well. In some summers, water level was so shallow that water became muddy. One had to filter the mud before using the water. Drawing water was mostly the job of women. Some families were able to pay the waterman to get the water delivered.

The Playing Area in Southeast Chunni Khurd and Seasonal Water Creek (Chunni Di Nadi)

  This playing area was not a traditional playground. It was just a space common to the southeast side of the village. It had several Banyan trees, one Pipal tree, and two water wells. Part of the area was occupied by buffalo dung heaps, buffalo chip storage cones. Buffalos and oxen used some of this space for resting during hot summers.

The most interesting part this space was the sandy area where kids could play. This area was part of the seasonal creek (Chunni Di Nadi). During the monsoon season, the creek would swell all the way to the door of the compounds (Behdas) of the houses on the village’s south boundary. In monsoon season, this water creek would deposit a lot of fresh sand which was great for playing, especially the game called Kabadi. Even the kids from the north side of the village came to play in this sandy area.

One of the banyan trees in the sandy area had very low branches. Kid would climb on to this tree and jump off the branches on to the sand.

“Chunni Di Nadi” (Water Creek of Chunni) also played tricks. Sometimes a tiny stream of water would show up into the creek even though there was no rain in Chunni (Rain was somewhere upstream). Kids would run in front of this tiny stream until the water swelled to an unsafe level. People who were sleeping under the shade of the banyan trees would wake up to find that their shoes have been swept away by the water. During summer, farmers rested under the banyan trees from 11 AM to 3PM to avoid hottest part of the day.

Schools

In 1946, there was one middle school in Chunni Kalan. Kids from Chunni Kurd and many other villages near by went to this school. It was only about 200 meters from Chunni Kurd. One had to walk through the farm fields to get to this school.

There was a banyan tree (and a Pipal tree) in the behda of the school. In summer, kids sat under the banyan tree to study. Kids sat on long strips of carpet made of jute. Teachers used chairs.

School was located near a very large water pond (called Talaab in Urdu). “Chunni Di Nadi” also passed by this school. In some years, it flooded the school.

In 1946, Urdu was compulsory language. Teachers and students belonged to many religions: Hindu, Sikh, Muslim etc. Kabadi was a very popular support in this school. Its Kabadi team was very good.

Nearest high schools (Christian High School and Khalsa High School) were in Kharar about 10 Kilometers away. Since there was no paved road, these schools were not easily accessible.

Impact of Indian Independence on Village Chunni Kurd

On August 15, 1947, India gained independence, which split India into two countries: India and Pakistan. This led to civil war and lot of loss life and property. Wherever Muslims were in minority in India, they had to leave for Pakistan.

Chunni Khurd had only one Muslim family. This family decided to stay in the village because everyone in the village had friendship with this family. Badi Chunni had many Muslim families. They all left for Pakistan.

Most Hindus and Sikhs in Pakistan had to leave for India. Refugees from Pakistan had to live in tents for some time in nearby cities.  Some people from the village Chunni went to help the refugees in those cities.

Before independence, kids had to study Urdu in the school in Chunni Kalan. After independence, Punjabi replaced Urdu as the primary language. New teachers replaced the teachers who left for Pakistan. Some kids lost their friends because they moved to Pakistan. There was lot of fear and uncertainty for about a year after independence.

Impact of Chunni Di Nadi when it Disappeared

During the 1960s, monsoon rainwater that made Chunni Di Nadi somehow got diverted. The sandy play area did no longer get fresh sand every year. By 1974, all of the sand disappeared. It was no longer a fun place to play. Because of erosion, roots of banyan trees got exposed. Banyan trees looked as if they were dying.

By 1974, a few of the village streets got paved with bricks. But the progress was still slow because there was no paved road close to Chunni Khurd.

Impact of the Road between Mohali and Sirhind

Sometime after 1974, the government of Punjab built a road from Mohali to Sirhind, which passes by Chunni Khurd. This made cities like Kharar, Sirhind, and Chandigarh etc. easily accessible by bicycle and motorized vehicles. Now people from Chunni Kurd could study and work in these cities. Fired bricks could be easily shipped to Chunni Kurd. The village began to expand faster than in the past.

After Chunni Di Nadi stopped, there was no fear of flooding. People started to build homes on this land also. By 2006 all the play area, which was bigger than a football field, was covered with houses. Banyan trees disappeared (Price of progress).

Impact of Technology

The progress in technology affects everyone. However, Chunni Kurd was behind the times.

In 1948, a man in Chunni Khurd bought a gramophone (record player). It had a picture of a dog looking into the cone of the gramophone as if listening to music. He used to play records under the banyan tree. A curious crowed of kids would gather around him. This was the first time anyone in the village heard a gramophone (Its name was “His Masters Voice”).

Each record had a single song. He changed the needle after each song. A single record would grind the needle tip and make it dull. The needle could not be used for the second record. He had a small box full of needles. Today things are very different. What a change in technology!

In 1949, a kid got a bicycle. He was preparing to go to high school in Kharar. This was the first bicycle in Chunni Khurd. Since there was no paved road near Chunni Khurd, this kid had to move to another village near a paved road so that he could go to school in Kharar. A few other kids had to do the same. That is, live with their relatives in another village close to a high school.

Impact of Government on Chunni Kurd

In order to improve the life in villages, government has been playing an active role. In addition to building roads, it has been providing electricity, water and sewer services. Chunni Khurd now has these services in most homes.