<B>By Chit DUKHIRA</B>

The most ancient republic of India was in the Rasara Tahsil, Ballia. For long, it was the commercial centre of the district. Its last remains were noticeable until the early 20th Century. The back-strewn mounds and the structural fragmentary remains found at many places in Ballia evoke mythology and history. Excavations carried out by the Banaras Hindu University (BHU), in Varanasi, have shown relics of the civilisation prevailing in 1450-1200 B.C. at many places.

Found in the eastern part of the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh (UP) and bordering that of western Bihar, Ballia lies in the Bhopuri belt stretching from the Himalaya Basin up to the Sarguja District in Chatsgarh, the new state split from Madhya Pradesh, covering some 129,500 km2. Lying four hours? drive from Varanasi, and 14 hours by express train from Delhi. It is much larger than Mauritius in respect of both population (2.8 millions) and area (3168 km2). It consists of six tahsils/talukas (sub-divisions), 17 development blocks, nine urban units and 2339 gaons (villages). In the 12 km2-Ballia City, as is known the district administrative centre, live about 270,000 inhabitants.

Situated between the Rivers Ganges and Ghaghara (or Sarayu), Ballia is renowned for its religious vestiges. All the land between these two holy rivers was in ancient time an entire jungle and uninhabited, being the favourite of Rishi Munis (sages). Maharishi Parasara Muni, of Ballia, is renowned for his two most authoritative works in Sanskrit, Bhrihad Parasara-Horasastra (Astrology) and Parasara Smriti (Principles of Hindu Religion), that appeared thousands of years before Christ and after the Mahabharata. His ashram, known as Parasia, the name later given to the place, is still found near the River Ganges, in East of Ballia. Of 400 pages, now also in Hindi, Brihad Parasara-Horasastra is consulted by learned astrologers all over the world. In Ballia are found today some 20,000 mandirs (temples) of various sizes.

In modern Indian history, Ballia carved an almost unique political reputation. Mangal Pandey, born at Nagwa, Ballia, near the bank of the Ganges some 7 km East of the City, was the first Indian to revolt against the British oppression and colonialism. He faced his public hanging calmly, becoming India?s first freedom fighter in 1857. Much associated with Ballia, King Kunwar Singh, despite his advanced age of 80, excelled during this first War of Independence. In 1858, he routed, together with his followers, the British soldiers from Ballia and took hold of the district for some time. Ballia was also the first place in India to be independent, though for a fortnight, of the British yoke under Chittu Pandey?s leadership in 1942, even before the entire country became free in 1947.1 Jay Prakash Narayan (1902-1979), born at Sitabdiara, East of Ballia, who took part in the Non Co-operation Movement of 1920 and joined the Indian National Congress in 1929, was instrumental in the foundation of the Janata Party (JP) that won the parliamentary elections in 1977. He installed as Prime Minister Morarji Desai (1896-1995).

Pandit Lakshmi Narayan Chaturvedi (1879-1948) of Ballia stayed for about 23 years in Mauritius. A scholar in both Hindi and Sanskrit, he devoted himself to writing, under the pen-name of Raspunj, Hindi poetry and contributing articles to the paper Sanatan Dharmark. In 1923, his first collection of poems titled Raspunj Kundaliyan was published in India. He also wrote in, besides Hindi and Sanskrit, Urdu and Bhojpuri. His second work, Shatabdi Saroj, a collection of narrative poetry describing the Indo-Mauritian struggles, came out in the island in 1935 from the Rawat Press. It was a souvenir publication commemorating the centenary of the arrival of indentured labourers from India to Mauritius. On 4 December 1947, he went back to his native village, Baghaon, near Sahatvar, in Ballia, where he passed away in the following year.

Born in 1927 in an agricultural family, the ?Thakur (Rajput) from Ballia,? as Chandra Shekhar was usually referred to in the Indian press, or ?Netaji,? as he was respectfully called by the inhabitants, was a pupil of the primary school at Bhimpura, situated at a distance of 15 km from his home which he covered daily on foot. Having received his higher education at the Satish Chandra College in Ballia City, he obtained his MA (Political Science) from the University of Allahabad. After his socio-political involvement in the district and the region for some time, he became the young Turk within the INC that he had joined in 1964. He was soon catapulted to the forefront of national politics after shining in public life at district (1951) and state (1952-1955) levels.

For his political activities during the Emergency period, Chandra Shekhar was imprisoned for 19 months in 1976. He was the first national president of the JP in 1977-1978. His Daily Diary, an autobiography, especially on his six-month (10 January-25 June 1983) padyatra (march) from Kanya Kumari to Raj Ghat, New Delhi, covering 4260 km, was published subsequently in two volumes. It was translated into English in 2004. He undertook the long march to establish a link with the grass roots with a view to appreciating the problems of the villagers. He afterwards set up 15 bharat yatra2 centres in various states to train social and political workers, acquainting them with mass education and health services. Elected representative of Ballia District at the Lok Sabha since 1962 until his death, he was Prime Minister from November 1990 to May 1991.

On my visit in 1992 to India, I was not carrying my Indian family?s address in Ballia. Delhi?s most respected academic, Prof. Tarlok Singh, a long-time acquaintance of mine, insistingly arranged for me and my wife to meet our relatives there. After taking an appointment with former Indian Prime Minister Chandra Shekhar, he drove us to meet him. Thanks to Chandra Shekharji?s assistance, I easily traced my roots.

On 19 September 1995, ex-Prime Minister Chandra Shekhar landed in Mauritius, l?Express published my article about my roots. Chandra Shekhar was received at the only private dinner during his visit to Mauritius by the late Beekrumsing, then the eldest member of the Bundhun-Ramlallah-Dukhira family. His relatives and close friends participated in it.