At a time when people in Dehradun are getting habituated to the ill- effects of unplanned urbanisation and the repercussions of environmental degeneration, one often wonders how life was when fruit orchards, sylvan charm, pleasant weather and dense forests were still a part of the Doon valley. “Memories of Another Day” written by senior journalist Jaskiran Chopra, provides the reader an opportunity to travel back in time through engrossing stories of how it was when Dehradun was a tranquil place with its litchi orchards, fields of Basmati rice, flowing rivers and an uncomplicated life.
Noted writer Ruskin Bond says in the foreword, “Nostalgia is a wonderful way to pay our tribute to the past. The writings in this volume sensitively evoke the past and create a beautiful canvas of memories, a canvas we can all identify with. Personal memories play hide and seek with nostalgia for a shared world, a world that is fast vanishing if it has not already done so. A slow paced and calm world, a world of greater human interaction, a world of truer values. The writer takes us on an enriching inward journey that traces the innocent paths of childhood, the sensitive lanes of adolescence and even the difficult roads that one travels later. All with simplicity and a gentle charm. The faded beauty of the Doon valley is a theme that runs through a good part of this book and regret jostles with rapid change. Vanished landmarks like the popular Kwality restaurant in Doon and the landour Clock Tower in Mussoorie are used as symbols of a past which the author recalls and captures vividly in these pages.
The Dehra Dun of bubbling canals, of litchi and mango orchards, of tongas and leisurely cyclists is a place one can no longer find except in fading photographs or fading memories.
And it is these memories that Jaskiran Chopra brightens once again as she puts together a bouquet dedicated to parents, teachers, alma mater, homes and other things that live forever in the landscape of her heart.
Her nostalgia goes beyond the valley and its surroundings. Old films, charismatic film stars, old melodies, old libraries, old book shops, old teachers, old bazaars, old style journalism and advertising and the old radio are all recalled fondly by the author. looking back could not have been done better,”opines the renowned author. He goes on to add, “Jaskiran’s column has enlivened the pages of The Pioneer for many years, helping to make it one of the more readable Sunday newspaper editions in the land.”
Stories in this book will transport the reader to a land and time when the environment and culture of this region was much more appreciable than it is now. A time when the simple joys of life were appreciated as much as the environmental and cultural wealth of the valley. Jaskiran says, “I wanted to share and preserve the world of beauty, joy and simplicity- aspects of life in Doon which can now be enjoyed only in memory.”
Published by Investcare Publications Private limited, “Memories of Another Day” can not only take the reader on a nostalgic trip but also make the reader aware of the need for preventing further deterioration of Doon’s environs.