'It was still raining when we stopped outside Hotel Bhagsu',thus begins the travelogue 'Running Water' by Rohinton Mistry.

1. ‘RUNNING WATER’
By
ROHINTON MISTRY

4. Dharamsala is the principal township of Kangra
district. With dense pine and deodar forests,
numerous streams, cool healthy air, attractive
surroundings and the nearby snowline,
Dharamsala has everything for a perfect holiday. It
is full of life and yet peaceful. The headquarters of
His Holiness the Dalai Lama are at upper
Dharamsala.
Covering a wide area in the form of twin
settlement, lower Dharamsala (1380m) is a busy
commercial centre.
While upper Dharamsala (1830m) with the suburbs
of Mcleodganj and Forsytheganj, retains a British
flavor and colonial lifestyle.

5. The charming church of St. John in the
wilderness is situated here and this is the final
resting place of Lord Elgin, a British Viceroy
of India during the 19th century.
There is also a large Tibetan community who
has made this place their home.
Numerous ancient temples like Jwalamukhi,
Brijeshwari and Chamunda lie on the plains
below Dharamsala.
.

10. Like most of Mistry’s story this story also
covers a number of generic distinctions. These
are---
i. Autobiographic elements
ii. Historiography of Dharamsala
iii. Dalai Lama and his religious activities
iv. Problems of Immigration & Refugee
V. Religiosity of the Indians &
vi. Vices of Urbanization

11. Rohinton Mistry began the story saying his nostalgic
feeling about ‘Dharamsala’, a mountain hamlet where
his uncle, aunt and cousins were living.
He regretted that although he had a desire to visit
‘Dharamsala’ to enjoy snow covered paths , roofs and
leaves and branches of trees, he could not do so
because of some practical problems.
In course of time he left India and settled in Canada.
All on a sudden he got the opportunity to visit
Dharamsala when he was asked to do so as an official
duty.

13. The story began as a travelogue. Mistry very lucidly stated
how he started from Delhi and reached Chakki Bank of
Punjab after 28 hours of boring train journey. Then he
narrated how he took a foolish decision of hiring a worn out
Rickshaw and reached the Pathankot bus-stand almost wet.
Then he hired a taxi and started toward Dharamsala.
It took him 3 hours to reach Dharamsala.
Reaching Dharamsala he took shelter at a Hotel named
‘Bhagsu’.
He came to know that ‘Bhagsu’ in local language means
‘Running Water’.
Eventually he titled his tale ‘Running Water’.

15. The desk clerk told that he would be supplied with two
candles because the electricity supply of the hotel was
disturbed.
This was because of the employees’ strike for getting some
of their demands fulfilled.
The clerk then told that he would be supplied with two
buckets of water as the water supply of the Hotel was
disrupted because of landslide.
However, the clerk consoled him saying that he would face
the same problems in almost all the hotels of the locality.
These were not the problems of Hotel Bhagsu only.

18. His aunt asked him to shift to their house
immediately. She also said that they had personal
water supply system and it was not affected.
Mr. Nowrojee told that his grandfather saved
lives of hundreds of people by providing blankets
and necessary commodities during the
devastating earthquake of 1905. As a reward the
British Deputy commissioner donated a fountain
of fresh water to the family. He also arranged for
its independent pipeline.
The Nowrojee family had been using it since
then.

19. ‘RUNNING WATER’
The sacred Dal lake with natural water body, 11km away
from Lower Dharamshala .

21. Then Mr. Nowrojee told the story of Dalai Lama.
Dalai Lama fled Tibet in 1959 and had taken shelter
at Dharamsala in order to save his life from the
hands of Chinese soldiers of Chou en Lai.
Mr. Nowrojee helped Dalai Lama to establish his
government–in-exile and build his new monastery at
Dharamsala.
It was named Norbulingka or Namgyal.

24. The main hall of the Namgyal Monastery had a
high throne at one side. Dalai Lama used to sit
there when he gave audience and preached.
Behind the throne was a larger than life statue of
Buddha in the lotus position. The Buddha was
locked in a huge glass case.
The Monastery brought tourists and the situation
changed with the change of time.
In order to protect the valuable things, the
Buddhist monks had to keep everything under lock
and key.
This was the consequences of Urbanization.

25. His Holiness the 14th Dalai
Lama Tenzin Gyatso, is the head
of state and spiritual leader of
the Tibetan people. He was born
Lhamo Dhondrub on 6 July
1935, in a small village called
Taktser in northeastern Tibet.
Born to a peasant family, His
Holiness was recognized at the
age of two, in accordance with
Tibetan tradition, as the
reincarnation of his predecessor
the 13th Dalai Lama, and thus
an incarnation Avalokitesvara,
the Buddha of Compassion.

32. Kangra fort ,Dharmsala

34. Mistry then referred to the T.V.Serial of
‘Ramayana’ and its impact on the average
Indian People.
Ramayana is one of the two great sanskrit
epics of India. The other is the Mahabharata.
Ramananda Sagar made a TV serial on the
episodes of Ramayana in the seventies of the
last century.
It became very popular among all sections of
people.

35. It was shown every Sunday at 10-00 a.m.
People suspended all their normal activities
for the sake of witnessing this Serial.
They even garlanded the TV sets and burnt
incense sticks before the TV sets as if they
were watching real Rama, Laxmana etc.
The serial ended after 76 episodes.
People felt disgruntled as they found all
incidents were not presented.
The started agitation in protest. Bandhs
paralyzed the normal life.

36. Ministerial oaths were postponed.
The Sweepers declined to do their duties etc.
The people started treating the actors as real Ramayana
personalities.
The Congress party wanted to win the election by enchasing
this sentiment.
So, the actors were given candidature and used for voting
campaign
But, while casting votes ,the people acted rationally and voted
only the deserving candidates. Rajib Gandhi led Congress
party had to suffer a serious defeat.
Democratic spirit of the people prevailed over emotional craze
highlighting the dignity of Indian Democracy.

37. A note to the author: -
Rohinton Mistry was born in 1952 and grew up in
Bombay, India, where he also attended university. In 1975
he emigrated to Canada, where he began a course in
English and Philosophy at the University of Toronto. He
is the author of three novels and one collection of short
stories. His debut novel, Such a Long Journey (1991),
won the Commonwealth Writers Prize for Best Book and
the Governor General's Award, and was shortlisted for the
Booker Prize.
Excerpt from: amazon.com

38. It was made into an acclaimed feature film in 1998. His second
novel, A Fine Balance (1995), won many prestigious awards,
including the Commonwealth Writers Prize for Best Book, the
Los Angeles Times Book Prize for Fiction and the Giller Prize, as
well as being shortlisted for the Booker Prize, the International
IMPAC Dublin Literary Award and the Irish Times International
Fiction Prize. His collection of short stories, Tales from Firozsha
Baag, was published in 1987. In 2002 Faber published Mistry's
third novel, Family Matters, which was longlisted for the 2002
Man Booker Prize.
Excerpt from: amazon.com

40. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS:
CREDITS : & REFERENCES :
1. A COMPANION TO B.A ENGLISH PROSE ED. BY FATEHA HAQUE BARBARUAH
2.WWW.EN.WIKIPEDEA.ORG
3.PICTURES TAKEN FROM (A) WIKIPEDEA (2)OFFICIAL WEBSITE OF TOURISM DEPT. HIMACHAL PRADESH
4.WWW.LITERATURE.BRITISHCOUNCIL.ORG
5.JANUARY IMAGE.COM
6.amazon.com
7.Google photos/pictures