Once envisioned as a homeland, the town is now survived by its old bungalows, legends and tales.
BHPian scorpi0N recently shared this with other enthusiasts:
Once in a while it so happens that the reader of a book is so captivated by it that they seek to explore its settings. Perhaps it enables them to become a part of the story which they so loved.
One of the best known addresses, worldwide, is 221B Baker Street in London, the residence of Sherlock Holmes. When Doyle wrote the Sherlock Holmes’ stories there was no such house as 221B on Baker Street. However, readers used to send mails to the address writing their problems hoping Holmes would help them, even though they knew, deep down, that it’s all fiction. Today, the Sherlock Holmes Museum stands on the address and last year when I got a chance to visit it, I came to know that the letters still keep coming!
Marathi author Shivaji Sawant was so intrigued by the Mahābhāratathat he visited Kurekshetra and imagined how the battle must have played out in the field. Eventually, he wrote the magnificent novel- Mrityunjayathe biography of Karna. Shivaji Sawant writes, in the beginning, how his visits and stay around Kurukshetra played a crucial part in the formation of the novel in his mind!
Far from a potential writer, but as a reader I too have been intrigued. The Martin Beck novels (a set of police procedural stories based in Sweden), filled within me an innate desire to visit Stockholm and Malmo (documented in my earlier travelogue).
This time it was the turn of my wife, who after reading the Bengali novel Ektu Ushnatar Jonno by the prominent author Buddhadeb Guha expressed her wish to see McLuskieGunj, a small town in Jharkhand, which was the setting of the novel. The story revolves around a lawyer from Kolkata, who comes to McLuskieGunj for a change of air, and is searching for a deeper connection and meaning in his life. The novel apart from the characters and plot, stands out for the fascinating natural description of McCluskiegunj.
McCluskiegunj is a quaint town located about 65 KMs from Ranchi, and is known for its colonial-era bungalows, serene landscape, and forested surroundings. Buddhadeb Guha stayed there for some time and his time there influenced his writing. The actual places in the town, such as the railway station, bakery, post office etc., were part of the setting of his novels, and occasionally some real people from the town, who lived when Guha stayed there, also featured in his works.
So, this year when we were in Ranchi and had some time in hand, we set off to McCluskiegunj in my parents’ Seltos.
The town is well connected by road with Ranchi. The initial 30 KMs is a four laned highway, which then turns into a scenic two-laned road towards McLuskiegunj. The drive took around 1 hour and 45 minutes in normal traffic.
The Picturesque Road to McLuskiegunj!
We read a bit about the place online, which helped us in narrowing down the accommodation. The place where we stayed was Rana’s Country Cottage. Sprawling over an area of 50 acres, the place is more than three fourths forest, with the remaining portion serving as the place for the host’s home and about 10 guest rooms. The place was charming, to say the least, and the hosts very kind.
Next day, Mr. Rana was benign enough to call a local guide Mr. Majid – a 70 years old man who has lived his entire life there and had deep knowledge about the history of the town, to show us around.
We got to know that McCluskiegunj was established in the early 20th century by an English man named McCluskie, who envisioned it as a homeland for Anglo-Indians. McCluskie bought about 10K acres of land from the then local Raja in 1933 to establish the place. It was also popularly known as ‘Little England’. The town had attracted 250 Anglo-Indian families by 1939, who brought with them their fireplaces, sloping rooves and gardens, bakeries, churches, and a post-office.
However, over time and post independence, for multiple reasons, the original settlers started moving away and today there are only a handful of original families left. Once envisioned as a homeland, the town is now survived by its old bungalows, legends and tales.
The derelict bungalows… The second one below was once owned by Guha…
The closed church…
The dilapidated dak banglow…
The small McCluskiegunj railway station, which featured multiple times in the stories…
Somewhere here was a famous bakery once…
The lanes of McCluskiegunj..
And forests…
Amidst our stroll around, the weather suddenly became cloudy and the rains started pouring, bringing an end to our leisurely visit to the beautiful town. We expressed our deepest gratitude to our guide and started back towards Ranchi.
McCluskiegunj may have eluded the ideals on which it was set, and the people who wanted to make it their home. But today it remains as a charming little town..with a unique history…and a quiet and beautiful place away from the chaos of the city!
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