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My forefathers migrated from the Konkan Region of Maharashtra to Kannauj in Uttar Pradesh in early fourteenth century . From Kannauj, due to ever changing political scenario, they once again had to migrate and take shelter in Kumaon Hills in the early part of the sixteenth century. In the late 1930's my Grandfather took up a government job and left for Sikkim. With passage of time, my family gradually lost contact with Kumaon. As time went by, Kumaoni mixed with Nepali became the lingua franca at home. Family members of my father's generation took up jobs when and moved out of Sikkim. In mid fifties due to medical reasons my family once again made a move to Dehra Dun. Gradually due to local influence Hindi was the spoken at home. In Dehra Dun most of our neighbors were either Punjabi or Garhwali. The nearest Kumaoni family being some 10 kilometers away. Hence I grew up under the shadow of Punjabi and Garhwali cultures.

I was lucky that my father, Late Shri Shreesh Chandra Joshie, took lot of interest in preserving details of our family heritage in terms of documents, written notes and telling us 'stories' of life when he was a child.

I joined the Army in 1970 and never got a chance to visit Kumaon. I only managed fleeting visits to an Army cantonment for a day or two. This never gave me adequate time to interact with the locals.

It was only once I got married to a girl from Kumaon, I realised as to how little did I know of Kumaon. I remember once, during a visit to a KUMAON REGIMENT Unit I tried to get familiar with the troops by speaking in Kumaoni. I found the men staring at me with amusement, asking me sahib where did you learn Kumaoni. I told them that I am a Kumaoni. They replied Sir, You seem to be a Punjabi since you speak Kumaoni with a Punjabi accent. It was embarrassing. That day I resolved to learn my mother tongue and asked my wife to teach me Kumaoni language and culture. My learning process about Kumaon started in real earnest during my frequent visits to Almora.

There is another incidence which I remember vividly. It was a typical summer day of 1991 in Almora and I was spending leave there. We were watching the TV serial BUNIYAD. I casually remarked to my daughter that we were related to the author of BUNIYAD, Manohar Shyam Joshi. A few days later, Dr Murli Manohar Joshi, then a cabinet minister, was in news and I again told my daughter that Dr Joshi too is our ‘BIRADER’ ( a distant relative who belongs to the same GOTRA (or clan) in Kumaoni). My daughter remarked "Papa you are very smart, you claim all prominent Joshi's as relatives, where as I have never seen you interacting with these people”.

This conversation set me thinking, as how to make my daughter believe, that even though I did not have much interaction with these people, they WERE really our distant relatives. I however had no answe. A few days later, I was visiting Mr Ram Joshi, a Prominent Lawyer of Almora, and a relative of mine. I narrated my predicament to him. He remarked that he has a book, titled "Angrish Joshi's of Almora", It had been complied by one Mr PC Joshi from New Delhi. Mr Ram Joshi very graciously presented his personal copy to me. This book contains the history of Joshi's of Galli, and also has the family tree of the entire Joshi's of Galli. With the help of this book, I was able to prove my point to my daughter. This one incidence prodded me to learn more about my community and hence this site.

Later during my visits to Almora I came across a Book ( in two volumes) HISTORY OF KUMAON written by Mr Badri Datt Pande and translated into English by Mr CM Agrawal. This book has taught me a lot about the history of Kumaon.

It had always been my desire, to work on a site which enables me clear misconceptions that people from plains have about Kumaon. Most of them are oblivious to the rich cultural heritage of the region. I am happy I have a platform wherein I can make an effort to write about Kumaon Hills, it's people and cultural heritage and some details on the Brahmin Community from Kumaon.

I also wish to acknowledge my gratitude to Mr Ram Joshi and Mr PC Joshi, without whose direct and indirect help, this site would never have been possible.

This site is dedicated to my wife and kids. My wife has been instrumental in prodding me to learn the kumaoni language which opened my eyes to the rich heritage and culture of the Kumaon Region. I also dedicate this site to my AAMA ( grandmother in Kumaoni) who used to regale us with many stories about Kumaon, its people, language, songs, music and above all the rich cultural heritage.

During his visit to Almora, Kumaon, Swami Vivekananda said "These mountains are associated with the best memories of our race: Here, therefore, must be one of Centers, not merely of activity, but more of calmness of meditation, and of peace and I hope some one to realize it".

Mahatama Gandhi wrote in Young India "Having been in the serene hills of Almora for almost a fortnight I wonder why people of India wish to visit Europe in search of health and peace".

Wishing the reader all the best. I hope you learn something from this site as much, as much as I did during its making.

Deepak

Dec 1999.