It was around mid-2002, we had organised First meet of Jat families in Pune which was a great success.
Few bachelors too had joined and one of them who was doing MCA told about a site for Jats... Jatland.com and that one Nitin Dahiya had started it.
We did not have a computer at home. Internet was not so popular then. So first my husband searched and gave me a brief about it.
Then one day I went to an internet cafe near our home and asked the incharge there to help me search Jatland! Found quite interesting and became a member.
That was on August 7, 2002.
Since then I have never failed to mention Jatland.com to any Jat/Jatni I have met or spoken to.
Then the visits to the cafe became frequent!
Would spend so much time reading stuff here. The jokes were all original then, no repetitions like today and no poonjhads were required ;-)
There was so much harmony, so much order, so much brotherhood. All seemed so smooth, so quiet, so mature. I think there were only around 900-1000 members that time and most of them based in foreign lands. Not all were active though. But all those active could find a connect....all missing homeland and their families...so did I. I had been in Pune since January 1997 and still would feel so homesick with Marathis and South-Indians around. Those were great times for Jatland and its members. There was no chaupal in those times.
It was becoming almost an addiction...so took a break. Also my circle of Jat families had grown in Pune.
Then was back to Jatland in 2005. Jatland seemed all so new! All changed! New members, new ways of talking, everything had changed.
Jan-Jagriti had taken shape
And the Kilki -Taull !!! OMG!!! One could see so much action here...and yes, reactions too ;-) Jatland seemed so full of life... so youthful.
Chaupal was a new thing on Jatland now!
In June 2005, I was on a project in Haryana villages for a month as a part of my course. I had my laptop and phone to connect it to internet( Yes, no more visits to a net cafe).
Late evenings I had nothing to do and so logged into the Chaupal one day... Nitin Dahiya and Sitaram Jakhar ji were there. Nitin began talking to me, but I did not know how to chat! Where to write messages! He left after some time. I think Sitaram ji sensed that I did not know how to chat so he instructed me
That was a new beginning
I spent long hours on my laptop reading through so much new stuff that had been added to the site.
After sometime, Nitin asked me to be the Moderator and I accepted. The innings was to last a good 5 years! That was altogether a different experience!
It was I think, Dec 2005, when a function of Jan Jagriti was organised at Barhana where a large number of Jatlanders turned up. Had known Navin(Gulia) since his Pune days... but got to meet so many members in-person with whom had interacted on Jatland. Met Nitin, his wife, brother, Sunita Hooda, and many others there.
This was also the time when Kaka( no, not Rajesh Khanna).... our very own Kaka Dev Dahiya, was around. Got to meet him at a Jat meet in Pune. And Bhai Harvinder Malik too. They had come all the way from Mumbai to attend the Pune Jat meet. And I wore a daaman! ( the pic in my profile was taken that day).
Then came the wedding time of Satyeshwar! It was Dec 2006. So many Jatlanders attended his wedding in Chandigarh. What an atmosphere it was here on Jatland! Nothing less than what we see in Barjatya/Karan Johar movies!
I could not attend the wedding but did get to meet Satyeshwar and his beautiful bride and also Vikas Rathi and a few others. They all had come to meet me at a conference I was attending at a Gurgaon resort. Memories of that evening are still fresh
Since then have met a lot many Jatlanders on various occasions.
In 2007 I shifted to Delhi.
Life around changed. New priorities, new responsibilities, new engagements...
So did Jatland... since new members keep coming. After some time a whole new lot becomes active.
Jatland has become a part of life though I may not be very active now. But almost daily, looking into new posts is a part of routine.
Jatland has come a long way.
From the depths of my heart, I thank Nitin for creating such a wonderful platform for the community and thanks to Satyeshwar for carrying it forward.
God bless them.
Long live Jatland!
