An American who changed the destiny of a small town and then the entire state in India.
The picturesque small hamlet of Thanedhar is getting ready to mark the occasion of 100 years of planting the first apple sapling here by Samuel Evans Stokes. It was in the winter of 1916, exactly one hundred years ago, when Samuel Evans Stokes, an American planted this new strain of apples variety known as Red Delicious at his Barubagh orchard in Thanedhar. In the year 1915, during a visit to USA, Samuel Stokes found out that a new strain of apples was been developed by the Stark Brothers in Louisiana. While coming back the next year, he managed to smuggle few apple saplings, hidden in pillows, to India from Louisiana, USA. And that is how the apple farming sprouted in this place that transformed the economy and destiny of the people of Thanedhar.
Who was this Samuel Evans Stokes?
Samuel Evans Stokes was born in Philadelphia, USA in the year 1883. The Stokes family was into the business of elevators running in the name of “Stokes & Parrish Machine Co”. Samuel Stokes spent his early years of life at Philadelphia. It was in the year 1904, that he met a doctor couple, Mr. and Mrs. Carleton at Philadelphia, while they were collecting funds for building churches in North India. The couple used to run a home for leper patients in North India. Influenced by their work, he decided to join them in their work in India. He was 21 years old when he first landed on the shores of Bombay on February 26, 1904 from Philadelphia. The Stokes family was against his decision of going to India as he was the only heir to the Quaker family’s business. But he had come to India with a determination of working at a home for leper patients and he started his work with the Leprosy Mission in Sabatoo (what was then Punjab).However, as this was his first summer in India, the extreme weather conditions forced Mr. Carleton to send him to take rest at Kotgarh church. While recovering in Kotgarh, he explored the surrounding hills and soon found himself in love with the eternal beauty and climate of this place. His father would send him $500 annually for 5 years with hopes of him returning to USA to take over the family business. However, he had already decided to spend the rest of his life at Thanedhar, a small town in Himachal Pradesh, fondly labeled as the "Mistress of the Northern Hills" by Rudyard Kipling.
Journey from Samuel Evans Stokes to Satyanand Stokes
It is believed that Samuel Evans Stokes was moved by the plight of the local people. Back then, majority of the people around Thanedhar were shepherds and only a few people cultivated wheat and potatoes. He also married a Rajput-Christian woman called Agnes on September 12, 1912. Stoke Sahab as he was lovingly addressed by the local people used to reside at Harmony Hall. In the year1924, he started a school to educate the children of local farmers, emphasizing the education of girls. His interaction with the Sadhus, who were on their ways to Kailash Mansrovar, induced him to read Bhagvad Gita and Upanishads in English. Later on, he also learned to read Sanskrit language as well. Moved by the learning of these texts, he embraced Hindu religion in 1932 and changed his name from Samuel Evans Stokes to Satyanand Stokes.
Paramjyoti Mandir
Satyanand Stokes also built a Pent roofed style temple next to Harmony Hall in 1937 which is known as ParamjyotiMandir or the Temple of Eternal light. The temple has a HavanKund and carved inscription from Bhagvad Gita and Upnishadsthat aptly sums up his philosophy of life.
Contribution to the struggle for India’s Independence:-
Satyanand Stokes held the unique distinction of being the only American member of the All India Congress Committee and the only American to be imprisoned by the British in Indian struggle for Independence. He was charged with “sedition” and was imprisoned in Lahore (now in Pakistan) jail. He also found mention in Mahatma Gandhi’s Young India—a weekly paper. He was against the social evil of Begar (forced labor) system of the British and local Rajas which was nothing but a means to exploit the poor people.
Satyanand Stokes was 63 years old when breathed his last on May 14, 1946 but it was not before that he had entered into the folklore of this place by dedicating his entire life here.
Century Old experiment coming full circle:
The apple experiment that started by planting a “Red Delicious” sapling at Barubagha century ago is now the main cash crop of the region. The apple fruit, having an economy of around Rs. 3,500 crore, is grown mainly in the districts of Shimla, Kinnaur, Kullu, Mandi, Chamba and some parts of Sirmaur and Lahaul-Spiti. The average production of apple is around 5 lakh tonnes every year but the maximum production was recorded in the year 2010-11, when it crossed 9 lakh tonnes. The apple crop provided the platform to the people of this region to transform economy. It is due to the Apple crop that the area boasts of considerable high standards of living and is renowned for its high per capita income.
Experiment to Revolution & Contemporary Times:
The experiment that Satyanand Stokes selflessly started a century ago went on to become a revolution. And this revolution changed the life and fortune of entire region. It gave this region prominence on the map of India and not just Himachal Pradesh. Asha Sharma his biographer granddaughter beautifully sums up his philosophy of life: the struggle for right and fair play in the relations of men is a worth fighting. A century has passed since then, although a century may not considered as a time span long enough in the history of a region but it means a lifetime when it comes to human beings. We the people, who have been through this revolution and have benefitted most out this in the past century as well as continue to do so need to ask ourselves a few questions. Have we done enough to acknowledge his contribution that changed our life for good? Are we living our lives oblivious of the fact that without those sincere efforts of Satyanand Stokes, our lives would not have been exactly how they are today? Are we leaving any legacy of Satyanand Stokes for our future generations for them to remember the very person who shaped their lives towards better tomorrow by mingling himself in dirt and working with his bare hands? These questions do require some serious introspection and soul searching, both on the part of the State Government as well as local residents of Thanedhar—for that matter each one of us are indebted to that single sapling he planted 100 years back.