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A Brief Biography Of Subedar Major Jaslal Rai

Many people have earned fame and respect because of the deeds and the valour that they have delivered to their community. Among those very few in our community ,Subedar Major Jaslal Rai was the first person from the Nepali community to be honoured. He was the foremost person from the Nepali community to go to Britain and become A.D.C.(aide-de-camp in French who is a personal assistant or secretary to a person of high rank) of King Edward VII of Buckingham in 1901. At the age of 18, when he was young and tender, leaving his family members, he joined the "Seventh Gorkha Rifles" in 1870 and he received the title of Subedar on December, 1896. He fought bravely in many wars like 2nd AFGHAN War - 1878, 3rd Burma War - 1885-86, Sikkim - Tibet War - 1887, etc. King Edward heard of his heroic deeds and soon he was called at Buckingham Palace to receive the title of A.D.C. This was a very proud moment for all our people from our community. He was a very punctual person and never had trouble throughout his working days. One can know about his bravery and achievements by the number of medals he secured throughout his life. He was not only a brave soldier but also a true freedom fighter and when he was not contented with fighting many battles himself, he send his only son Harkalal to army, who fought bravely in order to keep the name of his father. He also sent his grandson Lal bahadur Rai (who later served as Teacher in St. George’s High School) and even his grand - daughters Ratnamaya Rai (Jethi Boju) and Buddhimaya Rai (Maily Boju) to the army. His eldest grandson G.B Rai was the first Indian Nepali to became First Class District Magistrate of Dist Darjeeling and his elder son Tekendra Bahadur Rai (popularly known as Maila Baje) was first School Inspector during Chogyal rule in Sikkim. He retired in 1902 from the army life and then he went to Pedong and settled there. He was not only a brave soldier but also a great social worker, religious and a pioneer of education. He established a small village there. In those days, the cost of salt was even much more than gold. The scarcity of salt brought difficulties in most of the villages like Kagay, Ladam, etc. His effort and enthusiasm eased the transport of salt in these places. The people of those villages thanked him most generously. He gave outmost priority to education knowing the value of it. He used to say "One who is armed with wisdom never faces troubles, his wisdom will be his friend, wealth and family". He had a good relation with Father Donald, who was the then principal of St. George’s High School. His efforts and hard work for the upliftment of this school cannot be measured but only be applauded. Today most of the students from Pedong and other places study here. He was also a religious man. He used to say "Religion is the main source through which man can remain alive in this world, it teaches us how to work in discipline and how to exist in this world". He never discriminated among the religions. In 1920, he established "Entrails co- operative Bank" in Pedong. He remained its President from 1920 to 1940. Within this period, he helped most of the rural villages financially and brought development in those places. In order to provide education to the poor people of the nearby villages for the construction of a formal school, he send an application letter to the Municipality of Kalimpong. But his letter was rejected, later he pleaded for the construction of road from Kalimpong to Pedong. The construction of road started and its opening ceremony was held in 1950 but unfortunately he died on 21st March, 1948. Till today the work he has done remains immortal in the hearts of the people. He was buried in Pedong. Throngs of people from Pedong and the nearby villages came to attend his burial ceremony. He was indeed a great hero of a great mother. His name has been also been written in golden letters in General knowledge (Nepali book- primary section) as first Nepali ADC to King Edward VII of Great Britain.