1947

Sometime back I got to meet a few people who shared with me their first hand experiences around the partition (1947). Even after so much time has passed, the disillusionment and tears in their eyes - as they recalled incidents with horror and grief - were very real. A few thoughts that remained with me post those interviews – I guess I will never forget.

I cannot even begin to imagine / understand how it would have felt to be leaving one’s land…one’s home knowing (but perhaps not consciously accepting) that one would never return. They had not known of life anywhere else. Some were made to believe, while others held on to the belief that they would return someday. That the transition was temporary till the riots settle down. As the thought sank in - that their life in a new strange land was a reality they had to live with – many lived and died in the pure hope that some day they would be able to return – to just see what they had left behind.

I imagined what it would be like to visit one of the many abandoned, desolate homes there. It is possible to oust people out of their cities, their dwellings – however in the nooks and corners of such houses the spirit and the memories of the people who inhabited those continue to live.

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Chaukhat ke ek kone mein
Dekha…
makdi jhalar boon rahi thi
Oopar haath tatola
Dekha…
Killi ab tak wahin padi thi

Darwaze par lagi dhul ko
Ponchkar, dastak di
Andar jhanke dekha…
Angan mein to koi nahin tha
Par rassi pe jhul rahe kapde the…
Ab bhi taaze
Shaayad koi yahin kahin tha

Mitti ab bhi taazi geeli
Pairon pe woh chipak rahi thi
Jis par
Maachis ke dibbon mein kankar wali gaadi
…Khamosh khadi thi
Aur sannate ki awazein
Kaano mein kuch goonj rahi thi

Door farsh par…chat se aati
sooraj ki kirne chamkati –
maile peele zevar the woh
Jo ek ched se taank rahe the
aadhe andar aadhe bahar gade pade the
chukar dekha – parat ab tak sili hui thi
mano pehen ke abhi ootare
Aur rakhe the

Rasoi ghar se kisi cheez ke
jalne ka ehsaas hua jo
Chuleh tak jaakar dekha to
Thandi bhuri raakh padi thi
Thandi aag mein chehre dekhe
Kuch jaane the kuch anjane
Cheheron mein aankhein thi…
Jaise gehri peeli
Aahein ab tak sulagh rahin thi

Warm friendly homes…a rare breed.

Childhood memories brings to mind some strong and vivid associations

Sunday movies on DD when everyone stayed at home and religiously watched the one movie that was dished out on TV. Those times were also about the ‘family’ – we were too young to crib about family vacations being boring. Relatives often came calling un-announced…I guess since very few houses then even had a telephone! I remember that the practice of dropping-in uninvited continued even when the telephone had become ubiquitous. One seldom called a relative to find out whether one could drop in or not – unless relatives stayed so far away that finding a door locked at the end of a 3 hour journey was a possibility one did not want to face. Even on calling one seldom heard a NO…don’t come…we are busy today…kind of response.

No matter what time of the day one called in…I remember people mostly greeted each other with oodles of warmth, an honest excitement and loads of good food made with love. Well mostly...here we exclude the temperamental aunts and uncles...since they were not truly representative of those times. Houses were relatively smaller (perhaps that’s what lent a cozy welcoming air to them), some times unkempt, most often with un-coordinated upholstery. Bed rooms (and that time there were no separate guest bedrooms) were open for kids to go and jump onto the beds…beds that often doubled up as surrogate dinning tables on which people sat with folded legs around durries that protected the sheets underneath from curry spills. No one cared about paint chipping off from surrounding walls which sometimes had leaky patches too, or about clothes, toys and books strewn around since nobody bothered to look around and evaluate the room or its décor with a sense of judgment. What caught and engaged one’s attention instead - were the people and the atmosphere charged with a sense of belonging. It was a home and homes (at least then) were not supposed to look clinically clean and color co-coordinated. The chaos in the surroundings lent it that homely character.

These days homes with such character and the people who inhabited them are becoming extinct. Now-a-days houses appear well kept but un-inviting, formal…distant. People make an effort to do up their houses and their smiles meticulously – but somehow it shows…things look so made up!