Radio tales from Montgomery & more

Aakanksha N Bhardwaj

Tribune News Service

Jalandhar, August 13

At the age of 81, he owns a big house in a posh area of the city and is a successful name in the field of education. What else could Jarnail Singh Pasricha have asked for? But there was always a khwahish (wish) to visit Montgomery, a place where he was born and left at the age of 11 during the partition.

“When along with my parents, my siblings and I left our home, a part of me thought it was only for a few days and that we will return home again, but it never happened,” said Pasricha.

After 64 years of long wait, he finally got a chance to visit his native place in 2011, the home where he lived.

Pasricha told the story of seeing his home in Pakistan for the first time after partition while sitting in his ‘house’ here. A mention of his home is the only time when his voice shook.

“One of my friends asked me, “Tuhadi zindagi di te har khwahish poori ho gayi, te main kehya ki halle meri khwahish poori nahee hoyi, main apna ghar dekhna chahanda,” he said.

“After many efforts, I visited Pakistan. Main other di mitti ikathi krke ethe lyaya jo mere layi poojniya hai, te har MGN di branch te chidki. That was an emotional moment of my life,” he said as his voice choked.

“I had remembered the way to my home well. I even gave Rs 500 to those who were now living in my home as a token of love,” he said. Nothing has been done in the area in the name of development which made him sad, he said.

The journey

Pasricha, as he comforted himself on a sofa, showed a photo frame installed on the wall. Pictures of his great grandfather, grandfather and father are posted on top of the frame followed by the next generation.

He remembered that he was listening to the radio on which one of his favourites songs was playing, ‘Awaz de kahan hai, duniya meri jawan hai’, when his father came home at an unusual time in the afternoon.

“He looked tense and asked us for our mother and told us that we were to leave the place,” he continued.

“While going by train, I saw scenes that are hard to take out of the mind, bodies lying in bad condition and people attacking each other. We reached Raiwind station at around 12.30 at night. No one was saying anything. It was said that if you cross Raiwind successfully, then the journey ahead will be fine and when the train crossed Raiwind, everyone felt so relieved,” he said.

After coming here, Pasricha’s father Sardar Gobind Singh Pasricha started a school for girls at a Gurudwara in 1949 and then the first branch of the Montgomery Guru Nanak Public School was opened near Purani Kachahari. The name of the school was rechristened after their native place.  

Moulvi sahib taught  him till Class VI

Pasricha says the relations between both the nations might have deteriorated but he received his education by a Muslim teacher who he can never forget.

“I can never forget Moulvi sahib,” he said, referring to his Muslim teacher who gave him primary education till class VI. “We had so much of respect for him, and he taught us lessons which will never leave our mind,” he added.

Before Pasricha closed the album containing pictures of old memories of his grandfather and father, he said, “Ek vaari te dekh leya, pr apne ghar nu ek vaari hor dekhan di khwahish hai.”