'Thumb impression' reignites memories of long-lost nephew

Tribune News Service

Ravi Dhaliwal

Kartarpur corridor,Gurdaspur, August 8
A year ago, Pakistan-based freelance journalist Javed Mohammad made a video of Mohan Singh (82) after visiting his home in Chak 37 village of Sahiwal district in Pakistan. Mohammad was shocked when he learnt that ever since Mohan Singh was separated from his family during the Partition, he never had a chance to meet them.

On his part, Mohan Singh told Mohammad about his proximity to his uncle Sarwan Singh (95), who lives in Bhauddinpur, 25 km from Jalandhar district.

In the clip, Mohan Singh lamented how the God had been unkind as he was born with a congenital defect. He showed Mohammad his duplicated thumb on the left hand and specifically asked him to film it.

The journalist never knew that one day his video clip would reunite a family, whose members lived on both sides of the wire-meshing. And it was actually the much-cursed duplicated thumb that acted as a medium in reuniting the family.

Punjabi juttis, clothes gifted

The two families met for three hours. Mohan Singh was accompanied by 20 members, including six sons, of his family

Mohan Singh brought Punjabi juttis and clothes for his uncle and his grandchildren; Sarwan Singh, too, reciprocated by giving clothes to Mohan Singh’s sons

Sarwan termed the meeting “sad and happy” — sad because it lasted just three hours and happy because “after 75 years, I got a chance to see how my nephew looks like”

Overwhelmed with emotion, the two families were so dumbstruck that they could not speak for the first five minutes

After Mohammad’s video hit social media, Indian YouTuber Harjit Singh Jadiala made a video “The Other Side of Freedom”, in which he interviewed Sarwan Singh. In the clipping, Jadiala asked the octogenarian if he knew of any identification mark with which his nephew could be traced. Sarwan immediately told the interviewer that his nephew had a “duplicated thumb on his left hand”.

Thousands of miles away in Australia, Gurdev Singh, who takes keen interest in Partition-related stories, happened to see both videos.

He immediately contacted Mohammad. Slowly, the pieces of the puzzle fell together. Sarwan Singh’s joy knew no bounds when he was told that his nephew had been traced through his duplicated thumb.

After this meeting in cyberspace, the next logical step for the two families was to set up a family reunion. For this, the Kartarpur corridor came in handy. It was decided that Sarwan Singh and Mohan Singh would meet at the gurdwara located in Pakistan on August 8.

Inaugurated in 2019, the passage has enabled more than 100 families to reignite long-lost family ties.

Taranjit Kaur Hundal, one of Sarwan’s grandchildren, says she, too, was to go to meet her uncle, Mohan Singh, at Kartarpur today. “My passport was about to expire. Hence, the authorities did not allow me to travel. My mother, Rashpal Kaur, and cousin Balbir Singh are accompanying my grandfather,” she said.

Taranjit said Sarwan Singh was in Canada before he came back to attend a family function two years ago. “He was about to fly to Canada when Covid struck. He will now be flying back next month,” she said.

“Today, our family is complete, physically and spiritually. A family is everything. Other things can change us, but we start and end with the family. My entire family salutes the Kartarpur corridor,” said an emotional Taranjit. Mohan Singh’s sons accompanied their father to the Kartarpur shrine during his meeting with Sarwan Singh and his family.

The two departed, hoping to see each other again.

—Inputs from Jalandhar

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