Childhood best friends separated during India-Pakistan Partition meet in US with grandchildren's help; watch heartfelt reunion

Tribune Web Desk

Chandigarh, March 11

Millions were uprooted and died on both sides of India-Pakistan border during Partition in 1947. The pain and misery of the separation still haunts those who suffered and lost their near and dear ones.

A video of two childhood best friends who separated during Partition and met recently in the US has gone viral.

Taking to Instagram, Megan Kothari, 32, documented the experience of reuniting her grandfather Suresh Kothari with his childhood best friend, AG Shakir.

"...Despite the passage of time, the constraints of old age, and travel restrictions, my grandfather longed to reconnect with one of his dearest and oldest childhood friends, whom he had not seen in decades. Both grew up in Deesa, Gujarat, which is just a few hours from the Pakistani border. In October 1947, his childhood friend fled by boat with his family in the middle of the night to newly formed Pakistan. My grandfather was studying in Bombay, and when he returned, he found out he was gone. My grandfather was devastated.

"When his friend reached Pakistan in 1947, he wrote to my grandfather that he had reached and shared his address in Rawalpindi (which to this day my grandfather has memorised). They tried to write to each other over the years, but the tensions between the two countries eventually made it impossible. They had no communication from 1948 to1982 until a chance encounter with a mutual friend in New York led them back to each other.

"In 1982, when my grandfather's friend, who had moved to Connecticut, heard my grandfather was coming to New York, he wanted to pick him up from JFK airport, that's how excited he was. This was their first reunion after 35 years. They spent that week together, catching up on life and reconnecting after years of silence. My grandfather said, 'So much time had passed, but it was like no time had passed at all.' After nearly nine years, they met again in October 2023. 'Babu' (heard in the video) was my grandfather's childhood nickname, given to him by those who have long since passed. But, when his friend called him by that name, it stirred memories of his cherished youth.

"The love and respect they still held for each other, despite the geographical and political barriers that had separated them, is profound. It serves as a powerful reminder that the power of human connection cannot be extinguished by any government or border. They hope to be reunited at my grandfather's 90th birthday this April in New Jersey in 2024," the caption of the video read.

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