Lahore,
15th February, 1947:
We all gathered in the mustard field at around 4 o'clock in the morning.
The chilly wind seemed to cut through the skin. Although covered from head to toe, wearing monkey caps and with mufflers around our necks, we could still not escape the cold.
Shazia was particularly nervous about the fact that we had slid out from our homes secretly without telling our parents.
"I am really nervous. If abbu and ammi get up early and are unable to find me at home, then I'm surely going to get a beating."
Naveen tried to soothe her down by saying that we had gathered there for a noble cause and our parents will understand the fact.
Aslam, Kuljot and Uday also agreed with him.
So, everything was arranged and we all gathered near our 'little spot' near the neem tree where we usually held our 'secret meetings'.
All went as decided.
We planned out our secret plan of distributing pamphlets for the public meeting which was going to take place on the panchayat grounds today.
Our village folks were very enthusiastic about participating in the Quit India Movement initiated by Gandhiji in 1942 and were going to hold a public meeting today for the same cause.
Our parents wanted us to keep out of all this as they were afraid that in the course of events, something might happen to us.
But how could we keep out when the rest of the country was fighting for it?
So, we decided that we'll make pamphlets and drop them in each house of the village. This all was to be done before sunrise.
The meeting went quite well.
We watched from behind the banyan tree, hiding from the view of our parents, happy to accomplish our mission.
The whole village had seemed to pour out for the meeting. The village head was taking about 'poorna swaraj' and shouting slogans.
We also lent out voices from behind. When the meeting was adjourned we went out into the field to play our favourite game-'gulli danda'.
As usual, Shazia was the one to lose. She always complained about the fact that we boys always outnumbered her. I could not argue because that was true.
______________________________________
15th August, 1947:
It was the most shocking fact that we ever came across.
We heard it on radio that they had decided to divide India!
Was it for this that we had such a long struggle?
There was a lot of anger in our hearts over this decision.
"Who are they to divide us?",
Naveen asked.
We were quite positive about the fact that we will never have to be separated. After all, our parents won't leave the place.
Lahore was our birthplace and we had our ancestral homes in this village.
Shazia wasn't there. She had gone to her sister's place in Awadh.
We all were trying to imagine her reaction over the news and wished her to be here.
________________________________________________________________________
Lucknow,
15th August, 1948:
We were wrong.
Our parents had to leave the village.
We are staying in Lucknow now- me and my parents along with my brother Naveen.
The reaction of people around the country regarding the partition was shocking!
There was news of mass-slaughter of Hindus in that part of the country, which is now 'Pakistan'; and same was happening on this side of the border.
My parents decided to leave the village out of the fear of the warnings that they got from some violent groups of the village.
We came to India as refugees and settled here in Lucknow.
We children, parted with sad hearts and stand separated now. But this is merely a separation of nationality, not the heart.
__________________________________________
Lahore,
17th August, 1967:
We were all there, in the same mustard field, which now belonged to Aslam and even played our old 'gulli-danda' there.
We all are grownups now; but as we stood in the shelter of the old neem tree which bore witness to our 'secret meetings', our minds went to the past when we were children- not divided on any basis.
It was then that Naveen's question drifted through my mind,
'Who are they to divide us?'
I have the answer now-
'They haven't been able to divide us, at least not by the heart. We still stand united and will always be, no matter what comes our way.'
