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Train to motherland
"JAB CHOD CHALE LUCKNOW NAGARI KAHE HAL KYA HAM PAR GUZRI "
( when I left the town of lucknow I cant explain what was inside me )
in words of wajit ali shah
I was born as a girl on a wealthy upper class muslim family of lucknow in british india my ami died while giving birth to me and my abu was a prominent leader of the muslim league so since my birth I have seen prominent leaders like gandhiji, nethaji, ma jinnah , liquatt khan , sardar patel , nehru etc ... I still remember during 1940s the country was burning in communal riots the league demanded pakistan while Congress rejected it because of this the freedom struggle became secondary as all leaders went to jail during quit india movement and hindus and muslims started to fight with each other rather then fighting for independence while speaking of myself I was never intrested in all this as my abu I used to write poems and roam around the city of lucknow in my abus rolls royce .. aa that doesn't mean I didn't love my country actually I was more of a introvert and wanted independence with peace and without any riot ... I remember my clearly there was a party held in our mansion on 16th august 1947 for the celebration of independence many prominent leaders of the league have visited our mansion that day .. I remeber that my abu had declared my elder sister ruqainas nikah with a boy of a rich pakistani merchant in lahore by hearing this some guests became over enthusiastic and asked my father " are that's okay but what about our little doll (referring me ) my father laughed and said " she is still a child but I will think about this once we settle in pakistan " I got shocked not by hearing that my abu is thinking about my nikah but getting to know that we are leaving india after partition so I confronted my father infront of the guests by saying " but abu I want to stay here " all the guests in the party looked at me as if I had said something wrong my father smiled and looked awkwardly to guests and said " poor girl she is just drunk I guess ruqaina take her to her room " my elder sister immediately rushed and took me to my room by holding my hands when we both reached our rooms she shouted at me " have you gone out of your mind what were you saying there " I replied by saying " I didn't say anything wrong I have spent my entire childhood living here I have memories here I cant live my city or my country " my sister replied in shock " your country " I replied " yes my it's your problem I love my motherland which gave birth to me and I cant leave her my biological mother is dead now I cant kill another one " my sister replied " see I dont want to talk about this but abu is really angry first deal with that " she left my room after saying this
next day at the breakfast table my abu declared " we would be leaving for Pakistan tommorw pack your things " I replied " but abu i told you na i want to stay here " my abu replied " see you are still a child and I dont want to talk about this " he left the table clearly ignoring me
the very next day we left india for pakistan
and migrated to lahore my abu was close to the league leader liquat ali khan his associates had arranged a flight for us so it was not difficult for us to migrate to pakistan like other's I remember while exiting from our home our driver called my father and said " Sahib there is a overload " my father quickly opened my bag and throwed all my poem books and shayaris and tore all the pages infront of me " I angrily replied " what are you doing abu " my father replied " I am your father dont teach me what to do and what not " he continued tearing the rest of the pages it was as if he is tearing my heart and throwing my soul out of my body . "is it okay now " my father stared at the driver and said " yes Sahib "the driver replied
once we reached lahore I stoped eating , sleeping and locked myself inside my room but this was not enough to melt my fathers heart as I heard he was searching a boy for my nikah I was feeling like a prisoner my independence vanished as I left my dear lucknow and my motherland as pasad the days my eyes were filled with tears of memories of my childhood and my heart was in pain of separation.
I remember on 2nd september my mehndi was held everyone was laughing at that ceremony while I was crying from I could see my sister was staring at me in that entire ceremony
on that day honestly speaking I had lost all hopes of getting back to my motherland but suddenly on midnight i heard someone knocked my door it was my sister ruqaina she replied " I cant see you dieing like this you want to leave I will help you " I replied " really you will help me " she replied " yes but promise me you will never come back " I replied " yes I promise you and abu will never see my face again " she replied with tears in her eyes " take care of yourself and dont forget to write letters the day you will stop writing letters I will assume that you have died " I said "okay " I was about to leave when she hold my hands and handed me a gun " take this for your protection " after saying this she hugged me, kissed my forehead and whispered in my ears " I love you and you will always be my little sister no matter where you are "
I replied " I will miss you too "
as I leaved my home running towards the streets it was midnight the streets of Lahore was empty but with dead bodies of hindus and muslims as if the streets where showing me the dark truths of partion
when I reached the station it was dawn the first thing I saw was a train to india so I quickly rushed their the seats where filled with blood but there was no dead bodies while on the train a lot of things were going inside my mind like " what will I do in india or where will I stay " but honestly speaking I dont have any regrets I would rather choose to " DIE IN ARMS OF MY MOTHERLAND THEN LIVING WITHOUT HER "
written by ,
Sayan Das
note - this my last story after this I will be inactive for few days because of my exams
© All Rights Reserved
( when I left the town of lucknow I cant explain what was inside me )
in words of wajit ali shah
I was born as a girl on a wealthy upper class muslim family of lucknow in british india my ami died while giving birth to me and my abu was a prominent leader of the muslim league so since my birth I have seen prominent leaders like gandhiji, nethaji, ma jinnah , liquatt khan , sardar patel , nehru etc ... I still remember during 1940s the country was burning in communal riots the league demanded pakistan while Congress rejected it because of this the freedom struggle became secondary as all leaders went to jail during quit india movement and hindus and muslims started to fight with each other rather then fighting for independence while speaking of myself I was never intrested in all this as my abu I used to write poems and roam around the city of lucknow in my abus rolls royce .. aa that doesn't mean I didn't love my country actually I was more of a introvert and wanted independence with peace and without any riot ... I remember my clearly there was a party held in our mansion on 16th august 1947 for the celebration of independence many prominent leaders of the league have visited our mansion that day .. I remeber that my abu had declared my elder sister ruqainas nikah with a boy of a rich pakistani merchant in lahore by hearing this some guests became over enthusiastic and asked my father " are that's okay but what about our little doll (referring me ) my father laughed and said " she is still a child but I will think about this once we settle in pakistan " I got shocked not by hearing that my abu is thinking about my nikah but getting to know that we are leaving india after partition so I confronted my father infront of the guests by saying " but abu I want to stay here " all the guests in the party looked at me as if I had said something wrong my father smiled and looked awkwardly to guests and said " poor girl she is just drunk I guess ruqaina take her to her room " my elder sister immediately rushed and took me to my room by holding my hands when we both reached our rooms she shouted at me " have you gone out of your mind what were you saying there " I replied by saying " I didn't say anything wrong I have spent my entire childhood living here I have memories here I cant live my city or my country " my sister replied in shock " your country " I replied " yes my it's your problem I love my motherland which gave birth to me and I cant leave her my biological mother is dead now I cant kill another one " my sister replied " see I dont want to talk about this but abu is really angry first deal with that " she left my room after saying this
next day at the breakfast table my abu declared " we would be leaving for Pakistan tommorw pack your things " I replied " but abu i told you na i want to stay here " my abu replied " see you are still a child and I dont want to talk about this " he left the table clearly ignoring me
the very next day we left india for pakistan
and migrated to lahore my abu was close to the league leader liquat ali khan his associates had arranged a flight for us so it was not difficult for us to migrate to pakistan like other's I remember while exiting from our home our driver called my father and said " Sahib there is a overload " my father quickly opened my bag and throwed all my poem books and shayaris and tore all the pages infront of me " I angrily replied " what are you doing abu " my father replied " I am your father dont teach me what to do and what not " he continued tearing the rest of the pages it was as if he is tearing my heart and throwing my soul out of my body . "is it okay now " my father stared at the driver and said " yes Sahib "the driver replied
once we reached lahore I stoped eating , sleeping and locked myself inside my room but this was not enough to melt my fathers heart as I heard he was searching a boy for my nikah I was feeling like a prisoner my independence vanished as I left my dear lucknow and my motherland as pasad the days my eyes were filled with tears of memories of my childhood and my heart was in pain of separation.
I remember on 2nd september my mehndi was held everyone was laughing at that ceremony while I was crying from I could see my sister was staring at me in that entire ceremony
on that day honestly speaking I had lost all hopes of getting back to my motherland but suddenly on midnight i heard someone knocked my door it was my sister ruqaina she replied " I cant see you dieing like this you want to leave I will help you " I replied " really you will help me " she replied " yes but promise me you will never come back " I replied " yes I promise you and abu will never see my face again " she replied with tears in her eyes " take care of yourself and dont forget to write letters the day you will stop writing letters I will assume that you have died " I said "okay " I was about to leave when she hold my hands and handed me a gun " take this for your protection " after saying this she hugged me, kissed my forehead and whispered in my ears " I love you and you will always be my little sister no matter where you are "
I replied " I will miss you too "
as I leaved my home running towards the streets it was midnight the streets of Lahore was empty but with dead bodies of hindus and muslims as if the streets where showing me the dark truths of partion
when I reached the station it was dawn the first thing I saw was a train to india so I quickly rushed their the seats where filled with blood but there was no dead bodies while on the train a lot of things were going inside my mind like " what will I do in india or where will I stay " but honestly speaking I dont have any regrets I would rather choose to " DIE IN ARMS OF MY MOTHERLAND THEN LIVING WITHOUT HER "
written by ,
Sayan Das
note - this my last story after this I will be inactive for few days because of my exams
© All Rights Reserved
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