My extended family (paternal side) started a
Whatsapp group around a year ago which is named after my great grandfather ("Kaka Khemchand"). There are around 35 members in the group - a few
of whom I have never personally met but have only heard about. The idea was to
try and bring together elder relatives and their respective family members
under a common group so that at-least we are aware about our extended families;
many of whom have not been in touch with each other for decades. My Chacha
(Father's Younger Brother) has been instrumental in starting the group as well
as contacting relatives who are now based in various cities in India as well as overseas. He has also put up
Kaka's solitary photograph in our records as the profile picture. Looking at
him, I see so much similarity between him and my father!
I have heard my father and uncles speak about
"Kaka" occasionally at the family gatherings. There was once a talk
about how my grandfather was contemplating to buy another plot of
land but was discouraged by Kaka who said - "Assan Khe t vaapis hee vanjhano aahe t hite cho zameen vathoon"( We have to go back (to Sindh) , why should we buy land over here). In another
anecdote, I am told about how Kaka used to praise the British rule when it came to
maintaining day to day law and order. It seems that Kaka never fully understood
partition and its impact thinking it to be merely a transient state of affairs
and that once things settle down ; he would go back to his own land.*
The other "Kaka" story that I have
grown up listening is how he would wait with a laltain ("lantern") for hours waiting for my grandfather
to come back from work as the access road was dark and surrounded by
jungle on both sides. Incidents of wild animals straying into the residential
areas were not uncommon in those days and like all parents, Kaka used to be
worried about his son's well-being. Kaka would have been in his late
forties/early fifties when the partition happened and died sometime in late
1960's during winter months (“Siyaare je
diyan mein" is how my uncle told me).
I am amazed when thinking about the direction
our lives can take without us having any control over it. Would Kaka have ever
thought as a young man about him having to leave his own land and move to Delhi
; a distant land thousands of kilometers away in such tough circumstances? I am
sure he would have been saddened to leave his homeland (Kandiaro/Dist.
Nawabshah, Sindh) ,the familiar neighborhood , his identity as an
oil trader and move to a refugee plot in Old Rajinder Nagar where his religion
(of all things) became the dominant identity.
I hope Kaka is proud of what us as a
family have achieved over the last seven decades. During the current period of
Shradh, I pray to Lal Sain to bless him (and all of us). "Daya Kar Dayalu" is a popular
Sindhi saying.
I end with this wonderful song "Sartyoon"
(means friends in Sindhi) that truly captures the spirit of Sindh! This song
has been produced by Lahooti Music which is run by the wonderful Saif Samejo in
Hyderabad/Jamshoro, Sindh. This has been sung by fellow Sindhis Bhagat Bhoora
Lal and Shamu Bai both of whom belong to rural Sindh.I like this song not just
for the music/singing which of-course is marvelous but also because the
simplicity of the singers ! Lovely, isn't it?
* : Al - Jazeera English (news channel) in 2017 broadcasted a film : Going Back to Pakistan ; a film about 92 years old Sh. Krishan Kumar Khanna's visit to his hometown of Lahore. The emotions in the film will resonate with almost everyone with a refugee background. The video is a very fascinating watch. Do watch it!
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