The Sacred Abode

Though I don't know what it was when partition happened or what the people felt at that point of time, but I am sure it would have been a painful struggle for them.Our home is not only a place where we reside, its a place where we are rooted, right up to our core. It forms an essential part of our identity, our memories, our existence. When a bride leaves her home in order to blossom in a new abode, its a painful decision for her, since she is taken away like a baby plant is taken out from its roots to be replanted in someones elses garden. It has to leave the mother plant, leaving behind the fragrance of its memories, just like a girl does. But there is always a possibility of a visit, of coming back and meeting the people with whom you've spent the initial leg of your life. But What would happen if you are dislocated and planted in an alien land, bounded by a border made of blood and gore, unable to reach out to the land to which you belong? Thats what partition was all about, a permanent journey towards an alien land, with nothing to look back for.
During partition many homes were left empty, which were then reinhabited by people. I have friends whose grandparents still talk about Lahore in Pakistan, and the home that they had left, their language, way of living everything has a fragrance of the long lost past. I still remember what nana had told me once. Okhla which is located in south Delhi and is called Okhla village, though its not a village, it used to have beautiful green fields all around, but now is quite a modernised part of south Delhi, with Jamia University, to enhace its beauty. So the incident goes like this, once okhla was being attacked by some people. Pandit Nehru, President Zakir Hussain and many others including nana,were there to take care of the area. Women and children were asked to gather in a big house so that they are safe there. Something happened that made a prominent personality laugh, on which Dr. Zakir Hussain responded with the following words,"its not a matter of laughter, its a matter of tears". Such was the love and respect for ones land, such was the dedication of the great leaders like Pandit Nehru and Dr. Zakir Hussain, who stood there to take the bullets on themselves, in order to save the people of their nation, such was the love for their country, their homeland. Nana never allowed his children or his grandchildren to settle in distint lands,"live in your country and let your progress be the progress of your land",These were the dutiful words of my beloved nana, full of love and respect for his motherland. Till date I remember what he said and wonder how love travels through generations.


I wandered in distant lands,
right from shore to shore.
Nothing gave me such immense peace,
as my beloved sacred abode.
And now as I lie in its arms today,
smeared with its love and care,
It makes me happy to realise,
that for my country , I was always there.


This post is with due respect to the people living in distant lands, its just what my grandfather felt and strongly believed in that I have narrated in my post. I do not intend to hurt anyones feelings.