The Beginning
- Rajwinder Pal
- Feb 7, 2023
- 2 min read
I've long wanted to travel to Pakistan, land of my ancestors which they fled as refugees in 1947. Delighted to announce I've got a visa at last.
As friends can imagine, I am feeling a mixture of emotion, anxiety, excitement apprehension , joy and much more. Pakistan Punjab is the land of my ancestors and it has long been my wish to travel, observe, listen, learn, smell, hear and introspect on what, during my parents' time, was a shared syncretic civilization. I am also oddly getting more and more emotional at the prospect of being finally able to make a visit I have been planning for years. Surprisingly, the delay and frustration have in fact helped in acquiring more knowledge and a broader perspective.
My mum and my older cousin brothers who are closer to her in age are also contributing. Going to her village will be an emotional experience for both of us. I hadn't really planned to go my paternal village, Kwankh, while planning the visit two years ago. But my son Kabir's presentation to year 6 students at Balsall Common primary on his great grand father, Bulaka Singh, and WW1 changed all that. It was a profoundly moving experience. My friend and sponsor in Pakistan lives only about 50km from the village and has promised to take me there. I can see a chapter, "From Kwankh to the Western Front", brewing up already. There were a lot of young men, Sikh and Muslim, from that village who fought in that war apart from my grandad and his two brothers. It'll be interesting to see if I can dig up some family stuff.
If during this process the muse comes to me then I may indeed write a book. But only if it comes naturally: I am not going to churn out something just of the sake of it. What I will be doing though is to regularly share my journey.
To that purpose I have created a blog to cover my Pakistan visit which is going to cover quite a large swathe of Punjab. My roving eye is bound to notice some interesting stuff to write about. It has sections on culture, history, politics, food and travel. I will be posting my musings and observations as well as audio and video interviews.
I grew up in the Pakistani occupied Kashmir, listening to stories of how the departing Hindus and Sikhs were abused by members of our community. I brought the shame of this with me to England as a 12 year old. Here, we had a Sikh boy at school who was abused by others. They used to knock his turban off. I would sit next to him, as a way of saying “he is my friend”. My efforts continued after school. In my first job I made friends with a Sikh colleague. Later as a youth worker I organised kabaddi games between Indian and Pakistani teams, in order to promote greater understanding between our communities. This desire for bridge-building has been…