In her piece, ‘The Distance to Lahore’, Surjit Sarna, with a deep sense of nostalgia and sadness, asks the pointed question somewhat helplessly: ‘What wrong had we done that we were being made to suffer the consequences of the wrong decisions of our leaders? Our generation has borne this tragedy of history! I will never forget you Lahore, I’ll never forget you…’ If only the citizens subject to questionable political decisions had the wherewithal to deal with such decisions, many historical tragedies may have been averted! With a sense of helplessness, Maddi, a character in ‘Ointment’ by Sanwal Dhami, laments: ‘…We murdered the centuries old bonding between the people, by listening to some unknown, unseen people. Today, when we are face to face with the consequences, we now realize how cozy and warm our nests were at that time! Now, I have come to understand the pain of birds who lose their nests…’The sixteen short stories by leading Punjabi writers on the Partition contain not just the inevitable themes of dispossession, the trauma of separation, conflicting loyalties, and selfishness for survival but also portray exemplary courage in the face of tremendous odds and extraordinary acts of kindness besides the human capacity for cruelty.mai.
We are reminded that in the holocaust of 1947, many Muslims converted to Sikhism and vice versa. People accepted a faith (different from their own) to save their lives—as in ‘You Will Always Be My World’ by Gurbaksh Singh Preetlari. The initial suspicion of imminent danger soon gave way to uncontrolled frenzy. Women, for instance, jumped into wells to save their honour while husbands died fighting the mob of rioters. In ferrying Hindu and Sikh passengers to a place of safety, a Muslim lorry driver risks his personal life and demands that a Sikh passenger hand over to him a kirpan for his self-defence. (‘Defender of Humanity’ by Mohinder Singh Sarna). Friends had lost friends and not only refugees, even old residents had been relocated. (‘Khabal-Perennial Grass’ by Kulwant Singh Virk). There are other vignettes too: at Lala Musa Railway station people went in search of ‘Muslim water’ and ‘Hindu water’ (‘Of One Community’ by Mohinder Singh Sarna) and elsewhere ‘beggars were careful as to whom they begged from’ (‘Homecoming’ by Navtej Singh). At its peak, a cry even went up: ‘We shall play Holi with blood!’ (‘The Distance to Lahore’ by Surjit Sarna). The characters have insightful things to say too. In my favourite story, ‘Come, Listen Fatima’ by Baldev Singh, Bebe remarks: ‘The animal is within man. Only the horns are invisible.’ On the other hand, in the longest story featured in the book, ‘Ointment’ by Sanwal Dhami, the protagonist makes this profound statement: ‘Never discriminate between friend and foe, only look at the wound.’