College days are often remembered as the happiest years, full of friendships that later become reasons to reunite. For those who studied in undivided India, Partition erased that possibility. My maternal grandfather, Mittar Man Singh Kahlon, was among them. He graduated from Government College, Lahore, in 1947 — the last batch before the Radcliffe Line divided the country — and he longed his entire life for a reunion that could never happen.
Though we never saw Lahore, his recollections made the city vivid for us. He would speak fondly of the Quadrangle and the New Hostel, and he took pride in having shared an alma mater with luminaries such as Dev Anand, Khushwant Singh, Allama Iqbal and Faiz Ahmad Faiz. He also cherished memories of close friends left across the border, including Sarjit Singh and Satpal Mahajan, who later became ministers in India.
His stories mixed everyday pleasures and political awakening: savouring pastries at Faletti’s Hotel, wandering the stalls of Anarkali Bazaar, and organising a massive student rally at Gol Bagh in support of Pandit Nehru — his first real plunge into the Freedom Movement. After completing FA (the colonial-era equivalent of Class XII) and later his BA, he was forced to make a perilous crossing into India, carrying only memories of Lahore and the people he had known there.
He never returned, and the reunion he yearned for never took place. Through his reminiscences, however, Lahore lived on in our home — a city of friendships, activism and small pleasures preserved in memory.
— Gurnoor Grewal, Chandigarh
Tribuneindia.com invites brief contributions to SHAHARNAMA. Share anecdotes or unforgettable moments that define your city or neighbourhood in English, up to 250 words. Include your city and social media handles, and email submissions to [email protected].
