A personal Independence Day story - my Grandfather

Independence Day holds different meanings for different people. For some it is correlated to patriotism- the birth of India, for some it is about watching our patriotic films and listening to the famous songs, but unfortunately for most, it is means a free day. A holiday from work, school and college, it equals no work, and yes, for most of us it means we can NOT go out and drink, since it is a dry day! To each their own, but somehow, I always remember my family's personal history on this day and wonder how things would've been different if it wasn't for my grandfather's brave and strong personality.

My brother and I were in our twenties when we lost the first of our grandparents - our paternal grandfather, Papaji, as we called him or our childhood name for him Papapapa(since he was our Papa's Papa, he became Papapapa for us. I don't know why, but illogically, I coined the term -Mummymama for our paternal grandmother and that still sticks.)

In his youth, Papapapa was a force to reckon with. He was tall, big and tough! And the temper on him, everyone run clear!... and they did.

But by the time my memory starts, he was a fun loving man who had a soft corner for my brother and me. We lived with my fathers parents, so our bond was exceptionally strong. We used to sit in my grandparents room and hear the most amazing stories. The one that I identify with Papaji's personality the most, is the story of how he came to India from the newly formed, Pakistan. As a Punjabi, in our house Independence was always called Partition, because tragically, more than the Independence from British, the Partition of Punjab affected us.

In 1947, as India gained its freedom from the British, the British government couldn't resist their last act of 'Divide and Rule', so they formed a new nation for the Muslims of India, called Pakistan. (Of course, this is oversimplifying it!) As a result there was massive rioting on both sides, as the Hindus and Sikhs tried to escape to India and the Muslims to Pakistan.

Papaji had been travelling away from his village at the time. My grandmother and her 3 very young children (my father included) were able to make it across the border with the help of the extended family. However, there was no sign of Papaji. As my great grandmother (Papaji's mother ) and my grandmother tried to settle themselves as refugees in their new homes, they awaited news of Papaji. Five months passed. The horrific stories only pointed towards one truth, Papaji had also been killed, as many other hundreds of thousands. He was just another statistic of this horrible incident. But fortunately for us, the truth was far from this.

At the onset of India/Pakistan's partition, Papaji was caught by a Muslim mob. Being a turbaned Sikh man, the first thing the mob did was to cut his hair. Then as they were about to kill him, he told them he was willing to be converted to a Muslim. They agreed. As a result, he converted to Islam, learnt the prayers and became engaged to a Muslim woman(They never met, it was an arranged affair amongst the men). As the months passed, Papaji tried to slowly win their trust. Three months on, he saw an Indian Army Truck in the village. Things had settled down, the worst of the rioting was over but the situation was still tense. On the pretext of relieving himself in the fields, Papaji approached an Indian officer, he quickly told him to hide him in the truck. For many hours, he was hidden beneath supplies and blankets, but he made his way to India. It took him another month or so to track down his family.

Upto his death, in 1995, he could still recite the Islamic prayers, when asked. Although he was a devout Sikh and his prayers were legendary, he never grew his hair back.

What I learnt from my grandfather was 'survival instinct'. He was a brave survivor. Many gave down their lives as they refused to convert, and I respect their sentiment and bravery greatly, but for me, when one has a family who depends on you completely, you do what it takes to survive for them.

You will always be in our hearts, Papapapa!!

Happy Independence Day!!