Last train from Khemkaran and a buried treasure - Deepak Salwan

 

July  1947, summer heat was scorching the plains of Punjab. A feeling of impending doom gripped the village of Padhana; a small hamlet near Lahore, which was earmarked to be in Pakistan after partition. There were rumors that a bunch of Muslims are going to attack the village during the night to kill and loot all Hindus in the village. An air of tension gripped the male members of a Haveli ( a big multiroom house). A decision was made ; all ladies of the house were  to leave in the dark of the night and walk to a nearby village which was to come under India after partition. An old lady and four little girls ( age 16-9) started their 34ish Km journey on foot, which passed through a pond and eventually land in Naushehra ( Village in Indian Army control). Male members reached through a different route. All livestock , all expensive clothes and utensils left behind as it is and were entrusted with friends and neighbours. Jewellery was buried underground. Everyone believed that once the riots are over they will get back to their respective homes – that wasn’t to happen. A treasure and a hope remained buried in that Haveli.

18 years later; one of the young girls who walked from that Haveli that night was now a young woman and was working as a teacher in the Indian Punjab border village of Khemkaran.

Year 1965 – the second war broke out between India and Pakistan. As usual, the Punjab theatre was witness to the action. The land lord of the house where this young lady was staying came running to her school one day and said, “ਧੀਏ, ਜਿੰਨੀ ਛੇਤੀ ਹੋ ਸਕਦਾ ਹੈ , ਨਿਕਲ ਜਾਓ. ਸੁਣਿਆ ਹੈ ਕੇ ਖੇਮਕਰਨ ਪਾਕਿਸਤਾਨ ਫੌਜ ਨੇ ਲੈ ਲੈਣਾ ਹੈ”  (Daughter, please leave as soon as possible. I’ve heard that Pakistani army is advancing and will capture Khem Karan). Young woman’s father, who was the principal of a school in the nearby town of “Patti”, got the same news and once again, a familiar fear gripped him. He caught the next train and started towards Khemkaran and the young woman caught the next train and started for Patti. Both trains were the last trains to leave for both Khemkaran and Patti; well, last trains for at least a month till Indian army took control of Khemkaran again. As luck would have it, the last train to Patti from Khemkaran was delayed a bit and girl’s father reached Khemkaran station first; he was pre-informed that girl has left for Patti on a train. He was frantically searching for her when she spotted him and both were on that last train from Khemkaran. He hugged her and cried like a child.

After the war was over, this young girl went back to Khemkaran to join her job and entered her house. It was war torn. Then she noticed something – the outdoor kitchen was all dug up and there was a note left there written in Urdu - ਤੁਹਾਡਾ ਬਹੁਤ ਬਹੁਤ ਸ਼ੁਕਰੀਆ, ਤੁਸੀ ਸਾਡੀ ਅਮਾਨਤ ਸਾਂਭ ਕੇ ਰੱਖੀ ( Thank you, you kept our belongings safe). Just like the treasure remained buried in the Haveli in Padhana, a treasure and a hope was buried in this house too.

Every time, Ma told this story to me, I noticed her eyes piercing through the emptiness of past; tracing the steps of her journey in the night as a little girl with her Bua ( Her dad’s sister). I could feel her sense of security and relief when her dad ( My Nana ji) found her on the last train from Khemkaran. I still hear a sense of pride in her voice when she says…  “ਸਾਡੀ ਬੜੀ ਵੱਡੀ ਹਵੇਲੀ ਸੀ, ਸਾਡੇ ਕੋਲ ਬੜੇ ਮਹਿੰਗੇ ਕੱਪੜੇ ਸਨ ਤੇ ਸਾਡੇ ਕੋਲ ਬੜੀਆਂ ਗਾਵਾਂ ਮੱਜਾਂ  ਹੁੰਦੀਆਂ ਸਨ”  ( our Haveli was very big, we had expensive clothes and we had so much livestock). She was 9, she still remembers it all.

Many such treasures would’ve been buried on both sides of Punjab; Many such stories strewn around in the fields of wheat, laden with both love and blood of humanity.