A line drawn a couple of kilometres from Ludhiana may have defined borders and changed the world for most people. But on either side there are some things that have become vestiges of another time, another place. TOI traces a few of these legacies of Partition in the city that trigger memories on India’s side of the border.
A tiny sapling of love planted around nine years ago at a garden in SBS Nagar has now turned into a 15-foot tree, standing as true testimony of a strong bond between Ludhiana and Lahore.
Brought from Lahore in 2003 on the assurance from president of Punjab Sahit Akademi Gurbhajan Singh Gill , of F Block in Shaeed Bhagat Singh Nagar, Ludhiana, that it would never be allowed to dry or wither, gabh has become the prized possession of its owner who sees it every day at his backyard. Though barbed wires and skewed political relations come between those living in India and Pakistan, Gill feels the soil and air here that is nurturing the tree has proved that nothing can severe roots by history.
“I had gone to Government College Lahore to attend world Punjabi conference in 2003. At the college my car stopped under a unique tree with red leaves that fascinated me. Everyone went inside for the lecture but I was glued to the tree and lost in my own world,” said Gill. He continued that an aged gardener approached me and asked why I was looking with curiosity towards the tree. He was apprehensive and thought that there could be some problem with his work. I hugged him and asked about that tree and requested him to give me some seeds of that tree,” added Gill.
However, after giving the lecture, when Gill went to his car he found a small earthen pot with a gabh sapling near it. The gardener went running to him and also handed a polythene bag with few seeds of that plant. “When I asked him how much it cost the gardener had tears in his eyes and replied that it was ‘mohabbat da boota’ and I should only promise to take care of it,” said Gill about how the plant, now famous as ‘friendship tree’ in Ludhiana, came to him.
Gill said the tree has helped forge new friendships across the border. “My new Pakistani friends call me often and inquire about the tree. This tree has also motivated me to compile Punjabi poems in the form of a book and translate it into Shahmukhi,” he added.
Gill’s neighbour Ravinder Bhathal said the Gabh tree looks particularly pleasant in the summer. ‘‘It’s not like other trees around here. Gill’s emotional attachment to it adds to its importance,’’ he said.
DIFFICULT JOURNEY OF ‘MOHABBAT DA BOOTA’ FROM LAHORE:
The journey of ‘mohabbat da boota’ from Lahore to Ludhiana was not easy. Gill was first discouraged by friends and later stopped by custom officials at Attari-Wagah border on the Pakistan side from taking the sapling but he did not relent. “When we returned to Hotel Shahtaz in Lahore, members of our delegation started making fun of me. They said people carry expensive gifts back home and I was carrying a dirty plant. They suggested me to keep distance from them because it could dirty them too. I was also not sure how to transport it,” said Gill. But, he was not going to give up easy so he tore a piece of cloth from his turban and made a makeshift handle to lift the earthen pot. And when Pakistani customs officials stopped him to confiscate the plant he spent a long time patiently convincing them that he could not return without the plant.
