BODIES FLOATED IN KALI BEIN

SS VIRDI, 88 Former chief engineer, Chandigarh

Iwas doing matriculation from Lahore when the buzz about Partition began doing the rounds. Its seemed that communal violence would soon start and people may have to migrate. My maternal uncle sent me back, saying the situation may turn ugly. And it did.

My most painful memory about Partition is of bodies floating in the Kali Bein near Jalandhar. There was such a dreadful stench. One could hardly tolerate it even for a moment. My biggest shock was finding some Rai Muslims, who residents of Lambra village had escorted to the border across Nakodar, were butchered soon afterwards by killers lying in wait for them. It was terrible, Unfazed, I returned to Lahore during the short truce that followed six months later. I bought the famous Tej shoes from Mall Road. That is etched as a happy memory.