Back in business, but scars are indelible
NABHA(PATIALA): After losing two teenaged sisters and a 23-year-old brother in the 1984 anti-Sikh riots in Delhi, Surjit Singh (66) moved to Punjab. A pair of donated chappal (sleepers) on his feet, he walked from Delhi to Rewari to reach Nabha, where his uncle lived. He was also joined by his four other siblings and parents.
Surjit started from scratch and rebuilt his clothing business — shred by shred. Today, he is a reputed face in Nabha. He owns a cloth store and figures among the top businessmen of the town.
“1984 riots were horrific. Rioters looted our two shops and then set them on fire, killed my two sisters and a brother who was at shop. They also set our house on fire. We were left with no option but to flee with clothes we were wearing. At Rewari, a kind-hearted person donated me a pair of sleepers,” says Surjit, who was newly married when the riots broke out.
Recalling his struggle, Surjit said, he, along with brothers Surinder Singh and Harminder Singh, started selling clothes in Nabha and nearby villages on cycles. “When we reached here, we were broken emotionally, financially and mentally. All was lost in Delhi except our skill of marketing. We took loan from relatives and also sold our Delhi house. Slowly and steadily, we started earning livelihood, and then from the savings opened a small shop. Now, we have business larger than what we had in Delhi,” says Surjit, who deals in wholesale and retail selling. Now, all three brothers have separate business.
Surjit said his father Gian Singh wanted to revive business in Delhi, but “our children didn’t agree” to that.