Wars For The Peace

Grey hair of my beeji depicts her struggles in life. But their shine is not enough to express the depth of pain and hardships she faced.

Like every year we celebrate the happiness of the independence of the country, which is something of pride. But beeji only recalls how she was homeless on the same day. The biggest step of Partition turned her life upside down. 

It was night 3 when they packed and rushed to catch the train to India. Beeji, babuji and my Father. It was a night of chaos and a live hell. In all hush, babuji lost the hand of beeji. Unfortunate, unskilled and immature lady of early teenage, with a baby boy of 9 months tied hardly to her week body. She was homeless, partner less and even life. 

Somehow in that minute of War, she decided to grow up ages and protect herself and her child.

The next morning, she reached refugee camps, where it was a next level struggle. From food to water everything was in scarcity. For 26 days she was in the same clothes, torn blanket, few pennies and barefoot. 

It was early morning when her pale body, hungry tummy, and anemic body collapsed. She had a minor heart attack. She lost all hopes to live life, to go back to her house in Sindh, to meet Babuji and to lift her son again.

But destiny has more for her, her illness made her shift to a better camp set up in Patel Nagar in Delhi, for medical aid. And from there she got a turn in her life. Gradually things settled down. She accepted Delhi as her new place and it took her 4 years almost to fill her and son's tummy, to buy bedding for them and send her son to school. 

After 25 years took for beeji to have a family again when her son got married. And soon I and Bhai were born. 

Its almost 72 years to it now, but for Beeji still war is on in her mind. She never feels the peace that prevails in the country. Her tears are still not over by overflowing from years. Now she is bedridden and in her last phase. 

Maybe today's visit would be last. With her will close the chapter of the pain and struggle. But her words will always live in her hearts, " it took troll of millions of dreams to establish the peace you see today". 

Lucky are we to be a part of free India. As freedom not only cost the lives of fighters for it. But millions of stories still are unsaid and unknown, which equally laid their everything in it.