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and Faisalabad, were handed over to loyal workers and the family
was escorted to Amritsar in a convoy by the Indian army. The
family spent over a year and a half in the refugee camps at
Amritsar during which time my father completed his studies in
Ayurvedic medicine which was interrupted because of partition.
Finally the family was re-settled in a town called Bahadurgarh in
Rohtak District in the Indian Punjab. Later the state of Punjab was
bifurcated into Haryana and Punjab and Bahadurgarh became
part of Haryana state. Bahadurgarh is about 30 km from the
national capital, Delhi. In fact, the border between Bahadurgarh
and Delhi is just 2 kms. While the family was allotted small
residential houses in Bahadurgarh, agricultural lands were allotted
in two separate locations about 70 to 80 km apart which in itself
posed serious practical problems in managing these agricultural
lands which were supposedly allotted in exchange for the familys
holdings. This was the general pattern not limited to our family.
On achieving independence from the British the nation was in a
celebratory mood but the violence and carnage during the
transfer of power and during the migration process from both
parts of the country created the biggest tragedy for infant and
young children, born prior to independence or a few years earlier
or just after partition, who had to suffer the maximum. In other
words, all children lost their childhood and had to lead a life of
want and poverty. In most cases the children were expected to
help the families in earning a livelihood. I being very young was
spared any hard work. But I did have a very painful childhood. In
fact I never knew what childhood is as I have no fond memories of
my growing up years. It must be remembered that most of the
refugees, like my family, had to leave their homes and businesses
in Pakistan at short notice and were not allowed to carry any of
their belongings or valuables. They were more concerned in
saving their lives and those of the young ones. I later learnt that
thousands of men and women and children were separated from
their families and families could not find any trace of them in
spite of concerted efforts of the families and the authorities.
Some were believed to have been the victims of the hateful
violence. Others were separated during the migration process or
some family members being sent to different refugee camps. In
the case of children, it was believed that some of them were
stolen by those who had lost their own in the violence or
otherwise.
The biggest problem of the partition was that the authorities were
busy in solving the day-to-day survival problems of the millions of
refugees. They were slow in organizing schools for the refugee
children as parents were not in a position to pay for their
schooling and were dependent on the government.. The result
was that like majority of the children, I could be enrolled in a
school at the age of 7+. The period prior to school enrollment
was spent in assisting the family or loitering in the streets like
vagabonds. This period had a very bad influence on the psyche of
the children like me.
In the pre-partition India my family was in a very good economic
and social position. Being land owners the family had been given
the title of Malik. To this day all male members of the family
prefix the honorary title of Malik to their name e.g. my father was
always addressed as Malik Lal Chand Batra. So were his brothers
and my grandfather before them. Even I am known as Malik
Saheb or Malik Harkrishan Lal Batra among those who know the
family.
Here I would like to narrate an incident connected with my name.
My birth name is Krishan Lal Batra. When my father took me to
the primary school for admission, the headmaster told my father:
Malik Saheb, I already have 4 Krishan Lals in the 1 st grade. So if
you want your son to be admitted to school, you should think
about changing his name otherwise come next year. It is so
difficult to distinguish amongst these multiple Krishan Lal. After
and efforts to clean the house. The house did not have enough
space for all 4 of us (my parents, my sister and me). While the
parents used the bedroom, my sister and I used to sleep in the
verandah. While during summer it was bearable, in winter
months it became very difficult due to cold and bitter cold winds.
The house became too small after the addition of 2 siblings during
the course of next 4 years. So another room was built within the
space available. The house had no electricity and no water
supply. We had to depend on kerosene lamps/candles and water
had to be fetched from the well which was quite a distance from
the house. We also constructed a small toilet and bathroom but
due to lack of enough water, it was very difficult to keep the toilet
clean. However, we managed as best as we could until a handpump was installed at the corner of our street which provided
enough water for the household. But drinking water had still to
be brought from the well.
The house being so small we did not have any space for study or
home work. We had to use to sit on a charpoy in the street and
do our home work. Alternatively, I used to stay at school to finish
my home work before returning home. During middle school years
I used to study under a street lamp to prepare for my mid-term
and final exams until we had enough money to get an electric
connection. Over time we also got water supply pipes. But water
supply was erratic, sometimes just one hour a day and other
times 1 hour morning and evening. There was no space for
playing or money for any extra-curricular activities or games.
EARLY SCHOOLING