Balwant rai Mehta committee- Chapter II( Sun shines again)

It was in a refugee camp nearby to the Shiva temple of Sirhind in October 1947 10 year old Chironjilal Mehta found his bearings after nearly three months of delirious existence,he trekked thousands of kilometers across the imaginery Radcliffe line, trudging through Lahore madness was abundant but memory of his village Taliwal near town of sheikhupura was nightmare.. “ Noore chadhhi na..Maar behnchhod nu!”, he at first could not believe his ears his own dear Chacha Karimbaksh shouting that, running like a mad dog jumping from the window sill later on he could clearly recall mutilated bodies of his parents.
If anyone of you happen to travel on G T Road you can easily make out Sirhind, After entering Punjab at Shambhu border and just before the steel city of Mandi Gobindgarh is this historical place famous for its Gurudwara Fatehgarh sahib, urban Punjab is confusion galore and in 1947 it was even more chaotic and picking up threads was’nt easy business as door to door ‘Saree Salesman’ was tough, paranoia attacks and uneasy nightmares kept on happening, carrying on with his own burden and already aged beyond his years Chironji married a young widow Harpreet in 1967 during baisakhi but living in his hazy world he could never consummate the marriage neither could control so far repressed harmones of Harpreet which found easy outlets in crowded campus of refugee camp, various illicit liasions did yield Rakesh Mehta.

(lonely Rakesh by the temple Painting by Ms Joshita Rawat)
Rakesh Mehta was unwilling entrant to this world born a month late than usual in 1977 taunts,jeers,leers of neighbours for his mother coupled with lack of a male anchor soon the state of statelessness of his father got imbibed into the being of Rakesh the child, survival instinct was perfect but it could never develop into diligence associated with the Punjabi community, Harpreet despite her wandering ways tried to somehow make up for the lost years but could never fathom the erratic behavior of the silent child.The camp was camp no more it was ghetto of small houses completely overlapping not only on sides but roof to roof as well, the lanes were dark and musty smell was all pervading.Faltering & confused Rakesh cleared the VIIIth class in 1997, daily existence was difficult, Chironji had completely stopped the wandering salesman work, Harpreet was working as maid in Gurudwara sahib but that was good enough for two meals a day, Rakesh wanted to move away.
He met Parvati..the kumaoni girl , sitting alone in the PSRTC bus originating from Nainital which he was boarding for Ludhiana the big city two hours away and suddenly he could feel the sunshine, the musty smell seemed to be melting away and than Rakesh smiled.

(Purely a fiction any resemblence to pesrons living or dead is incidental)