Tea and tales of Pakistan

Sumiran wanted to get a pathan suit stiched ,

so after work we walked around the Sumrasar Sheikh searching for a tailor.

  

We found a small blue shop near the village entrance. As it turned out the tailor Mohobata-Ji was Harish bhai's father. He invited us home for tea and to meet the rest of his family

Like most families in the village this too was a joint family where Mohobata-Ji and his brother lived together with their children and grand children.

Harishbhai was both surprised and happy to see us entering the gate with his father.He called out to his two brothers Prakash and Eshwar. Harish-bhai took the bag his father was carrying and quickly pulled up plastic chairs Prakashbhai brought us chilled water and Eshwarbhai carried a cot on his shoulder and placed it near Mohobata-Ji's chair.

Mohobata-Ji called for tea and sat down majestically. He asked us where we are from,how many siblings we have and how much of Bhuj we have seen so far.

He spoke proudly of his three sons smiling fondly at them as he did so. Prakash,  the eldest was a professor at a  B.Ed college in Bhuj. Harishbhai  headed the production department in Kala Raksha and Eshwar, the youngest  too worked in Kala Raksha as a tailor. He then told us that he wanted to join the Police Force but his father convinced him to become a tailor after they came here  as refugees from Pakistan.

The  Bhanani's are Sindhi Hindus.It was his elder brother Raimal Ji who wanted desperately for the family to move to India, for a chance of  a better life. But when the Indian army captured Adhi Gao,a small village in Nagar Prakar District and rescued those who wished to live in India he was in another village on business. The Pakistani Army regained the village and did not allow anyone to crossover.

      The family has been separated ever since .Raimal Ji got married and settled down in Adhi Gao and still dreams of bringing his family to India but visa clearances have made it impossible to do so.The families have had only two visits to meet each other.

For the 17 families that were rescued , life was far from rosy.The Indian government  rescued them but  refused to give them citizenship.They spent months living in the empty desert.The government officials kept sending them from one place to another.They made tiny tents under the thorny bushes.A year later land was finally alloted to each of the families along with Indian citizenship.The families settled in the quiet village of Sumrasar, changing itsname to Sumrasar Sheikh to create an identity for themselves and named the street they lived on Parkar Vas in memory of their home back in Nagar Parkar District,Paksitan.

Sumrasar Sheikh,Kutch,Gujrat