By Harjap Singh Aujla

Winner of President of India‘s award for the best score of music in Indian film industry for film “Nanak Naam Jahaz Hai” in the year 1969, music director S. Mohinder (92) is a close friend of mine. He lives in Northern Virginia in suburban Washington D.C. While on a visit to New York – New Jersey area, he stopped over for lunch at my house in New Jersey. He narrated to me an interesting story about his tryst with destiny in 1947.

He was a radio singer at All India Radio Lahore and was living in Lyallpur in 1947. On a hot and humid August morning, he boarded a train heading to Lahore to sing a few songs at the only radio station in the province of Punjab. After finishing his singing assignment, he was paid rupees twenty, the rupee was worth a lot during those days. Coming out of the radio station, as usual he saw a number of tongas parked outside in a corner. He paid two annas to the Tonga (horse driven carriage) driver to drop him off at the railway station. He could not, for a minute, visualize that this was possibly his last experience with his favorite city of Lahore.

He purchased a ticket for less than rupees two for Lyallpur and started walking towards the likely platform. Suddenly he heard some tense sounding voices. One person was saying that serious violence has erupted in the Hindu and Sikh dominated areas of Lahore, some incidents of arson, stabbing and gun fire had occurred in parts of the city. He further exclaimed that reports of violence against the Hindus and Sikhs at other places have also been reported.

One neat and clean train with markings of Bombay was about to steam off at platform one. Without caring for his destination, he hurriedly entered the over-crowded train. No seat was empty in a train packed with humans like sardines. Standing up space could be managed with difficulty. The train stopped briefly at Amritsar Junction, where more than half of the passengers disembarked, and a few got in too. More passengers got off a Jullundur, Ludhiana and Ambala. At Delhi, for a change, more passengers got in than those getting out.

After a one and a half day’s journey, the train reached the magnificent Victoria Terminus railway station. The building was awe inspiring. Surprisingly throughout the journey no one asked him to show the ticket. A neatly dressed ticket collector was on duty at the platform. S. Mohinder reluctantly handed over the ticket. The ticket collector smiled and told him that the ticket was for a shorter distance and not for Bombay. S. Mohinder explained the entire story to the officer. After looking at S. Mohinder’s tired face and ruffled up clothes, the officer believed his story and let him go without charging a paisa.

On reaching Bombay, S. Mohinder found out that life was very tough in India’s second largest metropolis. The distances were long, the food and shelter were expensive, but there was no communal tension in the city. He was made to go to other places also, but after a long struggle he did become a music director in what is now called Mumbai.

(The author can be reached at harjapaujla@gmail.com)