As India gears up to celebrate its 79th Independence Day, the euphoria is usually laced with the bittersweet memories of the country’s Partition in 1947. Although freedom came on August 15, 1947, it also signified a violent dismemberment for millions, resulting in countless people leaving their homes and livelihoods behind, victims of massive communal bloodshed. This is the gruesome story of Sudarshana Kumari, who lived through Partition as a little girl.
A Childhood Halted In Sheikhupura
Born in 1939 in the Sheikhupura district, now in Pakistan’s Punjab province, approximately 24 miles from Lahore, Sudarshana was eight years old when the subcontinent was divided into two. Communal strife was rife on both sides of the newly established border.
In a retro interview to The Partition Museum, she clearly remembered one fateful night. Her mother was rolling out the rotis on the rooftop when a neighbor, Satpal, cried out in alarm, saying the rioters had incinerated a nearby woodworking plant, dangerously close to their house.
Escaping Through Rooftops: A Fight For Survival
Seeing the massive fire consuming the factory, her mother left the rotis behind and quickly put some of her belongings and items in a trunk – a milas (bowl), a ladle, and a pot – and both of them ran away by jumping over the rooftop walls, moving as far away from their house as possible. Their frantic escape took them to Sheikhupura’s Civil Headquarters. But the low walls of the headquarters made them uneasy, feeling threatened that rioters could easily enter the compound. But the government building itself was not touched.
Sudarshana remembered taking shelter in another dwelling in their city, hiding on the roof. Glancing through holes in the roof, they saw rioters below – men wearing thick turbans, their faces masked, carrying spears and guns. They were setting fire to and pillaging houses, slaughtering whoever came in their way.
The worst traumatic memory Sudarshana had was seeing her uncle’s entire family brutally murdered in front of her eyes, including his innocent one-year-old daughter. Miraculously, one of her uncle’s daughters escaped even though she was shot. She fainted on the road leading to a hospital, where doctors gave her life-saving first aid. Sudarshana also remembered witnessing the rotting corpses of many friends who had been lying on the road, swollen by rain and giving out a foul smell.
Looted Memories And A Journey To India
Subsequently, Sudarshana and her mother took shelter in an ancient valley, hiding inside a solid house amongst other displaced persons, creating a makeshift convoy. After a few days, they arrived at Company Bagh, where bungalows of civil lines officers formerly existed. Sudarshana used to play with friends in a charred bungalow, where kids rummaged through half-burnt materials. She discovered two pataris (wooden boxes with lids) and a little trunk, which she took with her, fantasising about keeping new dolls and their clothes in them, as a substitute for those left behind in Pakistan.
She became tearful remembering her old dolls and home. She stored her dolls in those pataris and the trunk till she was in the eighth grade. She even carried these things with her upon marriage, giving away the pataris to her sisters and retaining the trunk as a precious keepsake.
The Traumatic Journey To Refuge
Sudarshana recalled waiting with the convoy for a truck to take them to India. She explained how more than 300 people were stuffed into two trucks “like animals” and then unloaded near the Wagah Border. From there, she and her mother walked into India, spending a good amount of time in refugee camps before they finally established any semblance of stability in their new country.
