My mother spent her childhood years in what is now Pakistan, and the family migrated to Delhi just after partition in 1947, when my mother was a girl of 12. A lot of my mother's childhood years were spent in Bahawalpur District, but they used to visit Karachi often. In Karachi, they used to stay in a plush locality called Clifton.
In Clifton, a gentleman of Iranian origin was their neighbour. He had recently come from Bombay. He lived with his wife and two daughters. One of the girls was called Nusrat, and she was roughly the same age as my aunt, and a good six years elder to my mother. My aunt, my mother and the two girls used to go out from time to time for movies and to the beach, and a friendship developed.
After partition and the formation of Pakistan, Karachi became the new nation's capital, a status it held till 1958. Houses in Clifton were requisitioned by the government for government use, and residents had to vacate their homes. Nusrat's father was not happy about this because he had just moved from Bombay and had set up base in Karachi. He used to share his grief with my grandfather, but then all residents in Clifton had no choice but to move out.
In November 1947, my mother's entire family moved from Pakistan and came to India. My mother never went back to Pakistan after that. All contact was lost with people left behind, including with Nusrat and her family. In 1964, my parents got married and my mother joined my father in New York. He was an officer of the Indian Foreign Service and was then doing an assignment for the United Nations.
In New York, my mother met a Pakistani diplomat during a certain function. He was very interested when he got to know about my mother's roots in his country, and they conversed a bit about my mother's childhood days in Bahawalpur District and the time she spent in Karachi. My mother mentioned the names of Nusrat and her family members, and this Pakistani gentleman's jaw dropped. He said "Nusrat is now Mrs Nusrat Bhutto, and is the wife of our Foreign Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto!"
Begum Nusrat Bhutto went on the become the First Lady of Pakistan, when her husband was Prime Minister from 1971 to 1977. She later became the Chairperson of the Pakistan Peoples Party and mother of Benazir Bhutto, who was Prime Minister from 1988 to 1990 and then again from 1993 to 1996.
My mother was never in touch with Nusrat or anyone from her family after 1947, but it was such a quirk of fate that this teenaged girl she once knew went on to become such an important figure in Pakistan's history!
In Clifton, a gentleman of Iranian origin was their neighbour. He had recently come from Bombay. He lived with his wife and two daughters. One of the girls was called Nusrat, and she was roughly the same age as my aunt, and a good six years elder to my mother. My aunt, my mother and the two girls used to go out from time to time for movies and to the beach, and a friendship developed.
After partition and the formation of Pakistan, Karachi became the new nation's capital, a status it held till 1958. Houses in Clifton were requisitioned by the government for government use, and residents had to vacate their homes. Nusrat's father was not happy about this because he had just moved from Bombay and had set up base in Karachi. He used to share his grief with my grandfather, but then all residents in Clifton had no choice but to move out.
In November 1947, my mother's entire family moved from Pakistan and came to India. My mother never went back to Pakistan after that. All contact was lost with people left behind, including with Nusrat and her family. In 1964, my parents got married and my mother joined my father in New York. He was an officer of the Indian Foreign Service and was then doing an assignment for the United Nations.
In New York, my mother met a Pakistani diplomat during a certain function. He was very interested when he got to know about my mother's roots in his country, and they conversed a bit about my mother's childhood days in Bahawalpur District and the time she spent in Karachi. My mother mentioned the names of Nusrat and her family members, and this Pakistani gentleman's jaw dropped. He said "Nusrat is now Mrs Nusrat Bhutto, and is the wife of our Foreign Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto!"
Begum Nusrat Bhutto went on the become the First Lady of Pakistan, when her husband was Prime Minister from 1971 to 1977. She later became the Chairperson of the Pakistan Peoples Party and mother of Benazir Bhutto, who was Prime Minister from 1988 to 1990 and then again from 1993 to 1996.
My mother was never in touch with Nusrat or anyone from her family after 1947, but it was such a quirk of fate that this teenaged girl she once knew went on to become such an important figure in Pakistan's history!
2 comments:
Wow !
I envy you, Akshay. Your family has so many real life stories intertwined with Sub-continent's history and you get to hear them directly form people who were there when it happened.
Thank you so much Potler. Yes, my parents really had some wonderful experiences which they shared with us. I really miss listening to those stories now, but such is life!
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