7 years ago, on January 18, 2016, I wrote:
“Bitterly cold day as I cross No Man's Land. Off to pay my respects at the Martyrs' Well in Ajnala where the bodies of native sepoys (who rebelled at the Mianmir Cantt in Lahore in 1857 & who were summarily executed at Ajnala) were 1/n
“Bitterly cold day as I cross No Man's Land. Off to pay my respects at the Martyrs' Well in Ajnala where the bodies of native sepoys (who rebelled at the Mianmir Cantt in Lahore in 1857 & who were summarily executed at Ajnala) were 1/n
disposed on a rainy day all those years ago.”
It was to be a memorable trip as some elderly Sikh gentlemen present at the site received very warmly a person who suddenly stepped out of the fog - and across the fog - spoke to them in Punjabi and respectfully asked to be guided 2/n
It was to be a memorable trip as some elderly Sikh gentlemen present at the site received very warmly a person who suddenly stepped out of the fog - and across the fog - spoke to them in Punjabi and respectfully asked to be guided 2/n
on the place & its history. Initially they were a bit taken aback. Yes I too revere them as you do I told them. Their valor & common cause unites us far above & beyond what divides us today.
The images of the place still haunt me. As was expected I barely managed to catch my 3/n
The images of the place still haunt me. As was expected I barely managed to catch my 3/n
train to Delhi as typical Punjabi hospitality was loathe to let me leave so soon.
Next year Penguin Random House India was to publish my novel Snuffing Out the Moon. The events from 1857 were to figure prominently in it. This visit had helped me imbue them with greater 4/n
Next year Penguin Random House India was to publish my novel Snuffing Out the Moon. The events from 1857 were to figure prominently in it. This visit had helped me imbue them with greater 4/n
texture & feeling.
The narrative on Ajnala started with the lines:
“There was a well at Ajnala. A dark, deep and dry well. Lying desolately in the shade of a large peepal tree, it had been long abandoned and lay silently gaping like an enormous parched black mouth. 5/n
The narrative on Ajnala started with the lines:
“There was a well at Ajnala. A dark, deep and dry well. Lying desolately in the shade of a large peepal tree, it had been long abandoned and lay silently gaping like an enormous parched black mouth. 5/n
The monsoon rains were particularly heavy in Punjab in the summer of 1857; they flooded the fields and open grounds that stretches around the small rural town of Ajnala for miles. Through these rains struggled many as they fled from the Mian Mir Cantonment in Lahore that was 6/n
well over thirty miles away from Ajnala as the crow flies.”
On a car, on foot and a taxi I too had come from the direction of Mian Mir’s tomb. Almost 160 years later. Pursuing the faint trail of the memory of many still nameless men who had perished here. And to mourn them 7/n
On a car, on foot and a taxi I too had come from the direction of Mian Mir’s tomb. Almost 160 years later. Pursuing the faint trail of the memory of many still nameless men who had perished here. And to mourn them 7/n
with others who held them equally as heroes.
On the other side of the fog.
#snuffingoutthemoon #Ajnala #Punjab #EighteenFiftySeven #historicalfiction #southasia #colonialism #AjnalaMassacre #BritishIndia #PakistaniFiction #PakistaniNovel #Lahore #MianMir #BengalInfantry 8/8
On the other side of the fog.
#snuffingoutthemoon #Ajnala #Punjab #EighteenFiftySeven #historicalfiction #southasia #colonialism #AjnalaMassacre #BritishIndia #PakistaniFiction #PakistaniNovel #Lahore #MianMir #BengalInfantry 8/8
@odysseuslahori @KamranShafi46 @jrshami @abbasnasir59 @ZarrarKhuhro @meemainseen @LahoreMarquez @BariFaisal @HarounRashid2 @mhzaman @AdilNajam @BookCornerJlm @aasembakhshi @microMAF @MadhavThambiset @PrashantoSen @DastangoiTheArt @AkshayJaitly2 @pbmehta @rsengupta2003
@threadreaderapp “unroll”
• • •
Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to
force a refresh
