From squatting together on a jute bag, to receiving lessons in a Gah school, to that blissful hug at the prime minister Manmohan Singh’s official residence at 7-Race Course road...
Pakistani national Ali recounts his meeting with childhood friend and prime minister Manmohan Singh
NEW DELHI: From squatting together on a jute bag, to receiving lessons in a Gah school, to that blissful hug at the prime minister Manmohan Singh’s official residence at 7-Race Course road, it is a tale of two friends who, separated by the vagaries of time, managed to rediscover each other.
Raja Mohammed Ali and Singh, friends and classmates till fifth standard in their village school (now in Pakistan), have traversed different paths to face each other again after a long gap of over six decades. How did Ali approach the moment he had longed so much for ever since1991 when he first discovered that his old pal is none other than the wazir-e-khazana (finance minister) of India.
“I waited with bated breath for Dr sahab in a room of his official residence. Thoughts crisscrossed my mind over whether I should hug him, which I badly wanted to, but what if he felt bad. After all, he is the wazir-e-azam (prime minister) of India,” the 76-year-old Ali told DNA.
But to his utter delight, he did not even have to step forward to hug his friend. “After a three-minute wait, Dr sahab and bhabi came to the room. My joy knew no bounds as he embraced me. For two-three minutes time stood still for both of us,” Ali narrated.
The septuagenarian recounted how he and Singh used to carry a jute bag to school to sit on. “We shared the jute bag as our school was kucha and had no facilities. But you will not believe what I discovered on meeting Dr sahab after so many years.”
Ali had thought he would meet the prime minister of India. “But what I discovered was something entirely different. I told Dr sahab: ‘Mene suna tha ki aap wazir-e-azam Hind hai. Par mene aap ko khadim-e-Hind paya’ (I had heard you are the PM of India. But I found you to be the servant of your nation).”
How was his Dr sahab as a child and a primary class student? “He was shy and a boy of few words, and I found him to be the same even after becoming PM. He was brilliant in mathematics and had no inclination towards sports. We used to force him to play gili-danda and bante (marbles) but that was rare,” he recollected.
Ali is indebted to a Pakistani friend who had sent him a magazine with Singh’s photograph as the finance minister of India. “After seeing the photograph, I went to Gah from Chakwal where I live now and dug the school records to discover that he was the same old Mohana,” he said.
He feels that Dr sahab has changed the destiny of India. But it may come as a pleasant surprise for many to learn that Mohana has not forgotten his village and has done his bit to ensure its development. “Gaon ki tasveer badal gai hai (the entire look of the village has changed),” he says. There was the time when it had no road link. Now it has two high schools, a hospital, and a girls’ vocational training centre.
“TERI (Tata) walaon ne gaon ko solar energy se roshan kar diya hai (TERI has provided solar power facility to the village),” he added.
Will he like Dr sahab to visit Gah? “Yes, I have extended him the invitation to visit Gah and Chakwal. The village has an old peepal tree in the middle of the pond. I reminded him that even the tree is waiting for him to come and sit under its shadow. I also requested him to take initiatives to bring peace to the subcontinent,” said Ali.
To a question whether he wanted to tour India, he said, “You can’t imagine what I have seen. Mujhe mohabaat mil gaye. Issi ki mujhe chahat thi (I got love and affection. This is what I had longed for in the twilight of my life),” he summed up.
a_anil@dnaindia.net
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