The Hindu : New Delhi News : A visa at last to go `home'

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Feb 24, 2005

New Delhi

New Delhi

A visa at last to go `home'

By Mandira Nayar

NEW DELHI, FEB. 23. Manmohan Sethi has waited more than half a century to go "home". Forced to flee during Partition from the place he belonged, he might have lived in India for years now, but he still longs for his world he left behind across the border.

Clinging on to memories of his childhood -- from his teacher who taught him the lessons of life that he still lives by to the college where he dreamt of his future plans -- Mr. Sethi, now a grand old 77, might be an Indian in every sense of the term, but he is still a "refugee" of sorts as his heart lies in a country that he now needs a visa to visit.

"This is the last journey of my life. Like all final journeys, it is always alone. I want to go with my God to the place where I was born. I want to embrace my countrymen before I die. I want to touch my `mitti' and pay homage to the madarassa - my alma mater -- where I learnt my lessons for the last time. Only I know what I have lost. I want to carry a message of peace and love to them,'' says Mr. Sethi wistfully.

With freedom coming at a price, Mr. Sethi left Rawalpindi in 1947 with his mother to try and rebuild his life on this side of the border. "I sold mangoes and cloth on the pavements of Lucknow to survive. I had to carry `desi ghee' from Moradabad to Calcutta. But I didn't give up my evening classes. I wanted to become a doctor, but couldn't. Today all my children are doctors,'' he states proudly.

Having got a visa from the Pakistani Embassy here this past week-end within hours of applying for it, Mr. Sethi is now busy planning his trip. "I submitted my visa application on February 17 and there was a surprise in store for me. The visa officer called me on my mobile phone and told me to pick up the visa in the evening! I have also been exempted from reporting to the police and can travel freely in my district. All this thanks to The Hindu for publishing my letters in the `Readers' Mail' column of its Delhi edition which helped my case,'' he says happily.

Still angry at being torn away from his village, Mr. Sethi claims that he is just another ordinary man who might not be part of a political delegation but deserves a voice in the peace process. However, it is ordinary people like him who abandoned their favourite childhood haunts, familiar streets and are separated from their friends who probably matter the most.

"I want to know why I have been ousted out of the place where I was born. I can travel to England and America, so why can't I go to my birthplace? There is no law in the world that can stop me from going there. I know what I have lost,'' says the Grand Old Man passionately as he prepares for the upcoming trip to Pakistan.

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