Posted in: Pashmina news
AMRITSAR: Raja Mohammed Ali childhood classmate of the Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh Monday returned to Pakistan through the land transit route of Indo-Pak Attari Check post near herehere.
Raja had come to India last month on May 23 to meet Dr. Manmohan Singh at New Delhi, first time after the independence.Before leaving to Pakistan Raja Mohammed Ali childhood from Gah village of District Chakwal in Pakistan was accorded a fond farewell by local DAV Public School.
Talking to the media persons Raja Mohammed said, “ On reaching at Prime Minister’s house, my eyes searched for ” Mohna” . All of sudden —”Mohna entered and spontaneously hugged me. I never expected this kind of affection, warmth and welcome from one who has become the Prime Minister of one of the biggest countries of the world. It overwhelmed me completely when I presented the pair of Chakwali Tilley Wali Juttis (traditional Punjabi hand made foot wear) and the PM took off his shoes and wore them there forthwith . It made my heart flutter and I felt speechless. I also presented the village soil and the soil from our old school besides the water sent with wishes from the entire village (from Pakistan) and invited my friend to visit his ancestral village that was waiting eagerly for the son of their soil”.
Continuing further he said, “ During meeting with Mohna, I wrapped the 110-year old “lachcha” (shawl) a family heirloom that had been woven in silk by my grandparents, around the PM. We talked about old times and the PM asked me several landmarks and people of the village. An interesting episode ‘Mohna’ reminded me was of the time of our annual examination when we woke up at 3AM and walked 6 Kms to the examination centre and were so hungry that we plucked the ‘bers’ from the tree for food. Bhabhi ji (Gursharan Kaur wife of PM) who is also from kasba ‘Dhansu’ of Chakwal district of Pakistan keenly participated in the conversation and smiled when I said that on entering India I felt ‘he’ was Wazir-e-Hind but now I feel He is Khadm-e-Hind (in the service of the nation). She also came till the vehicle to bid us goodbye.
“ I salute their humbleness in so warmly enveloping a childhood friend in their affection, who in no way equals them and had come without any appointment and invitation, their loving embrace despite their status besides giving me audience, at such short notice from their busy schedule. When I pointed out that we had taken much more than the 30-minutes allotted to us ‘Mohna’ commented –”Yar time da pata hi nahi chaliya ” (friend, I completely forgot about the time). Added Raja Mohammed.
On a query Raja Mohd Ali said the PM gifted him a pair of Titan ‘Bandhan collection’ watches , a ladies suit , two men’s suits , an embroidered pashmina colour shawl and a packet of Assam tea along with packets of dry fruits on their departure from Delhi . But the most memorable was the photo album of our meeting that he gifted later which would be the entire village’s most prized possession. ”
Raja Mohd Ali bid adieu to all at the Attari –Wagah Border and crossed over to his country Pakistan where his grandson Asad Munir and grand daughters Abida, Sidra and Rayisa welcomed their grandfather with open arms.