Picture of Chalesa Junction reminds me of the tiny Chalesa Railway Station. A memorable journey also comes to mind — the train ride from Malakwal to Pind Dadan Khan and back.
Prof. Dr. Gian Sarup (1933–2015), originally from Bhera and later settled in the USA, often spoke fondly of the places connected to his childhood and youth. He passed away in Chicago at the age of 82. His wife, Sunana, belonged to Pind Dadan Khan. Together, they cherished nostalgic memories of the railways, Bhera, Malakwal, Haranpur, and Pind Dadan Khan.
To honour those memories, I once travelled from Bhera to Malakwal by road and then from Malakwal to Pind Dadan Khan by train and back. Along the way, I took photographs of the journey and shared them with the couple.
Dr. Gian Sarup later shared his heartfelt reflections, which are available on the website bhera.org alongside the photographs. His words are worth reading and maybe of interest to some. I only wish he had lived to complete Part 2 of his comments. The link is given below:
The Malakwal–Khushab branch line was built as part of the Sind–Sagar Railway between 1884 and 1939. In May 1887, the Victoria Bridge was completed over the Jhelum River between Malakwal and Chak Nizam and a railway line was constructed from Malakwal to Khushab. Reference: Wikipedia.
On 5 April 2014, I went from Bhera by car to Malakwal Railway Station. I parked my car at the station, went to Pind Dadan Khan by train, and returned on the same train. I took a few pictures en route, which I shared with Prof Dr Gain Sarup (late). He was born on 3 March 1933, in Mohalla Dhona da Ghara ( near Imam Kot ), Bhera. He had fond and vivid memories of his birthplace, which he remembered till his death. The comments he wrote about the pictures are shared. It may be of interest to some.
Nostalgia – Comments by Prof. Dr Gian Sarup.
Dear Zahid Sahib:
I am at a loss to find suitable words to express my deepest gratitude to you for emailing numerous pictures of your journey by road to Malakwal and then by train to Haranpur and Pind Dadan Khan. I know you undertook this journey exclusively for us, and by emailing the pictures of the locales en route, you have enabled us to visually revisit the places which we frequented about seven decades ago. Though I was born and grew up in Bhera, Haranpur is my ancestral place, and likewise, Pind Dadan Khan is the native and ancestral place of my wife; so naturally, both of us feel an emotional affinity for these towns. Believe me, I have viewed these pictures at least ten times and every time I saw them and wished to write down my thoughts about them, I felt like seeing them one more time to reconnect with my past.
Let me now describe my views about them in sequence. First of all, I wish to write about the revolving rail platform at Bhera. When the engine of the train used to be shunted and parked over this platform for changing sides, we as kids used to stand on it at the rear of the engine and enjoyed getting ourselves also rotated from one side to the other. Then there are two pictures of Hazurpur. Its Railway Station gives a deserted appearance like that of Bhera’s Railway Station, because the trains no longer touch these places. Hazurpur was a small village during our times and even in the early forties, stoppage of trains was enforced at its station for economy in war days. I remember having walked about three miles one way ( 4.5 Kms ) a few times along the rail line from Bhera to Hazurpur to purchase ghee from an elderly lady, who used to sell pure ghee often to us. As seen in the pictures, some businesspeople have used the walls of the deserted station as billboards for the promotion of their products.
The real pictorial journey starts at Malakwal, which I will write about in my next email. So once again, I thank you and extend my hearty best wishes,
Gian Sarup
Note: I didn’t receive the next Email as mentioned by Prof Gian Sarup in his post. After this post, he seriously got sick and died on 12 June 2015 in Chicago, USA, aged 82. For more information about Prof Gian Dr Sarup, please see Wikipedia.
Zahid Mumtaz
Terrific work, Zahid Mumtaz.
Brought tears to my eyes.
I was about eight years old in 1960 when I traveled to Pind Dadan Khan from Karachi. I remember changing trains at Jhelum, and the Malakwal station. It was a cold, dark night. My maamoo was posted there as an officer in the Village Aid Program.
Thanks for the comments. One day we will go together go to Bhera . Ali Akbar Khan and his wife went to Bhera with me.