Raghbir Singh Delhi India

Dear friends,

I was born in Mandi Bahauddin in 1937 and we migrated to Delhi, India in 1947. I am happy to find that Mandi Bahauddinis are so proud of their city. I too join you all. I have distinct memories of my childhood in MBDin – MB High School, a persian wheel well in the centre of the grain market, a primary school where my mother taught, road going to Phalia littered with ice factory, cotton ginning mill, etc. I understand MBDin is now a big and crowded city. It was an education for me to learn that the earlier name of the railway station was by the name of Pindi Bahauddin – the village to which my ancestors from my parental side belong. My mother belongs to Mong Rasul.

I may visit the place dear to my heart with my mother (86)in the first week of November this year. Are there some good hotels there? Persons who migrated from MBDin to India have kept the memories of the city. See google search engine. You will find Mandi Bahuddin Khalsa College, MB Girls School, etc. at Indore, Madhya Pardesh.

With greetings to all.

Raghbir Singh

Dear Tarar,

Thank you very much for your affectionate letter. I have a general comment based upon my experience about the Sikh families of Mandi Bahuddin (both of town and villages)that they are to be found in every part of India. There is a saying about the Sikhs generally that they are to be found in every part of the world.

So is about the Sikhs of Mandi Bahuddin of their presence in all parts of India. My first long rail travel as a young person was from Delhi to Assam (North-east India) in 1957 alongwith my mammu. On the way he narrated to me about the persons of our district (many our relatives)settled probably in every principal town on the way in UP,Bihar and Bengal. I found in remote interior districts of Assam our persons from Mandi Bahuddin flourishing in trade and this was way back in 1957.A person from MBDin (our relative) started sale of one rupee per glass sweet lassi in Siliguri(North Bengal)and now the family is the owner of many big hotels. Down in the South upto Hyderabad and in the west in all principal districts of Rajasthan, Gujrat and Maharashtra, they (we) are there.

I stayed as tenant (1973-1980) in a locality established by our people in the lake city of Udaipur (Rajasthan) while I was teaching in the University there. Migrants from many other districts had concentration in certain parts which was not the case with the MBdinis. Pothoharis (Rawalpindi, etc.)are also an exception. They are found in all parts of

India. There were many in Madras where I had been serving recently (2003-2005).Single reason which I identify for this is that our people much before 1947 had been venturing out and visiting other parts of the

sub-continent and thus immediately after 1947 they had their known places to look for. I was travelling alongwith with my mother from Delhi to Saharanpur four years back on a narrow and full of potholes road through rural areas. I told her that the town by the name Thana Bhawan is now close by. She narrated that her mammu from Pindi Bahuddin migrated to that place in 1940. I found that the young people in the family are doing very well in business. There are many more success stories to narrate. May I know the name of your village? My mother is very keen to know. Another little thing to narrate is that the

Headmaster/Principal of the MB High School immediately before 1947 was Mr Siri Ram Sethi. Luckily, he was the Principal of the school, namely, Babu Ram Government Higher Secondary School, Shahdara, Delhi where I had

schooling in Delhi. I have yet to see a person of his calibre in school administration – a strict disciplinarian. Can Mr Shah trace something of relevance to it? I will look for more material by contacting certain people in Delhi and outside.

Sincerely

Raghbir Singh