fहndi - Mahatma Gandhi Antarrashtriya Hindi Vishwavidyalaya

Malbe Ka MalikMohan RakeshJai RatanThey had come to Amritsar from Lahore after seven years and ahalf. The Indo-Pak hockey match was just a pretext. More thanthe match they wanted to see the buildings and the bazaars whichhad become alien to them seven and a half years ago. Bunchesof Muslims were to be seen sauntering along the roads, lookingas eagerly at everything, as if this was no ordinary city but a placeendowed with some very special attraction.Passing through the narrow alleys in the bazaars, they remindedone another, of things which had been so familiar. 'Look, Fatehdeena,how the candy shops in Sweets Bazar have dwindled in number!Do you remember the corner shop where Sukhi used to sell parchedgram? It's no longer there. Its place has been taken by that betelleaf seller. And, Khan Saheb, isn't this the Salt Market? It' s herethat they dye clothes in bulk. And those dyer women! So spicyindeed- each one of them!'It was after a very long time that plumed turbans and red fezcaps were seen in the Bazaars. Among the visitors from Lahorea good many were old inhabitants of Amritsar who had been forcedto leave the city at the time of partition. The inevitable changesthat had come about in the course of seven and a half years aroused84 :: April-June 2013fgndi •