She survived the 1947 partition, but the scars stay

She might have settled down half way across the world in North America, but Mrs. Dandona’s early scars have been hard to heal. Born in 1926 in the Sargodha District of Punjab in undivided India, she had a happy and comfortable childhood, all of which changed when the family had to re-locate because of the partition. From having food cooked according to her preference, her life spiralled downwards to having not enough to eat. Her story.

---

Swarn Kanta Dandona was born in Bhera, a city and tehsil of Sargodha District, Punjab, in 1926. She lived there with her father, mother, six brothers, and three sisters. Mrs. Dandona and her siblings studied at the Arya Samaj and Dev Samaj schools. Her father was a successful businessman and she remembers living happily in a large house.

Mrs. Dandona recalls eating delicious Punjabi food, playing badminton with her siblings, and watching her brothers play hockey. She was not allowed to watch movies but exceptions were made for the films Ram Raj and Shakuntala. She has memories of snake charmers and monkeys dancing in traditional South Asian clothes.

As Mrs. Dandona remembers there was friendly coexistence between different religious communities and her family celebrated all the popular festivals such as Diwali, Dusshera, New Year, Eid, and Vaisakhi. It is in this vibrant setting that she learnt to speak the three major languages of Hindi, Punjabi and Urdu.

Her first memory of hearing about Partition was around Mahatma Gandhi’s death but she is unsure about this. She remembers journeying to India by truck with her immediate family and relatives. At this time, her family’s valuables such as a guinea-type necklace, gold coins and other such belongings were permanently lost.

Her father had been a very rich man in Bhera and owned a vast amount of property, which changed drastically after Partition. One of her brothers was able to get a job after their relocation. Even so, they barely had any money. Mrs. Dandona tells us that before Partition each sibling had different foods made by their cook based on their individual preferences, and after Partition it became a question of how to “fill their stomachs.” They couldn’t choose what they wanted to eat, but had to eat what was readily available. Her family went from sharing a large house to staying in one room as refugees. These memories of Partition are particularly upsetting for Mrs. Dandona. Her family currently resides in North America.

The original version of this article was initially published in The 1947 Partition Archive 

To know more about 1947 Partition Archive, visit their website here 

If you liked reading this post, please consider subscribing to our e-mail feed. You can also like us on facebook or follow me on twitter @manikapremsingh for regular updates.

If you like Contemporary Indian Woman's endeavour of bringing relevant stories  to you, please consider making a donation by clicking here.