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| Balraj Sahni in Garam Hawa (1974) |
“In those days the first mass upsurge of the people of Kashmir was taking place against the princely rule. Its objectives were not very clear then. and the middle-class young men felt quite bewildered and had little sympathy for the struggle of the people. Sometimes jokes were cracked at the expense of Kashmiris, who would stampede in the face of a lathi-charge and leave heaps of their chappals (footware) and lohis (warm blankets) behind on the ground. While the sentiment against the British was strong, there was little sympathy for the struggling Kashmiris. Balraj, therefore sprang quite a surprise one day, when he said, sitting among friends: “Why, all the purse-strings in the state are either in the hands of the Maharaja or the Punjabi traders who do not belong here and who exploit the local inhabitants.”
Balraj’s onservation was disturbing to many ears.
Balraj’s association with Kashmir, starting from early thirties, was to become deep and intimate. Kashmir became for him a kind of second home. He revelled deeply in its idyllic surroundings, long hikes, long swims in the lakes, and mountain-climbing. Kashmir was to become for him a place of deep personal attachments. It was here that he wrote some of his charming little poems and stories It was also to become a field for his cultural and literary activities in the years to come.”
~ Balraj My Brother by Bhisham Sahni (first published in 1981).
