“God has been kind to me,” Bhagwant Singh Jawanda says, by blessing him with a loving family, lifelong friends and a meaningful career.
Oral Historian:Mandeep Dhaliwal
Camera Person:Mandeep Dhaliwal
Summary:
“God has been kind to me,” Bhagwant Singh Jawanda says, by blessing him with a loving family, lifelong friends and a meaningful career. The middle of 5 brothers, Mr. Jawanda was born in 1924 and raised within a large extended family in his father’s village of Shanker, Ludhiana District, Punjab. His father, Nahar Singh, was zaildar (landlord) of the village. He and his cousins went to school in Shanker until 4th grade, after which they stayed until matriculation with their younger uncle, Dr. Amar Singh, a civil surgeon for Patiala State.
Mr. Jawanda and his cousins devised their own entertainments. He recalls gilli danda (a game played with sticks, similar to cricket or baseball), touch football, and late nights playing cards and gossiping. His older cousins were grown and living outside the village but everyone would gather in Shanker at holidays. Mr. Jawanda laughingly relates how he and his younger cousins trailed after their older cousins as they went hunting for deer in the nearby sandy brush. The older group would stop and order the youngsters to go home, and after a pause, the younger group would again follow. This continued until finally the older group relented. It was only sometime after Partition while visiting relatives in Karnal that Mr. Jawanda recalls shooting a deer himself. There were so many deer gathered, he says it was difficult to miss with his 12 bore gun.
His closest friend throughout childhood was his cousin Gurdial. Their elder uncle, Pakhar Singh, was an engineer with the Irrigation Department and asked about their college plans. The cousins replied they were interested in arts, a response that was met without enthusiasm. Instead, they were encouraged to pursue sciences and joined the Sikh National College in Lahore in 1939-40. Mr. Jawanda says they were not suited for that and after 2 years he returned to Shanker. He took up a hobby of raising chickens on the top floor of the family’s haveli (townhouse, manor, or mansion). After a year, his mother, Jasmail Kaur, told him he must think of his future and in 1945 he returned to college with greater maturity to start a BA. He would take honors in Geography and Economics.
Mr. Jawanda describes Lahore as “the Paris of India”– it was fashionable, historic, and populated with gentry from Sikh, Hindu, and Muslim backgrounds. He quotes: “if you have not seen Lahore you have not been born”.
Rallies and demonstrations took place as politicians jockeyed for support for their views. Mr. Jawanda recalls hearing Jinnah (Muhammad Ali Jinnah, leader of the All-India Muslim League and founder of Pakistan) at Bradlaugh Hall in March 1947, exhorting the crowd “this is March, so march on, march on, march on!”. Incidents of violence occurred with greater frequency. Master Tara Singh (Sikh political and religious figure) spoke to students at the hostel, advising them to walk in groups of 2 or 3. One day, he and some friends were returning by tonga (horse-drawn carriage) to their hostel from the Anarkali area. A mob stopped the tonga and asked the driver, “Tenu pata ni ki hai Lohari Gate te?” (“Don’t you know what’s happening at Lohari Gate?”) While they were cutting the horse’s reins, Mr. Jawanda and his friends quietly slipped out of the tonga and walked away. There was a clash between Hindus and Muslims at Lohari Gate. That experience made them realize how precarious their situation could have been. Classes were suspended and some students left, but the hostel was still operational with two kitchens running. Those who remained lit rooms at night to make it appear as if their numbers were greater. Surrounding the hostel were Muslim residential areas and at night they could hear rallying cries of “Ya Ali, ya Ali” (Hail Ali). He and his cousin Gurdial shared a room on the first floor immediately above the main door and kept sulfuric acid (a corrosive substance) in the event of an attack. In July, he and about 15 other students left Lahore by train and arrived without incident at Ludhiana. He spent the next few months with his uncle, Dr. Amar Singh, at Chail, a hill station near Shimla that was the summer home of the Maharajah (high king) of Patiala.
In lieu of exams, Mr. Jawanda volunteered for 3 months at a refugee camp in Ludhiana and recalls seeing Lady Mountbatten (Edwina Cynthia Annette Mountbatten, the last vicereine of India) there. He resumed his 3rd year studies at Government College, Ludhiana, involving himself in sports and in the student union. He completed his BA in Geography there.
Mr. Jawanda felt that by studying abroad more opportunities would be available, and in 1950 was accepted into the Forestry program at the University of British Columbia (UBC) in Vancouver, Canada. Since classes had already started he went by air, the shortest but far more expensive option; the one-way fare on Pan Am Airways was $975. He had a 3-hour stopover at the Karachi airport and remembers a young Pakistani naval officer spotted him in his turban and embraced him, saying “Sardar, useen tarsna ga” (“Sardar, we miss you”) (Sardar is a form of address for a Sikh or a term for leader often used as a proper name). It was only 3 years after Partition and the separation was still fresh.
After a long journey, Mr. Jawanda arrived at UBC’s Acadia Camp which formerly served the Canadian army and was now student housing. It consisted of several small cabins or huts. He paid the camp manager, Mr. Armour, for a meal card and was given bed linens and directed to his hut. It was when he closed his door that his aloneness hit him and he felt bad for the first time. Tired, he made his bed, showered, and slept. That afternoon, he knocked on his neighbor’s door and was taken to the dining hall. A Trinidadian student, Chick, saw that he was a newcomer and took him under his wing. Chick showed him around campus and guided him on how to switch his major to geography. He and Chick would remain lifelong friends. In addition to his studies, Mr. Jawanda took part in campus life: UBC Grass Hockey team captain, Big Block Club member, and Indian Students’ Association president. After completing an MA in Geography and studying at the UBC School of Municipal & Regional Planning, he joined the Burnaby City Planning Department. He continued to play field hockey with the India Club and involved himself in community affairs. Whatever committee needed his help, he was there. It was important, he says, for Indians to take a role at an equal level in the wider community.
In 1962, Mr. Jawanda visited India. One person he saw was Giani Kartar Singh who had been a freedom fighter and was a Minister in the Punjab government. He had last seen him just before leaving for UBC in 1950 when Giani advised him to continue in geography as India already had many Forestry Officers. Giani could not recognize him because he was now clean shaven.
He married his wife, Harbhajan, in April 1962. Their families were well known to each other. Together they flew back to Victoria, BC where Mr. Jawanda worked for the BC Ministry of Municipal Affairs. Mr. Jawanda imparted to his 3 children the values ingrained by his family: education and togetherness. In retirement, he enjoys time with family, reading, and visits from friends. Reflecting on Partition, he feels it would have been better to remain unified.
