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Dream fulfilled! 90-year-gets her childhood home in Pakistan named after he
Reena Varma, who returned her hometown, Pune on Friday, felt she was dreaming with her eyes open when she entered her childhood home 75 years later.
Reena Varma, a 90-year-old Punekar’s wish of visiting her ancestral home in Rawalpindi, Pakistan came true last week. Varma, who returned her hometown, Pune on Friday, felt she was dreaming with her eyes open when she entered her childhood home 75 years later. She says, “75 years isn’t a small time. Bohot log zinda hi nahi rehte.”
Earlier in March, Varma had applied for her Pakistani visa, but it was denied, leaving her much disappointed. “When my visa was rejected, mujhe zarurat se zyaada disappointment hui thi,” she mentions. Though her family moved to India a few months before the partition Varma reminisces that they never left the home thinking they’d never come back.
Talking about her nine day stay in Pakistan, which was as “beautiful as one can imagine”, she recalls, “Bohot hi accha laga. I cannot express. Mera khwab pura hogaya. I had mixed feelings. I was sad and happy. I was happy because I was back home. Sadness was due to the absence of my family. I was missing my family a lot; my siblings and parents. All I could see was them. All the memories were right in front of me, of the days that we spent there. The house is still intact and in good condition. Woh badi zabadarsat baat thi. The people who live there they received me so well. They showed me each room. I could remember my kitchen, my brother’s room. All the neighbours came to see me. I (even) slept in my own room for one night. That was the biggest thing for me. It was an overwhelming welcome.”
Videos of Pakistani citizens welcoming her in their locality with much pomp made their ways on social media and to Varma’s heart herself. “I have just watched one video. I didn’t have time. I was too busy. It was quite hectic. (But) I’m liking it, at this age, duniya se jaane se pehle mujhe itni khushi mili. Everyone poured me with so much love. Bohot hi badhiya raha, expectations se zyaada badhiya tha. I really enjoyed it,” Varma shares.
If this didn’t make Varma’s heart full, then what the current owners of her childhood home did, surely swamped her with feelings. “They have now changed the name of the house to ‘Reena’s house’. It’s such an honour. Kaun karta hain itna,” she discloses.
