Childhood pal arrives to meet ‘Mohana’

With high hopes and moist eyes, Raja Ali Muhammad arrived in India from Pakistan to meet his childhood friend, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, reports Aseem Bassi.

Updated on: May 24, 2008, 03:40:21 IST

Hindustan Times | By Aseem Bassi, Attari

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With high hopes and moist eyes, Raja Ali Muhammad arrived in India from Pakistan to meet his childhood friend, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. Muhammad, who lives in Gah village, Chakwal district, studied with the PM in the mid-1930s.

Though he didn’t have an appointment to meet Singh, Muhammad wasn’t perturbed. “Mohana is my childhood friend and I will go to his house. My bhabhi is there, the children are there. He had sent me a letter inviting me to meet him anytime.”

Muhammad has some special objects to show the prime minister: soil from Gah where they studied, a pair of ‘tilley wali juttis’, and school records. “He is the most famous former resident and we plan to name a road and a school after him,” Muhammad said.

“Mohana was the quiet one and listened more than he spoke. His pockets were always full of dry fruits as his family was in the business. We would steal them from his pocket as he studied, but he would merely smile,” said Muhammad, who leaves Amritsar for New Delhi on Saturday evening.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Aseem Bassi
A principal correspondent, Aseem Bassi is the bureau chief at Amritsar. He covers politics, Indo-Pak border, gurdwara politics, crime, border trade and civic issues.

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