Milange Babey Ratan De Mele Te

"Let’s Meet At Baba Ratan’s Fair"

On the eve of the British leaving the subcontinent in 1947, Punjab was partitioned along religious lines. Thus was created a Muslim majority state of Punjab (west) in Pakistan and a Hindu /Sikh majority state of Punjab (east) in India. For the people of Punjab, it created a paradoxical situation they had never experienced before: the self became the Other. The universe of a shared way of life -- Punjabiyat — was marginalised. It was replaced by perceptions of contending identities through the two nation states. For most of us this has been the narrative of Punjab-- once known as the land of five waters, now a cultural region spanning the border between Pakistan and India.