Punjabi poet visits historical places in Pakistan, returns with nostalgia

Punjabi poet Sehajpreet Singh Mangat received a warm and affectionate welcome from Prof Mohammad Zaman Cheema, Principal, Guru Nanak Khalsa College, Gujranwala, Pakistan, during his 10-day visit to the country. Chief Coordinator of the World Punjabi Congress and General Secretary of Lok Virasat Academy, Punjabi poet Sehajpreet Singh Mangat was on a visit to Pakistan to attend a few conferences and some other literary functions.

Sharing his experiences in the neighbouring country with The Tribune, Mangat said Sant Baba Atar Singh had laid the foundation stone of the college in Pakistan on March 30, 1918, and after the Partition in 1947, one of its branches was opened in Ludhiana as GGN Khalsa College at Ghumar Mandi.

“A cultural function was organised in the college the day I arrived. During his speech, Principal Zaman Cheema told the students that I had come from Ludhiana, where a sister college of the institution existed. The students had many queries, and I tried to provide answers to satisfy their concerns,” said Mangat while sharing his experience at the college. Mangat added that he brought soil from the college here to mix it with the soil of its ‘sister’ college.

“I got a little emotional there. It was an honour for me to have visited the ancestral house of the legendary Punjabi poetess Amrita Pritam in the Guru Nanak Pura locality, which was once dominated by Sikhs. Ek Onkar is still engraved on the wall near the main gate of the house,” said Mangat, while adding that he also visited the historical Haveli of Maharaja Ranjit Singh, which was located in Gali Lehna Singh in the Machli Market area and the Shalimar Bagh, where the King used to listen to grievances of the people.

The Punjabi poet said he had the privilege of visiting Gurdwara Rori Sahib in Emnabad, where Guru Nanak Dev had squeezed the chapati of Malik Bhago and Bhai Lalo, and blood and milk oozed out of it. “The architecture of the gurdwara, which was built by Maharaja Ranjit Singh, was mesmerising,” shared Mangat.