Breakup with a Town…

Amritsar, the city of the Golden Temple, was the backdrop of my earliest memories. Born in 1951 at a village 20 kilometers away, my connection with Amritsar and the surrounding area was deeply rooted. Growing up, I attended a village school until the eighth standard, after which my father’s army posting took us to another town. It was there that I completed higher secondary school and later joined the National Defence Academy, leading to my commission in the Indian Army in 1971.

Despite my travels and postings across India, my bond with Amritsar never wavered. During leaves, I often visited the village, where our ancestral home stood as a testament to our family’s history. However, the turbulent times of militancy in Punjab disrupted this connection. Local militants targeted our family, robbing us and demanding money, forcing my parents to relocate and rent a place for safety.

Amidst the chaos, I had the foresight to invest in a plot in Amritsar. With encouragement from my parents, we began building a house. Slowly, over three to four years, it took shape, becoming a new anchor for our family. Even as my military duties took me across the country, I remained connected to Amritsar through this home. I got married, and my wife and family often accompanied me on my postings, making Amritsar a place of brief reunions.

In the 90s, as militancy subsided, we expanded the house. My father suggested that my younger brother, struggling financially, build on top of our house. I agreed to my father’s wish, allowing my brother to construct a small set on the first floor. Over time, as he prospered, he expanded the first floor and part of the second, transforming the house.

However, this led to familial tensions. My wife was unwilling to accept the changes, and in 2005, we sold the house and moved away. With my share of the proceeds, we purchased a home in Bahadurgarh, near Delhi. As retirement neared in 2008, my parents encouraged me to buy a small house in Amritsar to settle down. Respecting their wishes, I did so, purchasing a modest home in 2008 hoping to return to Amritsar for post retirement life.

Despite my intentions, life had other plans. I embarked on a second career in Delhi after retiring in 2009, staying there until 2014. During this period, both my aging parents passed away. I never got the chance to return to Amritsar and live in the house I had bought. It remained occupied by a series of tenants, some of whom were difficult and refused to vacate, necessitating legal threats to reclaim my property.

By 2015, two of my siblings had settled around Chandigarh while one remained at Amritsar; I too shifted from Delhi, purchasing a flat near Chandigarh. By 2024, the house in Amritsar, bought in 2008, was now in its sixteenth year, a symbol of my enduring connection to the city. Yet, it also represented the complexities and challenges of maintaining ties to a place that had evolved without me.

Experiencing considerable difficulties with the tenants, I sold the Amritsar house and completed the transfer formalities yesterday. With a heavy heart, I bid farewell to the town with which I had been associated for 73 years of my life. As I stood on the threshold of this new chapter, I realized that my breakup with Amritsar was not just about leaving a town. It was about the passage of time, the changes in family dynamics, and the unyielding march of life. Amritsar would always hold a piece of my heart, but it was time to embrace the future, even as I cherished the memories of the past.

Guchi.