It was Nanaji’s rite of passage to Haj, which every pious Muslim craves to achieve in their lifetime. The annual pilgrimage takes place in the last month of the Islamic calendar, at the ‘House of Allah’, the ‘Kaaba’ in Mecca.
In 1989, my grandfather applied for an India-Bangladesh Passport, the only passport he ever had. This passport was unique in that it allowed lateral movement between India and Bangladesh only. Perhaps this document was the most coveted one for all those who migrated to India from Bangladesh. It holds with it an ocean of memories of struggle and identity.
In October 1947, bauji registered himself at the Paharganj desk of the Ministry of Relief and Rehabilitation in Delhi. This refugee registration certificate issued by the Ministry became their first formal proof of belonging to this new land of independent India.
Durga Prasad Ummat, Bauji as he was fondly known, was born on 25th April, 1896. After my father passed in 2015 there was lot of paperwork to be attended to. It was on one such day, while rummaging through documents that I came across some documents and letters with Bauji’s name.
In 2016, I chanced upon a pile of old letters that left me with more questions than answers. There are many ways to be introduced to a person, and in the case of my grandfather, perhaps it was through these that I truly met him.
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