Molded into a large rounded jar, 31 inches in height and 16 inches in depth, this floor-placed vessel is made entirely of brass and was the container that stored the entire family’s stock of sugar. It was known as a ‘Chatee’ and had enough capacity to store at least one hundred kilograms of sugar within it.
During his days in Lahore, communal tension began rising in the wake of an imminent independence and possible partitioning of the land. To protect himself, Mian Baljit Singh bought this sword. But apart from that, I believe that it was also considered as a symbol of status and style.
‘Let’s Put the Little Things Right’ is a book that was first published in 1973. It was written by Colonel Lionel Gregory, the founder of Comex – The Commonwealth Expedition. Comex was started in 1965 as an expedition from Britain to India in support of the multi-cultural ideals of the then called British Commonwealth. The book belongs to Promod Shanker (my father-in-law).
He wrote a letter to the then Punjab Government asking for a two-month leave (parole). He was jailed in a town called Sambrial in the North-West Frontier Province, modern day Khyber Pakhtunwa Province, in Pakistan, not very far from where the wedding was to be held. To his relief, he was granted the leave, but there were stipulations to be adhered to.
This very unglamorous sewing needle has been on my mother, Sunanda Mukerji’s dresser for as long as I can remember. About 5-inches long, mottled, a little worse for the wear but its tip still faceted where the ironsmith shaved it to not-too-fine a point, now I use it to thread a naada (cord) through its eye.
I come in and sit down on the cane chair next to her bed. She is singling out the larger silver coins and laying them in a line, chronologically. The collection begins from the year 1904 and ends at a coin from Independence, 1947.
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