Panipat Zila Karnal

Our house Number 391, W-12, Kalandar Chowk, Panipat. This is the front of our house where we spent 25 years after partition. The house, with multi owners, has been redone by the builder who built many appartments by merging neighboring houses. The picture is courtsey my niece Simer Chhabra who joined all my four sisters in March 2010 and revisited the place where we grew.

Young and talented Simer Chhabra

                 Bhagwant, Amarjeet, Mohinder and Tripat on their recent visit to Panipat March 2010

Bhagwant in our courtyard with a Portable 'Tandoor' in the background

Panipat Zila Karnal

It was quite often when our family will meet over a get together, I being a four/five year old will be made a focal point of attraction. My dad will call me, while sitting among his group of friends and ask me to narate the same few lines on Panipat.

We were lust in the process of settling down in Panipat immediately after the partition of the country. Most of our other members of our family was settled in New Delhi. One evening we had got together for a wedding dinner and squatted on the floor on the roof of a dharamshala in Rohtak in connection with the wedding of Mr Atam Narain Singh (my mothers eldest sister's son).

I was summoned by Mr Dalip Singh( Dad's budy and his bench-mate) to bully me and asked me to sing that by now infamous naration about our new abode. As I sang, all the people around me would jump to thundrous laughter and will join me in singing alongwith while I was seriously doing the song. Obviously I was thrilled by the attention I got from all near and dear, while all others had real hearty fun.

The lyrics are given below, I do not know whether it attracts the same attention or not:

"Panipat zila Karnal,

No Koi Roti, No Koi Daal,

Bhukhe mar gae Bachche naal"

'There is a town called Panipat which falls under the district of Karnal,

There is hardly any bread or butter/dish available at that place,

How do we survive, as We and kids are dying out of hunger.'

This was just a pointer to my Dad, being a grain producer himself, till the other day owning 100s of acres of aggricultural lands, had to make his both ends meet with utmost difficulty to take care of the needs of his kids.


My Dad joined his kins without a wrinkle of worry on his face though and just laughed it away.

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