Remembering Two Floods: 1955 and 2025 in Punjab

he Floods of 1955: A Family Memory

After Partition, it took us 7 years to find a new home in Jangpura, Delhi through our Claims against our left over properties in Pakistan. My grandmother, Bhabhiji, was the heart of that home—a woman of warmth and strength who had carried her spirit from Multan to new India. She would spend time with us in Panipat and some time in Chandigarh, with her younger son and my Chachaji Sardar Inderjit Singh.

Not wanting to go between two houses, independent-spirited Bhabhiji decided to live by herself in the village of Badbar. There she would be close to her near and dear friends and family from Multan and moved to an old house slotted to us in Badbar. My father Sardar Vasdev Singh and Chachaji took turns staying with her, a rhythm of care that connected our city lives to her rural peace.

Then, in 1955, the floods came.

The waters rose with a fury that swallowed fields and isolated homes. Badbar, even on its small hill, was cut off from the world. With no telephones, we were left in a silent agony of waiting, our only news the crackling reports from a radio.

For days, our family didn't know if she was safe. It was my Chachaji who finally battled through the receding waters to reach her. And what he found was a miracle of spirit.

Amidst the devastation, Bhabhiji’s faith was unshakable. She greeted him not with fear, but with a joke. “Why should I worry?” she said. “Guru Gobind Singh Ji is right here with me, his sword drawn to fight anyone who comes.”

Bhabhi ji in 1955

No one in our family ever could unsheathe that sword. The funny truth was that sword never came out of its wooden sheathe. She would just scare potential thief’s at the door—and they might have been squeaky and unsuspecting mice at the door—by shouting that she was coming out with her Kirpan. We would laugh at this small woman fierce with her unusable weapon. Actually, her faith was her true weapon. It was her protection, and it became our courage.

Seventy years have passed. Canals were built, the land was secured, and the floods were tamed by human effort. But today, as Punjab faces another great flood in 2025, the old fear returns. We see the same grief, the same loss.

Yet we are reminded of the same truth: Punjab survives not only on its fields but on its spirit. It survives on the unshakable faith of its people, standing together through the waters, just as Bhabhiji did.