THE LEGEND OF TOBA

  Name- Abhinav S P

Reg No- 20SJCCC301

                                                  

                                                     Short story on Toba Tek Singh

Toba Tek Singh was small region near Lahore. It was also known as ‘The Lost city of Gold’. The city which was believed to be buried never did exist but people thought it did and created different rumors about it. A few kings who ruled before the Moghul rule fought wars over this region believing the different rumor. Later coming to know the place was never real, the region close to where the battle was fought was named Toba Tek Singh. During the partition of India and Pakistan this region was divided and one half went to India and the other to Pakistan. They left a stretch of land in between where a small river was flowing and drew their borders and it never got marked clearly even on the map. During the partition Bishan Singh who was from the region of Toba Tek Singh lost his family, home and his business.  As a result he went into depression and later went insane thinking about how to get back on his feet and how to reunite with his family. Due to a lot of chaos and violence during the partition Bishan Singh ended up in an asylum in Pakistan. There he tried to find out whether his home town was in India or Pakistan. Two or three years after the partition of India and Pakistan the two governments decided to exchange their lunatics the same way they did with the criminals. On the day of the exchange Bishan Singh found out that he was in his home town was in Pakistan which is where he was and refused to leave his home and go to India.  He  screamed and yelled in and  gibberish refused to be traded. Later during the day he fell down from where he was standing and he landed near the banks of the river. The location where he fell was neither part of India nor a part of Pakistan. Since the place Toba Tek Singh never really existed and now this land was not a part of any country they started calling that piece of land between the borders as Toba Tek Singh. It became a land which never existed to a land which never belonged to anyone (No Man’s Land). Even after Indo-Pak war and some changes to the borders, the piece of land exists even to this day and the small river flows in between the barbed wired borders of India and Pakistan. Still confrontations keep going on between the two countries as to whom this land belongs to. 

Report – Toba Tek Singh is here considered as a place and is given a historical significance. Many believe that the world would be at peace if all countries exist without borders and restrictions. Almost every country in the world has borders. How this concept of having borders began is not really known. A person should be allowed to move around freely everywhere without any restrictions. Imagining a small piece of land with great historical significance which does not belong to anyone is not at all possible. Using this theme the short story above has been created.

The partition which was done due to religious issues was never done right by the two countries. The mass violence which broke out during the partition many were just victims of it. Since the Partition of British India in 1947 and subsequent creation of the dominions of India and Pakistan, the two countries have been involved in a number of wars, conflicts, and military standoffs. The Battle of Burki was fought between Indian infantry and Pakistani armour in the Indo-Pak war 1965. These are the two historical contexts selected.

I think that while speaking about history one thinks about what will happen next and everyone is becomes more and more interested to hear about it. History should be told in a creative mode of expression and it is important to present in the proper manner because if not presented properly people will lose interest. Historical reimagination helps you in remembering a sequence of events very easily. It helps in picturing the scenes better. It brings out a creativity of a person and the way he links what he has read to something in the present. It provides opportunities for developing new interests. It helps in developing a unique personality.

The thing that could have been different is Toba Tek Singh it belonging to India. I believe it would belong to India and not Pakistan is because India has won in every war they have fought against Pakistan. Or the region not existing at all as ‘No Man’s Land’ and just remaining a legend over which a war was fought by small kingdoms.