Those were the days: When Punjabis made Madras their home

A kind-hearted jailor and a homesick Queen led to the establishment of a successful refugee community in Madras. Punjab had always been on the cross roads of the invasions. But in 1947 there was no returning home when the looters had disappeared for a new border that had been charted between them and their fortunes. Centuries of hard work ended up in a foreign country when Sir Cyril Radcliffe of the Boundary Commissions charged with equitably dividing the land based on communal populations did so with very little idea of the social repercussions. Millions died and many were homeless as a prosperous Punjab had been vivisected on the tables of history. Those who found themselves alive and on the wrong side of the border had to make a new life and a few playing it safe chose the farthest point the new country could offer — Madras. 

Madras previously had a handful of Punjabi families before this event. There was a Punjabi Association too in Madras as back as 1939 but it was more of a social organisation holding kitty parties in the member’s houses. With the horrors of the partition of their native state, the association was forced to take up leadership, become a bonding force and social mobiliser of the Punjabi community in Madras. The very aspect that scores of refugees settled here contributed to the city was due to the Punjab Association and the tireless efforts of a jailor and the Queen.

Having lost hope in human nature, the tired refugees reached the Central station Madras. There could be no land more alien to them and in addition, penury stared at them plainly in the eyeball. The refugees keep a brave face before the world, but inwardly burnt with shame. As they alighted, they found a tall Punjabi waiting to welcome them. Colonel Gurdial Singh Gill, the ex-jailor, did not just believe in giving food and shelter to those refugees. He wanted to make their arrival as personal as possible and made it a daily chore to meet the arriving trains. 

The refugees later realised he wasn’t there just to soothe the bruised spirits or offer a shoulder to sob on. He was a solid rock for them to restart their shattered lives. 

Gurdial Singh Gill had a meandering career. Sent to England to study law, he jumped colleges to study medicine instead and in addition married a Scottish girl. Back home he joined the prison service, rising to become Inspector General of Prisons, Madras, controlling every penitentiary in the Presidency. 

That was the time most jails were full. When their resistance to the British rule landed many Congress leaders in his jail, Gill showed no arrogance and developed close-knit relationships with all of them. Most remembered his respectful treatment and supported him to the hilt and many of his requests were cleared without roadblocks. 

A Sharanagat Rahat Punarvas (refugee rehabilitation) committee was organised to welcome the hapless refugees. But it was a terrible time for fundraisers and charitable organisations all over the country were strapped for money and donors were scarce.

The main benefactor was the Punjabi Maharani, Vidyawati Devi Sahib of Vizianagaram. Originally a princess from Keonthal near Shimla who had married into a princely Andhra family she had been translocated to the south. Her personal life was full of tribulations and she had actually gone to court accusing her husband — the King of insanity. The King of Vizianagaram had walked off the first-floor balcony of his Mandaveli palace a year after he successfully defended the case. 

In 1951, the combination of the Colonel and the Maharani got together again — this time to build a Gurudwara for the Punjabis. He designed it and she funded the religious building and in 1953, the first Guru Granth Sahib was placed in the sanctum. 

Punjabis integrated seamlessly into Madras. Some Punjabis got the properties of the Muslims who had left for Pakistan. Some set their own businesses with most of them specialising in automobile parts and sports goods. Almost all of them flourished in their new hometown. 

Surprisingly, there isn’t a particular Punjabi area in Madras. They are spread all over and most can speak the local language. In fact, Punjabi schools like DAV and Adarsh are quite sought-out by the locals as are their dishes like paneer butter masala and stuffed kulchas.