Page 15 - Seniorstoday October 2021 Issue

since we lived in the hostel, we managed
Prem and Sati after their marriage in 1956
specialised studies.
Having schooled in various cities
including Jagadhri, Saharanpur, Lucknow,
Nagpur, she finally finished school from Sir
Ganga Ram School in Lahore.
At the time of her matriculation she was
in the hostel, this was March 1947. From
March 4 onwards there were reports of
communal riots in various parts of the
Lahore city and curfew had been imposed
in the more sensitive areas. “There was lot
of confusion and uncertainty all around
and we were sure our exams will not be
held on schedule. Despite the tension there
was a child like joy within at the thought
of the cancellation of the exams. But
much to our surprise…. on the evening of
March 7 the radio announced that starting
tomorrow morning exams will be held on
schedule each student should try to appear
for as many papers as possible,” she recalls.
“Our school itself was our exam centre and
SENIORS TODAY | ISSUE #28 | OCTOBER 2021
to appear for all the papers. Soon after
the exams were over, I was safely back
home in Karachi with my family. Much
uncertainty prevailed about the results,
while the rioting had increased and people
had started migrating to safer places with
their families. No one had any idea about
what was going on… not in the least about
the division of the country.”
The riots were instigated and fuelled by
the British as we all know, by showing
Jinnah the dream of having his own
country, whereas initially the idea was to
oust the British from our country.
By this time Prem’s father Jagat Ram
Sethi, having successfully cleared the UPSC
exam of undivided India was selected and
appointed the Director of Industries, Sindh
Government at Karachi. (It was well known
that the local administration could not find
a suitable Muslim candidate for the post,
for which they were keen.) Prem’s family
secured provisional admission for her
in the JD Sindh College. There seemed a
remote chance of getting any results at that
point of time. So during the short period
she had the privilege of going to and back
from college in her father’s official car as it
was not conducive environment for girls to
go out alone!
Soon it was the summer of 1947. Prem
recalls that there was a bulky and
flourishing Pathan who lived in the vicinity
of their home. His huge estate so to say was
called Illaco house. He was known to give
shelter to Hindu families, especially women
and children under his strong protection
and help them get a safe passage to India by
air or surface transport.
Meanwhile, one day Prem’s younger
brother Romesh, on his way home from
school heard that the Matriculation result
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