MOMENT OF EON: At the ‘Post Graduate Islamia College’ in Gujranwala (Pakistan), which in the pre-partition era was known as the ‘Guru Nanak Khalsa College’, a peeling poster on a column offered a clue of Gurmukhi inscriptions. As I took the liberty to scrape the poster, Mr. Baig, a teacher of the college happened to pass. Anticipating a strong reaction, I stopped but was surprised when he greeted me warmly and offered a helping hand. In partnership, as we unpeeled the poster, I was delighted to find the words revealed that the foundation stone of the ‘Guru Nanak Khalsa College’ was laid by Saint Attar Singh on 30 March 1918. How apt is the inscription on the plaque that reads,

“An everlasting foundation has been laid by Guru Nanak & each day shall see it prosper more and more.”

This institution will soon complete a century and continues to prosper, even through its architects have not had anything to do with it for seven decades!

During my travels across Pakistan, it has continued to impress me that the Sikh community was once in the forefront for creating reputed education institutions across the Punjab. Though all of these schools and colleges were renamed after the partition of 1947, they continue to serve the young generations of Pakistan. One of the many adverse effects of partition is that the Sikhs having relocated, established many new education institutions across India but were unfortunately unable to replicate the strong erstwhile brand image.

Reputation take eons to build but can be lost in a moment!

Photographed in Oct 2014, during the research for the book “LOST HERITAGE The Sikh Legacy in Pakistan”