maine Lahore nahin dekhya...

An eclectic group had decided to travel to Lahore via Waga border. As we always do this time too we surrendered to our trip planner Ashish to make plans and take decisions on our behalf which otherwise he would have done any which way.
Ashish, Gajraj, me and our families were few members of this eclectic group rest were not disclosed to us by Ashish. Ashish was to perform in a theatre festival in Lahore and we were getting an opportunity to visit a land that was part of India.. exciting, adventurous.
Exciting and adventurous because I was playing blind, I had no clue when were we going, how were we going and who all were going with us but nevertheless we were going to Lahore. Preparations were on I had to choose between Lahore and Nagpur and choice was obvious everyone suggested Lahore is once in a lifetime opportunity Nagpur can happen anytime, though it had not happened in 43 years of my life.
Among many uncertainities there was one thing certain and that was the uncertainity of gajju's departure with us, as always there were apprehensions and sceptism... which way gajju would head.. with us or not with us. He works double hard to find work around the date of departure if not work then he works harder to find excuses... this time he included Beba aswell in scheming and had made sure that this excuse will last atleast for couple of years. Gajju and Beba are going to be parents 2nd time and Ashish is frustated and angry with him cause he can't force himself on Gajju under these circumstances.
My dilemma to choose between Nagpur and Lahore continued and so did the uncertainities thanks to both Ashish n Gajju. For a month I had only two questions to them... are we going? are you coming?
To play safe I had made travel reservations for both Nagpur aswell as Lahore.
Got a frenetic call from Ashish a day prior to our departure to Amritsar to book tickets for all of us for the next morning first flight as we had to cross Waga border a day prior then he had assumed. I did as instructed, no question asked, booked all the tickets cancelled all my previous reservations. Later I distinguished that the very thought of going to Lahore had made me abundant, all the reservations were made on my credit card... or was it designed by Ashish to be that way?
On the eve prior to our departure we all met to celebrate Beba's birthday, lots of food , lots of fun and lots of camaraderie and bonding happened between all of us for the first time I sensed that Gajju may not come. One more time I asked him are you coming and he assured me that he certainly would try to come directly to Lahore, but this time I could hear clearly that he had no intentions, this was a birthday cum farewell dinner to all going to Lahore.
Next morning as always I, Seema and kids were ready on time standing down in our complex waiting for Ashish to come... once again forgetting that Sharma's and Vidyarthi's live in different time zones. Malad is good 40 minutes behind Andheri.
We all reached Delhi and both the families headed to meet their respective relatives and friends and were to meet again in the evening to take our next flight to Amritsar. Ashish had made this plan too... as it was convenient.
Late in the evening we checked in our hotel rooms and after a while we all went to Golden Temple for darshan, was visiting a serene place after very long time and enjoyed being there. The memories of operation blue star came alive. From there we drove around the city and came to Natyashala where EKJUTE had performed a play in the evening and we all were travelling to Lahore together. Few other members of the eclectic group were there,we had our dinner with Tom Alter, Juhi Babber, Nadira ji and members of her troupe.
Next Morning we were to get up early at 5 am to revisit Golden Temple and to have breakfast in some quaint street of Amritsar, though not aligned but we gave in to Ashish's wish and agreed to be ready by 5 am. We woke up late but were ready by 6 am and Seema was extrermely worried of the consequences of being late, she was worried that Ashish would be upset as we had missed the early morning prayer at Golden Temple, but our prayers at Golden Temple the previous night saved us and came to our rescue, Vidyarthis too didn't get up... Ashish was calm and didn't say a word. Seema is intrigued why Ashish bhai didn't say anything to me on being late.She is yet to discover .
We met Kewal, theatre actor and director in Amritsar, my brief encounter with him has left some great memories. the first half of the day was spent with him. We had early morning tea at Gyani's Moochmarod Tea centre,a must visit,if you are in Amritsar, we went to Jalianwala Baug, breakfast was chole puri and gur ka sheera, Amritsari lassi with dollop of white butter follwed and lunch was with Nadiraji and members of her troupe. From there we headed to Attari to see the Retreat Parade at Waga border. The atmosphere was electric, the BSF soldiers and Pakistani rangers jointly showcase a parade for 5ooo people on either side to the chants of Hindustan Zindabad and Jiyi Jiyo Pakistan. Our contingent had harried time, Ashish asking us to pose for photographs and the soldiers asking us not to get up from our seats. Thanks to Ashish's popularity amongst the BSF we were given the best seats and were invited for tea by the BSF Commandent and the kids were shown mortars and sophiscated guns, we could shake hands with Pakistani rangers and touch their land and feel their air. Travelling with Ashish entitled us these additional benefits.
From Waga we headed back to amritsar and came to Durgiana Temple followed by dinner n jalebis.
We returned to hotel with all the excitement as tomorrow was the day scheduled for our crossover to Pakistan. Everyone went to sleep except me,as disaster was waiting to happen. I fell down in the bathroom and tore a ligament or had a serious sprain.
Morning I realised that my foot was in bad condition and I could not walk. Ashish was preparing to leave and I was confined to my bed.
All the excitement and joy had disappeared from Seema,Shruti and Pari's face. They had sensed that our Lahore trip was over. We all bid adieu to Ashish,Pilu and Mowgly, the door bell rang and a man from the travel desk had come with our tickets to Delhi by evening flight.
As our flight took off I remembered Ashish saying all the time" jinne lahore nahin vekhya, woh janmya nahin". The Sharmas were so close to reincarnation but were aborted.