People are deeply attached to their land and property and it is only under the force of circumstances that they part with them.This is one reason why acquisition of land by the government,or even by private players,is not an easy job.
From Bhatta Parsual village of Greater Noida to the office of the sub-registrar in East Delhi,you can easily find many characters akin to Bishan Singh,the protagonist of Saadat Hasan Mantos epic story.
At a time when the row over land acquisition has taken centre stage in the country,one can easily recall the powerful story Toba Tek Singh.It is about a mans love for his land,even if he is mentally disoriented.It is about jail inmates to be deported to India following the 1947 Partition.The story is about the governments of India and Pakistan,who decided to even exchange Muslim,Sikh and Hindu inmates of asylums after Partition,and revolves around Bishan Singh,a Sikh inmate of an asylum in Lahore,who comes from the town of Toba Tek Singh in West Punjab (now in Pakistan).
As part of the exchange of inmates,Bishan Singh is sent under police escort to India,but upon being told that his hometown Toba Tek Singh would be located in the new nation of Pakistan,he refuses to come to India.The story ends with Bishan lying down between the barbed wire separating the two nations: There,behind barbed wire,was Hindustan.Here,behind the same kind of barbed wire,was Pakistan.And,in between,on the no mans land,lay Toba Tek Singh.
Moving from Toba Tek Singh to the sub-registrar office in East Delhi,one can see many characters like Bishan Singh,although not in the same mental condition.But they behave like that when their land or flat,floor or house is moving away from their hands.
On a particular day,the sudden sound of cries of two ladies,perhaps sisters,suddenly made the whole mood sombre there.While they were seated on the benches,four to five relatives hovered about them inside the sub-registrar office.The male members were trying to calm them but to no avail.The ladies were crying and muttering under their breath,which one could grasp only from a close position: If you could resolve your issues,we could save our house from the impending sale.You have never behaved like brothers, the two ladies were saying while wiping their tears.
There is no debate whether people have strong emotional bonding with the piece of land or place where they have lived be it only for a couple of years or decades.Land or home they call their own.From the villagers of Bhatta Parsual,to those two nameless ladies,they were devastated due to the same reason.
In their very personal moments,when they were emotionally drained,one of the male members who was with the ladies told yours truly: We are four brothers and two sisters with a house in Nirman Vihar.
My father built the house some 30 years ago.Even we are feeling bad that today,we are coming here to seal the deal of selling the place our parents built.We have so many fond memories of that place.But then,one of our brothers was asking for his share in the house as his financial position has taken a beating.
Those who visit the sub-registrar office,often say that one can see such sad scenes regularly.Devinder Gupta,the chairman and managing director DGS Realtors,says that he has been witnessing such scenes for long.I have even seen some sellers back out at the last moment of the registration of a sale deed.Sometimes,they have to even pay earnest money to the other party;some come back again for sealing the deal after regaining enough courage to part away with their property.It is a tough call to sell a house or land,though the new generation is not that emotional.
In his powerful novel Anhad Naad,noted Hindi novelist and poet Pratap Sehgal,tries to bring to the fore the trauma of all those who had to leave their land in the wake of the Partition of the country in 1947.
Politics apart,land is a very emotional issue for everybody.While it is not possible for everyone to have a piece of land of their own,it is possible to bur a flat or floor, says Sehgal referring to the simmering discontent of villagers across the country against the arbitrary land acquisition.
If you are really keen to observe mans bonding with his or her land,a visit to the office of a subregistrar gives you enough insight as to how deeply a piece of land impacts the life of people,emotionally and financially.As if this were not enough,you would also notice as to how some people try to cheat you in deals related to even rent agreement.Take this example.
There was a sudden commotion from another corner where one middle-aged person was shouting at another person and two others were trying to pacify him.
You have lost my trust forever.I trusted you to make correct entry in the agreement,but you betrayed me. The first person was apparently distressed because the second person,his tenant,put the name of his son on the rent agreement instead of his (tenant) without taking the consent of the landlord.That enraged the owner.
However,the tenant was saying that he took permission from owners wife in this regard as he has retired from service and wants that rent agreement be registered in the name of his son.
An employee of the office said that when one drafts papers for a rent agreement or sale agreement,one should be very careful.A little irresponsible attitude or over trust on the second party can create a huge problem for you.A touching short story by noted writer Bhisham Sahni,Amritsar aa Gaya,on all those who came to India after leaving their land and homes in 1947,aptly captures the feelings of those who have to leave their land with moist eyes.
