Sargodha & Migs

Khan Sahb, I have recently discovered this place (Chowk), even though I signed on a couple of years ago, and back then I didn’t really have time to explore this place. Now I have a little free time to surf the web, and you have become one of my “required” readings on subway “to and from work”. As your other stories, I enjoyed this even more being a native of a village about 48 miles north of Sargodha on the banks of river Jelhum. As a little boy, visiting my ancestral village, I would see the PAF fighter planes in the sky and dream about becoming a fighter pilot some day. That never happened.

I don’t believe that you never found culinary delights of Sargodha. I can never have enough of GandllaN da Saag, CheerveeN Palak, VaRiaN, Pateesa, Maythi di Rooti, Khoshab day Dooday, and the best Kinoos that there are. I bet the food at the PAF mess sucked.

I think in those days if you gave the tail of a wild boar to the agriculture department, they paid Rs. 100. Wild boars did damage to the crops, the people did not eat them and it was a program to reduce their numbers.

it was Rs 50 and a pack of bullets.

Veeresh,

My maternal grandfather bought the house from someone I know around the time of his second marriage... I am assuming that it was evacuee property because of the devnagri script on the front porch.... I guess it is quite possible that it might not have been evacuee property, but the property of a rich Hindu who sold it ...

Most of the evacuee property is under dispute in the courts of Pakistan half a century onwards...

-YLH

ironman #73

Please follow it up with the hero`s conquest of Silicon Valley, deepening knowledge of India, winning a PhD on Indian affairs from the University of California, finally departure to Canada while President Bush and his whole family wept tears of joy.

:)

Harmau # 55

Only the Chinese technicians were at the base & they had a good time.

The thick jungle at the base and the surrounding sugercane fields had an ample supply of wild boars.

So the Chinese hunted them, bar-b-cued them and had a roaring time - free unlimited wild meat.

I think in those days if you gave the tail of a wild boar to the agriculture department, they paid Rs. 100. Wild boars did damage to the crops, the people did not eat them and it was a program to reduce their numbers.

ironman #73, obviously you are not telling the truth, even I can see that. We in India have been taught that all Pakistanis have to compulsory wear only green underpants.

#65 by tahmed32,
``...I actually ran into Romair`s great grandfather playing gooli danda in the streets...``


Heh heh! Good one Tauheed saab!

But jokes apart, few people know the truth of what happenned that fateful day when those F16s arrived and how Romair averted a major tragedy.

As those F16s were about to land, Romair noticed that six of them were coming in from west and the other six from east (A tragedy of immense proportion in the making). Quickly whiping off his T-shirt (which was green), and his underpants (which was red), he ran along the pavement (ever unmindful of personal danger). It took a good 2 minutes of frantic waving his underpants at the eastern F16s before they finally stopped to allow the western ones to go thru and land...after which Romair waved them thru with his T-shirt.

The crowd was stunned into silence and Zia-ul-Haq (who was watching) asked to meet the dashing young man personally. On learning that he was a sarghodian (born fliers), Zia and the crowd requested Romair to entertain them by flying an F16 which he did.

During one big turn (While doing an Immelman)...finding himself near the LOC...he leaned out and grabbed a couple of passing Indian shells before hurling them right back at the hapless Indians (next day there was the usual false report of soldiers killed by pakistani shelling).

After landing as Romair took off his helmet, Imram khan (who was present) was seen biting his lip. His american girlfriend was seen leaving him and moving towards Romair and Imran was heard mumbling something about running off with a jewish woman.

Towards evening Romair was seen in the company of Zeb-ul-Haq (youngest daughter of Zia) and it was wildly rumoured that she had proposed.

...to be continued...

Mantolives#70:
LOL!!

Most of Sargodha is currently to be found in Lajpat Nagar, Delhi, I am reliably informed. The rickshaws have given way to Mrooti & Frooti. The cinema has given way to multi-plexes. The kinoos have given way to year-round oranges. And the famous support less women of Sargodha of yore have now taken to thongs and bustiers. Just so that you should know while you are sweating it out with the prawns.

+++

Another question - was evacuee property eligible for sale as early as 1950? I think there were some bars on sales in India for quite some time, which ofcourse did not prevent large-scale benami movements.

+++

Dost Mittar,

The haveli kabuli is talking about was evacuee property allotted to some migrant from India who sold it to my grandfather in the late 1950s...

Wouldn`t it be funny if that was your wife`s house ?

-YLH

romair,

I am also listed in the email directory :)

Nazar sahib, quite touching article. I like your description of the MiG 19s (and their Chinaman version). For some odd reason, I`ve had a strange fondness for the Mig-19s, something that most of my aviation enthausiast friends laugh about. It is good to know that a professional like you didn`t dismiss that aircraft out of hand. I used to collect match-box models (and later the bigger, assembly type ones) of combat aircraft from a fairly early age. At age five or so I`d begged my family to take me to somebody`s wedding because I`d heard the BAF chief would be there. The AVM must have thought it annoying when I asked him something to the effect whether the Sabre or the Mig-19 was a better plane (he preferred the former). Years later, on a return visit to Dhaka, I ran into the former air chief (and then minister) at another party and my uncle reminded him of my silly question: suffice to say the embarassment was total.

#60 by Mantolives

Incidentally, I am also from Sargodha. It seems Sargodhians have finally arrived! Soon we will take over Pakistan and establish the Fifth Reich. Hail the Bumm chowk!

#59 by Mantolives,

``Romair... imagine three sargodhians from three different generations... NHK, you and myself.``

Correction YLH. Romair alone is three different generations.

Himself, old Ahmadzai and the young HisExcellency (recently passed out from LUMS!)

mantolives: actually i have never been to sargodha except once, and that was so long ago that I actually ran into Romair`s great grandfather playing gooli danda in the streets (he was just six years old at the time, bless his soul).

the fellows i referred to i knew because they were in the air force, not due to any sargodha association. nothing against people from sargodha, mind you.

Mantolives #59: “``romair,

You are also a sargodhian? I knew it``

Yes, I am a Sargodhian also. I finished around early 80s. It’s a nice place. Though I haven’t been back there for fifteen years or more. www.sargodhians.com is the official website, maintained by an ex-Sargodhian.

When I was in Silicon Valley, I had prepared a list of Sargodhians in IT in North America. Some of us used to meet, quite often. I think the most successful Sargodhian there, was a guy, named Farooq Raza (never met him) who founded a company called Mayan Networks.

“imagine three sargodhians from three different generations... NHK, you and myself.”

This one is debatable. NHK is definitely from a different generation. But you and I maybe from the same one.

“Anyway... Shahid Javed is the first Pakistani pilot to convert to an F 16 if I am not mistaken”

Yes. I was there, when the F-16s initially arrived, from the USA. The pilots were received as if they were astronauts.

Sargodha is known for many things. Probably PAF at the top. Followed in a descending order: Kinoos, Kinoos and Kinoos. Nothing much else there. When one enters from the city into the PAF area, it seems as if one is going from the third world to the first world.

The things I remember about Sargodha, the most, are the disproportionately high no. of movie theatres (nearly all of which showed Punjabi movies). And, of course, the rickshaws. Sargodha had (may still have) the best rickshaws I have ever seen. They were the cadillac of rickshaws, with excellent sound systems, plush thick foam seats, wide bodies, superb internal lighting, and very well decorated.