My Nana R S Chowdhary was a proud and righteous man. A farmer by pedigree, he rose to the rank of sarpanch of the tiny village of Muradpur in Pathankot tehsil in Gurdaspur district. And despite threats from many people in the community, he provided safe passage to people crossing over during Partition, putting humanity above the politics of division. Needless to say, we revered him.

One fine day in the 1950s while his house was being remodelled, Nana stumbled upon a pot of silver and gold coins in the foundations of the property. In fact, his grandfather had told him about this buried treasure but owing to his untimely demise, the location had remained a mystery. Nana was ecstatic at the discovery. Sadly, just as soon as it was found, it was lost again—some workers made off with the bounty. Fortunately, Nana had taken five silver coins from the pot before it was stolen. Although distraught, he was happy he had saved at least these coins, his grandfather’s gift to him from beyond the grave. So, he passed them onto us, his grandchildren, to commemorate his relationship with his own grandfather—and perhaps begin a new tradition.

—Uday Singh Katoch, 34, Chandigarh

Photo: Uday Singh Katoch
Featured in Harmony — Celebrate Age Magazine
September 2017

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