A Tale of Two Brothers

I'd like to tell a tale of two brothers. Two brothers who lived and died over a hundred years ago in what is now modern day India.

My whole extended family is descended from these two members of a family who once lived in a small village in Punjab region of India. They were just two individuals who took the offer to move to an undeveloped and arid part of northern Punjab by the British rulers. The chance to own their own agricultural land coupled with a parcel of land in a new village on which they could build a home for themselves and their families.

The government of the day provided the means to earn a decent living and to be a proud part of the land owning classes. This very parcel of land has now been divided up and passed down from through generation to generation. It also enabled those wishing to travel (Haj), emigrate (UK, USA) the means to fund that initial trip. A trip many thought would be a purely commercial reason lasting just a few years and then return to their homeland.

Once a person gets a taste of the grass on the other side of the fence it can be very difficult to go back and settle into the old ways. Made virtually impossible once marriage and families happen. A life abroad is then made, from which children and grand-children in turn move away on to new opportunities.

Siddique Hussain Oct 2009