Chapter 5- Sahni reaches Jhang Maghiana to pay respects to Heer, but his experience turns sour during his journey to Pakistan in 1962.Mera Pakistani Safarnama (My Pakistani Travelogue) is a Punjabi travelogue by Balraj Sahni, based on his 1962 visit to Pakistan, more than a decade after Partition. Written in Punjabi and first serialised in 'Preet Lari' magazine in the early 1960s, the book documents Sahni’s journey through Lahore, Rawalpindi, Bhera, Jhang, and Sargodha—places tied to his chi...
Chapter 5- Sahni reaches Jhang Maghiana to pay respects to Heer, but his experience turns sour during his journey to Pakistan in 1962.Mera Pakistani Safarnama (My Pakistani Travelogue) is a Punjabi travelogue by Balraj Sahni, based on his 1962 visit to Pakistan, more than a decade after Partition. Written in Punjabi and first serialised in 'Preet Lari' magazine in the early 1960s, the book documents Sahni’s journey through Lahore, Rawalpindi, Bhera, Jhang, and Sargodha—places tied to his childhood and pre-1947 life. Structured as a factual travel account, it records encounters with people, observations of cities and countryside, and recollections of institutions, homes, and streets shaped by displacement. The text is a primary literary document of post-Partition return, grounded in lived experience rather than political commentary, and remains a significant Punjabi prose work on memory, geography, and divided Punjab. The book is more relevant today in the politically charged and communal environment of the sub-continent.
Balraj Sahni (1913–1973), born Yudhishthir Sahni in Rawalpindi (then British India, now Pakistan), was a prominent Indian actor, writer, and intellectual whose work bridged literature, theatre, and socially engaged cinema. He was educated at Government College Lahore and later at the University of Cambridge, where he studied English literature. His early professional life included teaching at Rabindranath Tagore’s Santiniketan (Visva-Bharati University), an experience that shaped his humanist outlook and cultural sensibilities.
Sahni’s literary output was primarily in Punjabi and Hindi prose. His major writings include Mera Pakistani Safarnama Mera Russi Safarnama, documenting his travels in the Soviet Union; and Meri Filmi Aatmakatha, an autobiographical account of his life in cinema. He also wrote essays, diary fragments, and reflective prose that addressed culture, displacement, education, and social responsibility. His writing is valued for its clarity, observational detail, and grounding in lived experience rather than ideology.
In cinema, Balraj Sahni was closely associated with Indian parallel and socially conscious cinema. He acted in over 100 films and is best remembered for roles that portrayed ordinary people with dignity and restraint. His performance as the impoverished rickshaw puller in Do Bigha Zamin (1953) is widely regarded as a landmark in Indian realist cinema and earned international recognition, including at the Cannes Film Festival. Other notable films include Dharti Ke Lal (1946), Kabuliwala (1961), Garm Hava(1973), Waqt(1965), and Haqeeqat (1964). His final major role in Garm Hava, released shortly before his death, addressed the condition of Muslims in post-Partition India and is considered one of the most important films on the subject.
Sahni was also active in theatre and cultural movements, including the Indian People’s Theatre Association (IPTA), which aligned art with social change. His contribution to Indian art lies in his consistent commitment to realism, ethical storytelling, and the representation of marginalized lives—across both page and screen.
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