Finished reading “Train to Pakistan”

A very touching book. The movie is a reasonably honest reproduction of the book. However, I thought the art of penning the emotions was a bit more refined than acting them out. I purchased the 2006 edition that has pictures by Margaret Bourke-White. Quotable quotes:

==== Page 61:

Iqbal sat up rubbing his forehead. His countrymen’s  code of morals had always puzzled him, with his anglicized way of looking at things. The Punjabi’s code was even more baffling. For them truth, honor, financial integrity were ‘all right’, but these were placed lower down the scale of values than being true to one’s salt, to one’s friends and fellow villagers. For friends, you could lie in court or cheat, and no one would blame you. On the contrary, you became a nar admi – a he-man….

==== Page 92-93

The Bhai told me of a truckful of Baluch soldiers who were going from Amritsar to Lahore. When they were getting near the Pakistan border, the soldiers… read the rest yourself.  This book has very interesting anecdotes.