Phulkari coat and Leather Bag

As was the norm for arranged marriages, 30 year old Bhagwan Singh Maini and 22 year old Pritam Kaur had been introduced to each other in 1947. He was from Mianwali and she belonged to Gujranwala. But during the mayhem of Partition, the families lost contact. Three of Bhagwan Singh’s brothers were killed while fleeing the violence in West Punjab. Pritam Kaur’s family put her on a train to Amritsar along with her younger brother. After reaching the railway station, she made her way to the closest refugee camp at Khalsa College. It was in the long, winding queue for food where the hungry, weary and desolate refugees stood for hours that Bhagwan Singh and Pritam Kaur met again. They eventually got married. When Pritam Kaur crossed the border with a bag slung across her shoulder, she had this phulkari coat among her few possessions - a small comfort in her traumatic sojourn, and a reminder of happier days. The leather briefcase had been brought across by Bhagwan Singh along with his education degrees and property claim papers. These two artefacts bear testimony to the life they lost and found together. Generously donated by Gurpreet Kaur Maini.