Chandigarh (Punjab): Reena Varma, the elderly Indian woman who travelled to Pakistan to visit her ancestral home is all praise for the love and support she got in the neighbouring country.
Reena after her return to India said she had not expected such a warm welcome. "It is a great feeling. I don't think anyone has done it before. I was able to sleep for a night in the same room that belonged to me once," she said while speaking to the media after returning from her trip.
"I received a lot of love from them, much more than I had expected. I cannot describe the kind of hospitality and care they showered on me," the 90-year-old said. Reena was able to visit her birthplace after 75 years. She reached Pakistan on July 16 to visit her ancestral home and as part of a goodwill gesture, the Pakistani High Commission issued a three-month visa to her. She made her way through the Wagah-Attari border to see her ancestral home located in Prem Niwas in Pakistan's Rawalpindi.
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Reena reminisced of a multi-cultural diverse community that was thriving in Pindi before the partition as she was driven from the border to Rawalpindi. "My siblings had friends who would come over to our house from various communities, including Muslims," she said. She also remembered that "our house-help was also a diverse mix of people".
In 1947, after the partition, her family moved to India. She was 15 years old at that time. Reena said that she "could not remove her ancestral home, her neighbourhood and the streets from her heart". Reports said that Reena had applied for a visa in 1965 to visit Pakistan but she could not acquire permission amid high tensions due to the war between the two neighbours.
"It was my dream to go back to my birthplace Rawalpindi. I will not mind going back if and when I get an opportunity," said Reena while urging the governments of both countries to "work together" to ease visa restrictions to make "coming and going easy for us".
