
This episode discusses Chapter 8 of Balraj Sahni's travelogue, detailing his experiences in Pakistan during his visit in 1962.
Chapter 8 - During his last days in Jhang-Maghiana, Sahni listens to an informal mushaira, and also enjoys a special performance of Sammi-Dhrees given in his honour. 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…
Host: Dr. Manpreet Sahota
Books & works: Mera Pakistani Safarnama
Places: Jhang-Maghiana, Lahore, Rawalpindi, Bhera, Sargodha
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