A family photograph that endured 115 Years, borders, and generations

This photograph is probably the oldest in our family photo albums. Taken around 1911, it shows my great-grandfather, Kartar Singh Dugal — whom the family called Bauji — standing on the left. He was about 18–20 years old. His father, my great-great-grandfather, Soba Singh Dugal, a stoic figure, is seated in the middle, and leaning on him from the right is Bauji’s younger brother — around ten years younger — my great-granduncle, Raghubir Singh Dugal. The photograph was most likely taken in Rawalpindi, about 80 km from our ancestral village, Syed Kasran (both now in Pakistan).

The Indian man in the concentration camp

Image courtesy Bombay Special Branch ArchivesNarrative points contributed by Vappala Balachandran, Former Special Secretary, Cabinet Secretariat, India Facilitated by Gautam Pemmaraju, Mumbai This narrative has been rewritten and reformatted for the purpose of this archive. During the early 1980s I was posted in a western European station as a diplomatic officer with an added responsibility […]