LAHORE: Former Indian civil servant and historian Pran Nevile says art, music and literature can connect India and Pakistan as the peoples on both sides have the same feelings about their shared history.

He was speaking at the launch of his book, Carefree Days: Many Roles, Many Lives,at the Government College University (GCU) on Tuesday. The book is based on Nevile’s memoirs about his younger years spent in Lahore before the Partition. His earlier book on the city of his birth, Lahore: A Sentimental Journey, was published in 1993.

“Whenever I come here, I am transported back to the old times. For example, we used to have lectures on English in this very hall (the Bokhari Auditorium),” he said.

Nevile added that his years in Lahore were permanently imprinted on his mind and he remembered every little detail of anything related to his childhood and youth.

“The reason I did not come to Lahore for 50 years after the Partition was that I did not want my memories to be overshadowed by anything. I wanted to write and record them all and then travel (to Lahore). But now I make excuses to come here and feel rejuvenated whenever I visit it.”

He said during the days of his youth the children had less hang-ups about the things and had more ‘immunity’.

“Whatever the reasons are, Lahore’s magic has wrapped itself around my mind and it never leaves me wherever I am.”

Talking further about the GCU, Nevile said it was marvelous to visit the principal’s office today having the same ambience and furniture and to remember the days when the same room used to be so dreaded by all students.

Talking about the current socio-political situation in Lahore, Nevile said he never ridiculed changes or modern times.

“I am not the one to glorify the old times and ridicule the new ones. Things change and they do so for a reason. But I never compare times.”

However, he said he missed the voices of ‘Bo Kata’ because kite flying had been a passion with Lahorites who boasted of their kites and their accomplishments in the sport. It was said that there was no other place in the world where kite flying as a sport had reached such commanding heights as in Lahore.

Political scientist Dr Ishtiaq Ahmed said Pran’s own spoken language was a prototype of the quick spontaneous Punjabi language that was spoken only in the Walled City, adding “Pran is Lahore’s ambassador in Delhi”.

He counted the influences in the Carefree Days as three major ones. “First, his days at the DAV School, which was a school inspired by the Arya Samaj thought and promoted celibacy and high morals. This actually led Pran to always reach out across the fence to the other sex,” he said, prompting laughter from the audience.

“The second one is the partition especially of Punjab, but unlike most of us who have learnt to talk about its horror stories as well as acts of mercy, in Pran there is a permanent reaction to not to succumb to the bitterness of it.” He said the GCU was another influence which gave Pran his values in life as well as experiences.

Kamran Lashari, director of Walled City of Lahore Authorty (WCLA), said the written record of history was extremely important which no one continued after the British left. “Cities are constantly evolving and Lahore itself has many times been attacked and pillaged yet its resilience allows it to survive and flourish.”

Shahid Nadeem of Ajoka said Pran seemed to have learnt from his past rather than regret it or avoid it.

Dr Ajaz Anwar, Madeeha Gauhar and Feryal Gauhar also spoke.

Published in Dawn, April 20th, 2016