Our entry in Jaisak village in Pakistan was slowed down by a stream of donkey carts passing in the opposite direction. At a distance, I could see the moss-covered dome of the Kair Bawa Gurdwara.

A man riding a donkey cart shouted, “As-salamu alaykum, Sardar Ji,” and brought himself to halt.

“Wa-alaykumu salam,” I replied. 

I could not resist saying, “Bhai jaan, in the Indian Punjab, donkey carts are a rare sight but here I see plenty of them!”

“Sardar Ji, donkeys don’t demand anything more than grass, hence in Pakistan we prefer them over tractor,” he laughed.

Walking across the field towards the Kair Bawa Gurdwara, I was unable to comprehend how to enter as the homes built by Kashmiri migrants have left no access to the premises. A family was kind enough to permit us entry to the gurdwara through their home.

After viewing the dilapidated gurdwara premises, as I stepped out, an elderly man on the street greeted me in chaste Punjabi, “Sat Sri Akal, Sardar Ji. After ages, it is good to see a Sikh return to Jaisak village.”

Photographed in Oct 2014, during the research for the book “LOST HERITAGE The Sikh Legacy in Pakistan”