What our members say

The Burrymia

My story begins in 1944 when I was four years old. I lived in Delhi with my family in a very big house - grandparents, my parents, my aunts, uncles and lots of children. There was plenty of room for all of us and we lived very happily. As a family we cooked, played and worked together. The servants slept in a separate building. I have happy memories of that time.

One Friday when my Uncle Ahmed was leaving the Mosque he saw a man lying on the steps. He was very weak and could hardly speak. When asked what was wrong he told my uncle he had walked all the way from Rangoon to Delhi. This was a long, long distance. His feet were very sore. There was blood and pus oozing from them. He was in great pain. He had no money, no relatives no work and nowhere to go. He was extremely poor.

Uncle Ahmed brought him home and we named him the Burrymia. This means Old Man. The doctor was called and he cleaned and bandaged his feet. He returned regularly to check for infection. Over the next three months the Burrymia began to get a little better. He began to walk a little at a time. By six months he was fully recovered and could walk with no problem.

Uncle Ahmed told him he was free to go. The Burrymia was upset. He did not want to leave our family. He asked if he could stay with those who had cared for him. He would work in the kitchen for no payment. It was decided that he would stay on and he became almost one of the family. Uncle Ahmed insisted that he got 60 rupees a month. I have such good memories of these happy days. As a child I enjoyed the company of this quiet, faithful man. He would take us to the cinema, the zoo and spend time playing with us. He was such a good man.

I remember my mother telling me about The Partition in 1947. This was when India was granted independence by Britain. Pakistan (Muslim) and India (Hindu) had now their own governments. Both had their own religions, which caused division. They did not get on at all. It was a terrible time. People were on the move. Everyone was trying to get to a region associated with their religion. Many battles took place. Houses were burned down. Bodies lay all over the streets and murder was common. Millions became refugees and were in camps of the poorest kind. Starvation caused thousands of deaths. People were very, very poor and had nothing.

At this time we all moved to Lahore for two months. My mother could not settle there and we moved again. This time we went to Karachi. My cousin worked for the British High Commission in India and was already living there in very good army quarters. She had plenty of room and so we all moved in with her. After about three months she found us a flat to move to. It was small! My mother sold her jewellery to pay for it. People were not really buying jewellery at this time but she found a man who bought it from her. He got a very good bargain because we were quite desperate for the money. This was a difficult time, especially for my mum.

We often wondered what had happened to the Burrymia. He had not arrived with us in Lahore and no one could find him. We thought he must be dead. Everyone missed him but we did not forget him. One day when my uncle was walking along the beach he saw a man and thought he looked like the Burrymia. This man was selling tea at the seashore. As my uncle approached him, to his great surprise, he found that it was the Burrymia. Both men were delighted and very excited to see each other. When they walked into our house together we found it hard to believe. There was great joy in our family. What a happy day for us! Because we had no room, not even for one more person, my uncle took the Burrymia to live at his house. He slept on the veranda.

The Burrymia was a man who shared our lives. A quiet, well-mannered gentleman. He had once been very rich and had owned hotels and restaurants. He had a wife and family but had lost everything. What he brought to us was a great example of how to live an honest, decent life. As children we learned respect, faithfulness and how to have fun. He died when he was still with our family.

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