They lost their mother, not hope: Blind sisters from Ludhiana sing of a shared Punjab

In a mesmerising ode to “Saanjha Punjab” (Undivided Punjab), Bhavna, 15, and Palak, 13, two visually impaired sisters from the city, crooned “Chardhe Punjab ton” (A message from East Punjab), a song penned by Prabh Bains and produced by Bunty Bains Productions that was released from the stage. The song has also been officially released on YouTube on the “Brand B” channel with the title “Charhde Punjab Ton”.

Amid heightened animosity between India and Pakistan, the song — composed and recorded in January, before the Pahalgam terror attack worsened the Indo-Pak ties — came as a soother to the people of Chardha (East) and Lehenda (West) Punjab.

The song expresses the feelings of a woman in West Punjab on the Pakistan side and her lover, a man, in East Punjab on the India side.

“Aundi Ludhiane main Lahore ton ve haaniya/ hundi sarhad je na vich panjaa paniyaa/ kariye ki paun par putthi chaldi/ ve tu Chardhe Punjab ton main Lehende vall di… (I would have travelled from Lahore to Ludhiana had there been no borders. But winds now blow in the opposite direction, I am from Lehenda Punjab and you are from Chardha),” goes the lyrics.

“Shaala khair hove Jhelum, Chenab aake Sutlej naal mile/nikki hundi nu ve rahe ammi abbu dasde/saade jehe loki ne jo taarah ohle vassde/C ohhdo Hind Pak ikko gall ji… (We still pray for the waters of Jhelum and Chenab to meet Sutlej one day. My parents have been telling me since childhood that people like us live on the other side of the border fence. Those were the times when Hindustan and Pakistan meant one),” it goes further.

The singing talent of both sisters was first discovered by Ludhiana’s former deputy commissioner, Jitendra Jorwal, during a visit to the Government Institute for the Blind (Braille Bhawan) in Jamalpur last December, where the girls study. The DC requested Bunty Bains to release a music video to help launch the sisters in the music industry.

Coming from an unprivileged family, the girls lost their mother Jyoti to an accident in 2021 and were raised by their father, Manish Mittal.

“Bhavna had vision in one of her eyes, but lost it when she was eight years old. Palak is blind by birth in both eyes. The sisters would sing to the tunes of the harmonium that their mother Jyoti played. As if losing their vision was not enough, God even took their mother away. My daughters, however, never gave up,” Mittal, a resident of Ludhiana’s Kot Mangal Singh area, said.

Palak and Bhavna lost their mother Jyoti in an accident. (Express photo)

Working for a private firm, Manish earns around Rs 20,000 a month, hardly enough to raise both girls. “Doctors say both my daughters have faulty retinas, and even if they undergo a cornea transplant, their vision won’t return. We did not leave a single hospital in Ludhiana, and also went to AIIMS, Delhi, and PGIMER, Chandigarh, but there’s no hope,” he added.

Bhavna studied at a local private school until she completely lost her vision. Later, both sisters were admitted to the Government Institute for the Blind.

“Both sisters have been fond of singing since their childhood. They would sing bhajans (devotional hymns) in temples. I could provide a professional platform to their talent due to paucity of money and approach,” Mittal said.

Applauding the girls as “extremely talented”, Bunty Bains said, “Both sisters did not face any issue while recording their first song at Ishmeet Academy in Ludhiana. When Mr Jorwal and Ludhiana district administration officials had contacted us with the request to compose a song for the sisters, we readily agreed.”

Speaking with The Indian Express, Bhavna and Palak said, “We miss our mother, but our father is doing everything for us. Now our only focus is singing. We started singing while listening to songs on TV. We don’t feel anything missing in our life just because we can’t see.”

Prabh Bains said, “We chose ‘Saanjha Punjab’ as the song’s theme to cater to a wider audience. Punjabi-speaking people on both sides of the border will connect with it, providing the girls with wider recognition.”

Their father, once “taunted” for having “two blind daughters”, says people now know him as father of his two girls.

“When the legendary Gurdas Maan stood next to my daughters and blessed them, I knew my daughters had achieved something big. When my daughters were born and people got to know about their blindness, they would sympathise with me, asking how I would live without a son. I would ignore them, thinking God had given me two daughters for a reason. Today, people know me due to my daughters,” Mittal said.

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