Borders blur in Kartarpur as Bedi, Intikhab catch up over some jazz
“WHEN THE saints go marching in…” The jazz of Louis Armstrong floats in Kartarpur on the Ravi river’s west bank outside Lahore. A great Indian Sikh spinner, a respected Pakistani Muslim captain and a legendary African-American musician, who also sang gospel songs, have found a way to mingle at the fabled shrine.
“I could see tears welling up in his eyes when I sang that song,” Intikhab Alam says over the phone about meeting his old friend Bishan Singh Bedi at Kartarpur Sahib gurdwara on Tuesday. “We both go a long way and that song, too, plays a role in it. In fact, we all cried when we met.”
Bishan Bedi’s wife Anju, too, was left in tears. “Intikhab, Shafqat Rana (a Pakistan international from the 1960s), Bishan, all holding hands and crying. It was some sight. Right through Bishan’s i...