It has been a long time since Manmohan Singh lived in Amritsar. The family house is dilapidated and empty, the memories of many fading but the bond with the former prime minister is recollected with fondness and nostalgia.
Born in 1932 at Gah in Punjab province which now falls in Pakistan's Chakwal district, the Singh family migrated to Amritsar after Partition in 1948 following a short stint in Haldwani.
Singh completed his intermediate and graduation in economics from the Hindu College here before moving out of the city to pursue higher studies at Panjab University's Hoshiarpur campus.
Singh's half-brother from his father's extended family, Surjit Singh Kohli, who ran a readymade garment business in Amritsar, said the former prime minister had deep affection for his grandmother who raised him following his mother's death when he was very young.
"Manmohan Singh shared a deep attachment with Amritsar. He used to visit the Golden Temple every time he came to the holy city," Surjit Kohli said.
After migrating, the Singh family settled at a small rented house in Amritsar till he graduated.
Stating that economics was his favourite subject, retired professor of Hindu College, Rajinder Loomba, recalled that his wife Gursharan Kaur's parents also belonged to the holy city.
A few years ago, Singh attended the convocation-cum-alumni meet of Hindu College as the chief guest and interacted with the college staff like an ordinary person, reminiscing old memories, Loomba said.
Singh talked about the teachers who taught him at the college besides interacting and clicking photographs with the students and faculty members, he recalled.
Raj Kumar (71), a resident, stated that Singh used to live in Petha Wala Bazaar near the Golden Temple.
Recalling Singh as a very humble person, Kumar said, "Dr Singh used to live here. I was a child when his family shifted out. It was a very nice family." The house where the Singh family lived is in a dilapidated state now as no one has stayed there since they moved out a long time ago, Kumar said.
Some other locals recalled Manmohan Singh as a man who always took special pain for Amritsar, saying the UPA government headed by him got several projects sanctioned for the holy city.
Singh, the architect of India's economic reforms, passed away on Thursday night at Delhi's All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS). He was 92.
The Congress leader, who steered the country for 10 years from 2004-2014 and helped set up the country's economic framework as finance minister before that, was a renowned name in the global financial and economic sectors.
To the time when Singh called Chandigarh a 'city beautiful'
Manmohan Singh once called Chandigarh the "City Beautiful" and a representative of the spirit of the people of Punjab and Haryana.
He made the remarks during a visit to the Chandigarh Press Club here in September 2005.
Chandigarh, the dream city of India's first prime minister, Jawahar Lal Nehru, was planned by the famed French architect Le Corbusier. Located at the foothills of Shivaliks, it is regarded as one of the best experiments in urban planning and modern architecture.
During a visit to the Club, for the silver jubilee celebration of the Chandigarh Press, Singh said, "Chandigarh is the symbol of a new India, it is the City Beautiful. At the time of its creation, Jawaharlal Nehru declared 'Let Chandigarh be the first large expression of our genius flowering on our newly earned freedom.'" He also paid his tributes to the local journalists, saying that many of the country's finest scribes cut their teeth in Chandigarh.
"Today morning, I had the privilege of attending the 125th anniversary celebrations of The Tribune. The Tribune was born in Lahore, but it blossomed here in Chandigarh. It did so because Chandigarh provided the intellectual, social, and political environment in which media could freely develop and grow. I salute Chandigarh and the people of Chandigarh. May your city continue to grow as a role model in all walks of life," Singh, then serving his first of the two terms as PM, said.
He also championed the role of a free press and lauded those who stood up to the powers that be.
"It is the ultimate check against the tyranny of authority. As I have often said, I do sincerely believe that there is no grievance, howsoever extreme and desperate, that cannot be redressed through democratic means … I salute the courage of such defenders of democracy," he said.
Singh said it was the responsibility of the media to defend the liberal space, even while giving expression to all opinions.
"The media must be an instrument for moderation, for a contest of ideas, not a weapon of extremism, communalism, and other ideologies of disaffection," he said.
"The high standards of journalism prevailing in our country, despite the commercial pressures on media, testify to the robust traditions of independent journalism. Our free press has emerged as an important guarantor of democratic and human rights.
"Our media has given voice to the voiceless. It has ensured that every minority and marginal group is heard, is seen, is involved in the mainstream," he said.
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