“Life, what has religion got to do with it?”, asks Sultana Begum, who was born to a Muslim father, raised by a Hindu clergyman and married to an ardent Sikh.
The 70-year-old writer based in Punjab, who was born two years after Partition, has never let religion govern her life and she attributes this largely to her interfaith upbringing.
“There is no religion bigger than humanity and I have lived my entire life believing in this one universal truth,” said Ms Sultana as she traipsed down the memory lane with SBS Punjabi.
“My mother was visiting her parents’ house when the Partition was announced while my father was in Lahore with the rest of my paternal family.
“It so happened that when my mother returned to live with my father after a few months in 1948, he was already married to another woman.
“So my mother decided to return to her brother in Patiala, as her parents were no more, but he refused to take her in and we eventually took refuge into Pandit Churanjilal’s house, a friend of my grandfather’s.” 
Ms Begum’s mother’s return to India was the starting point of change that eventually became her life.
Sultana Begum Source: Facebook
“He not only took us in but also decided to officially adopt me and that is how I was raised in a Hindu household where I was taught to respect all religions- a lesson that I have implemented in my life,” Ms Begum told SBS Punjabi.
While religion couldn’t divide her, it, however, propelled her into the world of literature where she learned and acquired advanced education in many languages, under the guidance of literary stalwarts like Balwant Singh Gargi, Kartar Singh Suri and many more.
Ms Begum spent a large chunk of her life working for the Punjab State Education Board where she penned many school textbooks that eventually led her to become an author. 
While she was working, she got married into a Sikh family, which initially harboured some reservations, but as time passed, took her in “wholeheartedly.”
The 70-year-old is an established author based in Punjab. Source: Facebook
“Initially, we lived in a separate house. But as time passed, we shifted in with my in-laws and then life was smooth after that. They loved me as one of their own.
Giving us further insight into her life, Ms Begum shared that she has integrated the best of all worlds.
“In my family, we celebrate all the festivals, be it Diwali, Eid or Navaratras with equal zeal and fervor.
Ms Begum, now an established writer in Punjab, frequently travels to Adelaide to spend time with her daughter and conceded that she often sneaks out to spend time with her literary buddies for what she can’t say, she tends to write.
Sultana Begum with her family. Source: Facebook
“I took to writing outside my work in 2007, post my retirement. Since then I have authored three books that have received immense love from people. And two more are in pipeline.”
Whilst her’s is a uniquely happy story borne out of Partition, Ms Begum believes, however good it may sound, it cannot undermine the pain of separation it caused many of her fellow Punjabis.
“Partition uprooted people from their homes, their lives, their loved ones and their country. It is immensely difficult to survive that loss and then attempt to move on to build a new life with the pieces you have managed to pick up.
“They divided us; now let’s reunite by taking recourse to humanity because there is no bigger religion than love and that is all we have and will leave behind,” said Ms Begum, who believes in overcoming hurdles of life with graceful poetic justice.
