Against all odds | ‘I saw my family sitting there… tears wouldn’t stop’: How this nonagenarian Pune resident travelled alone to Pakistan in 2022 to visit her childhood home

What Happened

Reena Verma, 94, born in Rawalpindi before Partition in 1947, fulfilled a decades-long dream by traveling solo to Pakistan in July 2022 at age 91. A WhatsApp group called Punjab Heritage connected her with journalists who helped locate her childhood home. After initial visa denial, Pakistan's foreign minister intervened. Verma crossed the Wagah border alone, spending time in Lahore and Rawalpindi, reconnecting with her roots.

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