After 78 long years, the gurdwara at Aitchison College on the Mall Road in the heart of Lahore came alive today, as three local Pakistani Sikh boys led the kirtan, joined by students of the school, as well as Muslim citizens of the city, both men and women.For the first time since 1947, all four doors of the gurdwara were opened, welcoming people of all faiths. As the three Sikh boys sang three shabads — aval allah noor upaya, fareeda burae da bhala kar, koi bole ram ram koi khudae   bitter-sweet tears ran down my face.As many as 75 people, the families of old boys as well as Pakistan’s minister for minorities Ramesh Singh Arora, attended the worship.An Indian Sikh, Ajaybir Sodhi, whose father had studied at Aitchison College and three generations before him, had flown to Lahore a couple of days ago to be part of the 140th anniversary celebrations of the Indian subcontinent’s oldest public school, where the male children of former royals and elite families of undivided Punjab once studied.“It is an honor to be at the gurdwara where my father prayed every evening for so many years as a student at Aitchison College. I hope to bring him back here soon,” Sodhi said.As many as 15 Indian Sikhs remember well their boyhood at this grand, old institution. None were able to travel to Pakistan. In conversations and interviews, several said they fondly remembered worshipping at the gurdwara with its black-and-white marble floor and its beautiful architecture, which resembled a palace.As I sat through this historic worship service at the college gurdwara today, the foundation stone of which was laid by Maharaja Bhupinder Singh of Patiala state in 1910 — himself a student from 1904-1908 — I realised my tears were testament to the sadness that for 78 long years, no Sikh prayer service had been held here.At the same time the joy that coursed through me — the joy of witnessing the same ‘khanda’ that has stood here since before Partition, witness to the trauma of generations of Punjabis severed from their homes and their childhood memories.The ‘khanda’ still stands tall on the roof of the front entrance to the gurdwara – a tribute to the steadfastness of many Sikh alumni who passed under it and went on across the border in 1947 to build new lives with resilience and dignity.Dr Syed Mohammed Turab Hussain, Principal of Aitchison College, said, “This morning’s prayer service at the gurdwara after 78 years was a spiritual moment. We look forward to many more such occasions.”A young lawyer from Lahore, a fifth-generation student from Aitchison, Kaivan Hussain Mir, told the gathering, “Before Partition, Aitchison College was an institution that embodied multi-faith relationships and inter-faith harmony within its quarters, as it had students, teachers and lower staff members from multiple religions.”“My great-great grandfather, Maulvi Karamatullah, promoted this as a tutor, teacher and Housemaster at the College. Today, we welcome Ajaybir Singh Sodhi, son of living Old Boy Jasbir Singh Sodhi from Sultan Khan Wala – today, Sodhi Nagar, Ferozepur — on this auspicious occasion,” Mir said.He added, “My family’s relationship with the Butalias of Butala Jhanda Singh,Sodhis of Buttar and Ferozepur, Bedis of Kallar Syedan and Chak Bedian (Montgomery), Bhadaur, Patiala, Shahzadpur, Malaudh and Ladhran families goes back 120 years and was formed at no other place than Aitchison College.”Mir was right. Three generations of my own family, over the last hundred years, have studied at Aitchison College. My father, Major (retd) Karamjit Singh Butalia studied here from 1946-47; my paternal grandfather, Capt (retd) Ajit Singh Butalia studied here from 1924-1931; my paternal great-grandfather Sardar Bahadur Singh, studied here from 1905-1915.They worshipped here daily as young boys. I did too, today.The College authorities have maintained the gurdwara with a great deal of care. It stands amidst a lot of greenery. During the worship, all the Muslim students, as well as all the men and women in the gathering, had covered their heads with the traditional saffron cloth.The gurdwara was designed by Ram Singh, the famous Sikh architect of the then Mayo School of Arts (now National College of Arts). The Patiala royal family championed the fundraising for the building. The gurdwara building was completed in a couple of years, a dedicated functional space where Sikh boys attended daily evening prayer services.In addition to the gurdwara, the College also boasts of a pre-partition Masjid and Hindu temple. The masjid was built in 1900 by the Nawab of Bahawalpur, while the Maharaja of Darbhanga laid the foundation of the Hindu temple in 1910.Much talk of the need for Punjabis from both sides as well as Indians and Pakistanis of all faiths rent the air after the worship. Whatever our politics, people said, let people meet.