Click to play videoChandigarh: Nangal Chouran village is preparing to welcome Kashmir Singh, the Indian prisoner who will come back home soon after spending 35 years in a jail in Pakistan.
However, for every Kashmir Singh who manages to make the journey home, there are many like Harkishan Singh, whose families are still waiting for news about them.
Harkishan was an officer on the navy ship INS Khukri, which was sunk by a Pakistani submarine in 1971.
His family was not given any proof of his death, just a pension which continues to this day. But Harkishan's wife, Manjit Kaur, insists she is not a widow.
"I still feel that he is alive somewhere. In my dreams I have never seen that he is dead. It's time for me to go too, but I hope I get to meet him before I depart this world," says Manjit Kaur.
Many other soldiers from Punjab have seemingly disappeared across the border. Some were Government agents, some had accidentally crossed over, many were soldiers captured in battles and skirmishes.
Ram Lal was one such an ex-Armyman, who used to work for RAW. He went missing in 1977. His son, Jitender Kumar, believes that Ram Lal may be in Pakistan.
"We think my father is in Pakistan. I hope he is found some day," says Jitender.
For families of people who have disappeared across the border, any news of their loved ones is welcome — even the confirmation of their deaths would give them some closure.
What they have to live with, instead, is only the memory of a loved one, and the uncertain hope of their survival.
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