Contents: Revisiting the Partition of India, 1947 (Issue 48)
Contents: Revisiting the Partition of India, 1947 (Issue 48)
Dec 28
Contents: Revisiting the Partition of India, 1947 (Issue 48)
By Kamayani Kumar
Much of the exhibits on display are material in nature, objects that displaced people sought to carry with them, “like a trunk, a water pot or a lock, or they’re very emotional objects... so a wedding sari, a favourite dress, a father’s pocket watch,” says Ahluwalia (CEO and Curator, Partition Museum) and which they have held on to not because of their utilitarian value but because of the memories they are steeped in.
By Somrita Ganguly
I hear the historians discuss history
I hear the linguists discuss etymology
I hear politicians talk about patriotism and nationalism
And wonder where my allegiance lies
বাংলাদেশ/مشرقی پاکستان/ हिंदुस्तान
Bharat/ India/ Hindustan.
By Varsha Sundriyal
Wives tearing their hair out.
Not sindoor but blood on heads.
Clutching their tattered clothes running for their lives.
Hiding children on their breast shielding them from the bullets.
By Sourav Debnath
Never have I thought home as home
Until I was dragged out from mine own.
In that unconscious, uncertain turn,
I left my home to burn.
By Shivesh
We keep silent and hidden from the outside world for our safety, but it is getting harder every day. Toilets are clogged and some are overflowing, full bellies are a thing of past and so is sound sleep, I feel that my father’s return will improve things a little but I know it is unlikely.
By Anurima Chanda
Children’s literature has forever battled with these anxieties, mostly falling prey to becoming a representative of the author’s overpowering ideological system and seeping into the child’s psyche without being adequately filtered. This can have harmful ramifications in the way a child perceives the world, feeding into its system with unwarranted prejudices. Sabnani’s text is one of those rare instances which has been able to steer away from such ideological manipulations.
By Shrila Pokhriyal
Some men boarded the train to unload the bodies. Khushwant Singh was one of them. He was looking for some life amidst the dead when he found Jeet too afraid and traumatized. He picked her up, wiped her tears and said, “Don’t worry child, take the name of god, we too have sent a train loaded with dead on the side.” A child, who didn’t even know the meaning of religion, community, partition, saw her family and thousands being ripped away by these things.