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95 reviews for:
Remnants of a Separation: A History of the Partition through Material Memory
Aanchal Malhotra
4.51 AVERAGE
95 reviews for:
Remnants of a Separation: A History of the Partition through Material Memory
Aanchal Malhotra
4.51 AVERAGE
The absolute perfect book to read if you happen to be working on your own interview project. On top of that, Malhotra's writing offered an education on a history I knew almost nothing about while poetically depicting the atmosphere of her, and their, India.
Partition/Divide/Batwara. Three different words but having equally devastating connotations.
“These Stories strive to appreciate the objects in its totality”
Remnants of A Separation by Aanchal Malhotra is the first non fiction partition related book that I have ever read. I wanted to read this book because I haven’t grown up listening to the stories from the other side of the border since my maternal as well as paternal families have been based in India right from the beginning.
Picking this book up, I didn’t quite know what to expect but I was excited all the same.
A book that takes one back to the time of the Indian Partition through the objects that were carried across the borders or survived serendipitously when people fled their homelands is certainly a unique concept. As the author mentions that objects have the power to evoke the memories from the past buried in the deepest recesses of the heart most effortlessly, I completely second that having experienced it myself.
Read my complete review at : http://preciselysaumyas.com/remnantsofaseparationbyaanchalmalhotra/
“These Stories strive to appreciate the objects in its totality”
Remnants of A Separation by Aanchal Malhotra is the first non fiction partition related book that I have ever read. I wanted to read this book because I haven’t grown up listening to the stories from the other side of the border since my maternal as well as paternal families have been based in India right from the beginning.
Picking this book up, I didn’t quite know what to expect but I was excited all the same.
A book that takes one back to the time of the Indian Partition through the objects that were carried across the borders or survived serendipitously when people fled their homelands is certainly a unique concept. As the author mentions that objects have the power to evoke the memories from the past buried in the deepest recesses of the heart most effortlessly, I completely second that having experienced it myself.
Read my complete review at : http://preciselysaumyas.com/remnantsofaseparationbyaanchalmalhotra/
dark
emotional
informative
inspiring
reflective
relaxing
A History of the Partition through Material Memory is a good (some depressing and sad too) collection of stories of families who migrated during the partition of India.
Firstly, I'm slow when it comes to non-fiction. This book, in my opinion, made for lengthy reading. It is definitely unique and some of the stories tugged at my heartstrings, especially "The Pearls of Azra Haq." Malhotra writes lucidly and never did I find myself struggling to make sense of her narration. She has worked hard to highlight a few among several personal histories born out of this cataclysmic event - the partition of India - which are at risk of getting extinct with the last generation that witnessed this mass bloody exodus from both countries.
My only critique of this book would be the lack of intersectionality across these stories. Almost all the interviewees belonged to wealthy, upper-class/caste families that could afford cars and foreign education in those times, or those of aristocratic lineage. My intention isn't to undermine their struggles or trauma but to highlight that their privilege did come in handy whilst escaping the clutches of communal violence and brutality. That they could cling onto something tangible and reminisce about their homeland is a reminder of their privilege. What about those who lost their families, or got orphaned or had to deal with lasting effects of their trauma for a long time? Perhaps I was looking for something grittier. Perhaps material memory is a privilege in itself.
My only critique of this book would be the lack of intersectionality across these stories. Almost all the interviewees belonged to wealthy, upper-class/caste families that could afford cars and foreign education in those times, or those of aristocratic lineage. My intention isn't to undermine their struggles or trauma but to highlight that their privilege did come in handy whilst escaping the clutches of communal violence and brutality. That they could cling onto something tangible and reminisce about their homeland is a reminder of their privilege. What about those who lost their families, or got orphaned or had to deal with lasting effects of their trauma for a long time? Perhaps I was looking for something grittier. Perhaps material memory is a privilege in itself.
A good book helps you feel and makes you think things you haven’t given much thought before.
Remnants of a Separation by @aanch_m does that and more. The book manages to talk about and discuss batwara (partition) of India and Pakistan through material objects brought by refugees on either side during what was perhaps the largest mass migrations in human history with violence on a scale that had seldom been seen before. With Trains full of dead mutilated bodies on either side, gendered violence on women with rapes and abduction; families splitting apart.
.
My family happened to be on the right side of a bureaucratic exercise; a Hindu in India in a town called Rewari in Haryana. We came out relatively unscathed so growing up so many years later I have viewed this event in a detached manner, where human bodies felt like statistics and Pakistan another country just like all others.
After reading this book I feel like a different person; imagine running away from your homes and lives in the middle of the night with only those possessions you can carry on your person, things that can be hidden so that you aren’t robbed; some utensils for some, a bit of jewellery for others, photographs, a shawl.
.
What item will you take while you flee for your lives?
The book is bittersweet, I felt for Bano a third generation migrant to Pakistan and her fear of her grandmother’s native tongue Samanishahi being lost to her after her father’s death; the only people speaking it would be those across the border.
A yearning for houses, bazaars of Karachi.. of Sindh; Of a man’s home in Jullendur whose stone plaque made his way back to him after so many years.
Woh ghar, Woh Bachpan, woh aangan, woh garmiyaan, woh sardiyan (that house, that childhood, that courtyard, those summers, those winters).
.
I loved how the author brought out all these memories that were repressed or talked of depending on people through objects, the things not being just that anymore but a gateway to a life lived beyond the borders.
Is it heartbreaking?Yes, but it’s also hopeful and nostalgic because as long as love stays in between people on both sides there is hope.
- Mansi
Remnants of a Separation by @aanch_m does that and more. The book manages to talk about and discuss batwara (partition) of India and Pakistan through material objects brought by refugees on either side during what was perhaps the largest mass migrations in human history with violence on a scale that had seldom been seen before. With Trains full of dead mutilated bodies on either side, gendered violence on women with rapes and abduction; families splitting apart.
.
My family happened to be on the right side of a bureaucratic exercise; a Hindu in India in a town called Rewari in Haryana. We came out relatively unscathed so growing up so many years later I have viewed this event in a detached manner, where human bodies felt like statistics and Pakistan another country just like all others.
After reading this book I feel like a different person; imagine running away from your homes and lives in the middle of the night with only those possessions you can carry on your person, things that can be hidden so that you aren’t robbed; some utensils for some, a bit of jewellery for others, photographs, a shawl.
.
What item will you take while you flee for your lives?
The book is bittersweet, I felt for Bano a third generation migrant to Pakistan and her fear of her grandmother’s native tongue Samanishahi being lost to her after her father’s death; the only people speaking it would be those across the border.
A yearning for houses, bazaars of Karachi.. of Sindh; Of a man’s home in Jullendur whose stone plaque made his way back to him after so many years.
Woh ghar, Woh Bachpan, woh aangan, woh garmiyaan, woh sardiyan (that house, that childhood, that courtyard, those summers, those winters).
.
I loved how the author brought out all these memories that were repressed or talked of depending on people through objects, the things not being just that anymore but a gateway to a life lived beyond the borders.
Is it heartbreaking?Yes, but it’s also hopeful and nostalgic because as long as love stays in between people on both sides there is hope.
- Mansi
Some stories keep you awake at night, and some events never let you sleep. India’s partition is that stain which time also cannot clean. These might be just collection of 21 stories across 400 pages but these are more than just remnants.
Aanchal Malhotra, who herself has partition history weaved into her life, takes up this project of painlessly interviewing people across subcontinent and presents this real life collection in 21 stories. In these stories you will find the horrors and traumas which was inflicted on an entire generation of our grandparents age. Those who migrated from and to either India, Pakistan or Bangladesh; everyone left in haste, hoping that they will eventually be back. Some never left before thinking their city will be part of India only and not across a border. And some never made it across any borders.
This recollection of 1947 or years before and after partition is not an easy read at all. I took my own time through tears and water breaks, talked to those who have partition history because reading this hasn’t quenched my thirst.
Decades of trauma lives on generations on either side of our borders. And the simplest question which so many asked still haunts, what was the need to partition this country?
I am glad I read this book and someone who is from the subcontinent must definitely read it to know where we come from .
Aanchal Malhotra, who herself has partition history weaved into her life, takes up this project of painlessly interviewing people across subcontinent and presents this real life collection in 21 stories. In these stories you will find the horrors and traumas which was inflicted on an entire generation of our grandparents age. Those who migrated from and to either India, Pakistan or Bangladesh; everyone left in haste, hoping that they will eventually be back. Some never left before thinking their city will be part of India only and not across a border. And some never made it across any borders.
This recollection of 1947 or years before and after partition is not an easy read at all. I took my own time through tears and water breaks, talked to those who have partition history because reading this hasn’t quenched my thirst.
Decades of trauma lives on generations on either side of our borders. And the simplest question which so many asked still haunts, what was the need to partition this country?
I am glad I read this book and someone who is from the subcontinent must definitely read it to know where we come from .
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced