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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
Remnants of a Separation is a poignant book, one that for me solidified the futility of the partition of India- the biggest migration of people the world has ever witnessed. The Partition was the culmination of certain fanciful politicians and done in such a haphazard manner that it cost innumerable lives and destruction. The ones who survived suffered immense trauma, such trauma that their brains had hidden those memories in the recesses of their minds.
I was intrigued by the Partition in my second year of under graduation at Delhi University. I majored in History and wanted to do a project about the Partition; I had recently learned that the upmarket Khan Market was birthed to rehabilitate the refugees from the North West Frontier Province and I also learned that the famous booksellers- Bahri Sons had originally migrated from Pakistan after the Partition. I brought up the idea with my Professor who promptly snuffed the idea, at the time I was miffed but reading this book I understood that I did not have the emotional or research maturity to carry out the project, even at a small capacity.
People were uprooted from their homes and their lands, fleeing the communal riots in a panic to save their lives. Lives were lost, homes abandoned and women abused. An immense hatred was ignited along communal lines which saw the worst come out in people. The gruesome acts carried out on communal lines was barbaric. It was as if people were given a free rein to reach their most cruel states.
In the book Aanchal Malhotra, granddaughter of the founder of Bahri Sons, writes how the survivors of the Partition mentioned in the book are reluctant to recall their memories and when they do its with immense sadness. they recollect their childhood and all the memories before the Partition with child like glee which very soon turns into sorrow when the recollection of the aftermath of the Partition begins. They seem to forget the events , the brain shrouding their memories to hide the trauma, then gradually tales are pulled out with the help of certain objects. This is the material memory that the author strove to capture. The memories or possessiveness associated with these material objects is pulled out at times when the author puts on an object of the owners’ on her own self rather than on them, then the possessiveness and the memories that belong to the object spring free.
Simple objects that draw them back to their lives before the Partition, the connection with their parents, grand parents, the legacies they left behind. The the arduous journey after the Partition that they embarked on with these objects stowed safely.
One cannot even fathom the shock and the trauma the people who witnessed the partition went through or the shock and trauma refugees continuously go through. To be unceremoniously uprooted from your homes in violent conditions takes immense courage. And the courage to start your life over is awe-inspiring.
Read the book to read in detail the memories associated with these objects because a review will not do them justice.
I was intrigued by the Partition in my second year of under graduation at Delhi University. I majored in History and wanted to do a project about the Partition; I had recently learned that the upmarket Khan Market was birthed to rehabilitate the refugees from the North West Frontier Province and I also learned that the famous booksellers- Bahri Sons had originally migrated from Pakistan after the Partition. I brought up the idea with my Professor who promptly snuffed the idea, at the time I was miffed but reading this book I understood that I did not have the emotional or research maturity to carry out the project, even at a small capacity.
People were uprooted from their homes and their lands, fleeing the communal riots in a panic to save their lives. Lives were lost, homes abandoned and women abused. An immense hatred was ignited along communal lines which saw the worst come out in people. The gruesome acts carried out on communal lines was barbaric. It was as if people were given a free rein to reach their most cruel states.
In the book Aanchal Malhotra, granddaughter of the founder of Bahri Sons, writes how the survivors of the Partition mentioned in the book are reluctant to recall their memories and when they do its with immense sadness. they recollect their childhood and all the memories before the Partition with child like glee which very soon turns into sorrow when the recollection of the aftermath of the Partition begins. They seem to forget the events , the brain shrouding their memories to hide the trauma, then gradually tales are pulled out with the help of certain objects. This is the material memory that the author strove to capture. The memories or possessiveness associated with these material objects is pulled out at times when the author puts on an object of the owners’ on her own self rather than on them, then the possessiveness and the memories that belong to the object spring free.
Simple objects that draw them back to their lives before the Partition, the connection with their parents, grand parents, the legacies they left behind. The the arduous journey after the Partition that they embarked on with these objects stowed safely.
One cannot even fathom the shock and the trauma the people who witnessed the partition went through or the shock and trauma refugees continuously go through. To be unceremoniously uprooted from your homes in violent conditions takes immense courage. And the courage to start your life over is awe-inspiring.
Read the book to read in detail the memories associated with these objects because a review will not do them justice.
challenging
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
Picked a book with the Partition as a theme after a long time and a non fiction one on the same after even longer.
What worked for me was that the book took stories from both sides of the border and the way in which the emotions and stories of the people owning the objects mentioned the book are conveyed. Heartwarming to say in the least.
What did not work out was the length of the book. After say the twelfth chapter, one starts feeling a sense of déjà vu.
It’s a good read if you’re interested in knowing real stories about the Partition.
What worked for me was that the book took stories from both sides of the border and the way in which the emotions and stories of the people owning the objects mentioned the book are conveyed. Heartwarming to say in the least.
What did not work out was the length of the book. After say the twelfth chapter, one starts feeling a sense of déjà vu.
It’s a good read if you’re interested in knowing real stories about the Partition.
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
Reading this book was a cathartic experience for me. I cried a lot in the beginning and with each story , I found myself more accepting and less hurt somehow . The book is clearly written from a special place in the author’s heart and hence there is an emotional connect which I felt throughout the book . Although the stories are told around physical objects which represent the memories of the past , but they are so much more . The stories are put forward very delicately , exactly as told in the families , hiding the harsh and with a re-assurance that all is well now .
The stories cover a huge spectrum of narrations from Indians( Bengalis , punjabis , Sindhis , muslims ) , Pakistanis and some British stories too ! I absolutely cherished each and every story , and very deliberately read only one or two a day , so that the experience lasts longer !
If , like me , you have been hesitant in picking up books on partition because the topic is emotionally overwhelming for you , this book can be your rescue . I highly recommend it !
A fantastic account of the most important part of India's history, the partition. Each and every story of the individual mentioned brought the goosebumps over my skin. It helped me know about the past and each memory extracted from the people felt like a sweet smell of the Indian soil. For a moment, I went back to the time of their stories and my imagination took me there feeling what they were feeling. That's what happens when a good book is written. It's not just a story of partition but memories of real people from their past. I loved it and would love to recommend to everyone irrespective of their age.
Words cannot express the beauty encapsulated in these pages. Aanchal Malhotra’s breath-taking writing and interviews with individuals who lived through the Partition era of India and Pakistan brings a much needed compassion to the story of Partition from people with all perspectives. Each chapter of this nonfiction novel relays the story from one individual’s point of view. Each story is different, yet the humanity, loss, and love in each one is the same. Do yourself a favor and order a copy! I look forward to re-reading this book again in the future, and know that my sense of wonder will remain the same.
We all have a shoe box or a trunk full of memories and curios from the past hidden somewhere in our rooms or houses. Photographs, mixed tapes, movies stubs, letters and what not. A reminder of time, that has slipped away or was taken away from us. Every time it is opened a huge wave of bitter sweet nostalgia envelopes the air.
Anachal Malhotra, in this book brings to the surface a very similar but profound feeling. What would you take if you were uprooted from your home, country? What can you take when you have to flee? And in the end, what travels through those frightful, traumatic times to remain with you? How does one treat these memories, objects that not only stand as a testimony to probably the darkest hours of their lives and equally a reminder of their life before?
Through carefully worded, deligently recorded narratives of oral history, she presents everyday objects- kitchen utensils, books, jewelry, and sign boards that now carry the weight of the Indian partition, the beautiful musk of the past, of forgotten childhoods in a country that was once their's.
The respect with which she has conveyed the stories, the dignified and delicate tenure of the narration and the stories themselves left me in tears at many points. The book has made me relook at partition (as would be the experience of most who read this book). As someone from the south of India, growing up I didn't hear about close encounters of partition. It was always distant, but through this book it has become more personal and less distant somehow. I searched the house for any objects from undivided India, and stumbled upon some old coins in my childhood box. Coins from 1919 to 1936. A little of piece of history was along with me.
Anachal Malhotra, in this book brings to the surface a very similar but profound feeling. What would you take if you were uprooted from your home, country? What can you take when you have to flee? And in the end, what travels through those frightful, traumatic times to remain with you? How does one treat these memories, objects that not only stand as a testimony to probably the darkest hours of their lives and equally a reminder of their life before?
Through carefully worded, deligently recorded narratives of oral history, she presents everyday objects- kitchen utensils, books, jewelry, and sign boards that now carry the weight of the Indian partition, the beautiful musk of the past, of forgotten childhoods in a country that was once their's.
The respect with which she has conveyed the stories, the dignified and delicate tenure of the narration and the stories themselves left me in tears at many points. The book has made me relook at partition (as would be the experience of most who read this book). As someone from the south of India, growing up I didn't hear about close encounters of partition. It was always distant, but through this book it has become more personal and less distant somehow. I searched the house for any objects from undivided India, and stumbled upon some old coins in my childhood box. Coins from 1919 to 1936. A little of piece of history was along with me.
This is an incredible piece of work by Aanchal Malhotra. It is one of the most heartbreaking and raw text that I have ever read. To say that this book lives up to the hype would be an understatement. I wish our history books in school were like this. This book is unputdownable as the tales of undivided India, Partition and post that is shared by those who lived through it are still living those moments of grief, fear, loss, love and a heap of other emotions that can’t be spelt out in words.
The history of Partition has never felt personal until now. I only looked at this through the political lens and never through people’s experiences. It’s a storytelling by so many people, about their lives, from childhood to adulthood, their families, friends and relatives who were lost along the way. Most of all about the object or memory that they cherish most, that which reminds them of the place they call ‘home’.
In fact, truth be told I never paid much attention to how it affected people. I don’t think I have ever gone back to reading about or even thinking about what I learned in those boring lectures in school. When I close my eyes and go back to those days, all I can remember is sitting and memorising the dates of the events leading up to the partition. I feel that history in textbooks have only focussed on the leaders that were in the forefront, and what they did then. It was not about people who were rendered homeless overnight, stateless, no identity, no money, etc.
The experiences shared by the author’s granduncle was that even though people were divided by time and boundaries the memories couldn’t have been divided. Not then and not now or ever.
Whilst reading the book, I questioned myself ‘with what hope does one leave their motherland?’. As the author puts it… “ ‘is it the fear of death or is it that they’ll make a better future in the unknown divided land?’ ” It gives me goosebumps to even think of living in a time like this where you don’t know about the state of your existence today or tomorrow.
The feeling of being secure. A person feels most secure at home. But, where was home? Was it on now on the other side of the border? How do you feel secure when you know you left your identity back on a land/country that you can no longer call your own because someone drew a line and that was it.
The objects in the book symbolises their loved ones or their identities.
It’s a reminder of what they went through and all the memories that they had built with it. It is indescribable how objects of the past could be synonymous to a person living or dead. When you look at the object it seems very ordinary but the moment you are familiar with how it was made, the lives it touched will make you go through a series of emotional rollercoaster.
The chapter of partition may have begun and ended in 1947 but the story continues through these objects and the people who now have the ownership. I’ll reiterate that the Partition has never felt mine, but here I was holding the book with an emotional lump in my throat that went straight down and made my chest feel heavy (not completely in a sad way, more like bittersweet) until it reached the core of my heart and resided there.
I’ve also watched videos in which the author has spoken about the book in numerous platforms. In her Tedx talk in Bangalore, Aanchal mentioned that “we must be proud-bearers of this history”. But in my opinion, little does the author know that she has instead given us this book that is a ‘proud bearers of our past’.
This will be my most cherished book for years to come!
The history of Partition has never felt personal until now. I only looked at this through the political lens and never through people’s experiences. It’s a storytelling by so many people, about their lives, from childhood to adulthood, their families, friends and relatives who were lost along the way. Most of all about the object or memory that they cherish most, that which reminds them of the place they call ‘home’.
In fact, truth be told I never paid much attention to how it affected people. I don’t think I have ever gone back to reading about or even thinking about what I learned in those boring lectures in school. When I close my eyes and go back to those days, all I can remember is sitting and memorising the dates of the events leading up to the partition. I feel that history in textbooks have only focussed on the leaders that were in the forefront, and what they did then. It was not about people who were rendered homeless overnight, stateless, no identity, no money, etc.
The experiences shared by the author’s granduncle was that even though people were divided by time and boundaries the memories couldn’t have been divided. Not then and not now or ever.
Whilst reading the book, I questioned myself ‘with what hope does one leave their motherland?’. As the author puts it… “ ‘is it the fear of death or is it that they’ll make a better future in the unknown divided land?’ ” It gives me goosebumps to even think of living in a time like this where you don’t know about the state of your existence today or tomorrow.
The feeling of being secure. A person feels most secure at home. But, where was home? Was it on now on the other side of the border? How do you feel secure when you know you left your identity back on a land/country that you can no longer call your own because someone drew a line and that was it.
The objects in the book symbolises their loved ones or their identities.
It’s a reminder of what they went through and all the memories that they had built with it. It is indescribable how objects of the past could be synonymous to a person living or dead. When you look at the object it seems very ordinary but the moment you are familiar with how it was made, the lives it touched will make you go through a series of emotional rollercoaster.
The chapter of partition may have begun and ended in 1947 but the story continues through these objects and the people who now have the ownership. I’ll reiterate that the Partition has never felt mine, but here I was holding the book with an emotional lump in my throat that went straight down and made my chest feel heavy (not completely in a sad way, more like bittersweet) until it reached the core of my heart and resided there.
I’ve also watched videos in which the author has spoken about the book in numerous platforms. In her Tedx talk in Bangalore, Aanchal mentioned that “we must be proud-bearers of this history”. But in my opinion, little does the author know that she has instead given us this book that is a ‘proud bearers of our past’.
This will be my most cherished book for years to come!
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
relaxing
sad
medium-paced