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A review by ayushi_890
Remnants of a Separation: A History of the Partition through Material Memory by Aanchal Malhotra
4.0
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.