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Chronicling inherited memories of the Partition
Summary
The echoes of the Partition of 1947 can still be heard not just in the lives of the survivors but their descendants as well. The third generation is now chronicling this inherited legacy
The Partition of 1947—described as the largest mass migration in human history—has left a lasting legacy. It is not just the survivors from either side of the border who continue to grapple with memories of that period, but also their descendants. The third generation in some of the families, which moved to India after the Partition, have grown up on stories that their grandparents told them. The youth continue to relive those moments through the memories of the elders, often wondering about their roots and what life would have been like if a border had not been etched between the lands.
Having lived on solely in memories, the oral history of Partition had been considered insignificant for a long time. Initiatives such as the 1947 Partition Archive, Partition Museum and Project Dastaan have changed this to an extent by preserving these stories of survival. The idea is to ensure that the human experience of Partition is not forgotten. And authors-historians like Aanchal Malhotra have documented some of these memories evocatively in books such as Remnants of a Separation.
Malhotra, a descendant of ‘Partition refugees’ herself, reiterates that the event's memory does not end with those who lived it, but passes down through generations in many “incarnations." "The house of the past may not even exist anymore, it is entirely conjured up from memory," she adds. “There is a place somewhere that does not belong to us, but we belong to it, and I always wonder, is it waiting for us?"
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Chaitanya Seth, who recently graduated with a bachelor’s degree in business administration, recalls many conversations with his beloved grandfather. “With every story, he travelled back to Lyallpur, a place which was his entire childhood," he says. His grandfather had migrated from Lyallpur in present-day Faisalabad to Ludhiana, Punjab, after the Partition.
While 21-year-old Seth, based out of Ludhiana, is living with a repository of stories, some others are overwhelmed by the entire event that their families had to live through. 23-year-old N.M., another third-generation descendant based out of Delhi, would feel disturbed when the topic of Partition would come up in class. The emotional toll that the events of 1947 took on families could never be conveyed through a school lesson.
The event is now a part of her identity. “When I heard stories from my grandparents, I could visualise their world and feel a part of it. To imagine the entire sequence of events was very painful even though I had not experienced it first-hand," she says. These stories, however, continue to connect N.M. with her grandparents even after their passing.
Not all survivors have been forthcoming with details of what they went through. It is as if they have locked those memories away. This has left their descendants curious about what their families had to go through. Pratibha Chaudhary, a student pursuing bachelor’s in legislative law, who hails from Alwar, Rajasthan, could not get any details from her grandparents. "It was as if a filter existed. They would keep all the dark parts to themselves," she says. 22-year-old Manvi Girdhar,a trainee pilot at a private institution, faced a similar situation, when she nudged her grandparents to share simple details of their life in Pakistan before the Partition. "But my grandfather couldn’t express anything even after decades," she says. Girdhar is inquisitive about her roots. “My Internet search history is filled with names of places such as Montgomery (present-day Sahiwal), Lyallpur and Gujranwala," she adds.
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Today, the third generation of families that survived the Partition have become custodians of this legacy. Through formal and informal tools, they are documenting their grandparent’s stories. And along the way, this process is also shaping their opinion about sociopolitical history and also their approach to life. According to Shourya Saluja, an advertising professional, the stories of the Partition have made him realise that everything in life is temporary. “My nanu [maternal grandfather] used to say that when something goes out of your control, it can change your life in ways that you can’t even imagine. That is a positive thing that he tried to convey—that you need to get up no matter how low you fall," he adds.
Some like Seth feel strongly about their ancestral identity. It is an integral part of his personality. “I am a grandson of a Partition refugee, and I will always wear that with pride," he says.
According to Malhotra, conversations around the Partition will always be relevant, “because it is people’s history, it lives within people, it builds their character."
Samiya Chopra is a Delhi-based journalist, who reports on culture, gender, and health.
