Remnants of Partition: 21 Objects from a Continent Divided

by Aanchal Malhotra

Overview

Seventy years on from the partition of India, a momentous event now recedes in memory. Despite being born into a family affected by the great divide, artist and oral historian Aanchal Malhotra had thought little about it until she encountered the objects her own great-grandparents had saved as they fled their homes: jewelry, kitchen utensils, photographs, and a pocketknife.

Remnants of Partition is a unique revisiting of Partition through dozens of personal belongings carried between the new India and Pakistan, amid the chaos of communal killings and mass displacement. Hidden in these objects is the memory of a time and place, a story of migration, and a life that once was. Malhotra unearths possessions from both sides of the border, interviewing their owners and uncovering a rich tapestry of struggle, sacrifice, pain, and identities forged and unforged.

From a string of pearls gifted by a maharaja to a young woman's poetry notebook, this is an extraordinary alternative history of Partition, both powerful and poignant. Aanchal Malhotra takes the material legacy of a unique human drama, and places it back in our hands as vivid, living memory.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781787381209
Publisher:	Hurst
Publication date:	10/15/2019
Pages:	344
Sales rank:	1,166,653
Product dimensions:	6.10(w) x 9.30(h) x 1.20(d)

About the Author

Aanchal Malhotra is a New Delhi-based artist and oral historian working with memory and material culture. She is the co- founder of the Museum of Material Memory, a digital repository tracing family histories and social ethnography through heirlooms, collectibles and antiques from the Indian subcontinent. This is her first book.

Table of Contents

Preface
Introduction
1. A Gaz For My Father and a Ghara For My Mother: The Heirlooms of Y.P. Vij
2. Between This Side and That: The Sword of Ajit Kaur Kapoor
3. Gift From a Maharaja: The Pearls of Azra Haq
4. Utensils For Survival: The Kitchenware of Balraj Bahri
5. Stones From My Soil: The Maang-Tikka of Bhag Malhotra
6. Stitches and Secrets: The Bagh of Hansla Chowdhary
7. Hereditary Keepers of the Raj: The Enduring Memories of John Grigor Taylor
8. The Light of a House That Stands No More: The Stone Plaque of Mian Faiz Rabbani
9. The Inheritance of Ceremonial Servings: The Khaas-Daan of Narjis Khatun
10. The Hockey Field I Left Behind: The Photographs of Nazeer Adhami
11. This Bird of Gold, My Land: The Hopeful Heart of Nazmuddin Khan
12. The Book of Everlasting Things: The Collection of Prof. Partha Mitter
13. Love in the Time of Nationalism: The Poems of Prabhjot Kaur
14. Memory of a Nationalist: The Pashmina Shawl of Preet Singh
15. The Lexicon of My Land Is Devoid of Emotions: The Battle-Hardened Memorabilia of Lt Gen. S.N. Sharma
16. A Heart of Mortgaged Silver: The Assorted Curios of Prof. Sat Pal Kohli
17. Stateless Heirlooms: The Hamam-Dasta of Savitri Mirchandani 18. From the Folds of Life: The Household Items of Sitara Faiyaz Ali
19. The Musical Solace in My Mother's Prayers: The Guru Granth Sahib of Sumitra Kapur
20. A Conversation of Eroded Memory: Identification Certificates of Sunil Chandra Sanyal
21. Passage to Freedom: The Worldly Trunk of Uma Sondhi Ahmad
Epilogue
Notes
Acknowledgements
Index

Editorial Reviews

07/08/2019

In this reverential oral history, artist and historian Malhotra explores the reverberating impact of the brutal partition of India and Pakistan through objects carried across the new border and their owners’ associated memories. Malhotra interviewed 21 people who span a wide range of status, occupation, and nationality: a young girl whose father occupied a prominent position in the British government, a soldier who found himself fighting his former colleagues and friends, a British official adrift after independence, and rural landowners from villages where Hindus, Muslims, and Sikhs lived in peace. Photographs of objects (a stone plaque that a man recovered years later, at great expense, from the former home his family abandoned in a hurry; a sword carried for protection and kept as a memento of a husband’s unwavering love) grace the beginning of each chapter, followed by memories, often of riots, rapes, killings, fleeing in the dead of night. Each story of flight and separation is unique, but themes emerge: horror at the violence, especially violence against women; gratitude for family and community; and a continuing sense of bewilderment at the fact that people who had cohabited for centuries began slaughtering each other for the sake of religion. This moving book provides a uniquely personal view of the event and its enduring impact. (Sept.)

Publishers Weekly

"This is a book of startling originality, weaving stories of intimate connections with objects and harrowing histories of displacement into beautifully cadenced prose. It is a book to treasure."—Edmund de Waal, author of The Hare With Amber Eyes

"A wonderful idea stylishly executed." — Andrew Whitehead, former BBC India correspondent

"Aanchal Malhotra evokes one of the world's great tragedies in moving, beautiful prose, woven through everyday objects treasured as relics of a shattered age." — Shashi Tharoor, Indian MP and author of Inglorious Empire

"Artfully weaves travel, memory and materials—all without guile—reminding us why India is one of the world's greatest storytelling cultures." — Gurcharan Das, author of India Unbound

"This is a truly original way to approach the history of Partition. Malhotra's writing is evocative and, through the finely observed details of everyday life, brings depth and empathy to understanding this event."—Yasmin Khan, author of The Great Partition

"A well-researched and richly readable book." — Ramachandra Guha, author of India After Gandhi

"Aanchal Malhotra is a new star of Indian non-fiction."—William Dalrymple

From the Publisher