Reflections on Partition and Beyond

As I grew up in parts of Bihar and Jharkhand my education was, without blemish, free from any bias towards religion, caste, gender, color or whatever. It did make me feel an Indian to the core.


Yet, as I grew up India was changing. I learned about the savagery during partition. There were communal riots a lot of times. Then there were divisions related to caste due to reservations. It became clear to me that there are several social and economic dynamics that our education did not prepare us for.


I have always felt great pride in the rich heritage of India. Its great ideas, spirituality, values, arts, literature, humanism, and scholarship. I take equal pride in the idea of modern India that has been so egalitarian in its design, so inclusive, and so tolerant. I truly believe there is nothing like India on earth.


Yet, there are a whole variety of realities in India where fissures, divisions, biases, and narrow attitudes abound in plain sight.


I propose to record my  experiences and thoughts in the period from pre-partition India to modern days covering the full region including Pakistan and Bangladesh.


This story must be recounted by a common man because it includes so much hope and goodness and a huge amount of pain too. I base it on the basis of my personal experiences, readings, and videos/movies. I'll try and add references where I can.


I have often been moved to tears so often just  thinking about it. 


I have come to the conclusion that extreme views and haste in dealing with matters of humans and nations can hurt for centuries. The famous lines by Razmi 


ये जब्र भी देखा है तारीख़ की नज़रों ने 
लम्हों ने ख़ता की थी, सदियों ने सज़ा पाई 


(centuries paid for the mistakes of moments) are so true.


I hope to cover several decades across regions and issues. It's a personally curious exploration and I do look forward to it.