‘A memoir is also about the process of ‘becoming’ who you are’: Author Malavika Rajkotia

There is no one way to remember the Partition of India. The politics of remembering is anyway riddled with the most fundamental of concerns of storytelling: Who gets to tell a story, and what all must it include? On the other hand, it’s also true that so many people who were directly impacted by the senseless drawing of the borders chose not to recall it, as many studies show. This finding is further complicated by the fact that in their twilight years, many people did open up with their grandchildren, unburdening them of the heavy weight of the traumas of the past they carried all their lives. To that end, Partition is also an event that has been passed on from one generation to the other and has managed to compel people to look back in search of their identities.

However, in the course of their journeys – of finding their roots – several people, especially women, have inevitably documented the past that’s hitherto inaccessible to the current generations. In the face of events that are unfolding all across South Asia, hatred on the basis of one’s identity is gaining currency. So, it’s almost one’s role as a writer – and...

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