“Its standout quality is that in it the subcontinent’s history gains a profound resonance: 1947 links forward to 2022, the partitions of the past metamorphose into the fault lines of the present. Meanwhile, Siddhesh Inamdar, Executive Editor- HarperCollins India, said that the book is quite relevant in our times today. 'In the Language of Remembering' consists of interviews recorded over several years with Indians, Pakistanis and Bangladeshis, and serves as a record for how the 1947 Partition continues to impact generations of South Asians born after it," she added. But it is important for this kind of intergenerational, cross-border, oral history archive to grow as well – to understand how inherited memory may shape and re-shape present worlds. "While there are multiple archives that record eyewitness memory, there are hardly any that attribute the same seriousness to descendant testimonies or even to the passage of memory from one generation to another. They wanted to speak about a tragedy they had not witnessed, but which impacted them sometimes in silent ways." Through interviews with descendant generations, I noticed that some – like myself – felt shades of their ancestors’ trauma. Sharing more details about her upcoming book, Malhotra said in a statement, "In the last decade of working as an oral historian of the 1947 Partition, I have realised that the impact of Partition does not always end with those who witnessed it. "Publishing in the 75th year of India’s Independence and Partition, the book serves as a reminder of the price this land once paid for not guarding against communal strife – and what could happen once again should we ever choose division over inclusion," the publisher shared in a press note. Interestingly, the oldest interviewees for this book are in their 90s whereas the youngest are in their teens.
The conversations with these people were recorded over many years. In this book, the author brings together interviews and conversations with generations of Indians, Pakistanis, and Bangladeshis about the Partition and how its memory is preserved and passed on within family, community, and nation. 'In the Language of Remembering' reveals how the India-Pakistan Partition is not a part of history, but a part of our daily lives even today.
The new book titled 'In the Language of Remembering' will be released on May 10, 2022, publisher HarperCollins India announced on April 11. After her remarkable debut book 'Remnants of a Separation' in 2017, author and oral historian Aanchal Malhotra is back with its sequel.
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