Review: The Footprints of Partition by Anam Zakaria

Author Anam Zakaria

Title: The Footprints of Partition: Narratives of Four Generations of Pakistanis and Indians

Author: Anam Zakaria

Published: 2015 by HarperCollins Publishers

Pages: 248

Find it at: Amazon

What is this book about? 

A researcher (and development professional and educationist) based in Pakistan has collected stories from different generations of Pakistanis and Indians on the theme of Partition (of 1947), with the purpose of understanding how people from different generations feel about that defining event. Perhaps one of the most important ideas this book tries to portray is the 'happy' stories related to Partition. The happy aspects of life before and after Partition are often overlooked because for most people, 'Partition' relates to an experience or belief that is not positive; one that brings memories of pain, torture and sadness, so much so that the first thing that occurs to anyone who thinks about Partition is the negativity surrounding it. 

My thoughts

I wanted to read this book as soon as I got wind of its existence. I had never read Partition stories before, but had heard real life stories narrated by my grandma many years ago. She was a Partition survivor, someone who left her home and all belongings to travel in an overstuffed train to a 'safer' land. Reading this book, I realized that the village she lived in was the first where the riots began, which accelerated and acted as a harbinger for Partition. 

Reading The Footprints of Partition  was an emotional experience, and also one that widened my perspective. Having been brought up in India with no contact with anyone from the 'other' side, I had learned to perceive Pakistan and Partition in a certain way, not realizing what the people being brought up in Pakistan thought about India. Sure, the two countries have always been at loggerheads with each other, specially during cricket, the sport Indians and Pakistanis literally worship. However, as I grew older and made sense of people and the world, a lot of prejudice and biases came to an end. After all, my grandma did tell me the good stories too, even if they were few. Even then, reading something on a topic we feel so emotional about, written by a person whose thoughts and experiences related to the 'other' side, was a real eye-opener to how little we know of each other.

To begin with, the book makes you look at Partition in an entirely different way. First, it talks about real people and the effect of Partition on their lives. There's nothing political in it. What did the people want? Why were they rooting (or not) for Partition? We see how millions on both sides of the border lost not just their loved ones or their jobs or their land, but also had their hearts and souls tested severely. Next, we (in India) have mostly looked at Partition that led to a loss - of homes, families, cities. It 'broke' India. We 'lost' something of 'us'. Little do we realize what Partition meant to those who wanted it. That was an entirely new thing for me! 

The author has travelled and met people from four different generations--some popular, some as common as you and I--mostly in Pakistan but also some in India. She probed them with questions about Partition. As you'd expect, the people who had lived to see it had the most heart-warming stories to narrate. It took some time to make them remember the good parts, but once they recalled how happy they had been, it had led to a treasure trove of wonderful, emotional stories. Talking to people who were forced to take an Indian citizenship due to circumstances, to people who left half of their families behind to be in Pakistan, the book talks about them all. We get a glimpse into the multicultural dynamics of the pre-Partition years, the cultural and religious identities which were overlapping instead of being so different.

Footprints of Partition is divided into four sections, one for each generation. Reading people's stories in this sequence does more than give the book a structure--it subtly shows the changed mindset and development of the Partition idea over the years. Surprisingly, the current generations seem to harbour more hatred for the 'other' nation than the people who actually experienced the horrific time and events. The author has also tried to analyze why it is so. It came to her as she started working with CAP (Citizens Archive of Pakistan) and spearheaded programs to allow the younger generations to exchange their views and become friends. The animosity between many kids was startling. Their perspective mixed with a deep-rooted fear of the others was even more so. The book also talks about certain aspects that facilitate feelings of enmity, including select curriculum taught in schools, sharing of only gruesome stories when it comes to Partition, and the leaders who are quick to reiterate the horrors of the past to justify the one-sided view of the 'enemy'.

There's a lot more than that which is uncovered, a lot of love that is dying because people carrying that love are dying and the newer ones are just taking forward a narrow perspective. Anam Zakaria, with this book, has tried to immortalize (as much as words can do) some stories that must not die. I'm sure there must be many more such stories that have remained unheard, specially as today we move so fast that we do not really care to listen to those stories, or to find them. Personally, I feel glad and thankful that someone cared enough to write and share those stories. 

I haven't got into details about the stories per se. They're varied, ranging from someone looking across the border hoping to find a loved one, to someone breaking down for not being able to see his hometown except from inside a running bus. I can only imagine the level of emotional connect people have with Partition. Growing up, I wished it had never taken place, that we were all still together, and reading this book made me wish for the same, although it also made me think of the 'whys' which I hadn't thought of before. It's complex, but hugely satisfying if you are interested in Partition stories. The author also talks about traditions that still run and at their minimal best, try to keep something 'common' between the two. One such amazing mention was that of a 'mela' that takes place each year in Sawan season. It happens right on the border, with people coming from both sides to pray and celebrate, together. Such, and other, melas (like one at Baisakhi) take place along the border at different places with people coming in from both sides and happily greeting each other. Doesn't it sound surreal? 

The manner of writing is definitely engaging, where you also see the storytellers' life's direction as it was affected by Partition. The language used is simple and lively. I absolutely love the author's honesty as an observer of what she and others felt and what she came across while working on the project. I only wish the author hadn't put in much of her own experiences of being a part of CAP or other things, because after a point, it seemed repetitive and broke the flow. Also, as the author also mentioned in the book, the stories were brought out not only to share but also to see how people 'chose' to remember. Perhaps it still doesn't offer a very wide view, as the people interviewed were largely from select few places, but it does make a difference. I was left feeling much humbled and with a much wider perspective when it comes to Partition. Like some new generation storytellers mentioned in the book, even I wish to some day travel to my grandparents' home towns to see what became of them, but again, I know almost nothing about those places, and know no people. Still, the desire to walk around and visit the 'other' side stays strong, and I hope to be able to accomplish it some day. Then perhaps I would finally feel like my own Partition story is at a comfortable close.

(This also makes me think how "important" such stories are, how their preservation is necessary to be able to allow the newer generations to have a wider perspective and not one dictated by propaganda and public opinion. Mutual feelings of distrust only get stronger, and we need something to bridge that gap, or the real history will elude us forever.)

Recommended for: All Indian and Pakistani readers, anyone interested in history and Partition, readers trying to understand the effects of Partition on the common man.

  

In Other Rooms, Other Wonders...

Title: In Other Rooms, Other Wonders

Author: Daniyal Mueenuddin

Published in 2009 by Random House India

Pages: 247

Find it at Amazon: In Other Rooms, Other Wonders

My Rating: 3.5/5

Goodreads Blurb!

Passing from the mannered drawing rooms of Pakistan s cities to the harsh mud villages beyond, Daniyal Mueenuddin s linked stories describe the interwoven lives of an aging feudal landowner, his servants and managers, and his extended family, industrialists who have lost touch with the land. In the spirit of Joyce s Dubliners and Turgenev s A Sportsman s Sketches, these stories comprehensively illuminate a world, describing members of parliament and farm workers, Islamabad society girls and desperate servant women. A hard-driven politician at the height of his powers falls critically ill and seeks to perpetuate his legacy; a girl from a declining Lahori family becomes a wealthy relative s mistress, thinking there will be no cost; an electrician confronts a violent assailant in order to protect his most valuable possession; a maidservant who advances herself through sexual favors unexpectedly falls in love. Together the stories in In Other Rooms, Other Wonders make up a vivid portrait of feudal Pakistan, describing the advantages and constraints of social station, the dissolution of old ways, and the shock of change. Refined, sensuous, by turn humorous, elegiac, and tragic, Mueenuddin evokes the complexities of the Pakistani feudal order as it is undermined and transformed.

My thoughts

When I began reading this book, I thought I understood the theme and definitely liked it. The first chapter, the story of an electrician in Lahore, at KK Harouni’s farm is a glimpse into the life of a very ordinary man working for a living, to give his family (his wife, 12 daugthers and a son!) a fairly comfortable life, at least as far as the low income families can go. It goes on to describe how he managed to get a motorcycle from Harouni, exploring new places for his work and earning a bit more. When he is confronted with a thief intent on stealing his bike, Nawabdin does all he can to save the thing that became an integral part of earning his livelihood. It was only when I reached the consequent chapters did I realize how the book’s been set up.

There’s a wealthy Pakistani family, with KK Harouni as the family elder. Each chapter is a story of different people associated with him, some his blood relations, some the servants serving him. It gives quite an interesting glimpse into the separate lives of connected people, displaying how we all can differ and how our separate lives are kind of a secret. Something our families really don’t know. Most of all, I liked the realism about the book (where I didn’t feel that way, is described further). It’s no fantasy story, the characters seem peculiarly real and the day-to-day instances and events have been described beautifully. You know how the Richie Rich guys are, how they behave, what all matters to them. You also know how servants live, having their own twisted lives, gossiping and chatting and loving. It’s all in the book, served as words, just as it actually is.

I will definitely say the book got a lot better towards the second half, probably because of introduction of new characters, getting out of Lahore for a while and learning about people’s lives outside the farms.

My favourite stories include:

‘About a Burning Girl’: Open display of how people play with words, even when both parties know the truth! I mean, it’s so ‘Indian’. I guess we’re not so different, after all. The shrewdness is in all of us.

‘Our Lady of Paris’: Primarily because it’s one glimpse into a fashionable and lavish lifestyle of the Harouni family in Karachi, as well as when the son, Sohail is in Paris with his lover, Helen. I think this Harouni is a cousin or something. I’m kind of confused with all those characters. Anyway, there’s the word play again, where Sohail’s mother indirectly shows Helen what she wants for her son and that Helen doesn’t seem to fit.

‘Lily’: A fashion-loving, partying girl loving Murad, a Harouni family member, living in his farm after their marriage, idling time. I don’t think it’s a complete story, just what happened and how they expect it to go forward. I nevertheless liked it for how easily it shows the confusions of our lives!

‘A Spoiled Man’: This is one story, the first half of which I can call ‘cute’. There’s an old man, Reazk who finds refuge with the Harouni’s weekend home above Islamabad. He had left his home years ago and was proud of his wooden cabin-like home with its easy-to-take-down windows, the red rug, his bed and drawers, the spittoon and everything. He carries this home where he lives, the latest one being the Ali Khan lands, four or five acres of land just up the road from the main house. Thanks to Sonya, Sohail’s wife from America, he gets a salary of 9000 rupees a month like other servants and thus gets more than he ever thought he would. I feel it’s kind of a satire on the way we live and the lives of servants. He’s called a ‘spoiled man’ because he gets little liberties he otherwise couldn’t afford.

I love the writing style, no doubt. It’s quite descriptive and is able to give readers a feel of the place and events. It’s too easy to imagine what all is going on, the images, the people. Full marks on that! There are a couple of things that personally didn’t seem too right to me, somehow. One, I can’t call it a novel, even though the stories are about people living together or at least belonging to one place, but it’s a bit difficult to interlink. I guess that’s mainly because there are just too many servants, considering the family’s size. I mean in terms of land and not just one home (there’s a different summer home in Islamabad, for instance. Plus some members are staying in the US and their stories are based in different countries, along with Pakistan).

That’s where the second thing comes. I felt there was a lot of cheating-on-your-spouse thing and what made me squirm inside the most was the old members of the family getting attached to the young maids. And not just emotionally. True, that happens, but when you see a lot of it in just one family (and also among the servants themselves), it becomes too weird to be true. While it does make a lot of sense: of different people having different backgrounds (sometimes disturbing stories), the need to be loved and respected, that it comes down to being a human after all, it seemed to be in a lot of stories, so much so that I kind of expected the same thing to happen in those stories towards the end, where thankfully, it didn’t.   

Overall, the book gives you a peek into Pakistan as you never knew it. It was a different kind of a book for me, a break from all those fantasy stories that cloud my head ;).

Thank you Random House Publishers for this book!