This virtual exhibition explores lesser known survivor tales from partition

One of the most potent descriptions of the newly independent Subcontinent lies in the lines by poet Faiz Ahmed Faiz who wrote ldquoWoh intezaar tha jiskaYeh woh sehar toh nahinrdquo The dawn we waited for It is not this Titled SubheAzadi Dawn of Independence the poem epitomised the tragedy of religious and sectarian violence that followed the Independence of India and Pakistan in 1947The virtual exhibition of UnDivided Identities Lesser Known Stories of the Partition by ReReeti Foundation seeks to explore this complex history of the Subcontinent through a curated walkthrough of stories by survivors of the Partition Created in partnership with The British Council and Glasgow Life Museums under the Our Shared Cultural Heritage OSCH initiative the project is part of a digital archive that aims to educate a younger generation about the complex history of the timeAn illustrated frame preceding the four stories Pics CourtesyNikhil Gulati and Shaunaq MadanThe team invested six months to research and produce the experiential project reveals Bhanu Ghalot project head She says ldquoOver the last two decades Partition scholars have invested time in shifting the gaze with which this history is viewed retelling it through the eyes of witnesses and reclaiming the agency of narration However the learning of this history remains stagnant in classroom settings and usually emphasises nationalist narrativesrdquo The exhibition was an attempt to change this A curation of four stories from across the worst affected provinces of preIndependence India mdash Bengal Sindh and Punjab mdash the exhibition offers insight into the moral dilemmas and tragedies witnessed by the survivors It does so by forcing you to make the choice for the protagonists In the face of moral dilemmas such as saving a neighbour or a child in need of help over onersquos own safety you realise the psychological torment that also plagued the survivors The moving illustrations and a wellproduced soundscape add to the experienceTejshvi Jain and Bhanu GhalotThe production is a conscious attempt to evoke empathy in the reader says project director Tejshvi Jain ldquoThey had to make difficult choices as well We wanted to bring out that dilemma We wanted to create stories that were based on facts and at the same time highlight the internal and external conflicts around the peoplerdquo she remarksThe project relied on three theories of educational philosophy mdash Howard Gardnerrsquos multiple intelligence theory Neil Flemingrsquos VARK model and objectbased learning mdash to embed its lessons into students ldquoIt is not just by showing horrific descriptions that one creates empathy Empathy can also mean understanding the internal turmoil which people had to go through to make decisions and survive Students could relate to the uncertainties of our times post pandemic and we built on this to give them a deeper understanding of the nuances of the historical event that still influence our identity decisions and perspectivesrdquo Jain saysOne is forced into heartbreak at every step and share the trauma of Dr Sitaram as he chooses to stay on in a divided Punjab or the fears of Rajnandini and the Roychowdhurys as they find a way past Khulna in East Bengal The stories were also picked using markers shares Ghalot These markers included mode of transport region class and privilege and gender to showcase the uniformity of the horrorAs one faces the rise of majoritarianism in India the exhibit serves as a reminder that sectarian violence hurts all There is no one community that emerges unscathed or unscarred Ghalot shares ldquoThe most apparent complexity of this history is that there are no clear victims for the violence that unfolded People who were victims of the violence were also its perpetratorsrdquoNuanced balanced and wellresearched the exhibition provides an experience that can help young minds escape the radical thoughts that surround them ldquoIn the last few decades great strides have been made to record memories of people who witnessed this history and to systematically archive them This has allowed all of us to gain agency over this history I think it is time now to think of what we can do with these archives and how we can make it engaging for generations to come This exhibition stands at that intersection and is an attempt at curatorial experimentationrdquo Ghalot observesLog on to linktreerereetifoundation