Bengal as a province was divided several times by its rulers for various reasons to manage it better, divide its spoils among the conquerors, or to break the spirit of a rebellious and creatively- inclined community. But what did this division mean to a Bengali? How did it impact their identity, culture, lives and future generations? How did they take the Partition and the consequent slicing off of their community? Sadly, these are the questions that haunt generations of Bengalis-their memories stowed away in trunks, pieces of documents, dying dialects, photographs or the deepest recesses of their mind.
The displacement through Partition brought in alienation, sorrow, longing and a sense of loss in its tow. The resultant rootlessness bred strong emotions.
No Return Address: Partition and Stories of Displacement is a collection of 10 short stories and one long fiction exploring the different aspects of one's identity-placing it in relation to one's family, community, country, social class as well as one's own self.
Manjira Majumdar has over time learnt to look at history objectively, especially the events that shaped India's independence. Holding a master's in Comparative Literature from Jadavpur University, she practsed literature in a hurry that is journalism-for three decades or so. Surrounded by books, window plants, and promiscuous cats, she hopes to write more fiction in the future.
As India reaches its 75th year of Independence, the world is shedding its borders. In changing times like these, it is only a sense of identity, a sense of rootedness, if you will, that has the ability to keep one grounded. Holding on to that identity or trying to understand it and stay rooted must not be seen as a sign of parochialism or bigotry. To not succumb to what is rigidly held as politically correct but ponder upon everything holistically should be the general aim of any literature that deals with a topic as sensitive as the one covered in this book.
I have never felt too Bengali having spent a good portion of my childhood, adolescence and youth outside the state of West Bengal. So displacement as an aftermath of Partition in 1947 was too remote an incident to occupy my mind, even temporarily. This may be because my parents were already on the right side of the border when the event happened. There were no stories of flight. leaving all behind, in despair and agony. My aunts and uncles, though, had been coerced into leaving the family home due to circumstances and I always detected an anti-Muslim strain in their accounts of their erstwhile 'Desh. Yet, I didn't see a lot of anger among the displaced residents of Bengal, who may or may not have witnessed a brutal carnage as the one in undivided Punjab. However, I was made to feel special about being Bengali even outside Bengal as a probshi (Non-resident Bengali).
**Contents and Sample Pages**
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