Book Review on Remnants of a Separation: A History of the Partition through Material Memory by Aanchal Malhotra

A debut novel can say a lot about a writer. It tells us what the writer believes in, whether they are willing to go the extra mile to bring life to their storytelling, and how well read they are themselves. As a reader, I believe in continuously seeking out new authors, searching for such gems that can satiate my appetite for reading. One such search led me to the Instagram handle @aanch_m

Her posts on Instagram are beautiful photos complimented by beautiful captions. For a while now, I have maintained that captioning is an art that most people overlook. Of course, one cannot expect people to add unique captions to the same redundant selfies that they take all the time. But when it comes to photography with a message, the caption does matter immensely. Her writings on Instagram so captivated me that I instantly became an ardent follower. Every day she would upload an anecdote, a memory; sometimes heartbreaking, sometimes hopeful. I found myself suggesting friends to check out her account and see how important is the work that she has been doing. I added her to my ‘Writers to Keep a Watch out for’ List (the list also includes Kaushik Barua of Windhorse fame).

Early this year, Aanchal hinted that she was in talks with Harper Collins. The news got me ecstatic because it meant her book was on the way. Her years of research into the relics of material memory was soon going to be published in material form. I knew I had to get a copy for myself, there was no question about it. True to the theme of her stories, the book came out in August, the month of Independence and Separation.

Following someone online is one thing, and having a real, physical copy of their work in one’s hand is quite another. After more than a year of adoring her writing, I finally had a compilation of her work sitting between the palms of my hands. Word by word, page after page, I went on a journey with Aanchal that transcended the borders of the human mind. Her graceful writing expertly navigated the murky waters of the Partition to shed light on the “things that matter”.

I realize that so far I have only been praising her and haven’t yet divulged what it is that she has done to garner such praise. Her work is about archiving the memories that people brought and took across the border at the time of the great migration. Through the meagre material possessions that people carried, she retells the stories of entire families; their life as it was before the partition, their journey across and life afterwards. All that remained with these people after the move, the remnants, are what this book is about.

My favourite chapter from the book is the one about her grandfather and his family utensils. One can tell how fervently she believes in collecting and storing memories. In the course of creating this book, she has become a pensieve (#hpreference). Reading her has been a pleasure. She has converted me from a mere follower into an enchanted fan. An inspiration to the writers of her generation and the generations to come, Aanchal Malhotra has revived the pain of separation and left us with a longing for the past.