Aanchal Malhotra

Aanchal Malhotra is an Indian historian and writer, best known for her work on oral history and material culture of the partition of India in 1947. Quotes ...If I go in with a clear idea of what I want, I’m never going to see anything else. Deviation always lets you find interesting things... ...My name is on the cover, but the book isn’t about me. I’m just a catalyst for their stories... ...I don’t think people think enough about what happens after a story is told. I never considered it either till that point. Recounting something like this could take people back to a moment where they have no power over themselves... ...Partition stories are complicated and often contradictory. Hate and anger can coexist with longing, yearning and even malice in the same conversation... Interview with Aanchal Malhotra by The Telegraph India ...Every meeting is unique, every conversation presents new challenges and realities, every memory suggests another perspective. With each interviewee, you gauge the threshold of your questioning. You discover biases you never knew you had, you unlearn and relearn, often with great difficulty. You cross borders, and encounter political opinions different from your own. You face hesitation and reticence, anger and confusion, tears and remorse. You understand that people live with wounds that are older than you are. You learn to take care of the sadness of others... ...“Separation” meant that there was hope still for us to come together as neighbours who shared history, and a hope for reconciliation... ...in the world that we live in today, perhaps even remembering has become a political act... Interview, Aanchal Malhotra, Author, Remnants of Partition: 21 Objects from a Continent Divided? - “You learn to take care of the sadness of others”