Few Indians would be unaware of the Partition of the Indian subcontinent and the resultant trauma. It was not just the tearing apart of a nation, countless deaths, and mass displacement — it was a legacy of pain for generations to come. This disruption has been recorded in many stories, novels and memoirs, which is why the author of Farewell Karachi: A Partition Memoir, Bhawana Somaaya, says she was hesitant to add to the body of existing literature. Instead, she started writing it as a tribute, to document her family’s legacy and the troubles they endured.

Initially, it did not occur to her that she had been a victim of displacement, Somaaya says. But as her therapist explained, her parents had been, and she was “the recipient of the deep scars they endured”. As she says in the book, “Parents devote a lifetime to their children, but most children are blissfully unaware of their parents’ journey.” Documenting this journey was bittersweet for Somaaya. Recollections of Karachi were always present in the family stories and conversations, but the horrors were less spoken of.

A studio photograph of Somaaya’s parents when they were in their 20s. PIC COURTESY/BHAWANA SOMAAYA