Searching for Love, Memory, and Harmony Amidst the Indian Partition Through Chughtai’s <i>Roots</i>

Abstract

The Indian partition of 1947-48, following the country’s independence from British rule, is one of the most heinous events in modern history. It recorded a massive migration across the newly formed nation-states and witnessed over a million deaths due to communal violence, gendered atrocities, and forced eviction resulting from the confusion over one’s identity and ‘homeland.’ Ismat Chughtai’s short story Roots encapsulates the various nuances of the Partition through the eyes of Amma, a Muslim woman, standing symbolic of a generation whose memories remain etched in the warmth and harmony of the pre-partition days. She stands as a witness to the gradual change in her familial circumstances and that of their relationship with their Hindu neighbors over time, due to the formation of the binary ‘us’ and ‘they.’ The paper shows forth how love and the sense of ‘belonging’ that lies at the heart of this short story rupture the differences between the two families and bring back harmony and brotherhood between them, thereby making them remember their ‘roots.’