Difficult Departure: A Study of Selected Short Stories Representing the Migration Experience of the Partition

In 1947 the Indian subcontinent was divided into India and Pakistan, an event which witnessed the largest exodus in the history of mankind with an estimated eighteen million people crossing the border in the hope of a safe homeland. The Partition on the basis of religion led to rampant riots between Hindus and Muslims. The barbarism and ferocity of the widespread violence compelled thousands of people to leave their homes and belongings and flee towards the safe side of the line. This forced migration has received a lot of contemplation and attention in literature. Writers of the Partition diaspora who lived through and survived this cataclysmic event have tried to capture the experience from various angles in their works. This paper attempts to understand the human dimension of migration through the genre of short stories. The short stories on Partition poignantly capture the myriad and incomprehensible emotions of the experience. They focus on these intense emotions and aspects of the Partition and deal with them so exquisitely as to leave a deep and powerful impact on the readers. The paper studies six short stories-Krishna Sobti's “Sikka Badal Gaya”, Mohinder Singh Sarna's “A Village Called Laddewala Varaich”, Saadat Hasan Manto's “Toba Tek Singh”, Gulzar's “Raavi Paar”, Mohan Rakesh's “Malbe ka Maalik” and Mohinder Singh Sarna's “A New Taj Mahal”-to unravel the emotional turmoil of departure, the uprootedness, the numbing loss and the longing for the homeland.