Delhi in the Shadow of Partition

Abstract

Whereas Partition Fiction has been widely examined since the 1990s in echo to the historian ‘Partition mania’, the movement naī kahānī (New Story) that emerged in the early 1950’s in the Hindi literary field has received comparatively little attention in research adopting this perspective. In fact, Partition does not represent a central position in the themes that naī kahānī developed or explored; rather, they focus on the quotidian experiences of ordinary men and women, set mostly in an urban environment (predominantly, Delhi) characterised by an oppressive atmosphere. However, Kamleshwar, a critic and novelist and a 'key' theorist of naī kahānī, has identified a clear link between the 'role of naī kahānī' and the memory of the 1947 violence and exile. The fact that Delhi, which was profoundly impacted by forced migrations, remains a prominent locale in numerous naī kahānī stories and novels, underscores a discernible correlation between the genesis of this movement and the harrowing experience of Partition. As historian Pandey writes, “the Delhi of the 1950s to the 1980s was a 'Partition' city” (1997: 2263). The present study aims to illuminate the 'shadows of Partition' in two exemplary naī kahānī fictions—one story and one novel—in which Delhi plays a pivotal role. The fate of the characters, who are not explicitly described as refugees, reflects the specific historical context of post-1947 Delhi.