They would leave behind in Peshawar a fabulous house and vast lands, their horses and cars, in fact, an entire way of life. A family that had gifted the clock tower in Peshawar to Queen Victoria would go on to live a life of poverty as homeless refugees in India. Like the millions it affected, for Indira Varma too, the Partition was a sear that would remain, even as the wound healed with the passing of time.
In Lest We Forget, Varma lets her memory stretch as far back as it will. She recounts her family's years as refugees, her life shuttling between cities and towns until she finally settles in Delhi, and her journey to building a successful business in travel. Against all odds, Varma weaves for herself a life rich with poetry, family and friendships.
This is the story of lives upturned by the Partition, but it is also an ode to the power of love and that thing called hope.
First-person accounts have a special resonance, an attention to the small, everyday details, an interest in the minutiae of real lives that is often missing in dry, factual chronicles. They contain stories of suffering and endurance, pain and misery, even anger and guilt, as well as vignettes of hope and renewal, of courage and conviction, of rising above the constraints of time and circumstance.
Send as free online greeting card
Email a Friend
Manage Wishlist