Sameera Chauhan was 10 years old when she discovered that there were two Punjabs – one in India and the other in Pakistan.
She was told that her grandmother grew up in the part of Punjab that went to Pakistan after the partition in 1947 – like millions of others, she fled to escape the violence that flared up after the event.
When the British left India, they divided the country into two independent nations – India and Pakistan. Millions of people were displaced, and religious violence killed hundreds of thousands.
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Though Ms. Chauhan’s generation is twice removed from the partition, she says her grandmother’s stories brought alive the trauma it caused. It also helped her understand why her grandmother was a reticent person who lived in a “constant state of anxiety”.
She isn’t alone. Many young people of Indian and Pakistani descent across the world are reckoning with the scars left by partition on their families. Some have started social media projects to share stories, while others are helping people find lost family members.
Seventy-five years after the event, the BBC spoke to some young people whose grandparents experienced partition to understand how it has impacted their lives.
Devika Arora, 26, remembers her grandfather – who died last year – being careful with money. He also wanted to be in control always, a desire that manifested as fierce, almost stubborn independence.
“He wouldn’t rely on any of his children or grandchildren for help,” Ms Arora says.
His behavior only began making sense to Ms. Arora after she heard him talk about partition.
“During the partition, he experienced his life spiral out of control overnight. He spent the rest of his life never wanting to lose control again,” she says.
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Like millions, Ms. Arora’s grandfather lost many family members during the partition.
“He would tell me how he watched his mother and four sisters jump inside a well, which was then covered with blankets and set on fire by members of the community. They did this to save themselves from being raped by rampaging mobs,” she says.
The teenager made the journey from Multan city in Pakistan to India alone. He was just 16 years old when he arrived in Delhi, with nothing but the clothes he was wearing.
“The feeling that life can be grotesquely unpredictable settled in his bones,” she says. “I don’t think it ever left him.”
