The by-product of Independence

Every silver lining comes backed by a black cloud: freedom has a price, as India discovered 60 years ago, when it gained Independence.

The Asia Society India Centre in association with Janapravaha, a centre for arts education, reminds the modern Indian of this with Remembering Partition, a series of four documentary films, a talk and a panel discussion.

Partition and Living with Oneself, a lecture by Ashis Nandy (ICSSR National Fellow, Centre for the Study of Developing Societies, New Delhi), will be followed by the screening of two documentary films, Sara Singh’s The Sky Below, and Amar Kanwar’s A Season Outside, on August 11.

August 12 will showcase Yousuf Saeed’s Khayal Darpan and Ajay Bharadwaj’s Rabba Hum Kee Kariye, followed by a panel discussion on Representing History.

Featuring first person accounts of former terrorists, ordinary people, historians, politicians and others from India and Pakistan, The Sky Below focuses on little known aspects of Partition.

A Season Outside starts at the Wagah border between the two countries and traces a personal and philosophical journey through the shadows of the past, conflicting positions, borders and time zones.

Khayal Darpan is a musical documentary featuring musicians of Pakistan, exploring the nation’s melodic past, especially in Punjab and Lahore, looking at how the partition of India in 1947 affected classical music in South Asia.

Rabba Hun Kee Kariye shares the common history of a people divided by brutal and organised genocide, the story of once happy neighbours torn apart by guilt as seen from a perspective of 60 years later.

Remembering Partition, Aug 11 (6 pm) and Aug 12 (4 pm), Jnanapravaha, Queens Mansion, Fort, Mumbai