Gulzar's book reveals the real story behind the making of India and Pakistan

This is our second visit to Gulzars Pali Hill bungalow and the one thing that appears to remain unchanged apart from his trademark starched white kurtapyjama is the veteran lyricists hospitality Even before we settle in his study the only area that has been spared of the ongoing renovation work he calls in for refreshments When we politely refuse he insists not once but a couple of times till we give in The last time when we showed up on a hot summer afternoon Gulzar had thoughtfully suggested nimbu paani today owing to the foggy weather we engage over coffeeGulzar Picnimesh daveOne cant deny that this warmth comes naturally to the octogenarian but when he shares a story from many moons ago and one that is closely related to his debut novel Two HarperCollins India based on the Partition we know the roots go deeper I grew up in a home where our doors were open for anybody who came from the other side Pakistan It was like a refugee camp my father Sardar Makhan Singh Kalra was always welcoming recalls Gulzar of the days following the Partition Gulzar whose family had homes in Delhi and Dina now in Pakistan had to forgo the latter Ive seen the Partition and it affected me terribly he recalls I was only 11 or 12 when I saw people being killed right in front of my eyes I cry today when I think about it but I didnt cry then I was too stunned to absorb what was happening around me But for more than 25 years after that incident I would have nightmares of the riots I would refuse to go back to sleep terrified that Id see that same dream again So you can imagine how much of the Partition still remains with me he addsHe began writing his new novel in Urdu three years ago and later translated it into English It emerged from the need to purge his mind of those haunting memories he admits Gulzars own journey as a writer began with him reading and rereading the works of Saadat Hasan Manto and Rajinder Singh Bedi who wrote on the disturbing aftermath of the recklessly drawn borders They were familiar stories for me Their works subconsciously taught me how to express myself he says It began with poetry short stories and later plays all on the same subject For some reason I never had the patience to write a novel he recalls But the need to write Two arose from the fact that people like him who had experienced the Partition first hand hadnt fully recovered A riot here or there and I was reminded of those days again he says He tells us now and also explains in the book why healing wasnt something that could ever be achieved Unlike say the effects of the Second World War which found an outlet in the arts in the books that have been written on it and films that have addressed its horrors there has been very little discussion around the Partition Its like a family secret shares GulzarThe novel hence becomes less a narrative and more a graph to capture the aftereffects on the lives of the people Did they ever settle down after being uprooted Gulzar asks The need to investigate this took him back to meeting many relatives and friends who shared this common bloodied history The novel opens in Campbellpur todays Attock in Pakistan and offers the reader a brief glimpse of the untainted lives of the people of this small city before they turn against each other It drifts and moves in nonlinear fashion from the Partition to Independence the many riots in the 20th and 21st century and all we get is a semblance of no resolution from the pain and despair When Gulzar began writing this novel he thought that putting down everything he had felt and experienced would help him let off some steam We ask if it did He remains silent for a while before answering That will perhaps never be possible