Independence Day often awakens celebratory memories in people but it is not always so for the Sindhi community. Their memories, which have been passed down to at least two generations already, are about India’s violent Partition.

As many may know, on August 14-15, 1947, the Indian subcontinent was separated into two independent nations of Hindu-majority India and Muslim-majority Pakistan. Since the Partition occurred on the basis of religion, it also displaced about 15 million people in the process. The Hindu Sindhi community, who originated from the region of Sindh across the border, were among those affected. Two Sindhi Mumbaikars talk to Mid-day about the many stories they have heard growing up from grandparents and relatives who had to leave behind everything they knew and loved during that period of turmoil.