Your book tells the reader about Nehru’s state of mind during the Partition, Mohammad Ali Jinnah’s inner turmoil, and the worst bits about the Emergency. For an entire generation, these events find place only in history textbooks and elders’ tales. How does your book attempt to address them?
I fully agree. Many of my readers, though aware of the impact of these events in India’s history, weren’t around to experience the tension, outrage and jubilation. And that’s exactly why I have written this book — to offer a ‘current history’ of the country by taking them back behind the scenes during these events — the way only a journalist can. And for precisely this reason, the book starts off with a background of the times before the Partition, not from August 14, 1947. I want young readers to know what led to such a defining moment in our history and how it still impacts their future. We are emotional people and I think it was important to put out the emotions involved behind the political decision of the Partition. That’s the job of a journalist.

With Lal Bahadur Shastri during the Lok Sabha elections, 1957. Pic Courtesy/ Roli books