Archive · 14 Aug 2026
Cross-Border Team Turns Partition Memories Into Book of Empathy
A very long time ago, in 1947, a big region called India was split into two countries, India and Pakistan, and families had to leave their homes.
This is called Partition, and it was very sad for many people.
Three young friends, Sandeep, Faisal and Ritika, grew up hearing stories about it from their grandparents.
They lived in different countries but met online and decided to talk to people who remembered those sad times.
They made a Facebook page called Bolti Khidki, which means The Speaking Window, to collect these stories.
The friends drove around to many cities and talked to almost one hundred survivors.
Some of the survivors told amazing stories, like a man who started by selling peanuts and later became a High Court judge.
The friends put 47 of these stories into a book that was published by Oxford University Press.
Now people everywhere can read how people felt during Partition and understand their pain.
The friends say the work taught them to listen carefully, because you never know what someone is carrying in their heart.
Most of the survivors they talked to have passed away now, but their stories live on in the book.
Sandeep from Ludhiana, Faisal Hayat from Rawalpindi and Ritika from Canada collaborated across borders on the 'Bolti Khidki' (The Speaking Window) project, which began as a Facebook page in 2017.
The project led to the Oxford University Press book 'The Speaking Window: Tales from a Bloodied Timeline', preserving the living voices of Partition survivors.
The team located around 200 survivors and interviewed nearly 100 across 52 cities in India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and beyond, with 47 accounts chosen for the book.
One featured story is that of Justice J C Verma, who was orphaned in Karachi, sold peanuts on the streets of Ferozepur, and later rose to become a High Court judge.
Faisal said survivors often expressed regret that they could not see their motherland one last time, and many of those interviewed have since died.
- Who
- Three young collaborators: Sandeep from Ludhiana, Faisal Hayat from Rawalpindi, and Ritika from Canada.
- What
- They published 'The Speaking Window: Tales from a Bloodied Timeline', an Oxford University Press book documenting Partition survivors' memories.
- When
- The collaboration began as the 'Bolti Khidki' Facebook page in 2017; the book has now been published.
- Where
- India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and beyond, with survivors interviewed across 52 cities.
- Why
- To preserve the living voices of Partition survivors and build empathy across borders.
- Book title
- The Speaking Window: Tales from a Bloodied Timeline
- Publisher
- Oxford University Press
- Project origin
- 'Bolti Khidki' Facebook page, 2017
- Survivors located
- Around 200
- Survivors interviewed
- Nearly 100
- Cities covered
- 52
- Accounts in book
- 47
- Countries covered
- India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and beyond