Surbhi Dewan: My engagement with lost homes and homelands began the day I was born into a family of survivors of the Partition (of the British Empire that led to the creation of India and Pakistan in 1947). That feeling of loss continued to cling on to me well into adulthood, and seeped into my academic and professional pursuits. Empathy for lives shaped by loss brought me to the world of storytelling. Last year, I helped create a beautiful documentary film about the lives of people affected by the Partition. We interviewed a lot of people, mostly family and friends of family on both sides of the border. Somehow, the narratives of the women we interviewed stood out. Their pain seemed to be more personal, heartfelt and almost tangible, even after almost seven decades. The following are excerpts from an interview I conducted with my grand-aunt, Jitender Sethi, during the production of A Thin Wall, a documentary film about personal narratives from the Partition. The anecdotes mentioned here have not been featured in the film. More here.