Summary

“Return to Partition” opens to the 1947 violent exodus from the India-Pakistan split. Nur Nasreen Ibrahim recounts his grandfather’s travels to the border to become part of the newly formed Pakistan Army, and the tumultuous train ride of his grandmother. In 2007, Ibahim, his grandfather, and many family members cross the border into India to find the family home of grandfather’s youth. In India the author expects a sense of enemy territory, but only sees that the fields in India look like the ones in Pakistan. Reaching Jalandhar, the family is greeted by a newspaper reporter, alerted to the grandfather’s return to his original city. They dine at their guide’s house, and it is a complimentary welcome. They find the grandfather’s old house and several Hindu families happily invite them in and tell them they can look around as long...