Summary

The third section of the Night Diary begins with Nisha’s letter to her mother on August 15, 1947 and ends with her letter on August 20, 1947. Her family is packing up to leave their home in Mirpur Khas, and everyone is devastated. Papa explains that Lord Mountbatten of Great Britain, Jinnah, representing the Muslims, and Nehru, representing everyone else, all agreed to a partition and that non-Muslims are leaving in droves. When Nisha finds out that Kazi will not be accompanying them across the border into the ‘new’ India, she breaks down. She begs him to come with them, but he says he must remain where he is or risk putting them in danger. Kazi then gifts Nisha a mortar and pestle and encourages her to keep on cooking in her next home.

On what was meant to be their last night in Mirpur Khas, the...