A partition story book, told in your grandparent's own voice

Printed copies are paid, so each household in the family can keep one.

1. Cover

   The old place and the new in the title, over an old family portrait or a photo of the elder today. For example, Lyallpur Se Ludhiana: Bauji's Story.

2. In their own words

   A short opening note on who asked for the book and who told it. If a family member recorded the answers on the elder's behalf, the book says "as told to" and names them.

3. The old place

   The house, the lane, the neighbours, the school and the festivals, as the elder remembers them. Places keep the names the elder uses, and their own dialect words stay in, with a small glossary at the back.

4. Leaving

   What the family took with them and who helped on the way. This chapter holds only what the elder chose to say. A skipped question leaves no gap and no placeholder.

5. The first year in a new city

   Arriving, finding work, the first home and the people who made room for the family. Photos and old documents sit beside the chapters that mention them.

6. What stayed with us

   What the elder misses most about the old place, the objects that came along, and a message for the grandchildren. This is one family's memory, not a history book, so we never add events or facts the elder did not tell.

7. Hear it in their voice

1. What do you call them, and which language will they answer in? (tap: Hindi, Hinglish or English)
2. Where did the family live before they left? (type the village or town by the name the family uses for it)
3. Where did the family settle, and roughly when? (type the place, tap a decade)
4. What was your village like before 1947? / 1947 se pehle aapka gaon kaisa tha? (this and the next questions go to the elder one at a time, each with a skip button)
5. What did your family take with them? / Aapka parivaar apne saath kya le gaya tha?
6. Who helped you on the way? / Raaste mein aapki madad kisne ki?
7. What was the first year in the new city like? / Naye shehar mein pehla saal kaisa tha?
8. What do you miss most about the old place? / Purani jagah ki sabse zyada yaad kis cheez ki aati hai?

• Grandchildren who realise nobody has recorded Nana's journey from Lyallpur or Thakuma's from Barisal
• Families whose elders moved from Punjab, Sindh or Bengal in 1947, or in the years around 1971
• An elder who is ready to talk, in Hindi, Hinglish or English, at their own pace
• Siblings and cousins in different cities who each want a copy for their home

• Classic heirloom: cream pages, serif type and sepia photo plates
• Bilingual editorial: the elder's language with English on the facing page, in large type for older readers
• Folk border: chapter openers drawn from the region of the old home, such as phulkari or kantha patterns
• Vintage scrapbook: photo corners, inland letters and old postcard motifs
• Modern minimal: white space and large portraits, for grandchildren who live abroad