Gazing at Neighbours

<p><strong style=background-color: rgba(255 255 255 1); color: rgba(15 17 17 1)>About the Book</strong></p><p><strong style=background-color: rgba(255 255 255 1); color: rgba(15 17 17 1)>AN INTERESTING TAKE AT THE PARTITION OF THE INDIAN SUBCONTINENT THIS BOOK LOOKS AT THE PLACES DOTTING INDIA'S BORDERS WITH ITS NEIGHBOURS AND THE PEOPLE WHO LIVE THERE.</strong></p><p><span style=background-color: rgba(255 255 255 1); color: rgba(15 17 17 1)>In July 1947 British barrister Cyril Radcliffe was summoned to New Delhi and given five weeks to draw on the map of the subcontinent two zigzagged lines that would decide the future of one-fifth of the human race.</span></p><p><span style=background-color: rgba(255 255 255 1); color: rgba(15 17 17 1)>One line 553 kilometres long created the province of West Punjab; the other adding up to 4096 kilometres carved out a province called East Bengal. Both territories joined the newborn nation of Pakistan-an event called the Partition of India which saw one million people being butchered and another fifteen million uprooted from their homes.</span></p><p><span style=background-color: rgba(255 255 255 1); color: rgba(15 17 17 1)>Enough and more has been written about the horrors of Partition but what of the people who actually inhabit the land through which these lines run?</span></p><p><span style=background-color: rgba(255 255 255 1); color: rgba(15 17 17 1)>Curiosity leads Bishwanath Ghosh into journeying along the Radcliffe Line-through the vibrant greenery of Punjab as well as the more melancholic landscape of the states surrounding Bangladesh-and examining first hand life on the border. Recording his encounters and experiences in luminous prose </span><em style=background-color: rgba(255 255 255 1); color: rgba(15 17 17 1)>Gazing at Neighbours</em><span style=background-color: rgba(255 255 255 1); color: rgba(15 17 17 1)> is a narrative of historical stock-taking as much as of travel.</span></p><p></p><p><strong style=background-color: rgba(255 255 255 1); color: rgba(15 17 17 1)>About the Author</strong></p><p><span style=background-color: rgba(255 255 255 1); color: rgba(15 17 17 1)>Bishwanath Ghosh born in Kanpur on 26 December 1970 is the author of the hugely popular </span><em style=background-color: rgba(255 255 255 1); color: rgba(15 17 17 1)>Chai Chai: Travels in Places Where You Stop But Never Get Off</em><span style=background-color: rgba(255 255 255 1); color: rgba(15 17 17 1)>. He's also a Hindi poet who has two well-received compilations-</span><em style=background-color: rgba(255 255 255 1); color: rgba(15 17 17 1)>Jiyo Banaras</em><span style=background-color: rgba(255 255 255 1); color: rgba(15 17 17 1)> and </span><em style=background-color: rgba(255 255 255 1); color: rgba(15 17 17 1)>Tedhi-Medhi Lakeeren</em><span style=background-color: rgba(255 255 255 1); color: rgba(15 17 17 1)>-to his credit. His other books include </span><em style=background-color: rgba(255 255 255 1); color: rgba(15 17 17 1)>Tamarind City: Where Modern India Began; Longing Belonging: An Outsider at Home in Calcutta</em><span style=background-color: rgba(255 255 255 1); color: rgba(15 17 17 1)> and </span><em style=background-color: rgba(255 255 255 1); color: rgba(15 17 17 1)>Gazing at Neighbours: Travels Along the Line that Partitioned India</em><span style=background-color: rgba(255 255 255 1); color: rgba(15 17 17 1)>. He is an Associate Editor with </span><em style=background-color: rgba(255 255 255 1); color: rgba(15 17 17 1)>The Hindu</em><span style=background-color: rgba(255 255 255 1); color: rgba(15 17 17 1)> newspaper and lives in Calcutta.</span></p>