How the Sindhi community made Bengaluru their home post-Partition

Partition in 1947 created minorities in India and Pakistan. As Amitav Ghosh says in The Shadow Lines, the international border that separates two countries are merely shadow lines that don’t exist in reality; it is natural for everybody who belonged to pre-independent India to feel this way.

Taking this as the focus for her documentary, Tejshvi Jain, a museum professional and an educator has made a documentary, Connected Histories: Sindhi Colony and the Partition of India, to explore the lesser-told stories of Partition. The documentary revolves around the Sindhi community that migrated to Bengaluru during the Partition.

“The documentary begins with Partition survivors talking about their shared experiences, and how the Sindhi Colony in today’s Bengaluru came into being. It then throws light on the harmony established between Sindhi and non-Sindhi residents,” Tejshvi, 42, says on the phone from Bengaluru.

Exploring the history of this colony through two generations, Tejshvi hopes to create awareness about the community among the locals of Bengaluru.

A still from the documentary ‘Connected Histories: Sindhi Colony and the Partition of India’
| Photo Credit: Special Arrangement

“Partition led to an unprecedented displacement of people from the security of their homes. Many were forced to travel long distances and start their lives from scratch. What started as a small colony of Sindhi refugees in Bengaluru has now become a microcosm of the community,” she says.

“Through this film, I explore how Bengaluru as a city responded to the huge influx of refugees, how the newcomers preserved their traditions, adapted new ones and how it impacts the socio-cultural fabric of present-day Bengaluru,” she says.

Created through the ReReeti Foundation that works to support and revitalise museums in India as places of learning, delight and meaningful engagement, the stories from the film will plug into a larger project that ReReeti is working on called UnDivided Identities-Unknown. Tejshvi, the founder-director, says through this film, she hopes to make history more relatable.

This film has been made possible by an India Foundation of Arts Project 560 Neighbourhood Arts Grant awarded to Tejshvi, and she aims to create an online experience to explore the Partition and its aftermath. The film will be screened on March 9, 2022, at 8 pm. Those interested in a viewing can register for it here.