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“What is separation’s geography?” is the question at the heart of Onaiza Drabu and Prachi Jha’s 2019 Scroll.in selection, What Is Separation’s Geography? Ten Poems on the Partition. It approaches the 1947 division of the subcontinent through ten poets whose work traces violence, displacement, memory, and the ties that endure across borders. The selection ranges beyond Punjab to include Bengal and other regional perspectives; it is a curated web article, not a single poem or a newly published anthology.
What the selection is—and what it is not
Published on 17 August 2019, the article revisits Partition through verse and memories passed down across generations. Drabu and Jha introduce the poems as perspectives from regions deeply affected by the division and its aftermath. The piece first appeared on The Dawn, according to its Scroll.in publication.
The selection presents ten poets through excerpts, English translations in some cases, and brief contextual notes. Its scope is literary rather than statistical: it does not report a study or quantify Partition’s effects. The poems offer distinct voices, not one uniform account or political interpretation.
Which poets and poems appear?
The article names Faiz Ahmed Faiz, W.H. Auden, Jibanananda Das, Amrita Pritam, Shiv Kumar Batalvi, Agyeya, Mehjoor, Annada Shankar Ray, Nida Fazli, and Agha Shahid Ali. Named poems include “Subh-e-Azaadi,” “Partition,” “Khoka O Khuku,” “Tomra jekhane shaadh chole jao – aami ei Bangla’r paare roye jabo,” “Waris Shah,” “Hamara Rakt,” “Azadee,” “By the Waters of Sind,” and “Yahan Bhi Wahan Bhi.” The selection uses works from several languages and regions, with translation helping bring some of them to English-language readers.
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In the introduction, the editors call Partition “a singularly traumatic experience in the subcontinent, both politically and emotionally, for people of all faiths and social standing.” The poems give that broad framing particular human dimensions: disrupted homes, loss, inherited memory, and identities reshaped by separation.
How the poems map separation
Punjab and Bengal, not one region alone
The selection’s geography is plural. Punjab is present, but the introduction also foregrounds Bengal and the consequences felt across more than one region. Jibanananda Das and Annada Shankar Ray are among the poets named in the piece, and one of its titles evokes remaining on the Bengal side. Reading the selection solely as a Punjabi account would miss its cross-regional framing.
Home, memory, and loss
Across the excerpts, Partition is not only a line drawn on a map. The poems approach the emotional cost of displacement and the loss of familiar places, while also showing how memories of home can persist across generations. Their differing styles and contexts matter: one poem’s lament or image should not be treated as a summary of all the others.
Connections that survive borders
The selection also attends to continuities across separation. Agha Shahid Ali’s “By the Waters of Sind,” which closes the article’s sequence, gives particular resonance to the title question. Its placement helps frame geography as something lived through memory and attachment as well as territory. The poem is one perspective within the selection, not a final answer that erases the differences among the other voices.
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- Read the short notes alongside the excerpts; they provide context for a collection spanning poets and languages.
- Notice the change in place and perspective from one poem to another rather than forcing the pieces into a single narrative.
- Keep the distinction between political division and human experience in view: the selection is concerned with both.
- Allow for the limits of excerpts and translation. The article introduces poems to readers; it is not a substitute for each complete work or its original-language context.
The complete selection is available in the Scroll.in article.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.A separate anthology for further reading
Silence Between the Notes: An Anthology of Partition Poetry is a related but separate book, edited by Aftab Husain and Sarita Jenamani. The 1947 Partition Archive describes its 2019 Dhauli Books anthology as including contributions in Urdu, Punjabi, Sindhi, English, Hindi, Bengali, and Kashmiri. It should not be confused with, or described as a reproduction of, Drabu and Jha’s Scroll selection. The publisher lists the title in its current catalog; availability may change.
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