History, taught unilaterally in schools and colleges, was so distinctly experienced by the citizens of the newly independent India. People from different geographical areas, speaking different languages, and having lived myriad lives, remember the events differently. Is it then fair for us to study History as merely a compilation of dates and treaties and not interrogate into the lives of ordinary citizens who got affected by these?

This is a people’s history, focusing primarily on the second half of the 20th century; from the time when India got Independence to the end of the century with the Vajpayee years and the Kargil War.

The interviewees in this oral history documentation are from different parts of the country ranging from Calcutta to Ladakh to Delhi to Shillong to Hyderabad. Ananya also uses her training as post-colonial scholar to understand how culture and memory get influenced and complemented by each other. It also documents these cross-fertilizations, and try to understand how memory is are preserved, and how it is violated.

In such a changing political milieu, these questions and concerns are urgently alive.