India Before Independence: Memories

Author:

Various aiuthors

Category:

Life Back Then

Subodh Mathur and Sfoorti Mathur, with help from Rakshat Hooja, have co-edited and published a book India Before Independence: Memories. This is a collection of true stories related to the lives of people before India became independent in 1947. In a few stories the narrative continues beyond India's independence. There are 31 contributing authors. They are Indians from different parts of India, Britishers, and one Pakistani.

The stories are based on the memories of the authors, which we know are sometimes fuzzy and selective. Some of the memories are about national events, some are personal remembrances, and some are mini biographies.

The purpose of collecting the stories in this book is to convey a sense of life as it happened during the pre-Independence years. We hope older readers will find the book nostalgic, while younger ones will enjoy the personalized narrative of history.

The stories originally appeared on this website. There are many more pre-Independence and post-Independence stories on this website.

Cover Page. 2019
Top. Left, A Punjabi couple in Lahore 1930s. Right, A man from Rajasthan who went to Assam as a teenager in the 1980s
Bottom. Left, A Bengali woman, 1930s. Right, a Kannada family, early 1900s
Middle. Left, A Parsi gentleman, 1940s. Right, An Agra woman's wedding proposal photo, 1930s