One Line Changes Everything

3/6/2018

The Night Diary by Veera Hirandani

"I will never understand, as long as I live, how a country could change overnight from only a line drawn."

By the time that I reached the concluding chapter of The Night Diary, Veera Hiranandani had succeeded in shattering my heart into a thousand tiny pieces.
At the tender age of twelve, Nisha's world has already been turned upside down. Living with her widowed father, younger brother Amil, and grandmother, she already experiences tension at home, as her grieving father plunges himself into his work as a physician at the Mirpus Khas city hospital. He becomes cold and aloof to his children, particularly to Amil.
However, life for Nisha becomes immensely more difficult after the 1947 partition of India. Two self-governing countries, India and Pakistan, are created to separate Muslim and Hindu populations.
Nisha's father is Hindu and her mother was Muslim. Nisah's family is forced to leave the India that they know and cross the Pakistani border. The journey becomes dangerous as religious hostilities escalate. Note: The author asserts that during this time over 14 million people crossed borders. An estimated one million people were killed during this migration .

The family flees on foot with only a sack of personal items, bedrolls, mosquito netting, and limited amounts of food and water. Travel is treacherous. Water becomes scarce. Dehydration, exhaustion, and fear of enemy attack become their constant companions. One time Nisha is held at knife point. Although they refuse to give voice to the thought, the possibility of death hovers in the minds of Nisha and her family.
The story concludes on a positive note. The family escapes intact and begins life in a new city. Nisha discovers that she possesses the courage to trust others, a willingness to make a new friend, and the strength to recover and share her voice.

Resources

Hiranandani’s novel, based on her family’s history, opened my mind and my heart to new ideas and experiences. Supplemental resources enriched my understanding and appreciation for The Night Diary.

Food and Phrases

"He taught me how to fold the dough over the filling and dab the edges with water before pressing the corners together. Each samosa felt like a small animal, soft and warm in my hand."

The author provides a glossary of words commonly used in India and Pakistan. I was fascinated by the references to food. Sampling regional dishes is an excellent way to bring Nisha's story to life. Yumm!

Dal

Kheer

Samosa

Roti

Journal

"...I've decided I'm going to write in it every day if I can. I want to explain things to you as if I'm writing a storybook, like The Jungle Book except without all the animals. I want to make it real so you can imagine it."

Kazi, the family's cook and Nisha's friend, gives her with a diary as a birthday gift. She begins to record the events of her life, including the family's journey. Her account brings a child's perspective to the way that political strife affects the young. The book also serves as a model for keeping a record of events and thoughts.

Maps

"Sometimes the world as you know it just decides to become something else."

I found it helpful to use maps to help me visualize past and present political boundaries. Tracing Nisha's life and her travels graphically brought context to the story.

Social Issues

"An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind," Papa said.

This middle grade novel is both unique to the 1947 conflict in India and universal as it explores the themes of racism, refugees, political turmoil, and religious oppression. It would be enlightening to compare current conditions with those Nisha experienced in 1947. In what ways is her experience still relevant in today's world?