Soumitra Banerji’s Liminal Tides is a deeply moving fictional account of India’s Partition, capturing the pivotal years from 1942 to 1947. While it primarily focuses on the Partition of India, its relevance to the current turmoil in Bangladesh is striking. The recent collapse of the Sheikh Hasina government in August this year, and the political unrest in Pakistan since 2022, make Banerji’s themes of migration, border conflicts and communal strife all the more resonant in today’s geopolitical landscape.
At the core of Liminal Tides are the intertwined lives of three families—the Bandhopadhyays, Rawats and Khannas—originating from various regions of undivided India. Banerji expertly weaves their stories together, highlighting the enormous human cost of Partition. What distinguishes this novel from other works on the subject is its emphasis on ordinary people’s personal and emotional experiences rather than focusing solely on political machinations.
The characters, drawn from real-life experiences, reflect the stories of millions forced to flee their homes, abandon their possessions and start over in unfamiliar lands. Banerji writes, “The Khannas, and so many from their displaced society, were virtually threatened out of their businesses, homes and comfort to drift into the uncertainty of a new country..
. a place foreign to them, having to start from scratch with no support but of the divine. And the divine, both for the Khannas and Rawats were the Bandhopadhyay.