How looking back can empower you to move forward Ishita Ranjan TEDxSquareMile

how much do you really know about your family history could you tell me about the details and the intricacies could you tell me about their stories and how they shaped you year ago honestly couldn't have answered these questions couldn't have told you what actually knew about my ancestors but then there was moment that changed all that for me it starts as many of my favorite moments - was sitting at home on the sofa in my PJs with cup of tea was flicking through the TV channels and landed on documentary about the independence of India and the partition that folded the documentary followed the stories of four british asians as they traced back their family members who had crossed the india-pakistan border during the time of partition for the first time that day saw families on the screen that looks like mine and people like me searching for answers as watched this documentary - thoughts crossed my mind the first was how familiar some of this footage felt saw these images of families packed tightly together in carts on boats on trains whatever they kids desperate to flee and then saw this one single image an image of boat the kind that would have been used to carry people to safety from one Shore to another and this one single image made me realize why it all felt so familiar even though partition had happened several decades ago as was watching this documentary in the summer of 2017 the Syrian refugee crisis was fully unfolding across our screens by this point 12 million Syrians had left their homes six million were actively seeking refuge and thousands were camped out in the jungles of Calais just across these shores the second thought that came to my mind was an incredibly overwhelming one I've been watching the news every single day but had never not once connected the dots we never used the word refugee in my family definitely not to describe my grandparents but my grandparents had been alive during partition and they too had crossed the india-pakistan border leaving behind their homes and everything that they knew maybe just maybe the trains and the boats they cost in wouldn't have been so different to the ones that was seeing on the news and then was felt for this moment of sadness because had never asked my grandparents about these experiences was they were alive had never found out their stories and what it had been like for them so for the last year and half have been tracing back my grandparents story as they crossed the border during the time of partition and we settled was spoken to dozens of people who lived through the experience of partition have dug through newspapers and archives over read the literature and the poetry of the time am by no means partition expert but the lessons that have learned from looking backwards have taught me incredibly important lessons about moving forwards so today would like you to come back with me would like you to travel through space and through time all the way to India all the way back 72 years ago to the land that my grandparents grew up in would like you to imagine balmy summer's evening it is the midnight of the 14th of August 1947 it is in some ways magical evening and the air is electric with anticipation because an entire nation is waiting for history to be made as the Sun sets on India that evening it does so on one country and as it rises the next morning it does so unto the Indian Independence Act of 1947 that gave India back its freedom after nearly 200 years of the British Empire invading and ruling over its land also came with it price in its final binding piece of legislation the British Empire negotiated that there should be land for his Hindus and land of Muslims and so India became India and Pakistan these near borders resulted in the largest forced migration in the history of our world leaving behind trail of death destruction and displacement 14 million people were displaced thousands of families torn apart thousands of women and girls on both sides of the border kidnapped and raped staggering two million people died can you imagine losing your home your identity your nationality now can you imagine this happening on mass scale to millions of families partition was without shadow of doubt one of the most heartbreaking events to happen in the world it redefined the fates of entire nations and Families my family was one of these during the time of partition my grandparents who had not met yet we're in East Pakistan or as we came to know it after 1971 Bangladesh they were both Hindus which meant that they had no choice but to cross the border my grandfather crossed first before partition has formally announced it was decision that many families made as rumors of the divide was circulating and violence was gradually escalating my grandmother followed several years after partition had been formalized and after she met my grandfather they were married and they reset old in Kolkata in West Bengal in house on 66 be pox tree 66 be Park Street is an address that holds deeply profound meaning for my family it was the first home that my grandfather and our entire extended family had when they resettle din it was home that saw generations of my family grow up these memories from childhood to old age hacked in between the wars of three rooms and veranda that used to get splattered when the monsoon rains came what I've only recently come to appreciate though is what it means to have home like this when you've lost one it was such labor of love for my grandfather to have this home as the eldest son in the family he seemed large share of the responsibility for enabling his family to resettle that included helping them cross the border earn living and of course have roof above their heads I've always thought of my grandfather as an incredibly patient and gentle man but my research hurt me discovered new side to him learned that at the time he came to Kolkata the city in the surrounding districts were still recovering from the Bengal famine the Bengal famine was man-made famine that killed three million people in mere two years from 1942 to 1944 three million in two years no place was left untouched by the famine it was made so much worse by wartime colonial policies and massively accelerated inequalities the result was that millions of families were left in debt and there was deeply struggling economy at the time that my grandfather came to Kolkata it was not prosperous city it was definitely not one built for thriving it was difficult place to be learned that he worked incredibly hard to set up his construction business which manufactured bricks and built homes and offices one of the stories that heard over and over again about my grandfather who was about how relentless he was in his attitude to work he would go out for hours on end each and every single day in the heat and the dust of the city doing whatever it could to drum up business knocking on doors investing his time his money and his energy over time he was able to grow this business so it not only provided stable income for himself but went on to employees her 30 to 40 people each day men and women alike who like him worked long hard hours like to think that in some way my grandfather's business and the hard work that so many people put into it in some way help to rebuild Kolkata brick by brick into the city that it is now so what learned from my grandfather is that there is no shortcut for the hard work and there is no substitute for grit learnt that he put in the hard work and the grit so he could lay the foundations to survive so that those that came after him could thrive and so my family were able to move into 66b parks tree spent many school summer holiday visiting my grandparents and when think about these summers think about the heat the humidity the constant noise of car horns the incredible food and the smell of the barn that my grandma was no doubt chewing on bond known here is betel leaf is leaf that is combined with tobacco and is the small guilty vise of many in India the chewing of pond is like ritual its preparation as important as its consumption my grandma took this ritual ver very seriously and she was always surrounded by an assortment of these small tins in which she used to store all the various bits needed for her pond to my surprise one of the stories that learned about her doing my research or about these very same tins learned that she crossed the border after partition had been formalized she was young single woman and it was an incredibly dangerous time for her learnt this she took whatever valuable she managed to get ahold of and put them in these very same tins which she then hid in her blouse and hidden her sari I'm leaving behind everything that she knew she remained resourceful and determined woman this determination she carried with her her whole life in the upheaval of her childhood my grandma did not get the chance to finish school so after she was married and she make became mother she made sure that each one of her children had that chance to complete her their education the chance that she hadn't had herself this was true not only for her son but also for her daughters my grandma fought against social pressures and family expectations to make sure that each one of her children were educated she taught us that education is absolutely everything why learnt from tracing back both of my grandparents stories is how much hard work and determination they put in so that they could survive so that those who followed them could one day thrive so now would like you to come back I'd like you to come back from India back from 1947 all the way back to this moment I've spoken lot about my grandparents today researching my family history as fundamentally make made me change the way that over you not only myself but the world that we live in believe that each and every single displaced person should have the right to the opportunity to rebuild their lives just like my grandparents did this opportunity to resettle and rebuild is one that research shows can have massive impact so if you're one for numbers here are some for you in the UK analysis from the Center for Entrepreneurship that if we provided business support to all 20,000 Syrian newcomers expected here by 2020 we would be saving the taxpayer hundred and seventy million pounds if you think about how much this costs us that's thirty five times return on investment so it's one thing to know the numbers but what do you do with them we live in world where it's so possible for each one of us with our daily actions and our daily habits to enable people to rebuild their lives we live in world where we can volunteer with refugee entrepreneurs we can support refugee led businesses by buying their products and services we can donate to camps across the globe and we can use the technology on the end of our fingertips to help somebody working on their language skills it is so possible for each and every single one of us to play part no matter how big or how small we want that part to be retracing my grandparents history has also fundamentally changed my understanding of myself know now that they worked so hard and put in so much determination to survive so that we who followed them could one day thrive they are perhaps the reason then why my mother was able to become the student that she was why she went to medical school where she qualified as doctor and met my father who she eventually went on to marry and of course having my brother with me am amazed to think that some of the opportunities have had in my life like going to university or standing on this stage today are because of her and what she imparted in all of us their education is the tool that helps you build not just the living but life I'm amazed to think that my entrepreneurial spirit and my audacity to set up business came from my grandfather my own personal which had Branson who showed me that with hard-working grit you can build anything that you dream of we so often look for inspiration externally but imagine what would happen if instead of looking at our TV screens and our phone screens we instead looked at our own families and we looked internally we looked backwards imagine how much inspiration we could find if we looked at our own family stories it would be enough inspiration to fill every square inch of this room though the generation that survived partition suffered extreme amounts of pain and loss doing this research has showed me that human beings have the ability to survive in the face of absolute adversity my grandparents taught me that we are all whole complete humans lovers and fighters entrepreneurs and writers with loved ones and lost ones it is in the face of total and complete loss that resilience and character develop and these are the qualities that eventually enable us to thrive in the face of adversity in my day-to-day life now tell myself your family did not cross borders for you to give up here because know now that stand on the shoulders of giants always have looking backwards and reconnecting to my family history has enabled me to not just have deeper understanding of myself but also the world that we live in so if you two are searching for that sense of purpose or belonging identity or understanding cannot urge you enough to look backwards because it might just help you move forward thank you