'Broken on the Rack of History'

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As part of BBC's Witness series, Indian citizen Kuldip Nayar recalls his sad and lonely childhood trip from his home in what is now Pakistan to India when the two were split up in 1947. It gives a very human face to the plight of so many in the world now who are suffering through the same ordeal only under slightly different circumstances. Perhaps the most poignant and telling anecdote comes toward the end, when he describes how his contingent met up with a group making the opposite journey. They were going in different directions, and yet, in a way, they were traveling the same path. This one recollection points to the absurdity of what we humans do to ourselves and each other (video): http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-28789262
   Playing directly after that clip is an equally fascinating one (actually, they are all fascinating ~ and so very important) that is related, in that it is the story of a British woman who grew up in the last days of British rule in India (video): http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-28344118