By ANJALI NAURIYAL
Soumitra Banerji was born in Varanasi and raised in Meerut. He has more than two decades of rich global experience, including in the C-suite in professional consulting and the corporate sector, across multiple domains.
He is an alumnus of the University of Delhi graduating in Law from the Campus Law Centre.
During his extensive travels, he has won friends and admiration, and he has been associated with many interesting lives and stories throughout his long career span across the world.
His passion lies in being a ‘people’s storyteller’ and in the impact that such stories have had on the evolution of India and the world. Liminal Tides (An Overview):
The land turned liminal. A subcontinent cleaved, borders dissolved and reformed amidst the caravans and the carnage. Time became liminal. Freedom arrived at the stroke of midnight, but millions of people hung between hope and despair. Torn asunder, families were liminal. Forced to leave their past behind, they groped for a new future in an emotional and social haze.
These liminal tides wash three families—the Bandhopadhyas, Rawats, and Khannas—on the shores of Meerut and Delhi in newly independent India, each passing through their unique upheavals. Unknown to them, a benefactor has bound their destinies in a knot. As a new generation comes of age in the families, a party brings them together where they discover how they are connected, and new liminal bonds emerge.
Based on true accounts of the Partition, Soumitra Banerji’s powerful prose weaves the granular detail of three cultures and the fluidity, pain, and emotion of the times. For anyone affected by the Partition, it will be impossible not to see a reflection of their journey in Banerji’s story.
Briefly mention the “Making of India” movement and its core objectives.
Making of India (MOI) is the Idea behind Liminal Tides…The Book. The basic objective of this platform will be to reset modern mindset of Young Indians towards the painful and resilient journey their ancestors had to traverse…at the subaltern level, during the freedom struggle to Independence…say a period between 1930 to 1947…What a great gift it is to them, which needs to be preserved…rather than squandered away like a valueless discard.
“Liminal Tides” explores the concept of liminality. Can you explain this concept in simpler terms and its relevance in today’s rapidly changing world?
Liminality is a psychological concept that describes the process of transitioning between Boundaries and Borders. The term is derived from the Latin word ‘Limen’…Threshold.
The period of Indian Partition is an ideal instance of a state of Liminality…virtually the whole Nation had turned Liminal…the future had become transient; and so were the lives of the three families, in the book…Rawats, Khannas and the Bandhopadhyas.
As a matter-of-fact reflections of historical Liminality can still be seen globally…an increase of refugees crossing borders…political stress migrations…economic stress migration; are nothing but different complexions of Liminality…we must heed historical teachings; hence the relevance of an awareness of MOI.
How does “Liminal Tides” offer a framework for individuals and organizations to navigate the uncertainties and complexities of the modern world?
Liminal Tides is a narrative of trying and testing times, political decisions which might have roughed up masses in tough ways, increased social entropy and people being uprooted from their comfort zones…Yet a Country was born; gained stability; gave to itself one of the most stable Constitutions in the Polity of Nation States…and gathered its Socio-Political Diversity along, towards progress. Hence it is a narrative of positivism and hope.
Today’s India has a lot to learn from herself. She must find the approach to the top of the pyramid within herself. We have so much to learn from our rich history, full of lessons…successes and failures. My suggestion to my great fellow country people is to research on our own past and find answers to our own future; rather than copy paste from someone else’s successes, without knowing of the associated pains of their failings.
You are launching the “Making of India” movement alongside the book. Can you elaborate on the core principles and objectives of this movement?
I would like to respond to this question by amending the ‘You’ to ‘We’. We are an expanding team of likeminded people who obsessively believe in the idea and concept of India.
‘Making of India’ is an awareness…a journey back to History…our own Family’s History…everyone’s Family’s History; which would make the young adults realise the pains of labour endured by their own ancestors; and help them be more affectionate towards their Nation and make them better Citizens…to be better Ambassadors of their very own India…
MOI should encourage Young Adults to dig into their past and come out with their stories during this period (1930- 47)…and not just limited to Young Adults…even the Living Adults of today…MOI would then curate some of these interesting stories in the form of sequel to Liminal Tided and endeavour to have them published and distributed…
Liminal Tides has talked of three families from three different regions of India…MOI would like to catalogue many such families from many such parts of our Subcontinent. Starting from our enchanted Devabhumi…Uttarakhand.
The next step would be to spread the Making of India to a larger vista of activities and Geographies within our Nation…moving towards a better India of the future…
What role do you envision for individuals, businesses, and the government in contributing to the “Making of India” movement?
MOI is a National Movement, just starting locally. Hence it should be every Indian’s, Individual’s, Educational Institution’s, National Institution’s as well as Corporate Social Responsibility to educate our future of their own History.
Believe me you, it is going to be immensely fascinating!
What are the key challenges you foresee in implementing the “Making of India” vision, and how do you propose to overcome them?
The biggest challenge is to create the will to know one’s past, understand its relevance, get fascinated and obsessed by it…remember, desire comes from within…the stakeholders I have listed above are just catalysts to light the fire to know one’s Roots…once that happens, India would be a very fortunate Mother to see so many dedicated and excited children.
Hence our institutions as well as the Corporate Sector need to initiate this National Movement; and our Team of Thought Leaders are there to support through interactive sessions…and we have Publishers to dirty their hands to make the fire grow.
What message do you have for aspiring leaders and changemakers who are eager to contribute to the nation’s progress?
My only message to our aspiring Changemakers and Leaders is to make our worthy citizens know and learn from our own past…analyse our failures; since failures are our real teachers. Remember History is so precious…so let not Liminality become a common occurrence in our Nation’s existence.
