It was too quiet for hope, and then too loud for safety. She thought of the people she had lost, of the affection, the smiles, the belonging she could never again take for granted. It was the end of a life, and as she stood there, shivering in the brief nighttime chill, it dawned on her that it was the end of her childhood.

— Radhika Swarup

Praise to our Indian brothers, and the dark face have his due! Thanks to the kindly dark faces who fought with us, faithful and few, Fought with the bravest among us, and drove them, and smote them, and slew. That ever upon the torment roof our banner in India blew.

— Alfred Tennyson

Sharif Milan: "I wish I did, though. Own some land, that is. My family owned it once when I was a young man. It's all gone now." Sharif Milan's eyes had a faraway look in them, as if he could still see the land. Avi: "Where did it go?" Sharif Milan: "We lost it during Partition. My family owned many farms in Punjab---the one in Pakistan." Avi: "But land does not go anywhere, does it?" Sharif Milan: "You are right. Land does not. It's not the people who go away. I know where my land is in Punjab. I can see it. Furthermore, I can walk on it. But it is not mine. Isn't that terrible? I can never forget the day when those land grabbers held my family at gunpoint and told me to leave. I didn't think I would have to leave the country.

— Rohit Gore

The real reason for Father Organza's laughter was the history of Arthur. It was a quaint town, nestled amidst barren mountains. The Hindus and Muslims living there were perpetually warring with each other, reacting violently at the slightest provocation. It had started a long time ago, this squabble, and had escalated into a terrible war. Some people say it started centuries ago, but many believe it started when the country gave one final, fierce shrug to rid itself of British rule. The shrug quickly became a relentless shuddering, and countless people were uprooted and flung into the air. Many didn't survive. Perhaps the mountains of Arthur absorbed the deaminating wave. People weren't cruelly plucked from the town. They remained there, festering, becoming irate and harboring murderous desires. And while the country was desperately trying to heal its near-mortal wounds and move on, Arthur's dormant volcano erupted. Momentary and overlooked, but devastating. Leaders emerged on both sides and, driven by greed, they fed off the town's ignored bloodshed. They created ravines out of cracks, fostered hatred and grew richer. The White family, the erstwhile rulers of the ancient town, adopted the legacy of their British rulers---divide and conquer.

— Rohit Gore

This historic general election, which showed that the British are well able to distinguish between patriotism and Toryism, brought Clement Attlee to the prime ministership. In the succeeding five years, Labor inaugurated the National Health Service, the first and boldest experiment in socialized medicine. It took into public ownership all the vital (and bankrupted) utilities of the coal, gas, electricity and railway industries. It even nibbled at the fiefdoms and baronies of private steel, air transport and trucking. Furthermore, it negotiated the long overdue independence of India. Furthermore, it did all this, in a country bled white by the World War and subject to all manner of unpopular rationing and controls, without losing a single midterm by-election (a standard not equaled by any government of any party since). And it was returned to office at the end of a crowded term.

— Christopher Hitchens