MUMBAI: Actor Pooja Ruparel, best remembered as young Chutki in Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge and for her role in King Uncle, shared her deep reflections on the importance of India’s Partition Remembrance Day and how it connects to the nation’s collective emotional well-being.
“The Prime Minister’s acknowledgment of the trauma caused by Partition is extremely significant,” says Pooja. “People carried intense PTSD after the Partition, and unfortunately, their children inherited that trauma — without even realising it. Generations have been silently living with it.”
Pooja feels this conversation was long overdue. “This topic somehow got buried in the process of rebuilding our lives and our nation after Independence,” she explains. “Instead of processing our pain, we focused only on survival and growth. But healing, too, is an important part of progress.”
She adds that while she’s glad the government has recognized this day, it’s painful that such a day needs to exist at all. “It breaks my heart that we even need a day like this to remind ourselves of our wounds,” she says. “But perhaps acknowledging it openly is the first step towards real healing.”
Drawing from her own understanding of psychology and Indian philosophy, Pooja highlights how ancient practices once nurtured balance between mind, body, and spirit.“Our culture once celebrated Yog and Karam Yog — a holistic way of life that connected physical and emotional health. Over time, much of that wisdom was dismissed or forgotten. It’s time to bring that back and make emotional well-being part of daily mandatory practices again.”
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