The other day, our grandfather who is 90+ was recounting his days as a young boy in Bangladesh and taking us through the various reasons why he and his family had to leave. He told us stories of some of his dearest friends who became so, irrespective of their religion. 'Why then do you think a new nation was carved out for them?' Sourya asked him. 'All because of Jinnah', Dadu said with unflinching wrath. I once thought I'd intercept the discussion and dole out all the theories I had learnt from my books and temper out the rather sharp reaction. But then, I thought, who am I to 'correct' an opinion - one that has been shaped, not from notes and footnotes, but from lived experience...I kept quiet. Long live the tradition of oral narratives. And their narrators.