V. Hiranandani: Hi, this is Veera Hiranandani, and I am the author of The Night Diary. I'm going to tell you a little bit about how I came to write this book, and then I'll share an excerpt with you.

My father had to leave his home with his family when he was nine because of something called the partition of India, when India split into two countries, India and Pakistan. This happened at the same time that India gained independence from the British. Though it should have been a triumphant time, the partition caused an incredible amount of conflict mainly between Hindus and Muslims, and around 14 million people were displaced and over one million people died. So I heard this story growing up, how my father had to leave because of this, and as I got older, I became more interested in this huge piece of global history that I was connected to. I knew I wanted to write about it, but I was nervous. I wasn't sure I could write well about such an important and tragic, historic event. But after doing a lot of research, I decided to try, and I created 12 year old Nisha who tells the story of how she has to leave her home during partition, and she writes letters in a diary to her mother, who is no longer living. Now I will read an excerpt to you.

August 14, 1947:

Dear Mama,

It's happening now. Sorry I haven't written you for six whole days. The last few days have blended into one. There has been packing and Dadi trying to hide her crying, and lots of stern explaining from Papa. Amil keeps running from Papa to Dadi to Kazi asking questions. I am silent. No words of mine could change anything. Papa tells us with change, good and bad will come. At midnight when we were sleeping, India became independent from British rule. At the same moment, Pakistan, a new country, now exists. Where I live is not called India anymore.

I'm still not sure what it means to be free from British rule. Papa says they have ruled over India for almost 200 years. I don't feel British at all. English children from the books or newspapers I've seen don't look like I do. They have light skin, they wear different clothes. I know Papa drinks English tea and has English biscuits. I know there's an English guard who stands outside the Mirpur Khas City Hospital. I know that we have British furniture in our bungalow like the upholstered wooden chairs in the sitting room and our large oval dining table and English china. I also know that the British aren't going to be the rulers anymore, and I guess we don't like British people telling us what to do. Will Papa drink different tea? Will the guard leave? Will we have to give back the chairs and table?

Pakistan was for the Muslims, and everybody else will go to India, which isn't here anymore. I wondered if any Hindus were staying anyway. Amil asked Papa the same question, but Papa says it's not safe, and the fighting will probably get worse. All non-Muslims in Mirpur Khas have to leave, and the Muslims in the new India are coming here. Papa says it was a group decision between Lord Mountbatten for the British, Jinnah for the Muslims, and Nehru for everyone else. They all agreed to the partition. Amil asked if Gandhi was part of that group. Papa said that Gandhi wants united India, that we are all Indian no matter what faith we follow, but it doesn't matter now, he says. The decisions have been made, and we must make the best of it and go peacefully.

So as of today, the ground I'm standing on is not India anymore, and Kazi is supposed to live in one place, and we're supposed to leave and find a new home. Is there a Muslim girl sitting in her house right now who has to leave her home and go to a new country that's not even called India? Does she feel confused and scared too?"