India, Dec. 12 -- My grandparents were among the millions uprooted by the Partition of India. They left behind their ancestral home in Montgomery, now in Pakistan Punjab, and arrived in Delhi as refugees with little more than the clothes on their backs. In the refugee camps, food was scarce, and every meal was a struggle. Later, they were allotted land in Jalandhar district - 100 acres in lieu of what they had lost across the border.

Materially, they recovered, but the memories of hunger and deprivation remained deeply etched in their minds.

My grandmother carried those scars for life. She would never allow a single morsel to go to waste. Every meal came with her gentle but firm reminder: "Clean your plate. Every grain of rice is the re...