US, Aug. 18 -- One of the most exciting topics I used to discuss with Maulana Wahiduddin Khan was pre-independence India. He was in his 20s when India gained independence in 1947. During my visits, I was also in my 20s, and I wanted to know what that experience was like for a young man back then.

The young and impatient version of me used to pepper him with questions about what it was like to witness and live through pre- and post-independence India - to see the birth of a nation firsthand and watch it grow over several decades. I wanted to hear his perspective on all of it. I believe my curiosity came from the fact that he had lived this history, while I had only read about it in books. No book or documentary can match the firsthand kn...