Climate Anxiety, Solastalgia,
and Mental Health in Khushwant Singh’s Train to Pakistan
Dr. (Ms.) Ramandeep Mahal
ABSTRACT
Increasing evidence suggests that ecological
changes and global warming affect human health, including mental,
emotional, and spiritual well-being. Concepts such as eco-anxiety,
eco-grief, eco-guilt, and solastalgia have emerged in response to
the widespread and potentially irreversible effects of environmental
change. One of the most traumatic events in South Asian history was
the Partition of India in 1947, which resulted in mass displacement,
intercommunal violence, and the disintegration of established social
structures. An ecocritical reading of Khushwant Singh’s Train to
Pakistan (1956) offers a framework for examining the psychological
anguish of Partition through the loss of place, disrupted
relationships with familiar surroundings, and the fragmentation of
communal life. Although the novel predates contemporary
environmental psychology, its portrayal of displacement, violence,
and the destruction of established ways of life invites
interpretation through the concepts of climate anxiety, solastalgia,
and psychological trauma. This article examines Singh’s narrative
representation of loss, displacement, and damaged collective memory
while exploring the possibilities of ethical re-identification
within a traumatised social environment. By employing environmental
mental health and solastalgia as interpretive frameworks, the study
investigates how the novel represents the psychological consequences
of losing home, belonging, and a familiar social landscape. It
argues that these concepts offer a contemporary perspective on the
fractured society and profound emotional dislocation depicted in the
novel, while distinguishing historical trauma from the specific
psychological effects of climate change.
Keywords: Solastalgia, Climate Anxiety, Eco-Grief, Mental Health,
Partition, Displacement, Trauma, Train to Pakistan.
