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Book Review
MALAYALAM
Social novel
K. KUNHIKRISHNAN
SAANTHASAMUDRAM — Novel: V. K. Kanakalatha; DC Books, DC Kizhakemuri Edam, Good Shepherd Street, Kottayam-686001. Rs. 110.
THIS BRILLIANT novel depicts the struggle and growth of a Punjabi family in Hong Kong over several decades, beginning from the Second World War to contemporary times, spanning all the major political and historical events in India, China and England.
Amar Singh migrated to the land of the fiery dragon and snake, and the galloping horse, as a poorly paid employee of Ram Singh. Amar Singh helped his employer to build his business and he stuck to principles in life and is hence held in reverence by family and friends. His family grows up to be truly international. What strikes is Amar Singh’s handling of problems with detachment and his penchant for morality.
The novel begins with the conquest of Hong Kong by the Japanese followed by the return of the British and culminates with the historic 1997 handing over to China as a Specially Administered Province. Amar Singh is moved by the death of Mahatma Gandhi and later by the Khalistan movement in Punjab, changes in the British Government, the brutal assassination of Indira Gandhi and other historical events. The changes in the social lives and of the economic rise of modern Hong Kong are also finely woven into the fabric of the commendable narrative. The novel is one of the best in recent times.
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