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Literary Review
First impressions
SUCHITRA BEHAL
Lashkar; Mukul Deva; Harper Collins; Rs. 195.
The book’s name and cover design is a dead ringer for what to expect through its pages. Lashkar tries to make sense of the terror that now surrounds our lives; to configure the stories of men who join the terror movements, what motivates them and why, if at all, some leave or try to leave while others stay put.
Iqbal, the main protagonist is a young boy from Lucknow. He is lured by the local maulvi into what he believes is a higher calling to save “his people”.
Like all new converts, Iqbal is flushed with idealism initially, though he realises that his colleagues and he, who have been taken for training across India’s borders, are housed in desolate homes or places with literally no human contact. When he asks why, Iqbal is told that their mission is highly confidential and they cannot always trust the villagers.
Life settles into a strange routine that leaves the young recruits with little time for themselves.
Meanwhile the terror network is busy planning a major strike in Indian cities. In a strange twist of fate, Iqbal loses his mother and sister to the terrorists.
And finally the truth of his actions hits home as he realises that he has been, in a way, responsible for their deaths.
Shocked, Iqbal vows revenge and knows that the only way for him to get any redemption is to exterminate the terrorists from the root of their base. Lashkar traces the story of Iqbal’s revenge, his astute planning and how finally this becomes the mission of his life.
* * *
The Far Side of Freedom; Dr. Lakshmi Parasuram; Olympia Publishers; £ 8.99
As a child of 12, one would expect Maya’s life to be fairly uncomplicated. She should be out in school, playing with her friends and pampered by parents and elders.
But India in the 1940s did not afford that kind of freedom for girls. Most were expected to marry young, bear children and live their lives as either wives or mothers.
Maya’s life would have been no different, except, Maya refused to follow these dictates.
In her tiny village in Kerala, where her family were wealthy landowners, Maya’s rebellion was nothing short of an evil revolt.
Her angry father, unable to understand why his daughter wanted to study, tries to beat her into submission. Her mother laments the fact that she gave birth to her. Maya’s siblings titter in delight each time she is thrashed.
But Maya refuses to give up and defies all attempts to marry her off. She joins tuition classes secretly.
Finally, after many beatings, her father gives in and sends her to the local residential school run by nuns. Maya is overjoyed but her journey of self-discovery is far from over.
Unable to fall in line with the religious upbringing, she is constantly nagged by self-doubt.
The book traces her maturing into an individual in her own right who finally breaks free of the shackles that tie women down.
* * *
Me Borishailla; Mahua Maji, Translated by Rajesh Kumar, Rupa, Rs. 295.
Little is known of the trauma of people of Bangladesh in the years leading up to 1971. The popular vision of this tiny country is one of abject poverty. But that was not always the case.
Once a sunny land of plenty, then called east Pakistan, Bangladesh was born amid turmoil and pain. Me Borishailla traces the situation of the country from 1943 to its final leap to independence in 1971.
Keshto, a young lad, had a carefree childhood. Soon East Pakistan begins to experience the after-effects of communal hatred and burns in the fires of political onslaughts.
Keshto escapes to India to lead a better life but finally returns to his country where he establishes himself as a successful businessman.
While his business prospers, his love life remains chequered. Disillusioned, Keshto is drawn into the freedom struggle and joins forces with the Mukti Bahini. His life takes a dramatic u-turn and Keshto finds himself training for the day of reckoning. His family is torn apart and he loses hope of being reunited with them.
This epic saga describes, in great detail, the sufferings of the people of East Pakistan and what the guerrilla bands fighting for freedom had to undergo.
There are scenes of gory torture and inhuman treatment meted out to even the common people who side with the freedom fighters. Entire villages are ransacked and razed to the ground.
But, finally victory is in the offing and Bangladesh is born. The book provides a huge backdrop for the story of a country that few know.
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