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Memories of a culture

sibling revelry Bela Lal with her brother Pavan Varma

“I am happy that I’m an Indian writing in India,” said Bela Lal at the launch of her book, “The Night of Kaamini”, at New Delhi’s India Habitat Centre. “There is a great outpouring of good work by Indian writers, which is getting international recognition too, but most of them are Indians writing outside India,” she reflected. The inherent Indian-ness of her book — a mixture of Indian history and Indian culture — was the feature stressed upon by all the speakers at the launch.

Lal, who has a post-graduate degree in history, has steeped her debut work in the bygone era, weaving her characters in and out of it. Muzaffar Ali, who launched the book, a Penguin India publication, remarked, “The book makes you feel history through its people.” Coming from the same background as the setting of the book — Awadh (Lucknow) — it took him back to his childhood days, he said. Lal’s brother Pavan K. Varma, Director General, Indian Council for Cultural Relations, called it an “epic book” and smilingly pointed out, “The only thing alien to the telling of the story is the language — English…the book is crying out for translation into Hindi.”

The story transcends a period of 70 years, weaving in three generations. It describes the evolution of one culture into another, from the Indian National Movement to the present day. “I wanted to write about a specific culture that is gradually dying,” Lal explained. “Today we are all becoming uni-cultured…”

Written over a span of five years, the book tells the story of a man who lived during the National Movement, and how it affected his life. Three generations later, his granddaughter discovers there is something about the family, which is hidden from her, and the story moves on to the discovery of the secret.

“The best thing about the book is how every person is an architect as well as a victim of history,” said Ali. Varma suggested that the book could be made into a movie, as it had an element of sustained thrill.

Lal, also a teacher who has been actively involved in social service, described the autographing of books as a “novel experience”.

ZEHRA NAQVI

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