A Burning by Megha Majumdar

 

Megha Mazumdar’s brilliant debut is a reflection of the difficult times we are living in. Her intriguing work brings together stories of people from different walks of life and how present day prejudices put forth new challenges in front of them. In her book, we meet the aspirational Jivan. Jivan, a young Muslim woman believes that her work at Pantaloons will help her escape the clutches of poverty. She hopes for upliftment, for emancipation. She is also someone who is aware of the happenings around her and is active on social media. In her zeal to sound uptodate and in all innocence, she critiques the government for mishandling a tragic incident of train burning. However after her comment on social media, she is accused of helping in the execution of that very attack.

 

Very soon Jivan’s life takes difficult turns. Very soon she is the dangerous terrorist with whom no one wants to associate. We also meet PT who was Jivan’s ex teacher and saw a lot of potential in her. But his own political aspirations and association with a right wing party meant he had to sacrifice Jivan’s life at the altar of his career. PT made a life of giving false witnesses in the cases helping the right wing party. While PT knew full well of Jivan’s innocence, he chose his own benefit.

 

We also meet Lovely, a transgender, who was an important alibi for Jivan. Lovely also has her own dreams and hopes. Often providing humorous anecdotes in this otherwise grim story, Lovely brings all the drama that the story needs. She is the aspirational actor who believes acting will elevate her. Her effort to perfectly sing and dance and act gives an endearing account of Lovely. But given a choice, she also chooses her own budding acting career and does not associate with Jivan.

 

Written in a very lucid way, the book touches on almost all aspects of our contemporary times. The biases against minority, the dismissal of sexual minorities, the prejudice of the larger community and also the aspirations of the poor are reflected beautifully and adequately in the book. The Burning initially brings to mind the Godhra incident. But the author while dealing with a similar incident brings forth the nuances beautifully. The book ends on a rather realistic note than just providing flimsy endings.

 

But apart from the socio-political faultlines that the story unveils, it also reflects on a fast paced individualistic society which prioritises the need of the individual rather than upholding moral values or doing the right thing. This book will leave the reader with a lot of food for thought. It is a brave debut to say the least.

When I Hit You by Meena Kandasamy

Meena Kandasamy is a powerful Dalit Feminist voice in contemporary India. Her second novel When I Hit You or The Portrait of the Writer as a Young Wife is a searing story of how a woman is systematically stripped of her identity in an abusive marriage.

An unnamed narrator gives a harrowing account of her marriage to an educated progressive college lecturer who abused her mentally and physically. Through out the book, Kandasamy called out the hypocrisy of the husband who was an ex Marxist as well as an underground revolutionary but who selectively used progressive left ideas to merely justify his own ‘sadism’.

The short lyrical book is a vivid account of what life presented to the protagonist in the name of love. Not just her abusive husband but even her ex lover, a noted politician, shied away from acknowledging their relationship. Through this, the author commented on this compulsion of promoting public celibacy which dates back to Gandhi.

This pushed her into a hurried abusive marriage which stripped her of her individuality and reduced her to the mundane life of a wife. The vivid descriptions of physical assault and marital rape highlights the continued silence around the need to acknowledge sexual violence within a marriage.

A question may rise in the minds of readers that why the protagonist did not leave sooner. Kandasamy herself faced questions of similar nature. In this book, she explains how the expectations of the family, the larger society and one’s own hope stops women from walking out of bad marriages. Such walk outs are nothing less than acknowledging one’s own failure.

This is a power packed book which hits hard. The over-arching patriarchy which consumes even alleged progressive attitudes is elaborated here. It is a caution to those who believe and rightly so in the emancipatory potential of left politics and points to the dangers of hypocrisy.

The Mountains Sing by Nguyen Phan Que Mai

 

Quế Mai's debut English-language novel, "The Mountains Sing," offers a unique perspective rarely explored. It delves into the lives of North Vietnamese people across four generations, from the 1930s to the present day. Born in Vietnam in 1973, the author draws from her family, friends, and neighbors' experiences, capturing the resilience and hardships of a people marked by invasion, occupation, and socio- political upheaval.

The novel's narrative unfolds through two main characters and two intertwining timelines. The first protagonist, Trấn Diệu Lan (the Grandma), was born in 1920 into a prosperous farming family, while the second, Hủỏng (the Granddaughter), grows up during the Vietnam-American War, with her parents serving in different roles. The story progresses chronologically for each character, but the timelines themselves alternate, so one chapter may feature a young Trấn Diệu Lan, while the next presents her as an elderly woman. Pre-1970 scenes are narrated in the first person by the Grandma, and post-1970 scenes are told from the perspective of the Granddaughter, creating a nuanced storytelling structure that may be a bit challenging to follow. Readers will have to navigate between these multiple voices.

The book will reflecting on the war focuses on its impact on the people. Quế Mai's narrative is driven by how Trấn Diệu Lan, Hủỏng, and their family respond to the immense, impersonal threats that endanger their existence. These include the French, who are ruthless and condescending colonizers; the Japanese, who are vicious in expanding their "co-prosperity sphere"; and the Americans, who drop bombs and use pesticides. While external enemies have caused significant harm, Quế Mai doesn't shy away from scrutinizing the Communist government in North Vietnam. Notably, she portrays the Communist Land Reform, where even moderately successful individuals could lose their property or even their lives as "capitalist landlords." While portraying the downfall of her own family, the author somewhere gleams over the exploitation of landowners and portrays them as kind patrons. 

Written in a straight and descriptive tone, the author excels at introducing readers to an unfamiliar world and culture, incorporating Vietnamese words, religious practices, and beliefs, and providing insight into everyday life. She consistently and effectively weaves everyday details into her storylines.

"The Mountains Sing has a wide-ranging narrative, spanning from 1930 to 2017 in a relatively short book of 339 pages. In contrast to a conventional three-act structure, the story unfolds around significant events, such as the impactful sequence set during the Land Reform, characterized by precise observations that blur the line between fiction and nonfiction. However, the book's weakness lies in its characterizations, as Trấn Diệu Lan and Hủỏng come across as nearly identical. Their voices are so similar that one would struggle to distinguish between them if randomly opening a chapter without glancing at the chapter heading. Additionally, keeping track of the extended family can be challenging until later in the novel when more time is spent with them."

Nonetheless, this book will take readers on an intriguing journey of discovering a nation torn by a powerful external aggressor and pulled in different directions from within. The author has given voice to diverse opinions. The horror left behind by a devastating war also gave space to hope and resilience of humanity.