Some are born mad, some achieve madness, and others have madness thrust upon them.
The book is set in the days just after partition, based on families going through birth pangs after the Partition of India into India and Pakistan. The Partition and subsequent religious riots in India have made a pretty significant affect on the psych of India which is of a much more lasting nature than Pakistan who can only look back or read about Partition on their end. Indians on the other hand live in constant fear of inciting yet another religious riot in their cities while Pakistanis can move on after burying the riots behind them. Religious riots are far more dangerous than racial riots.
It struck me almost halfway through the novel, the irony of the much lauded Zamindari bill which Seth has so vividly portrayed in this classic novel. What is the difference between the East India Company and the Indian Nationalists if the All India Congress party? The Zamindari bill was same policy polished and re-badged all over again. How can we have the audacity to accuse the British of exploiting India when Indians seem to have done exactly the same when their turn was up?
As I read more and more of this wondrously engaging story, I could relate to straight parables to the Partition drama, there is a crime of drunken passion purported by one good friend, which for me resembled the senseless riots after the Partition. There are other examples which are steeped in Partition which for me makes the story very relevant for a proper depiction of that era.
All in all the book was a very engaging read. The only drawback was the size of the paperback which makes it a very difficult job to lunge around, but I am not taking any stars from because of it....
The book is set in the days just after partition, based on families going through birth pangs after the Partition of India into India and Pakistan. The Partition and subsequent religious riots in India have made a pretty significant affect on the psych of India which is of a much more lasting nature than Pakistan who can only look back or read about Partition on their end. Indians on the other hand live in constant fear of inciting yet another religious riot in their cities while Pakistanis can move on after burying the riots behind them. Religious riots are far more dangerous than racial riots.
It struck me almost halfway through the novel, the irony of the much lauded Zamindari bill which Seth has so vividly portrayed in this classic novel. What is the difference between the East India Company and the Indian Nationalists if the All India Congress party? The Zamindari bill was same policy polished and re-badged all over again. How can we have the audacity to accuse the British of exploiting India when Indians seem to have done exactly the same when their turn was up?
As I read more and more of this wondrously engaging story, I could relate to straight parables to the Partition drama, there is a crime of drunken passion purported by one good friend, which for me resembled the senseless riots after the Partition. There are other examples which are steeped in Partition which for me makes the story very relevant for a proper depiction of that era.
All in all the book was a very engaging read. The only drawback was the size of the paperback which makes it a very difficult job to lunge around, but I am not taking any stars from because of it....
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