A Naxal Story…
This book was originally published with the title, Seeing through the Stones: A tale from the Maoist land. Though the new title is obviously market-friendly, it does not seem that the author had an eye on the market when he wrote the book. It encapsulates the gamut of the Naxalite movement, from its early days to the mid-1990s. Moreover, it is set against a very large canvas and traverses the various contours of the country’s transformation from the 1940s to the end of the century. It is not just a saga of violence and counter-violence; it is also a story of aspiration and achievement. It is a political novel and tangentially refers to the Jharkhand movement, to Indira Gandhi, and several other political components. In the same breath, it reflects feudal India’s yearning to be a part of the capitalist system, and the globalized economy. It includes the NGO movements, the shortcomings of the Church, the shortsightedness of state officials, and the war of assertion of the Dalits and tribals. It is truly a narrative from the Maoist land. Labelling it a Naxal story is reducing a tree to a seed.
The protagonist, Mahendra Chamar, is a Naxal leader. But his journey through life goes far beyond the limits of Naxalism. He shudders at the new techniques of Naxals and the movement’s increasing dependence on arms. And, rising above the mundane, as a novel should, the narrative then deals with Mahendra’s loss of sanity and his battle against the gods. He says, “I challenged the gods long ago, and now they are taking revenge on me. I am losing my mind….I will not let them win. I have decided to forget my past before they erase my memory!” His fight against the political system is thus equated to a fight against the age-old socio-cultural structure.
The logical extension of this theme leads one to wonder whether the Naxalite movement can be fought by the state. Or, is it incumbent upon civil society to do away with the evils that have created so many forms of inequalities? In that sense, this book challenges the common perception that pumping money into backward areas will eliminate the movement. As Mahendra says, “They address their children as ‘tum’. But we are always ‘tu’, because we are not human beings….For that I have sacrificed everything. I did it for all of us, for our wives and children…because I wanted to promote our lot to ‘tum’ from ‘tu’.”
The presence of a large number of characters may prove distracting for a not particularly attentive reader. Even the plot is not linear. Like waves in the sea, various subplots rise and fall through the book.
The writing also needs editing. At times the language is superb, at others faltering. The fact that it is in Indian English should not be a major problem. It has probably worked advantageously for the author, in his interweaving of the Gita’s philosophy with Maoism! Just that the novel will read better, if the language is standardized throughout.
It is truly a narrative from the Maoist land. Labelling it a Naxal story is reducing a tree to a seed
