I never heard of this book before. As i was browsing Flipkart i found this book and the summary was interesting and i bought it. I should say i was lucky to find this book . It is truly one of the great novel of Indian literature.And it is the first novel to explore the zamindari exploitation of poor peasants. This book explains how corrupt the Zamindari system was and how those zamindars imposed their own rules on the poor people. Along with this system came a intrusion of foreigners as well as their culture which made life even more miserable for the ordinary people.
The narrator directly speaks to the reader - in some case he explains everything and in some other cases he leave without saying much and allow the reader to think or judge.I personally like this style and i really enjoyed the way the author uses satire to explain the day to day life of the people. I think, most probably, the land disputes which is the main theme of this novel must be taken from the author's experience but i'm not sure. The reason i believe that because the story was told in first person manner and very real. The setting of the village with its unique place for different caste and community was told beautifully . One can understand how the caste system shaped their life.
The author describes the main character Ramachandra Mangaraj not only as a evil landlord but also a pious man. The author uses this duality in a great way to satirize Mangaraj and make the young readers to know more about the local culture and not just go behind the colonial culture. Because that was the period where more Indians started following the western tradition and looked lowly at the village people. The author uses the gossips to explain how the communication of events took place in those days, but i think its valid till today.
The three characters which symbolizes the goodness of the human spirits .The very pious and non greedy couple Bagia and Saria and the wife of Mangaraj, Santaani. The author explains the human goodness through these three characters. And human evilness through Mangaraj who took the very fertile land belongs to Bagia .
The author summarizes the story in these lines " nothing in its rightful place is ever a source of trouble. Forget about things , consider our small plot of land , measuring six acres and a third. People said that in all of Gobindapur, it would be hard to come by a fertile plot. Yet this piece of land was a destroyer of families : it ruined the Baga Singhs, it caused Saria's death, and everyone knows that what happened to Mangaraj."
The many metaphors used by the authors explains many things like comparing closure of water lilies during day to "like young Hindu daughter-in-laws","cranes churns the mud like lowly farmhands looking fish all day long , and kingfisher which appears and conduct swift raid and gorge all the pickings . "oh, stupid Hindu cranes, look at these English Kingfishers" etc.
The author mocks the Indians who adapted western culture. The author asks "Ask a new babu his grandfather’s father’s name,he will hem and haw, but the names of the ancestors of England’s Charles the Third will readily roll of his tongue. To be considered a scholar , it is necessary to have read about the English or the French; there is no point in learning about oneself or one's neighbor" .
Wondering why none of the Tamil writers wrote anything about this wonderful book.
A must read for Indian literature lover!
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