Fact or Fiction?

In an article for Bitch media, Mallika Khanna described the importing of the colonial imagination of India by the western world. Yoga, spices, herbal remedies were exported for white consumption in the 70s, and India began to look like a haven from where the west could extract wellness ideas. This. Idea continued into the 21st century and in the portrayal of India in TV shoes, movies, and books. The India of Eat, Pray, Love, of The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, portrayed India in a way that was digestible to and adhered to the western world’s idea of India. This message trickled down into many conversations I had, where the basic understanding of India was outdated and fantastical. Even with the internet making information available to people all over the world, I have had to explain a lot of basic things about India. I’ve had to explain that India has the largest population of English speakers, that India does, indeed, have internet access, that India’s corruption is deep rooted, and that racial tensions have existed for a long time, but have been exacerbated by the current government.

India is more than the place where The Beatles learnt to play the sitar, it’s more than Gandhi, more than the land of yoga and Ayurveda. I look for media that represents the India that I know and the India that I don’t. And these books exist. The White Tiger by Arvind Adiga, Ghachaar Ghochaar by Vivek Shanbag and Shashi Deshpande’s stories are only a few examples.

 A Burning is set in recent India, with a right-wing Hindu government in power. A train has been set fire in Calcutta. Jivan, a young Muslim girl, impulsively posts a comment on a Facebook post critical of the government and is arrested for the burning of the train. As Jivan tries to do what she can to prove her innocence, we also read about PT Sir, Jivan’s teacher and an aspiring politician, and Lovely, a hijra, Jivan’s pupil, and an aspiring actress. Their lives intertwine and we see how both of them have to make decisions that affect Jivan’s future as well as their own.

Majumdar also portrays each character’s journey thoughtfully. We see their own justifications for their actions, how quickly they move from righteous action to opportunistic action, and how they manage to convince themselves that this is the right decision. When PT Sir watches the lynching of a Muslim man, who he knows has done no wrong, he goes through the process of feeling guilty, powerless, and eventually washes his hands of the action. For PT Sir, his political mentor acts as the voice of temptation, of ambition, whereas his own conscience acts as his moral compass. Of course, as is with reality, his moral compass is quickly altered to better suit the temptation.

The writing style also complements the narrative arch of each character. Lovely’s present continuous style of speaking is so wonderfully written that I can almost hear it. The fire in Jivan’s voice, her ambition for a higher status mixed with her need to help her parents out is well portrayed. While the writing is not lyrical or compositionally exceptional, it doesn’t need to be. Portrayed in simple language that is to the point, the point of view of the characters was communicated succinctly, yet with feeling. It was not melodramatic, but it was not dry either.

Majumdar shows special empathy for the people interacting with the immediate consequences of an authoritarian government. Through the eyes of the citizens we see how the system continues to fail us, and while it is easy to be angry about it, it isn’t always easy to write about it so empathetically, and in a way that’s universally understandable.

The portrayal of India under a right-wing populist government is on the mark. The idea of a young Muslim girl arrested under mere suspicion, the government deciding to side with the popular opinion to look favorable with voters, people choosing their own ambition over justice and lynching people for eating beef is unfortunately all realistic. If I wasn’t already aware of the India of A Burning, it would have been hard for me to not feel outraged at the acts in this book. Majumdar does a wonderful job of presenting the situation as it is, with no frills or melodrama involved. It brought me out of a complacency and a hopelessness that nothing will ever change. Good books make you think, and A Burning does that splendidly.