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Literary Review
Penned with passion
A WORK of fiction is often a work of fact. Writers invariably tend to fall back on their own experiences, memories and the reflections of the people they know or meet to spin yarns. There is of course an element of imagination that weaves its shadows on the narrative, and Nayantara Sahgal's latest novel, Lesser Breeds, borrows liberally from what she saw, heard and felt during the heady last days of the British Raj in India. As one who was part of the country's first family, the Nehrus, Sahgal had enthralling opportunities to see the freedom movement struggle, and ultimately strangle out of existence an empire. The sun set there all right.
Sahgal wrote eight long pieces of fiction, and seven other works, and they describe and deal with subjects such as sex, gender, race and so on. Her latest literary effort begins in the decade that the British finally quit the subcontinent, and ends 20 years into our free lives.
Briefly, the title, Lesser Breeds, is a phrase that Rudyard Kipling used to describe native Indians under the colonial masters. They were the lesser breeds, undoubtedly. But Sahgal takes this definition to a greater depth, of dismay and despair. She not only talks about the accepted meaning of "lesser breeds", but also points out to the unaccepted definition of the term. The discrimination that divided not just the rulers from the ruled, but also Hindus from Muslims.
Given this, Sahgal's creation is of immense relevance in today's India, where caste and communal prejudices continue to cause anguish, destruction and death. In the larger context, the colour of skin is yet another issue of impregnable walls separating man from man.
Lesser Breeds tells the tale of Nurullah, a 23-year-old English teacher, who arrives in the city of Akbarabad. The family that hosts him is involved in the non-violent resistance against the Imperialists, and Nurullah finds himself witnessing the contradictions among a people trying to dislodge the Queen.
Half way through the book, the scene shifts to "An Island Called America", where a U.S. diplomat, once posted in India, and his sister try and see how the principles of non-violence can apply to their own lives. Nurullah's student, Shan, lands in America to realise that her complexion makes her an object of fascinated amusement.
Although the writing is smooth, the words and paragraphs seldom seem to have the power to mesmerise you into thirsting for more. Somewhere, Sahgal fails to keep up with the nuances of what can be termed "modern prose", with its bare eloquence. There are pages which one finds weighing down with verbosity. If, however, a reader manages to wade through these, he can hope to find a text that is penned with passion, nay anger. And much of these have a striking bearing to the burning issues of this day.
GAUTAMAN BHASKARAN
Lesser Breeds, Nayantara Sahgal, HarperCollins India, p.369, Rs. 395.
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