I usually do not read novels, but this
one was authored by a senior colleague of mine and a well-wisher Mrs. Achala
Moulik. So, I started to read it. Wow, I couldn’t lay it down till I finished
the whole book, 380 pages and all, in a matter of five days. What lovely lives have
been painted in the book!
The story is wound around four
friends, two of whom after their education at London School of Economics, go to
the far corners of the world, as Front-line correspondents, Shivan, a bright
Indian and Alexei a Russian. The other two friends are Julian, an Englishman and
Farid, a prince from Afghanistan, who will later join them.
They marry, Shivan to a headstrong
but intelligent and tender Romona, an Indian student of the Institute of Archaeology
of London University. Julian, falls for her sister Vanita, also from London
School of Economics, but Vanita decides to settle down with a man from Bengal, selected
by their father, a senior international civil servant. The whole story is set
in 1960s.
Being intelligent and young they are
all involved in the happenings around them in the world. They banter about US
President Kennedy’s Cuban policy, fate of Serbs, Croats, Slovenes, Macedonians,
Albanians of Yugoslavia, and the interference of the superpowers, especially
that of USA, which reduced these people to small and divided nations, impoverishing
them in the process.
Just before they part as students the
tragic assassination of J.F. Kennedy happens and devastates the world, on 22nd
November 1963. Soon after Shivan is posted to Istanbul to cover the Eastern
Mediterranean region. He gets his PhD on ‘Thucydides: Father of War
Correspondents.’
The author describes the partition of
Palestine and the creation of Israel and how the Arab nations vow to destroy
the infant nation, but with every onslaught Israel emerged stronger occupying
more land than she started with. Palestinians became refugees in their own
land.
Fearing Romona might follow her
sister and marry someone else, Shivan meets her after three years and proposes
to her. He warns her of the uncertainty and hardship of the lives of frontline
journalists and she assures him that she ‘won’t be a clinging vine or wilting
violet.’ They marry most romantically at Venice in a gondola, at the very place
where Venice was supposed to have been married to the Adriatic Sea!
Being posted briefly in India, Shivan
reports on the tumultuous war of liberation of Bangladesh, with assistance from
India, in 1971. In the mean while West Asia militancy of Arab Muslims commenced,
changing the world once and for all. Arab terrorism grew at the same time when
Vietnam war was ending, with USA leaving Saigon, acknowledging her failure
there.
A son is born to Shivan and Romona,
Aditya and he grows up among all this turmoil. In India, the Prime Minister
Indira Gandhi promulgates Emergency and clamps down freedom of speech and
writing; Shivan is arrested and sent to prison, but released after six months.
Next Shivan is posted to Iran and another
interesting journey of their lives starts. The military coup engineered by the
British and the American Oil Companies shows the greedy politics of the
powerful. The Iranian revolution that followed and the installation of Mullah
Ayatollah Khomeini’s regime in 1979 are given in some detail. No wonder that
the Muslim world considers USA as a Satan and has developed strong dislike for
the Western world.
What I like about the book is how the
narrative intertwines the historical and cultural aspects of various parts of
the world around the story of Shiven and his wife Romona and his friends. It is
offered with a lot of insight on international affairs.
Next posting of Shivan is Kabul to
report on the developments in Afghanistan. This is where the book really livens
up. Historical details about Afghanistan, cultural moorings of Kandahar or
Gandara, where deserters from the army of Alexander the great settled in 4th
century BC, the genesis of Mughal rule in India, whose first king Baber hailed from
Kabul are all delightfully narrated.
Afghanistan stood untamed by both the
British and later Russia, for her war-lords were undefeatable. She was
receiving help from the Russians and to halt the spread of Communism, Americans
started to equip the Mujahidin, the local Afghans to fight against Russia. Alexei a Russian die-hard reporter, joins them here.
One could discern the author’s soft corner
for Russia. After all she was awarded the prestigious Pushkin Medal by the
Russian government for her work on Russian literature. Not that she is biased, but historical truths
do speak of the origin of Taliban menace due to American interference and
arming Afghans to wage a proxy war for USA against Soviet Union.
Pakistan was involved in training
these Mujahidin, of course with lot of American assistance. These guns would
later be trained on India and create problem in Kashmir. Alexei and Prince Farid,
both Shivan’s close friends, die in Kabul unrest. By 1979 the situation
deteriorated fast and Russia invaded Afghanistan on the request of its President.
In this melee, not only Taliban but also Al-Qaida were born.
In addition to the details of
national literature, culture and current events happening in the 20th
century world of ours, what really attracted me is the strong love story of
Romona and Shivan. True to her commitment she remained a faithful wife, braving
her lonely days when Shiven is posted to far-off corners of the world and most
often amidst dangerous situations.
Shivan loved his wife deeply, and
remained loyal to her, but for a small indiscretion when posted in Sarajevo,
amidst chaotic clashes and genocide. Almost retiring after that, both spend
some peaceful years in writing their respective books. One day suddenly Shivan
dies. Romona is shattered. Her beautiful world vanished overnight. She was all
alone in the world. Her only son was married and settled in America.
Still she decided to remain alone, and
be true to the memory of her first and last love, Shivan. She did not encourage
their dear and close friend’s attachment to her and his proposal of remarriage.
She got her husband’s book that he left completed published; as fathomed from
his diaries, she published his war memoirs. Having done her duty to her
husband, she started writing her own books.
It is a tender love story above all,
that touches the heart and leaves one to wonder, whether such a love as this is
possible at all.
Long live Romona and her devotion to
her husband.
A good read loaded with information
and lot of love and human drama amidst the chaos that is our world today.
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