Train to Pakistan - Kushwant Singh

"I had written a lot of short stories before I embarked on writing my first novel, Mano Majra, better known by its later title, Train to Pakistan. I had no idea how one wrote a novel. I did not think I had the stamina to write one. But I did have the theme. I had lived through the civil strife that engulfed the whole of northern India... The spreading communal violence did not affect our small circle of friends: Muslims, Hindus, Sikhs and Christians continued to meet as usual and enjoy their sundowners. Of course we developed a sense of guilt. There was so much of violence and wickedness going on around us and we did nothing about it except talk and drown our conscience in drink. It was after the Partition of the country was over, after ten million people had been rendered homeless and one million slain, that I felt I had to purge myself of the guilt I bore by writing about it." ( Kushwant Singh - Collected Novels - Introduction ) 

Upon reading the many reviews, it was with much hope I looked forward to reading "Train to Pakistan". To begin with it was not available in the Book Shops in Sri Lanka or Qatar - I couldn't even find it in one of the  "Kinokuniya" book shops I had chance to visit, while on travel. So it was with much relish, that I took to reading it upon finding a Kindle Omnibus version of the author's  Collected Novels. Yet I was somewhat set back in my hopes, when I read that the Author Kushwant Singh, is on record, pronouncing  that, "All said and done, Train to Pakistan was more documentary than a novel." ( Introduction - The Collected Novels ). However, this damper didn't actually materialise in its' effect as I found the book a thoroughly enjoyable read, with a "life-like" insight into the happenings during the period under discussion.

The book offers an insight on several verticals, all of them connected at the base by the narration of what happens in a small village on the Sikh side of the border, called Mano Majra, One is that of the challenge of maintaining Law and Order by the powers that be ( presented here by the Magistrate and the Police ); there is the Socialist intellectual, recently returned from the UK, who had come to the village as a Social Worker - supposedly devoted towards empowering the down trodden and the poor , while careful not to touch even a glass of milk that the poor peasantry offer, due to the "unhealthy" practices of the villagers ; careful to assess the personal returns to whatever actions he may be called upon to do ; we see the instigators who break up the harmony between the two communities that have lived as brothers and sisters for centuries, and who succeed to a certain degree ; and then the village "Badmaash", who  despite his ways is willing to make the ultimate sacrifice for love as well as for his fellow villagers, not worried about his sacrifice "not making the papers", like the intellectual was. I have just revealed enough to tempt prospective readers without "the spoiler" effect, to discourage them. However I will reveal a few extracts below, which  offer various insights on the social, cultural and political aspects of a people. They are indeed deeply integrated into the novel, and in no way stand out "as sore thumbs", but am highlighting them due to their importance, and their timeless value. 

The Social Worker Iqbal has the following thoughts in his mind as he contemplates on answers to the grave issues hindering the progress of India ( He has just got down from the Train upon arriving in Mano Majra ) :

"The whole country was like an overcrowded room. What could you expect when the population went up by six every minute— five millions every year! It made all planning in industry or agriculture a mockery. Why not spend the same amount of effort in checking the increase in population? But how could you, in the land of the Kama Sutra, the home of phallic worship and the son cult? " (Page 41)

Another interesting insight is the idea of the average villager,  when Iqbal wanted to learn what independence and political freedom meant to them:

“Freedom is for the educated people who fought for it. We were slaves of the English, now we will be slaves of the educated Indians—or the Pakistanis.”

It is almost as if Iqbal, newly arrived after  his education in England has been brought in to the novel, to primarily pin point the stark truths which many a policy maker is blind to. Yet, Singh is enlightened enough to prove that while Iqbals'  criticism is  valid, it is rich, since the social worker will not "walk the talk", when required. This is an observation true, even today of many people pf that category,  many a decade after this was written. Look at this critique about caste discrimination:

"The difference in treatment did not surprise Iqbal. In a country which had accepted caste distinctions for many centuries, inequality had become an inborn mental concept. If caste was abolished by legislation, it came up in other forms of class distinction. In thoroughly westernized circles like that of the civil servants in the government secretariat in Delhi, places for parking cars were marked according to seniority, and certain entrances to offices were reserved for higher officials. Lavatories were graded according to rank and labelled SENIOR OFFICERS, JUNIOR OFFICERS, CLERKS AND STENOGRAPHERS and OTHER RANKS. With a mental make-up so thoroughly sectionalized, grading according to their social status people who were charged or convicted of the same offence did not appear incongruous."

A pertinent  criticism on how various religions are being practiced in India, was one of the parts which I thought was very valid even back at home. Because, while the account here is on India, written by a distinguished Indian, it is equally true of us Sri Lankans as well, where we are more prone to parade statements like "බුදු දහම පරම සත්‍යයි " (the Dharma of the Buddha is the ultimate Truth), on the windscreens of Buses,  not much more than a few hundreds really live their lives as per the teachings of the Enlightened One. Possibly it is true of other religions as practiced in Sri Lanka too , but let that criticism come from their own words. This is how Singh puts words to Iqbal to vent his criticism:

"India is constipated with a lot of humbug. Take religion. For the hindu, it means little besides caste and cow-protection. For the Muslim, circumcision and kosher meat. For the sikh, long hair and hatred of the muslim. For the christian, Hinduism with a sola topee. For the parsi, fire-worship and feeding vultures. Ethics, which should be the kernel of religious code, has been carefully removed...Proof? we do not go into such pedestrian pastime as proof! That is Western. We are of the mysterious East. No proof, just faith. No reason; just faith."

One of the most important atmospheres  that the author has succeeded in capturing is the feeling of helplessness, inhibition that paralyses people, making them resort to all kinds of alternative means of actions, when dire situations, such as the one being discussed here, arises within a society. Let it be the Authorities of Policing, or the average villager, they are called upon to what may be viewed upon some extreme action, or an action away from the book of law, because the options availed doesn't meet the dire situation. It is this dire situation which compels the Magistrate to tweak the law, as does the village Badmaash.

“I have done all I could. My duty is to tell people what is right and what is not. If they insist on doing evil, I ask God to forgive them. I can only pray; the rest is for the police and the magistrates. And for you.”
“Me? Why me?” asked Iqbal with a startled innocence. “What have I to do with it? I do not know these people. Why should they listen to a stranger?”
“When you came you were going to speak to them about something. Why don’t you tell them now?”
Iqbal felt cornered. “Bhaiji, when people go about with guns and spears you can only talk back with guns and spears. If you cannot do that, then it is best to keep out of their way.”
“That is exactly what I say. I though you with your European ideas had some other remedy.”

 

Given that this is a novel, the author's first, written with a concrete objective, if one is to seek  theoretical aspects ( as has been discussed by the experts, albeit loosely )  in it , one may find a few flaws. Yet,  unless one  go looking with a magnifying glass, these short comings  didn't discount the pleasure that I derived this work of fiction. Furthermore it will serve as more than an adequate account of the atrocities that took place during the partition, with at least some detail pictured in a gory form, ( albeit in words ) , making the reader tremble with grief. I feel that this book should be read by all, to understand the blood that has been sacrificed, as two new Nations were in the political map of the world.