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This Is Not that Dawn
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August 1, 2024
Yashpal’s book, “This is not that dawn” is magnificent. When I began reading the book, I thought I’d need over a month to finish the eleven-hundred-page novel but, the narrative kept drawing me in. Once I started the book, I could not stop reading, even waking up at 3am to continue the story.
The Hindi title of the book is “Jhoota Sach,” or “False Truth.” Yashpal divided the story into two parts, moving from the pre-Independence, pre-Partition days to the early years after India gained Independence. He set the first half of the story in Lahore, where he introduced us to the main characters, notably Tara Puri, her brother Puri, her future sister-in-law, Kanak and their families.
The story starts with the lives of the families, and you gain a glimpse into the social mores of the society, where no one wants an educated woman. Tara loves Asad but her family marries her off to someone else.
The Partition happens, mass slaughter and rape take place on both sides, with women bearing the brunt of the rape and violence.
Then the scene shifts to the newly formed India, and the immigrants to “India” struggle to make sense of their lives and make a fresh start. Families are separated, people change, some become strong, and others revel in hypocrisy. Men try and take advantage of the women who struggle to stand on their feet.
He ended the story with an optimistic paragraph. Hope, if it lies anywhere, lies in the people, not the politicians.
The book aroused many emotions in me, because I am ‘a child of the Partition.’ Like me, the main characters in the novel lost their heritage, and connections when they came to India.
The book works at three broad levels. At one level, it is a narrative of the main characters, at the second, a portrait of the society in which they live and, overlaying this, is the depiction of a changing, new nation.
I believe Yashpal likes strong, intelligent women and the women shine in this story, in particular Tara Puri and Kanak Dutta. The story tells their tales, their struggles, brushes with death, betrayal, all the while keeping their integrity intact. Don’t assume that the men are awful, even though some, like Tara’s brother change and become despicable. Men like Gill, Nath and others shine, and it is a pity India has not produced more like them.
The translation is excellent.
I do not know if the book got any awards but, it is a book to treasure.
The Hindi title of the book is “Jhoota Sach,” or “False Truth.” Yashpal divided the story into two parts, moving from the pre-Independence, pre-Partition days to the early years after India gained Independence. He set the first half of the story in Lahore, where he introduced us to the main characters, notably Tara Puri, her brother Puri, her future sister-in-law, Kanak and their families.
The story starts with the lives of the families, and you gain a glimpse into the social mores of the society, where no one wants an educated woman. Tara loves Asad but her family marries her off to someone else.
The Partition happens, mass slaughter and rape take place on both sides, with women bearing the brunt of the rape and violence.
Then the scene shifts to the newly formed India, and the immigrants to “India” struggle to make sense of their lives and make a fresh start. Families are separated, people change, some become strong, and others revel in hypocrisy. Men try and take advantage of the women who struggle to stand on their feet.
He ended the story with an optimistic paragraph. Hope, if it lies anywhere, lies in the people, not the politicians.
The book aroused many emotions in me, because I am ‘a child of the Partition.’ Like me, the main characters in the novel lost their heritage, and connections when they came to India.
The book works at three broad levels. At one level, it is a narrative of the main characters, at the second, a portrait of the society in which they live and, overlaying this, is the depiction of a changing, new nation.
I believe Yashpal likes strong, intelligent women and the women shine in this story, in particular Tara Puri and Kanak Dutta. The story tells their tales, their struggles, brushes with death, betrayal, all the while keeping their integrity intact. Don’t assume that the men are awful, even though some, like Tara’s brother change and become despicable. Men like Gill, Nath and others shine, and it is a pity India has not produced more like them.
The translation is excellent.
I do not know if the book got any awards but, it is a book to treasure.
Displaying 1 of 1 review