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Oonga
Every now and then, the lush green of the hills is hacked by wastelands of bleeding red earth and limbless tree stumps. Over these, a signboard ‘India Aluminium Inc.’ – with a big eye – keeps an eerie, humming, omnipotent watch.
The story moves between lyrical innocence and militant justice, fear and brutal oppression – nuanced, sensitive, ramping up the tempo till all explodes. But at the heart of the churn is the little Dongria Kondh boy, Oonga. Desperate to see a performance of ‘Sitaharan’, he goes on an epic journey to the big city – to return as the blue adivasi prince of the forest, Rama himself! And, Rama-like, he must now take on the gun-wielding demons who have swooped on his village after abducting its passionately idealistic but pragmatic teacher, Hemla didi. With echoes of real incidents, a filmmaker’s flair, a cast of unforgettable characters, and a masterful retelling of mythology, the book hurtles breathlessly forward to expose the dystopia of ‘development’ and conflict of ideologies, complicated by the faultlines of language. Showing how peaceful people become victims of violence and are forced into battles they don’t want to fight.
And it is with riveting cinematic metaphors like this that Devashish Makhija transitions his film Oonga into a powerful novel that sits deep in the clash between adivasis, naxalites, the CRPF and a rapacious mining company.
The story moves between lyrical innocence and militant justice, fear and brutal oppression – nuanced, sensitive, ramping up the tempo till all explodes. But at the heart of the churn is the little Dongria Kondh boy, Oonga. Desperate to see a performance of ‘Sitaharan’, he goes on an epic journey to the big city – to return as the blue adivasi prince of the forest, Rama himself! And, Rama-like, he must now take on the gun-wielding demons who have swooped on his village after abducting its passionately idealistic but pragmatic teacher, Hemla didi. With echoes of real incidents, a filmmaker’s flair, a cast of unforgettable characters, and a masterful retelling of mythology, the book hurtles breathlessly forward to expose the dystopia of ‘development’ and conflict of ideologies, complicated by the faultlines of language. Showing how peaceful people become victims of violence and are forced into battles they don’t want to fight.
And it is with riveting cinematic metaphors like this that Devashish Makhija transitions his film Oonga into a powerful novel that sits deep in the clash between adivasis, naxalites, the CRPF and a rapacious mining company.
295 pages, Paperback
Published January 1, 2020
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
July 21, 2021
An incredible story of an adivasi village caught between miners, the police and the maoist naxalites. Young Ooonga only wants to see a performance of Sitaharan but through his journey we learn more of the culture and struggles of his people. The writing, in particular the visual language in this is quite incredible- without seeing the movie I can picture the whole story unfolding in front of me.
It is firmly in YA territory & the rape / stones / brutality would mean I’d put a trigger warning on it.
It is firmly in YA territory & the rape / stones / brutality would mean I’d put a trigger warning on it.
April 22, 2025
The book reads like a screenplay, and i'm not sure of I hold it to its credit. I am still mad that it didn't get a screen release.
But it is an important story, certainly an under discussed one. It's about war, literally between the state and the citizen; and metaphorically of our conscience and our indifference. In both, there's one side that is more deserving to win.
That being said, I do feel the story ends up in some murky territory of a rural story by an urban man for an urban audience that however unwanted, indulges in the imagined mysticism and exoticism of tribes.
But it is an important story, certainly an under discussed one. It's about war, literally between the state and the citizen; and metaphorically of our conscience and our indifference. In both, there's one side that is more deserving to win.
That being said, I do feel the story ends up in some murky territory of a rural story by an urban man for an urban audience that however unwanted, indulges in the imagined mysticism and exoticism of tribes.
January 7, 2025
The book is heartrending. The choice of words brings alive the forest as well as the characters and hits the reader with raw emotions.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews