"THE CITY OF JOY" by Dominique Lapierre.

La Cite De La Joie’ is a book originally published in French as the writer himself is. Dominique Lapierre is the author who has produced more work but this is the first book of his I have come across. English edition of the book came in the market in 1999, since then it has been bought by millions of the readers in some thirty languages around the world. The fluency and the beauty of the language of the book is somewhere lost in English translation which happens to almost every translated work. Though the book is full of stories of destitute and unfortunate people living in inhuman conditions but there happiness seems to be coming out of the very compulsion of the lack of hope rather than from any glorious spirituality. If small things make Hasari Pal happy it is because he just can not dream of bigger happiness. If lepers of the Aanand Nagar are happy and content in spite of all the pain and above all the social conditioning it is because they are anyways nearing death. It is difficult for me to fathom the suggestion of the narrator that their contentment comes from a spiritual experience.

                                  If at all there is spirituality and glory it is in the deeds of Father Kovalski whose choice is such that he is among the most unfortunates of the society. Dr. Max Loeb coming to the slum to work for the poor for a span of a year and sharing their condition is glorious to me. Bondona’s heroic efforts for the poorest are amazingly beautiful but little light is thrown on her. The book starts from Hasari Pal but leaves him somewhere in the middle and focuses more on Dr. Loeb and Kovalski. Hasari Pal’s family required more light and his wife even more as she too struggled with misery at every step. The story tries to cover too many areas avoiding entering small details of any one person’s life, though a thorough account is given about pathetic condition of the slum. The Godfather of the slum, Manubai, Dr. Arthur Loeb’s visit, Ghosh couple, Amrita and many other characters are left midway without much lead. The fact that there are too many people in the slum stretches the book for five hundred pages.

                                  All this can be spared as the work is not a fictional one. It is an experience consisting of real life stories of real people struggling to find their daily means. The best part is the kind of help it has generated for the poor and downtrodden of slums and made millions of people aware of their fellow humans’ plight. As a work it deserves praise, not literary merit. It needs to be bought and read by those who are capable as half of the money goes to charity. Slums are better and beautifully described in works like SHANTARAM by Gregory David Roberts where it indeed looks like a happy place. City Of Joy is rather not a City Of Joy. As a book it earns six and half marks out of ten.

"RANGBHOOMI" by PREMCHAND

It is a satire. A satire is exaggerated most of the time. Satirical characters are always suggesting something bigger, their opinions and acts are always directed towards a greater reality. Though conversations in satirical literature come out of everyday life, their essence lies in contemporary and often darker social realities.

In “Rangbhoomi”, Premchand describes his times in a colorful way. His dissatisfaction with Raj, his lack of faith in ruling British people is quite obvious. Premchand’s pen targets the part of Indian society which had converted to Christianity in order to become either favored ones of the ruling white class or to become a part of the same if possible. Eeshwar Sewak is one such character whose understanding of himself is of a devout Christian but his characteristics are of a greedy human being who does not mind supporting wrong ways to earn wealth. His daughter in law Mrs. John Sewak too is a superstitious woman who is ready to sacrifice her daughter Sofia to serve her understanding of Christianity. In portraying people of Pandepur Premchand uncovers lack of integrity, inherent greed and selfishness of contemporary Indian society. Condition of Subhagi who is beaten day and night by her husband Bhairo, Indu Rani’s suffocation even after being a queen are clearly suggesting to pitiful condition of Indian women in those times which have not lost their relevance even today. Maharana of Udaipur though appears shortly, leaves the impression of exaggeration which is so typical of satire. The light thrown on his hypocritical character along with Eeshwar sewak is so bright that it reaches to the level of irritating the reader. Premchand could have downplayed a bit.

Other trouble with the novel is ever confused characters of Sofia and Vinay Singh, who meet several times, love each other more than one can, condemn each other most harshly for their actions and it all becomes unbelievable after a point. Rani Jahnavi who is Vinay Singh’s mother is another character who seems to be unrealistic. She is ready to sacrifice her son for the mother land, criticizes her husband for his opinions but teaches her daughter Indu Rani to blindly follow her husband Mahendra Kumar.

Soordas, the blind beggar holds the highest moral, is the humblest of all but does not stoop in front of any injustice and is still every inch real. He is the protagonist though he is unaware of it. Directly or indirectly he influences almost every character’s life in the novel, his deeds have that impact which mobilize masses, moves even the British, ruin families and he is unaware of it all. He is the sage, only light in darker time. Too ideal but still real. Prabhu Sewak and Kunwar Bharat Singh the father of Vinay Singh are two men who are very real. Former is a poet who can accept poverty when insulted by his father and change the course of his life when praised by the ruling class. The later is the man who accepts his moral weaknesses which are so integral to human nature and denies letting go of his wealth and stature in society.

Deriving small incidences from Tribal life, munshi Tahir’s family, Pandit Nayakram’s shrewdness, Daroga’s pride of his race Premchand tries to cover too much of his time and succeeds in most parts but the story loses in the process. Pessimism drips down from every page but those might have been pessimistic times. The book is worth 6 out of 10 marks.