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Title of the Book: The Way
Things Were
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Author: Atish Taseer
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Hardcover: 563 pages
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Publisher: Picador India; First edition (4 December 2014)
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Language: English
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Price: INR 699/-
Aatish Taseer’s latest novel, The Way Things Were, is about a strange beast called History. ‘What
constitutes history?’ has been a subject of constant discussion in our country
since the British left the Indian shores in 1947. Everybody, from the hoi polloi to the intellectuals and the
politicians, looks at history through the prism of their particular ideologies
and beliefs, especially the politicians, both left and right manipulate it to suit their ideological
necessities.
In Mark Twain words, ‘the very ink with which
history is written is merely fluid prejudice.’ But, one of the main characters
of this novel, Toby, would never agree with Twain. For him, the word Itihasa which means The Way Things Were is
self-explanatory, and mythology and legends are also a part of them.
The question
‘what exactly history is and how it impacts our present and future’ is a major
theme in this novel. The book is also about Sanskrit and the genesis of languages
across the world. Similar sounding words from different languages with similar
meanings but no direct cultural connection indicate that several languages have
a common mother. The book tries to convey the message that languages are a
shared legacy of human beings. It also tries to assimilate different
definitions of Indian culture. Concerns
regarding the rise of right-wing politics run through the entire novel.
The
book opens in Manhattan, New York, with Skanda, a Sanskrit Scholar, who is busy
translating the text of Kalidasa’s Kumarasambhava from Sanskrit into
English when he receives the news of his father’s death. His mother, Uma,
who is separated from his father, Toby, insists that he should take his
father’s body to his birthplace in India for the final rites and then he should
immerse his father’s ashes in the holy river, Tamasa, as per Hindu traditions.
Skanda’s
trip to India gets him a beautiful girlfriend called Gauri. His journey brings
him ‘deep within three generations of his family, whose fractures frailties and
toxic legacies Skanda has always sought to elude.’ The important part of family
history that matters most to Skanda is the story of his parents’ doomed
marriage. As the story of Toby, the Sanskrit Scholar from a royal family, and
Uma, the former air-hostess is recounted, we hear the reverberations of the
major events of the post-Independence India. It includes the Emergency of 1975,
Indira Gandhi’s assassination, the subsequent anti-Sikh pogroms in 1984 and the
demolition of the Babari mosque at Ayodhya in 1992.
The
exceptional quality of prose has always been the hallmark of Aatish Taseer’s
writings. From his memoir-cum- travelogue Stranger to History to his translation of
Manto and then his novels, he plays with language beautifully. His
understanding of South Asian history is very deep and that comes out well in
his narratives. A close reading of his books reveals that there are
similarities among the protagonists of all his novels as each of them is in
part influenced by the life of the author. And this fact, somehow, makes the
characters predictable. Complex, multidimensional characters connect better
with the readers but that doesn't happen with this novel. Both Skanda and Toby
are believable and likeable characters but the readers may not be able to make an
emotional investment in them. For example, when Toby and Uma separate, the
reader feels no pang of separation.
The major socio-political events like the 1984
riots or the Babari Mosque demolition were supposed to play significant roles
in defining the tone and feel of this novel and draw the readers deep in to it.
But it doesn't happen since the reader only hears the echoes of these incidents
as a bystander who has no stake in it.
Despite
these shortcomings it is a novel worth reading.
