Monday, November 19, 2018

Patna Blues - A Breath of Fresh Air in Troubled Times

In dramas from Korea and Japan, older woman-younger man love is a popular theme. On Indian screens or Hollywood, the man has to be a little elder than the woman. Not by too much. Or he becomes villain. Who sets those barriers? Who shall love whom is an issue that plagues us. The issue is mostly social but powerfully legal at times. And most people cannot let go of thinking this is good and that is bad.  


Long Vacation

Much that has evolved faster elsewhere needs changing in Indian mindsets. More liberal laws are a hallmark of progressive civilisations. Laws that evolve to suit reality rather than archaic moralities. Abdullah Khan brings us an Indian story that dares to challenge the status quo in more than just the question of age and love.

 Dream says the first chapter and we enter the world of young Arif:



Arif shivered when a gust of wind hit him. I should have worn a jacket, he thought as he stopped his bicycle in front of a two-storeyed yellow building. He had just returned home from college. Parking his bicycle in the stairwell of the building, he pulled a notebook from its carrier and climbed up a flight of stairs. The banister of the staircase was broken in places and cobwebs hung from the ceiling.

We are transported into an India, both authentic and larger than life.  A small town youth slogs and crams for a popular Indian exam, one which holds symbolical keys to the 'kingdom' - the right to administer to the diverse needs of this unwieldy demography and geography. 

Interspersed with forbidden romance and politico-religious chaos, the novel croons the reader through all kinds of nightmare scenarios with compassion. 


Patna Blues Sings Rights, Riots, and Rites


Riots dot India's history with religious regularity. Most Indians experience one or know someone who has. Once the riots are over, we bury the issue of their being endemic. And, we have, in our vast cultural arsenal, a host of ways to never look a thing directly in the eye. Patna Blues steps delicately and warily over the debris of actual and fictional riots with a rare maturity and subtle humour that does the author much credit. The book has passages where a near riot situation simmers, evoking the ambiance without hurling brick-like judgement.  


Communal riots - Ahmedabad, February / March 2002
The picture reminds me of my only view of a riot - the one in Delhi in 1984.

Around the world, riot rate has been an uneasy marker of democracy. However, we would all rather not be present at a riot. Many countries become desirable to visit or reside in where riots are rare or only seen as news from distant lands. To create a riot free environment is surely the work of good administration. In India, the IAS exam is one way to such responsibility.

Hordes of young Indians embark on this pursuit in a manner not unlike that of students in the ancient Chinese exam system. It's a kind of do or die. Years of life are wasted in unsuccessful attempts. And Patna Blues is the ballad of one such attempt.

While riots across the world erupt for a variety of reasons, in India, they are frequently due to religion. And, while much of the rest of the world has chosen to try and underplay the power of religion over day to day life, we have emerged increasingly pious and surly as a race, ever ready to riot. Here, too, Khan has used a tender touch, just enough to bring us the beauty of that cultural phenomenon: religion. And, let's not forget that, in India, even academics are undertaken as rites! With much religious 'chanting' of study material!

In urban India, it was, to some extent, quite popular to be 'secular' or even outright agnostic. However, that has rapidly changed over the past few years. In rural India, religious rites rule rigidly. The state of Bihar does not boast high literacy rates. So, one can imagine the average Bihari to be much more pious than, say, a person from Kerala, where literacy has boomed. Again, today, I'm not so sure about that. Today, in India, it pays to be pious. While religious ritualism is fascinating as cultural phenomena, we observe less crime in regions where religion is low key. Consider Japan or some of the Scandinavian lands.

In Patna Blues, there are vivid and memorable encounters with dreaded bandits. The sad truth is that this piece of fiction reflects what is daily life in much of India. Even more so today than ever before.

A historical account of life in small town India, the novel showcases the aspirations and tribulations of an average Indian small town male with gentleness and sweet candour.

Patna Blues is a must read, across the globe, for insights into the Indian psyche. Though written from a Muslim's perspective, it could just as easily be the tale of a Hindu or Christian family in India. Veiled under a tale of unrequited and forbidden love, the story sings the blues that afflict India today and, while no fingers are pointed, the message is clear: rather than complain, , it is time the average Indian studies national policies as assiduously as an IAS officer. Riots and gangsterism will become myths from the past when rights and not riots guide us.

In the meanwhile, read Patna Blues today. Abdullah Khan is a pioneering voice in Indian writing in English. A rare ease and flow make the book a page turner.



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