चौरासी | Chaurasi - Satya Vyas - ★★★★.½

AUTHOR: Satya Vyas

GENRE: Hindi fiction

PUBLICATION DATE: October 19, 2018

RATING: 4.5 stars.

(No English translation available yet.)

One of the biggest changes in my reading habits courtesy my Facebook reading group has been my foray into Hindi literature. Of course, I'm yet to achieve the reading fluency required to devour Hindi books. So I'm entirely reliant on audio versions for now. But this is a much better way to attempt Hindi literature rather than relying on poor English translations.

My best experience so far, and also the most traumatic one, has been the "reading" of Chaurasi. Thanks to the frequent recommendations of my avid Hindi-reading friends, I knew this book would be interesting. But it was far beyond my expectations! The best Hindi book I've read so far! (Yeah, that's not saying much! 🤭🤭)

Here's what you need to know about Chaurasi:

- Go into it knowing what to expect. The Goodreads summary of the book makes it sound like it is the tale of the 1984 riots in Bokaro as an aftermath of Indira Gandhi's assassination. It is not. The book is a romantic drama, the riots occuring in just a part of the timeline. So if you are expecting a book dwelling mainly on the riots, you will be disappointed. The love story holds prominence.

- The riots part of the story does focus on one community seeking to avenge the PM's death by targetting another community. But the writing is such that you won't find the book taking a stance pro or against any community. Rather, it makes a stark statement on how narrow-minded the human mentality can become when it allows rumours, politicians and religious dogmatism (not necessarily in that order) to dictate their thinking and their actions. The book is anti-bigotry, no matter which religion they come from. And we all know, every single religion has its share of bigots.

- The riots as described in the book will cause trauma and you won't forget that experience easily. It is painfully gruesome to read, and keeps haunting your mind. You can't help but wonder how many innocents must have lost their lives in the various riots we have had in the country. Our unity in diversity has been one of our biggest strengths and we must strive to maintain our religious harmony and national integration.

- As this part is revealed in the very first chapter, I don't count it as a major spoiler. The story is narrated from the point of view of Bokaro the city. This works wonderfully to keep the story neutral of any religious or other bias.

- I enjoyed the writing and character sketching abilities of Satya Vyas. I've not read his other works so I can't really compare this book to a Dilli Durbar or a Banaras Talkies. But in this book, he seems to have a firm control of where he wants the plot to go. He knows he wants to write an innocent love story that is almost destroyed because of the anti-Sikh sentiment. And he does exactly that without losing his focus any time. His characters reveal their hidden feelings and frustrations just as normal people. What I liked the most was that he doesn't seek to make his main characters perfect. They are as human as can be.

- The language is pretty manageable to understand, especially if your Hindi is as wonderful as mine.😬 There are some tough words, but the context helps you comprehend the meaning in most of the cases.

- The audio version on Storytel is fabulous. Ila Joshi does a great job of narrating the various characters and bringing to life not only their individual personalities but also the pathos of the riots.

All in all, this was a wonderful reading experience for me, and I would definitely recommend this book.

Humanity first and always!

❤️