Calling Sehmat - Harinder Sikka

AUTHOR: Harinder Sikka

GENRE: Historical Fiction, Indian Fiction

RATING: 2 stars.

In a Nutshell: Began well, kept dipping with every subsequent chapter. Based on a true story, so some of the more outlandish events are still based in reality. But the writing is too basic.

Story Synopsis:

Pre-1971, India. Sehmat is the young daughter of a Kashmiri businessman who runs a secret network of spies between India and neighbouring Pakistan, especially as the climate between the two countries has turned tense. When he is diagnosed with an incurable ailment, his last wish is to see Sehmat take over his intelligence network. She is married off to the son of a high-ranked Pakistani military officer and through her new position, she relays information back to the intelligence officers in India. However, she goes a step too far and someone discovers her secret. What happens next?

Where the book worked for me:

✔ If this were a fictional story, I would have dismissed a lot of the content as exaggerated and impossible. However, the parts that I found toughest to believe are, in fact, true, verifiable through various online sources. The real-life Sehmat sure was a brave lady, and I loved learning about an unknown patriot of my motherland. This is the first time I have read about an Indian woman spy. The choice of topic isn’t a popular one, and my thanks to the author for highlighting her efforts.

✔ The writing is pretty fast-paced and straightforward. It’s easy to complete this 200 pager within a couple of hours.

Where the book could have worked better for me:

❌ This is the debut novel of an established screenplay writer and it shows. Every scene seems to have been written keeping the big screen in mind. The dialogues are pretentious, and the focus is more on establishing the setting than on the characters or their emotions.

❌ The very first page of the story tells us that Sehmat has just passed away. Throughout the book, I waited to know why. Till the end, neither the reason nor her age at the time of death was revealed. What was the point of that emotional opening then?

❌ The writing is utterly basic, almost amateurish. Plenty of lines are repeated after just a few paragraphs, as if the author didn’t trust his readers’ memories.

❌ There are so many interesting characters in the book, but most aren’t explored at all. Except for Sehmat, the rest come and go as per the whims and fancies of the author. There is an underlying assumption that Sehmat is the only one with intelligence, and that the Pakistani military officials have no brains at all, which is a stupid assumption. Quite a few plot holes spring up because of this.

❌ There is a recurring mention of Sehmat’s physical appeal. When sentences such as "She had draped her exquisite body in black crepe" make an appearance in an espionage thriller, it is just too cheesy.

❌ When a book claims to be based on true events, I appreciate an author’s note detailing the actual events and how far the book was factual and to what extent fictional. There’s no author’s note in this book at all, and I was forced to search info online. As the real-life Sehmat is a private individual whose story just happened to come up before the author, there’s not much about her on any site. The author should have therefore made sure we know the real lady well.

❌ The time period in which the story is set isn’t revealed until a long time into the book.

❌ The ending is just meh - too much of philosophy that springs out of nowhere.

The book had tremendous potential, and in the hands of a more experienced writer, it would have worked much better. I can see why this was adapted into a movie (titled ‘Raazi’ for the uninformed), and as I have already seen the movie, I would definitely recommend that you watch the movie because the star cast and the director have done far better justice to Sehmat’s story than the book that inspired the adaptation. This book is an exception to the rule that the book is always better.

In short, this is a melodramatic story based on true events. The average writing doesn’t make me recommend the book to most readers except those who don’t mind beginner-level writing. As I mentioned above, if you want to know more about Sehmat, watch ‘Raazi’ instead.