If I Have To Be A Soldier - Nikhil J. Alva - ★★★.¾

AUTHOR: Nikhil J. Alva

GENRE: Indian Historical Fiction.

PUBLICATION DATE: March 15, 2024

RATING: 3.75 stars.

In a nutshell: An eye-opening historical fiction set around the 1966 rebellion in what is today Mizoram, India. I learn a lot about this not commonly known event of Indian history. Informative without being over the top, interesting characters, strong plot. A commendable debut, indeed. 

Plot Preview:

1966. Mizoram, North-East India. The Mizo National Front has launched a rebellion against the Indian government, demanding an independent nation. The Central government is fighting back with all its might. Amid this strife, Captain Samuel Rego (Sammy) is sent back to the land of his birth to interrogate a captive. Little does he know that the prisoner, one of the most feared MNF leaders known by his nickname ‘Che’, is his estranged childhood friend Sena. Sammy also doesn’t know that within just a few hours, both Sena and he will be fugitives from the law. While being hunted across the hills of Mizoram, Sammy and Sena must make peace with their past and figure out the present. 

The story comes to us in the third person perspective of various characters. 

It is quite sad that that there is much of our country’s history we Indians have not learnt through our school textbooks.  Maybe it’s because some of the events are too traumatising, or possibly because some events are too controversial, but time in our history textbooks stopped somewhere around 1950, the year in which the Indian constitution came into force. Reading this story has thus been an eye-opening experience. Until I read the blurb of this book, I did not even know that there had been a rebellion in the 1960s against the Indian government by a small community of North-East India. The plot presents an account of the Mizo revolution through the viewpoint of two friends who ended up on opposite sides of the fight.

My favourite part of this book is undoubtedly the historical information it provided to me about life in the Mizo hills before, during, and after the rebellion, the insights about the local  culture and beliefs (this was fascinating!), the cause of the uprising, the local political groups and their demands, the role of the Indian Government and the Indian army in exacerbating the problem, and the complicity of some members of various groups in profiteering from others’ pain. I appreciate how the focus was not just on the rebellion but also on the issues faced by the North-Eastern citizens because of the xenophobic attitude of mainland India. 

The author makes sure that this fictional work has plenty of facts and figures to support its plot. The author’s note at the end of the book gives a further picture of actual history, but even in the story itself, there is what seems to be an unbiased depiction of the rebellion, focussing not just on the demands and the bravery of the rebels but also the brutality and the corruption pervading both sides of the tussle. When we keep in mind that this is a debut work, it is easy to be more impressed by the straightforwardness of the writing.

The two lead characters, Sammy and Sena, are opposite in various ways. I found Sena’s character development captivating as the grit and determination are mostly in his arc. Despite Sammy’s being a captain with the Indian Army, he come off as a relative weakling who hasn’t grown as a man. I wish there had been some depth to his character. But as he flounders through the same emotions and foibles until almost the end, Sena easily steals the show from under Sammy’s weak nose. There are a few other interesting characters as well, spanning the whole gamut of human behaviour. Surprisingly, some of the minor players shine brightly while many of the major ones are a bit one-noted.

Though this is a 300+ page book, it is easy to complete it within 4-5 hours. The writing is very smooth and quick-paced. There isn’t too much dillydallying around trivial arcs. The initial section is a bit tough to get into, as the story begins with a deep dive into the action without introducing the main characters properly. But the second section goes into their backstory, and from that point, the narration is most sequential and hence, easier to grasp. The teen emotions in the backstory could have been a bit curtailed, but the rest of the flashback is excellent. There is some emotional drama, but I have come to expect that as a hallmark of Indian fiction. Many Indians enjoy flamboyant melodrama, so I guess I shouldn’t count this as a big negative, though it doesn’t work for me. 

What I will count as a negative though is some of the writing choices. Firstly, I wish the protagonists’ names had begun with different letters. I never like it when the main characters’ names start with the same letter. The reason for Sammy’s name is justified in the book, so perhaps Sena should have had some other authentic Mizo name not beginning with S.  Secondly, the last part of the final chapter was quite abrupt, and possibly, even unnecessary. But even if it were to be retained, I'd have liked to know after how long that incident took place – the time clue was missing and hence created a gap in our understanding of the situation. Finally, there is also a little bit of repetition. I could allow for some thoughts and even a couple of events to be repeated, but what I found really tough to ignore was the recurring use of the words ‘piss’ and ‘arse’. ‘Arse’ just doesn’t sound like something an Indian would say, even today, forget about the past. So seeing multiple characters use it to indicate their butt was hilarious. (I could almost hear them using an upper-class Brit accent while saying ‘arse’, just like Jennifer Coolidge’s character did in one episode of FRIENDS!) As regards ‘piss’, I'm okay with how ‘piss’ is used in slang, but in the context of the plot and the usage therein, ‘piss’ was used to indicate ‘urination’ or ‘urinate’ multiple times – once, it even popped up twice on the same page! – and it just felt awkward and vulgar. In other words, the overuse of ‘piss’ in the book pissed me off a bit! 😉

Despite these few complaints, I did enjoy the book a lot, and learnt much from it. It makes me wonder how many hidden stories from Indian history still remain suppressed, some of which might never see the light because of the people involved. Still, this is a good beginning, and hopefully one that opens the doorways to many more such important incidents of our history coming to light. 

Definitely recommended to Indian readers interested in reading a relatively unknown conflict in our country’s past. An Indian historical fiction novel that doesn’t focus on religion/caste issues and the 1947 partition is a rare one indeed. Here’s to many more such insightful and informative stories!

This review is powered by Blogchatter Book Review Program. My thanks to BlogChatter, Harper Collins India, and author Nikhil J. Alva for a complimentary copy of 'If I Have To Be A Soldier'. This review is voluntary and contains my honest opinion about the book.

To buy a copy of 'If I Have To Be A Soldier', visit https://www.amazon.in/gp/product/9356998701/