Tales of exile and heartbreak
The plot thickens for Farida Shaikh in a novel
The Glass Palace
Amitav Ghosh
Harper-Collins
People called the fort at Mandalay in Burma, the Glass Palace … a city in itself…' the story of the last days of independence of the country that became a part of the British Empire in 1885.
And years later the memory of Mandalay Palace returned in the walls lined with mirror and there was a great hall called the Glass Palace. Everything there was of crystal and gold…. 'you could see yourself everywhere if you lay on the floor'.
It is the story of King Thebaw's long exile, over twenty five years. The year 1905 marked the nineteenth year of the king's exile, from Mandalay to Rangoon to Madras and finally to Ratnagiri situated between Bombay and Goa. Queen Supayalat and the four princesses are substantive characters in the telling of the tale. The last princess was born in Outram House during the second year of the exile.
The second princess, who resembled the queen, could only be managed by the maid Dolly, Doh-lee. They grew up speaking Hindustani and Marathi and Burmese only with their parents. They dressed in saris.
The section on the royal residence in Ratnagiri is like a fairy tale. This may have led The Independent to label the book as 'A Doctor Zhivago for the Far East.'
The writer has dedicated the book to the memory of his father, Lieutenant Colonel Shailendra Ghosh, who was in the 12th frontier force regiment unit of the British Indian Army. He was in the Burma campaign during World War Two.
The seed of the story comes from the late Jagat Chandra Datta of Rangoon and Moulmein. In the novel the protagonist is Rajkumar '…His name meant Prince…' from Akyab, 'the principal port of the Arakan -- that tidewater stretch of coast where Burma and Bengal collide in a whirlpool of unease.'
All his family die of a fever that passes through the town, including the last survivor, his mother, who had tried to ship back to the Raha Hindu family in Chittagong, with Rajkumar. After his mother dies the boy stays on to work on the boat, having nowhere else to go. In Mandalay, the Burmese royal capital, the boat needs extensive repairs, and during the wait Rajkumar goes to work and live at a small food stall in town.
He is there when the British invade and overthrow the monarchy.
The British are preparing to send '… a fleet up the Irrawaddy… for they wanted …all the teak in Burma.' Soon a 'Royal Proclamation' follows, to the effect that His Majesty will defend the country by leading his forces against the invaders.
A British timber company refuses payment for some fifty thousand logs.
The settlement of the dispute is '… that the British might allow the Royal Family to remain in the palace in Mandalay…similar to the Indian princes…' However, the kings of Burma are sovereign and not princes. Under the influence of the queen 'the Burmese court had refused to yield to the British ultimatum.' So a war is imminent.
'The world's richest gem mines lay in Burma….the most prized possession the Ngamauk ring set with the greatest and the most valuable ruby mined in Burma.' And the collection of gemstones is a royal amusement.
The Hsaya San Rebellion 1930-1932 by Particia Herbert is adapted to describe the teak camp of the British in the forest slopes of Huay Zedi by the bank town of Pyinmana on the Sittang River, as shown in a map.
Part five of the work, a discussion on ancestors and Dinu's photography, is adapted from The Buddhist Tradition in India, China and Japan, edited by W.T. de Bary
The writer has a near obsessive urge to create the background of the characters and so has read hundreds of books, travelogues, gazetteers and notebooks. Except for King Thebaw and Queen Supayalat and their daughters, the characters in The Glass Palace are wholly fictional.
The first portion of the book makes interesting reading. The interest wanes, though, as the story progresses. The many fine passages and explanations of events from the characters' point of view and detailed information on a variety of subjects, though fascinating, remain shades apart from the rest of the story. One can cite here instances relating to carmakers like Karl Benz or KLM flights in the region. This continues to be a problem throughout the novel, growing worse towards the end.
The family saga -- centered mainly on Rajkumar and Saya John and their families and circle -- is much like the usual big family novel. In the later generation there are the sensitive photographer Dinu and the soldier Arjun and Alison, the woman they are both attracted to. There is Mathew, Sayagyi's son by his wife, who is long dead. There is Dolly, her friend Uma the collector's wife. He has discharged the administrative responsibility of the exiled king. He dies when his boat capsizes on the open sea off the Bay of Ratnagiri.
Ghosh's political strand focuses on Indians in military service, doing the British Empire's dirty work. Two-thirds of the soldiers that routed the Burmese in 1885 were Indian sepoys. The role of Indians in the British armed forces remains significant throughout the novel. As Indian independence approaches, the role of its armed forces becomes more controversial. Here it culminates with Arjun and his fellow-soldiers and the issues they face in World War Two.
However, these issues have a weak impact on readers. With intermittent romance scenes, The Glass Palace is like a layer of several novels.
The end of the book is rushed, dealing with Burma's recent history. The comments on the tragic current situation in Myanmar/Burma do not quite connect to the rest of the book and seem forced.
The book is the outcome of four editors. It is on this count that some reviewer of the book has remarked, 'Ghosh's sprawling, unevenly written book does not read like a finely-edited novel…. The novel fits together badly -- so perhaps different editors were responsible for different sections of it? Or perhaps it is merely proof that too many editors spoil the soup.'
As for readers like myself, I did note the mistake in the name of the short story writer and title of the story referred to in the Indian edition of The Glass Palace.
Farida Shaikh is a sociologist and freelance writer.
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