History taken with a pinch of salt
Nazma Yeasmeen Haque enjoys an intriguing tale of the 1971 war
Bengal Raag
Durdana Soomro and Ghazala Hameed
Writers.ink
The title of the novel is a most fascinating one, particularly to a reader who is a Bengali in spirit. The title sends out vibrations of musical elements to one's images. It is a family saga based on stories and events that actually had happened over a long period of time dating back roughly to 1950 and ending sometime in early 1971. The locale is the then East Pakistan where the father, an ICS officer, was posted in various places both small and relatively big, raising a family of six children along with his hardy and well-educated wife. Also part of the family was Nanibibi who was looked upon as a much dependable person, particularly by the children as they grew up.
Bengal Raag is written by the two youngest children of the family, who happened to be twins, much later while both of them were involved in their own professions. The entire novel has been written with much enthusiasm primarily because it is all about myriad events that in fact take place in the authors' own family involving all the members against the backdrop of some significant episodes of the history of the country in terms of socio-political turmoil. Recalling episodes that took place in one's childhood and during school years mainly and recasting them in an order of chronology infused with full verve is not that easy a task to produce after the lapse of a long time. It is like living one's childhood and pre-adolescent years once in their actuality and then reliving them for the second time as one ventures to record them. As one reads the book, one feels one is hearing a long story told by some master storyteller. Although the book jacket says that there is a blend of fiction and real life in the story, it is hard to separate them out because of the liveliness in presentation and an ever easy flow of narrative all the way. Disbelief even partly as to the veracity of the story, therefore, does not creep in. As one passes from one episode to another, one is awed by the very fine details of events crisscrossing the novels as if in keeping with its topography where innumerable rivers and rivulets slither through. A reader gets immersed in the contents and feels oneself a part of the family.
Unlike most novels and plays, Bengal Raag does not present a particular character for its protagonist. Every character occupies a position of importance in relation to occurrences both in and out of the family. Much cohesiveness and family bonding is reflected from the interactions of the members that are strikingly varied; and however small the happenings, all get the thorough attention of the narrators. The whole book is absolutely saturated with words, words and words that become eloquent as one reads it.
Descriptions of places, people living there, their beliefs, customs and occupations all are seen with an anthropologist's discerning eyes, making things come alive to bear witness to history, geography and their interdisciplinary roles over the years in moulding the lives of people. For instance, when the family goes on a travel spree to places like Bandarban, Raozan, Rangamatia and Kaptai, its members so charmed by the distinctiveness that is so pronounced among the people belonging to various tribes that the authors engage separate chapters on each. Seen through the eyes of young children, images stay on, glowing. There is also mention of the then chief of the Chakmas, Raja Tridiv Roy, who got so alienated from his subjects that he eventually needed to flee to Pakistan.
There is much hilarity ingrained in the novel, lightening up often the grim and sombre episodes and refreshing a reader's mind leading him or her to searching for further turns in the tale. A magnetic touch is perceived. One such relates to General Ayub Khan's military coup in 1958. One can see changes not only in the political area but also in cleaning up roads, disposing of garbage, whitewashing of government buildings and in the starched uniforms of policemen as also in their smart gait. Ayub Khan's presence becomes so all pervasive that the authors as young children think that he might as well come down to inspect the tidiness of their bedrooms and check if they have eaten their turnips. They do not realise that their two elder brothers have simply been joking.
Another instance of hilarity that perhaps climaxes all others is the worry of one of the twins who, having been impressed by Nehru's utterance, 'At the midnight hour, when the world sleeps, India will awaken to freedom,' wonders why Jinnah could not deliver a speech like that. Although Jinnah speaks well and also with a lawyer's logic, she thinks his clipped British accent is difficult to understand. Thus once at a public meeting, record the authors, when Jinnah ended his speech with 'Pakistan Zindabad,' many people think that he in fact has said, 'Pakistan is in the bag!'
In spite of the lilting music coursing through the novel, Bengal Raag has more often than not gone off tune. Although the family lived in East Pakistan for a rather long period of time and also built a house in Dacca, yet the place could never be its home and it was perpetually in search of roots. Its members thus lived half a life in the then East Pakistan and never felt a sense of belonging in a province that was soon to be a country. The myth of religious commonality falls apart in such cases. Having gone to school, besides also spending a year in college, the twins remained absolutely ignorant about the writer of the song, 'Jodi tor dak shune keu na ashe tobe ekla chalo re', and thought that it was one of Nazrul's revolutionary songs where there was "a clear invitation to the Bengalis to go their own way." Almost total alienation from a society amidst which one lives only physically can cause such a dangerous level of insularity. It also leads a reader to a state of discomfiture when one of the twins, while trying to sketch a map of East Pakistan in the air, closes her eyes and imagines a dog with its muzzle and four legs. It is a crude analogy despite the fact that East Pakistan still is part of their dear Pakistan! At one stage, while living in West Pakistan, the family feels uneasy in relating to Aynee because she is married to a Bengalee and has settled in East Pakistan. It, therefore, will not trust her version, made during her visit to the family in West Pakistan, of the atrocities committed by the West Pakistani soldiers at the behest of their fierce anti-Bengali commanders.
It is intriguing why the co-authors of the novel employ the term 'Bengal' most of the time in place of 'East Pakistan'. Last but not least is their depiction of Bangladesh's war of independence as a civil war. Unfortunately, most Pakistanis as well as some people in Bangladesh subscribe to this skewed notion. Bengal Raag, though a captivating novel, is to be taken with a pinch of salt, at least in relation to some of its contents.
Dr. Nazma Yeasmeen Haque, a history buff, is Principal, Radiant International School, Dhaka.
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