By Rohinton Mistry
“Diaspora literature involves an idea of a homeland, and a place where the displacement occurs and narratives of harsh journeys undertaken on account of Economic compulsions. Basically Diaspora is pertaining to a small minority community.” Rohinton Mistry is yet another “writer from elsewhere” as Rushdie put it. He was born in Bombay,a city which stands tall in his writing, in 1952 and was of a Parsi origin. Mistry makes his confessions in the Journal Rough(1993) that he left India because of the expectations of his peers, especially those of his generation.
His novel,‘ Such a long journey’ was short listed for the prestigious Booker prize, in 1991. This was the first novel which portrays Indian culture and family life, setting it against the back drop of the movement when war breaks out between India and Pakistan over the Bangladesh issue and the Indo-China war, three years before that. Mistry paints a lovely picture, making political life as the canvas upon which the troubled life of Gustad and his family is painted out, Gustad is the undisputed protagonist of the novel. Mistry cleverly synchronizes the major events in the private lives of the Gustad family and the other characters in the novel. He tries to intertwine the family dimensions of the storyline with the political back ground in the country. The story is weaved into an intertwining of political and personal realities, since the lives of the characters are deeply affected by local corruption and government inadequacy.
My favorite lines are found on pgs 11 and 12 of the book.
‘Gustad, however left the blackout paper undisturbed. He said it helped the children to sleep better. Dilnavaz thought the idea was ridiculous, but she would not argue because his father had passed away recently in the nursing home. Perhaps she thought he found the darkness soothing after deaths visitation.
“Remove the black paper whenever you are ready baba. Far be it from me to force you”, she said.
But three years later, the Pakistan’s attack to try to get a piece of Kashmir as they had done right after partition and blackout was declared once again. Then Gustad triumphantly pointed out to her the wisdom of his discussion.’
In the above lines the author has very cleverly intertwined the political situation in the country with the personal life of the protagonist, Gustad. Dilnavaz tells her husband to remove the black paper that was stuck on the window glass of the house after the Indo-china war. The political issue that the author brings out is the betrayal by Chou-en Lai which caused the Indo-china war in 1962. During the war blackout was suggested to the civilians so that the enemy will be unable to identify the important places in India and destroy them. The blackout was that every house should stick paper over the window pane, so was the case with Gustad’s family. This irritated his wife, Dilnavaz and so she suggested to her husband that he remove the paper after the war was over. But Gustad would not do it, he wanted darkness to remain because he had darkness (sorrow) in his own mind due to the death of his father.
Later on after three years, war broke out between India and Pakistan over the Bangladesh issue. So here Gustad is happy that he did not remove the black paper he stuck three years ago because it helps him again. War broke out again between India and Pakistan. So he tells his wife that he won the decision of not removing the paper as it has helped in the second situation of the blackout.
The author tells the readers how the two wars and the political situations caused darkness in the minds of the civilians. The blackout is used symbolically by the author to bring out the fear and uncertainty in the minds of the civilians.
©-Anjana.Pai.
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