A Fort of Nine Towers - Qais Akbar Omar

After many years of Russian rule, when the Mujahedeen came into the heart of the Capital in the year 1992, the people of Kabul rejoiced. There were widespread celebrations around the city. The house hold of young Omar was no different. His father and uncles were visibly happy and were sharing their happiness with the rest of the crowd.  However happiness did not last long. That was just the beginning of the war that damaged the country of Afghanistan for the next few decades. 10 year old Omar, who expected to see the Mujahedeen soldiers "in Uniforms and Shiny Boots", was disappointed to see the warriors with "beards, mustaches and smelly shoes that wrapped up stinky feet". 

The liberation wasn't there to stay long. Soon infighting began among different war lords. The common enemy that united them ( the USSR) is no returned to their homeland. The various war lords, started to fight amongst themselves for the control of the province.  Living in the mansion, built by his grand father, called as'the President' by the neighbors, for he was the second in command of the government financial institution, the extended family of Omar and his cousins and their parents have to seek refuge. The rockets started falling in the gardens, the carpets traded by his father, has been confiscated by the 'warriors' and their life itself was under threat. The team, decided to move out of the central part of the city to the outskirts around the hill, where Omar's fathers business colleague is living in a fort mansion. The story of "A Fort with Nine Towers' thus begin. Next few years, Omar and his family live in this fort, largely protected from the war and the missiles.

Omar, narrates the next few years of his life in the recently published book, which is already creating a rave with the world readers. Unlike, the typical coming of age memoirs, the voice here is not of the young boy, but of the grown up man, who recounts the days with his own interpretation of the grown-up man. There are family stories, the first hand experience of the young boy with the torturers , loss of family members both to the war lords and to the nature, huge sense of support and camaraderie that the people show during the difficult times and his own personal learning during the time of turbulence. There are horrifying details of torture, murder, rape and humiliation either witnessed or suffered by the young boy. The version of the warring factions and tribes and the shear destruction of the civilization by the war.

The most engaging and touching narrative is their journey as nomads from Kabul towards Mazar-e-Sharif. The beauty of the nature on one side, the plight of the family separated from their own people, various difficulties en-route ( the landslide and flood from which they had a narrow escape) , the thieving of Pomegranate ( the guilt the boy carried for a long time), the blind carpet weaver in Mazar, under whom he learnt the trick of carpet making ( which helps him in the days of Taliban later), the time and travel with the nomadic tribes ( to whom his ancestors belong), their stay in the Bamian hills in the caves behind the damaged head of the Buddha and the eventual return to Kabul after a few years, settling back in the Fort were written beautifully.

During all these times, the family was planning to escape the country as many of their countrymen to other parts of the world. There are traffickers who for a large sum of money willing to take them across to Turkey, through one of the central Asian republics. The money to take them out is hidden under the garden in the form of Gold. Every attempt to reach the place and recover, was failed, as they fall into the hands of the occupiers. They planned to escape to Pakistan, which was again failed and they ware caught by another warlord, in whose captivity, the father and son was bitten by one with sharp teeth , called "The Dog".

When everything was ready and they were preparing for their final departure, came a new force in the form of Taliban. Capturing the city of Kabul, the new regime was quick to establish themselves as the rulers and forced their decree on the people. The new dictate of living under Islamic Values, the hard and cruel way of enforcing their discipline on the people, the general fear they created on the people made the life even more difficult to the young Omar. However, he now recollects, that despite all these rules, there was a calm in the country and war was not in sight (“strange peace" says Omar) . The business, which he now set up did flourish, the state machinery was effective.  But yet again, the peace was short lived, as the Allied forces entered Afghanistan in 2001 end post the World Trade Center bombing by suspected Al Queda militants. The world for them has gone back to what it was.

A very matter of fact narration, may not be an eye opener as the snippets of these scenes have come out at in different ways. He has presented the facts from the point of his own experiences and as a story of his family, which is not different from many others. Born in a high-middle class family, he had better provisions, compared to many other who suffered. however, what each Afghan citizen had to endure is the same as the the others irrespective of their social status. The book is non judgmental and he left that part to the readers. In the concluding pages, he warns the readers "“I have long carried this load of griefs in the cage of my heart. Now I have given them to you. I hope you are strong enough to hold them.”

Since it is presented as his memoirs, there is less scope for analysis and for insight to the issues of Afghanistan. I am sure that is the intend of this book as this is not a political study. The strong family ties, the closeness towards ones own at the times of difficulties, the separation and the impact of which in young ones, the slow and definite destruction of the cultural fabric of the country and many similar parallel reading is possible within the narrative. Some of the events are too brutal or good to be true. The reality borders around the exaggeration. They are harsh at times, and so moving at other places. He is able to get the readers along with him in the journey and that is the success of the book.

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A Fort of Nine Towers ( 2013 )

Qais Akbar Omar

Picador

396 Pages
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Washington Post, New York Times

1857: The Real Story Of The Great Uprising - Vishnu Bhatt Godshe Versaikar

The Uprising in the year 1857 , triggered by the Indian soldiers under the British Army, later supported by few kingdoms in the mid-north of India is considered as the first 'organised' struggle for Independence against the British Rulers in India, by many historians. More widely known as "Sepoy Mutiny" in the school history books are known to every Indian student. The names Nana Sahib, his deputy Tantya Tope and the legendary Queen of Jhansi, Lakshmibai are few heroes in the freedom struggle in the 19th century.

While the history text book gives us the story of these leaders and the struggle in detail, they are all have been the result of various studies and set to appease the Indian masses. Here is more closure account ( though I refrain to say accurate) of the events as they are unfolded to the traveller in those part of India during the turbulent times.

Vishnu Bhatt, a poor Maharashtra Brahmin, undertake a journey to the North (Hindi speaking areas) with his uncle, to participate in few religious ceremony at the rich and rulers thus earn some money to help the staggering debts that the family endure at the point of time. Little did he know that nhe is going to witness one of the most significant milestones in the history of India. With a promise to his weeping wife and brother that he will return within an year, the eventful journey took him nearly three years to retun back home safely.While Vishnu Bhatt did not participate in the struggle directly, he was also been part of the receiving end more than a couple of times, by the victorious British soldiers, and been mugged on a few occasions by the thugs on his way.

What is important to us is that he documents ( from memory and after 24 years of the events) the journey and the actions as he is witnessed to the rest of the world. As it is already known, the revolt started after the roumer that the new ammunition and guns procured and distributed by the British Army to the soldiers ( of Indian Origin) are "greased with cow fat and lard from Pigs". This agitated both the Hindu and Muslim soldiers for respective reasons, and the thought that "this was a deliberate ploy by the cunning white rulers to first get them to disgrace and pollute themselves by breaking the religious taboos and after they had been debased and cast out of their religion, to try and convert them to Christianity". However, the Britishers did not understand the reason of resentiment by the soldiers and they were pressed and forced to take up these arms. Refusal was treated with harsh punishment. The collective sentiments against this caused the uprising, at various part of the country starting at Meerut, Kanpur and Calcutta.

Large number of soldiers left the barracks and were wandering in the vastness of the region, who was looking for a leader to guide them. Tantya Tope, the ruler of Bisthur, thought it is his obligation to protect the religion and the state and was ready to lead the assault. The team had a few success initially, managing to defeat the white army at a couple of battles. As we are now aware, the trend soon reversed and eventually most part of North India coming under the control and rule of British East India company.

Jhansi rani Lakshmibai had different reasons to join the fight. The royal family deprived of a legal heir was refused permission to adopt a boy and thus to continue the regime. The king married thrice ( Lakshmibai being the third) died at an early age, leaving the kingdom at the hand of the resident British ruler. Being restricted to the inner circles of the palace, and having to obey the Britishers triggered the rebellion in the Queen, who soon declared herself as the ruler and started gathering troops. Joining forces with Tantya Tope and Nana Sahib, she continued the fight against the white leading the battle from the front, until her sad death in the battle.

Now, the book is not written as a history text. This could be called a travelogue or a memoir. He is not a 'qualified writer' and that reflects in the text and narration. While he was travelling in these part of the country, not every event is from the eye witness. Many are based on the hearsay by fellow travellers or people whom he meet. There are also evident of exaggeration of few numbers and amounts ( at least that is what I felt) and glorification of feats. Barring that, this is a good read and gives us the glimpses of the events from closure quarters.

Vishnu Bhatt is a keen observer and a listener. He is able to recall the events after many years to the precise details. He do not hide his admiration to the rulers and his meetings with Jhansi Rani and the other rulers are that of a typical brahmin looking for monetary favours and stomach full of delicious food. He also wanted to demonstrate his skilled and knowledge in religious scriptures and test himself against the scholars. He is also intelligent and calculative. His learning from the events and his analysis are very insightful and not that of the typical of the poor brahmin looking for daily food ( though he claims to be a wandering sadhu at many places).

He also captures some of interesting facts about Jhansi Rani, which are not seen much earlier. Rani likes to dres in man's attire ,trousers and jackets ( this was her attire during most of her battles) and used this as disguise while travelling in the country side. On the other hand, her husband likes to cross dress in woman's dress and spends great amount of time in the women's quarters.

Mrinal Pande's translation is worth mentioning. She claims to have translated this from the original text in Marathi and used the occasional reference to the earlier Sanskrit translations. The book reads with out much hiccups or difficulties to a non-hindi / marathi speaker and not using many of the local idioms. The language and style was maintained closure to the orignial ( to the kind of language and narration you see in the books from 19th century).
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1857: The Real Story Of The Great Uprising ( 1907)

Vishnu Bhatt Godshe Versaikar ( translated from Marathi by Mrinal Pande in 2011)

Harper Perennia

229 Pages

Rs 250
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Other reviews : Mumbai Boss , Pioneer

Leela: A Patch Work Life - Leela Naidu

I am not familiar with the actress Leela Naidu. Do not remember seeing an of her movies. She is not from our era of actors that I am familiar with. However, the person who gave the book to me is from that time. It is only later did I learn about Leela Naidu, the erstwhile Miss India, the cover girl of Vogue as the one of the most beautiful woman in the world, wife of poet Dom Moraes.

This is not a typical biography. It is a collection of her random incidents, not arranged in any chronological order, nor in any level of importance. interestingly, it does not have much about her on personal life, her child hood, her education or any details of her initial failed marriage with to the Oberoi clan. She also manages to skip all those unpleasant memories of her life from being discussed. Leela Naidu, writes the book with a disclaimer "This is the Leela I know. She had an eventful life by her own understanding of it and she thinks you might like to hear about it"

She brings out names after names from every where. The book starts with an anecdote, of Price Yusupov, the alleged murderer of infamous Rasputin, appear naked at the door of her Grandma, escaped from asylum , where he was taken in and fed upon. She also writes about one 'Bennito Mussolini' who used to work for her grand father at his factory, to be expelled from job for thrashing a co-worker's hand with a red hot metal rod..

Leela Naidu, has very good style of writing, of course supported by Jerry Pinto. She has a keen observation, and an acute sense of humour and srong convictions. Though she write about the major incidents in her life, and do get the attention of the reader; the attention is to the character and is not necessarily associated with Leela. Her acting classes with Jean Renoir, the help and guidance from Ingmar Bergman for a complication post child birth, the meeting of Salvadore Dali, who wanted to use her as a model for Madonna, the accidental chance to pose for vogue , each are intriguing in its own way.

On her personal attribute, we could see a strong person in support of the weaker section of the society. Be it the villagers of UP in their fight against the land mafia, the right to use the road during the religious ceremony, the one man( woman) fight against the plight of extras in the film shooting sets, the support for better food for the animals ( elephants ) during the shooting of a film were enough proof for her conviction and willingness to go to any extend to get things done towards what she believe. In the earlier chapters, she tells us the racial slurs and difficulties she had to face during her student years, and she slams India as one of the most racist countries in the world, with our age old caste systems and the way the lower classes treated by the rich.

Born to a celebrated scientist, Ramaiah Naidu, who worked with Marie Curie, later head their research and a French woman,an Indologist, she had a very European upbringing with Indian roots. As she puts it elsewhere in the book, "Daddy is Cafe, Maman is milk and I'm 'cafe au lait''. Widely read, learned music and dance, multi lingual ,with sharp brains added with her beauty and was set to take her into greater heights.

Her career in movies did not go as well as expected. After rejecting an offer from Raj Kapoor to sign in for four movies, she did manage to get few roles in the Hindi movies, to be directed by none other than Hrishikesh Mukherjee about which she says, "I do not remember my first day of shooting perhaps because I did not suffer from stage fright. According to me, stage fright is about waffling. It happens when an actor will not stay in the moment".

Her professionalism, her demand for script before signing, the perceived intellectual air around her, possibly would have come in as hindrance to her career. Though, each of the eight movies that she acted, where noticed. First movie with Hrishkesh Mukherjee, followed with the first production of James - Ivory, "The house Holder" , Trikaal with Shyam Benegal were critically acclaimed. Comparing the style she says : "What Renoir gave me was a basic understanding of the way in which a text was only a frame work and how each interpretation brought something new to that framework. What working with James Ivory did was to throw me back to my own resources because he said almost nothing."

She is not regretting her lost opportunities. After refusing to sign for Raj Kapoor, she seems to have missed many more including that of the lead role in David Lean's Dr.Zhivago. "You saw me posting the that letter ? It was to Geraldine Chaplin. She was my second choice for the role". Her observation on Arundhati Roy, with whom she worked in one film ( Electric moon) is noteworthy. "I must say I admire the way Arundhati has turned her status as celebrity author into a catalyst for the causes she cares about, but there was very little of the caring Ms Roy on the set of Electric Moon."

Leela was married twice, both ended in separation. The first, in her teens, were to the Oberoi family, with whom she had twins even before turning twenty, The bitter law suit of separation and the lost battle for possession of the daughters must have devastated her, and it is until late she got into her second marriage with poet and childhood acquaint Dom Moraes. This marriage which lasted longer was also not discussed in the book. however the second part of the book was more on her life post her film career and her travel around the world working for Dom, in his various literary pursuit, often working as his translator cum secretary .

Jerry Pinto , in his foreword explains that 'everyone who met her has a Leela Naidu story. This is her version.' This is not a life story, it is a parts ( patchwork as she say) of her life, as chosen , rather carefully, and told. I believe, apart from some of the curious incidents, there is no significance of this book in any genre of writing. There are no personal life insight, there is no multicultural imbalance and truggle, there is no heart breaking experiences. She was clear that the "book would have nothing to do with my life... It's only about the funny anecdotes and the sad historic ones I came across". And, that's all is there to this book.

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Leela - A Patchwork Life ( 2010)

Leela Naidu with Jerry Pinto

Penguin Viking

180 Pages

Rs 450
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Other reviews : Outlook , DNA India