“The bomb was a child, a tantrum directed against all things.”
When I started this novel, I was captivated, absorbed, thoroughly in awe of the author’s“The bomb was a child, a tantrum directed against all things.”
When I started this novel, I was captivated, absorbed, thoroughly in awe of the author’s writing and the subject matter he was tackling. How often do we try to put ourselves in the shoes of the terrorists? We are often so appalled by the acts of terrorism happening around the globe we don’t delve deeply into the minds of the terrorists? What purpose are they working toward? What outcome do they expect? What events led up to their becoming terrorists? In this novel, the terrorists are not radicalized islamists, but political activists. They have tried peaceful demonstrations without success.
The story sets out in Dehli with the Kurana boys (both Hindu) and their Muslim friend Mansoor at the market when a small bomb goes off. The Kurana boys are dead, however Mansoor survives with an injury only to his arm. He walks off, not with much direction or purpose, but ends up at home. His life is forever impacted by the blast. It is as if by being associated with that bomb, he is never able to be free of it. The bomb has determined his fate.
The book also follows the terrorists. Shockie had become a terrorist out of frustration for the way Muslims were treated in Kashmir, his home province. He feels he is fighting for independence for a land he is in exile from. The novel poignantly describes his conflicting feelings about setting off bombs. When he calls his mother beforehand, he hopes to be summoned home to attend to her health. There is a sense of desperation, a knowledge that not much will be accomplished by the blast, an anger that there is not more money to make a bigger impact. “They fucking want freedom but this fucking cheapness with never go away.” Interestingly, he finds closeness with Malik, who is working for the same cause, however believes more in the Ghandian philosophy, and is very much laughed at by the others in their group for his ideas. Malik tells Shockie, ” What do you think these attacks are going to achieve? Today when you were talking about the blast not being big enough, I was thinking: It doesn’t matter. It’s all wrong. Blasts are a way of hiding.”
The Kuranas lost two sons to the blast. They deal with the loss in different ways and in various stages. There is pregnancy and birth of a daughter, there is an arranged meeting with one of the accused terrorists (Malik), there is an affair, there is the creation of a group for victims and families of victims of small bombs. Finally, there is the realization that even though they have been so active in the world of supporting terrorist victims, they are helpless in trying to get a dear innocent friend out of jail, as this book comes full circle.
As a young adult, Mansoor becomes active in an NGO working for communal harmony. As part of their mission, this group advocates for speedier trials for accused terrorists and feels that many of those jailed were falsely accused. Seemingly, the pressure to arrest people in the aftermath of a bomb, leads to many false arrests with torture and inconceivable years in prison prior to trial. He becomes good friends with Ayub, a Muslim who is very much influenced by Ghandi. However, after a disappointing break-up and disappointing peaceful demonstrations, he begins to think more like a terrorist. Is this all it takes? A theme of excess sexual frustration energizing anger in an ineffective manner is a steady current throughout this book. After setting off a bomb at another busy market place, Ayub literally becomes the bomb. The bomb here and throughout this book, is a metaphor for a useless and reckless way of dealing with problems.
This book is fatalistic. It takes on an enormous task looking at terrorists, victims, families of victims, even the falsely imprisoned in the bomb’s aftermath. It is dense and extremely well written. The topic is tough, especially since the moral in this book is that these bombs are an exercise in futility – no one will win, everyone has much to lose. I needed to take breaks from this book; I just didn’t want to think about the book for a while. I do think it’s an important book, though. It raises questions. It is unique.
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