Sunday, July 14, 2002		Books

Unsatisfactory critique on Assam
R.P. Chaddah

For Existence
by Nikhil Khasnabish. Spectrum Publications. Pages 283. Rs 195.

NIKHIL KHASNABISH is an up and coming novelist from the north-eastern state of Assam and he makes it a point to come out with at least one novel in two years. In 2000, he published his first novel, Belief, and now he has come up with his second novel, first published by the Writers Workshop, Calcutta. Now it appears as a Spectrum revised reprint. Spectrum Publications, Guwahati, is doing a singular service by bringing out translations of the works of writers from Assam for readers in this part of India.

For Existence is replete with drama and excitement. The novel is set in the interiors of Assam and it openly questions the role of the youth in this state which has been in turmoil for the past many decades. It is also a critique on the militant form of protest. In a broader sense, it provides a link between the fictional world of Sumit, the protagonist, and the real world of the reader. The novel gets its title from the preachings of the agitators who tell each and everyone, in no uncertain terms, to follow their principles to exist in this state and join their agitation.

They even suggest a formula, ‘The three-D formula’, for the government to implement:

"We will compel the government to detect illegal immigrants, to delete their names from the voters’ list, to deport them to their parent countries." (p.93)

The novel revolves round the protagonist, his friend from Kolkata, Anshuman, their love concerns, their involvement with the problems of the state of Assam and the suffering they undergo when they do not support the agitators openly.

Both of them start an English school in the interiors of Assam, only to be hounded by hoodlums day after day. Then, one fine morning the agitators burn down the school. The presence of Anshuman in Sumit’s house gives the agitators an excuse. They accuse Sumit of harbouring a foreign national. Anshuman migrates to the USA.

The student movement dominates every other page of the novel. So much so that it relegates the main story to the background. The writers from the North East are as concerned with the student movement as Sri Lankan writers are with insurgency. For most part of the novel, the hero does not support the AASU and he has to pay a heavy price for it by getting beaten up time and again and being put behind bars. At one stage, he decides to migrate to the USA, but his love for the state compels him to stay on:

"I’m not going anywhere leaving my Ahami Aai (mother Assam). I have realised that I will have to live here and join the movement with you. For our existence" (p.278)

The ambience in the interior of Assam has been recreated in the book, but there are some glaring faults. First, two words in particular (received spelt as recieved, receipt spelt as reciept) have been mis-spelt with regularity in the book. Second, the novelist touches on every conceivable aspect of present-day Assam, but shies away from giving a plausible reason for the strike. A case in point is the clash between the Assamese and Bengalis and here is Nikhil’s comment:

"They dispute, argue, fight and then relishing their mistakes, correct them, forget their so-called enmity, mix together and live happily. I think the Bengali people are living more happily in Assam than in Bengal. The Assamese are very simple and hospitable." (p. 22).

The novel is neither a well-thought-out tale of love nor a critique of the state of affairs in the present-day Assam. The book fails as a novel and also as an anthropological study of the state of Assam.