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In fact, the essence of the
station and the train journey, complete with the ubiquitous puri-aloo-achar,
have been interestingly captured by M.D. Arif. But that in
itself is not enough to make up for the weak plot, the hastily
sketched-out characters and some unexplained and unnecessary
episodes in the story.
For instance, who
is Rajneesh Dixit and what is his role in taking the story
further? We are told that he is a Hindu friend of the
protagonist but his only role seems to be to provide amorous
adventures in the novel. From the many pages devoted to him, all
that we gather of him is that he loves to make love to women.
Neither is his character interesting nor is it properly
developed, nor does his relationship with the protagonist propel
the novel forward. So why is the reader subjected to this
character?
However, there are
a couple of characters in the story who do redeem it a little.
Among these is Sumitraji, a vitriolic Ram bhakt, who
barges into the protagonist's reserved compartment with her
followers. In Sumitraji, the author has sketched the typical
rabble-rousing, parochial petty leader, so dangerous because of
her absolute commitment to a cause. To try to reason away her
faulty arguments, is like banging one’s head against a stone
wall and so, out of fear, the hero, assumes a Hindu identity.
"…Throughout she mentioned Indian, Hindu, national etc.
in the same breath as if the words were synonyms. She also
disclosed a very serious kind of internal danger to Hinduism and
an international conspiracy against the Hindus. The temple
construction, she said, was the national duty of every Indian,
and then proved it with logic". Here, the author had a
wonderful opportunity to explore the psyche of the Muslim youth,
his apprehensions and beliefs. He does try to explain what it
means to be part of a minority community in a country which has
made an issue of a religious monument, "I was crumbling
under the weight of the saffron", but loses out when
obsessively, he brings up the topic of circumcision time and
again. "Nowadays we Muslims are known more for our
circumcised penis, four wives and beard than for our prayers,
belief in one God, one book and one Prophet."
The scene in the
second half of the book shifts to a Muslim village located on
way to Ayodhya and the action is centered round the demolition
of the Babri Masjid and the consequences thereof. Here again,
the author displays his weak hold on the plot as he introduces
characters which have no bearing in forwarding the story
whatsoever. Mohabbat Ali, for instance, seems to have been
introduced as a vignette to show a facet of Muslim marriage and
its laws.
The weakest part
of the novel is the language. The author seems to have simply
translated Hindi idioms into English without ensuring that it
makes some sense as well. What could the following sentences,
for example, mean? "… How he was riching day by
day." Or this: "A she-wolf in a she-goat's skin! He
marvelled moment by moment, limb by limb, at her semi-naked
existence."
Perhaps, if Arif
had written this book in Hindi, it would have made for a more
successful debut.
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THE
book, The Dreamy Traveller, I think, has been so named
because of its unenviable ability to take a reader on a
journey towards dreamland. The only reason that I was able to
complete the journey that the author would like his readers to
undertake is because I am a particularly tenacious type who
believes that once a book has been taken up, it should not be
put away until the last page has been perused. So between many
an untimely nap, the book was read and then thankfully, put
away.
