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Dard-E-Bezubaan This novel’s main protagonist is death. It is death, its impact or its fear that shapes the actions of and relationsh0ips between various characters. A skein of paradoxes lends bewildering complexities to human relationships, which can range from meaningful to frustrating. Ajit Khosla experiences the entire gamut of this phenomenon. He lives in Chandigarh. His marriage to Archana, who is from a wealthy family of Amritsar, is almost on the rocks. When he visits Lucknow, he meets three Sikkimese women who impress him with their motto, "Do not look long; do not look short, for not by hatred is hatred appeased. Hatred is appeased by not-hatred only." Sonam leads an international delegation of women, while Tashi Tenzing and Doma Pradhan are its members. Ajit learns that the death of Doma’s sister had a strange impact on her. She feels convinced that her sister had died due to an evil spirit that haunted her house. To counter the abominable ghoul, Doma flies colourful prayer flags on the house’s rooftop—as per the local custom. The spectre of death and the attempts to escape fate are the novel’s leitmotif. Archana’s mother is shattered when her husband dies. She gives away her house, car and jewellery to her employees and the sale-proceeds of her shops to Archana. She dies, almost alone, when she sets off from Amritsar to live with Ajit and Archana at Chandigarh. The wife of the Sikkimese heir-apparent Pandan Namgyal, dies young. He tries to escape loneliness by marrying Hope Cook, an American beauty. In the process, he offends the family elders as well as the Sikkimese people. After becoming Sikkim’s Queen, Hope begins to interfere in statecraft and vitiate the state’s political atmosphere. She deserts Pandan and returns to America, taking her children with her. Doma comes to live in Chandigarh on Ajit’s invitation, where she is well looked after by Archana and the two kids. There, she marries Amanat. Soon, she learns of her father’s death in Sikkim. She loses her mental balance and dies. A distraught Amanat, who visits the Dalai Lama at Dharamsala for solace, is advised "Rely on your self. Do not rely on external help. Hold fast to the truth as a lamp. Seek salvation alone in the truth. Look not for assistance to anyone besides yourself." Ajit meets Tashi Tenzing in Gangtok. The snow-clad peaks of Kanchanjunga in evening—the protecting deity—bewitch him. In September, the monastery’s lamas dance and worship the deity. On Tashi’s suggestion, he visits Darjeeling where Sonam is working in a convent after she was ditched by her husband who was a wastrel. This novel is based on the author’s first-hand experiences. While on his visit to Sikkim, Zakir felt enriched by the kaleidoscopic beauty of the Himalayas. He met the Karmappa and is honoured with a traditional scarf. At the Research Institute of Tibetology, he learns of the cultural cross-pollination that took place between Tibetan Bonn sect and Buddhism as practised in Sikkim. He learns of the social, political, historical and geographical facts of the place and its people. Later on, Zakir visits Bodh Gaya and sits under the legendary Bodhi Tree where Buddha received enlightenment. He employs all these experiences in the narrative, especially while discussing the interplay of relationships. One wishes the characters were fewer, the narrative succinct and the plot tighter. Even the significance of the novel’s title is not clear. |
