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Death of a Moneylender THE plight of Indian farmers is highlighted in this book. It is also a personal journey of a young journalist, Falak Ahemd, who has attained a good position in his profession and is well versed with the tricks of his trade. His job is to find out the facts and put those before the readers, but he never thinks about the pain of the sufferers whose facts he distorts through his words. He never realises the pain they feel when come across the half-truth they read in the newspaper the other day. Falak somehow manages to fill in the blank storyline given by his boss, Seth. And he is rewarded for that.
Upon reaching the village, he meets Bhanu, the son of the moneylender Desraj, and Shambhu, one of the suspects of the murder, at his place. On seeing both Shambhu and Bhanu together he is astonished and accuses them of Desraj’s murder. Later, he stumbles upon a startling fact that reveals the circumstances under which the moneylender had committed suicide. Though he whishes to portray the truth by subscribing to the hard facts, he ultimately writes the story as per the direction of his boss. Falak writes that Desraj was a bad moneylender and had grabbed the land of many poor farmers. But contrary to that, Falak had found out that Desraj was a gentleman and had waved off the loans of many poor farmers and employed them in his fields. He had financially helped them and wanted to apply new farmer-friendly techniques in the village. He had empathy with the poor landless cultivators. Desraj was deeply touched by the plight of farmers, as many of them had committed suicides after getting trapped in the nets of moneylenders. Though the whole story reads like a murder mystery, the truth is that Desraj had committed suicide to teach a lesson to other moneylenders, so that they couldn’t deceive the farmers in future. Ultimately, Falak listens to the voice of his conscience and writes the story in a directed manner so that a phenomenon may be created in society for the welfare of the landless farmers. Through this book, writer-journalist Kota Neelima has tried to explore the plight of Indian farmers. The book also depicts the struggle of a young journalist. The author has vividly been successful in sketching out the socio-economic set-up.
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While on his way to
Bapat, a small village in south-central India, to cover a murder
mystery of a moneylender, Falak meets a stranger, an economist by
profession, travelling in the same train, who stirs his conscience by
asking him, "What happens when you have to change the mind of the
people?" Falak thinks for a while and remembers his last news
report on a train accident that he had filed on Seth’s directions
because he wanted to nail down the government for its mishandling of
the accident. A strange thought makes him wonder whether he has the
right to give the true version of the story in his own words to
portray the instances.