Reliving a troubled decade
Reviewed by Rajiv M Lochan

Remember to Forget
By Neel Kamal Puri. Rupa. 
Pages 181. Rs 250

deft story telling is Neel Kamal's forte. Her pen paints the antinomies of living in Punjab with a skill unmatched till now. In her latest book, she takes us into a Punjab still haunted by memories of the 1984 pogrom against the Sikhs. The traumatised make efforts to overcome that harsh experience, the innocent get mauled by a state that sees dissent where none exists. The story is based in Ludhiana, a town where many ages of history live side by side. She weaves her characters seamlessly into the contemporary history of the town. By bringing together various characters from this bustling town, she tells us of a time, not long ago, when Punjab was once again trying to find meaning in economic growth.

Those living in Punjab would discover their experiences of the 1980s and 1990s being brought to life. Others would get one of the most empathic introduction to the pressures under which the people of Punjab lived during the times of terrorism. The character of Kailla stands for a large body of people in Punjab who do not give a damn for the religious and the political, like a majority of Indians. The story is about the dreadful decade when "people had been dying of fear rather than in the appropriate Punjabi way-of high cholesterol induced by a desi ghee diet". During this period the common people were caught in a completely unwanted war not of their making. Death was but a whisker away. It did not matter whether you had done anything or not. Not following the proscriptions of those claiming to be working for a religious-oriented state could be an easy invite to death. Simply existing on the margins of society was good enough for being picked up by the agencies of the state. Kailla, the one who transmogrifies from a Muslim to a Hindu to a Sikh, goes missing at the hands of those exercising unbridled power. So does the entrepreneur who allows fear invoked by the religious killers to overwhelm his life.

The long-bearded killers too change with the times. From being the self-styled keepers of Sikh pride, they get reduced to being mere goons for hire who do not hesitate to use force against women, even a dancing girl would do, to procure some love. All in all, this book is a very good read.

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