<p>The rather stale blurb on the back cover put me off. To my surprise, A Man From Motihari was nothing like the blurb. In a rare feat of storytelling, Abdullah Khan captures the society of late 20th-century Bihar, giving us a socio-political portrait of the town of Motihari, which happens to be the birthplace of English novelist and essayist George Orwell. Motihari is also the place where Gandhi first experimented with Satyagraha and was known as a town where syncretism reigned. A Man from Motihari is a bildungsroman of a middle-class Muslim boy, Aslam Sher Khan, set against the backdrop of a fast-changing Indian society of the late 20th century.</p>.<p>A real page-turner, it was impossible to tear myself away from this book. The story begins with Aslam’s birth in a vacant house haunted by the ghost of George Orwell’s nanny who helps deliver Aslam on a stormy night. Many years later, she tells him that he is the reincarnation of George Orwell. He starts to read Orwell’s works and begins adapting them into his own retellings.</p>.<p>This may have been a town where communities co-existed peacefully, where everything stopped when the television series Mahabharat played on Sunday mornings, but it was also a society silently and slowly inching towards intolerance and communal violence. Aslam is growing up in an environment of increasing communal unrest after the demolition of Babri Masjid. He is a witness to the rise of the Hindu Right and its impact on minority communities. Luckily, Aslam is surrounded by people who understand that political parties are fanning flames of hatred and dividing communities for votes.</p>.<p>A bookworm, Aslam finds refuge from the chaos around him in stories. The ghost of Orwell’s nanny appears to him many times, calling him Parasnath, a name that later plays a crucial part in Aslam’s journey. What’s in a name? Why does the woman in the white saree call Aslam Parasnath? If you are born in India, your name can seal your destiny, and this rings true, in heartbreaking ways, for Aslam. The last part of the tale is a grown-up Aslam meeting and falling in love with an ex-porn movie star, a portion of the narrative that feels rather alienated from the rest of the story. While the last chapters may seem like a drag, A Man from Motihari is still a worthy read.</p>
<p>The rather stale blurb on the back cover put me off. To my surprise, A Man From Motihari was nothing like the blurb. In a rare feat of storytelling, Abdullah Khan captures the society of late 20th-century Bihar, giving us a socio-political portrait of the town of Motihari, which happens to be the birthplace of English novelist and essayist George Orwell. Motihari is also the place where Gandhi first experimented with Satyagraha and was known as a town where syncretism reigned. A Man from Motihari is a bildungsroman of a middle-class Muslim boy, Aslam Sher Khan, set against the backdrop of a fast-changing Indian society of the late 20th century.</p>.<p>A real page-turner, it was impossible to tear myself away from this book. The story begins with Aslam’s birth in a vacant house haunted by the ghost of George Orwell’s nanny who helps deliver Aslam on a stormy night. Many years later, she tells him that he is the reincarnation of George Orwell. He starts to read Orwell’s works and begins adapting them into his own retellings.</p>.<p>This may have been a town where communities co-existed peacefully, where everything stopped when the television series Mahabharat played on Sunday mornings, but it was also a society silently and slowly inching towards intolerance and communal violence. Aslam is growing up in an environment of increasing communal unrest after the demolition of Babri Masjid. He is a witness to the rise of the Hindu Right and its impact on minority communities. Luckily, Aslam is surrounded by people who understand that political parties are fanning flames of hatred and dividing communities for votes.</p>.<p>A bookworm, Aslam finds refuge from the chaos around him in stories. The ghost of Orwell’s nanny appears to him many times, calling him Parasnath, a name that later plays a crucial part in Aslam’s journey. What’s in a name? Why does the woman in the white saree call Aslam Parasnath? If you are born in India, your name can seal your destiny, and this rings true, in heartbreaking ways, for Aslam. The last part of the tale is a grown-up Aslam meeting and falling in love with an ex-porn movie star, a portion of the narrative that feels rather alienated from the rest of the story. While the last chapters may seem like a drag, A Man from Motihari is still a worthy read.</p>