Feature

Star Campus Literary Adda

Tanzina Rahman

AFTER conferring some remarkable novels such as the Plan of Attack, The Kite Runner, The Bluest Eyes and many more, Star Campus Literary Adda once again brought an enlightening literary piece -- Such a Long Journey, for the students in this month's adda. Dr. Deena P. Forkan, Associate Professor, Department of English, North South University, who was fascinated by the strong political overtones and the simple depiction of reality in the novel, led the discussion at Coffee World in Banani.

She acquainted the students with Rohinton Mistry, the author who is considered one of the forceful authors of Indian heritage writing in English. Mistry immigrated to Canada after obtaining an undergraduate degree in mathematics and economics from Bombay University. He then worked in a bank for a while before returning to studies. Mistry won several awards for short stories. For his second novel, Such a Long Journey, he won the Governor General's Award, the Commonwealth Writers Prize for Best Book, and the W.H. Smith/Books in Canada First Novel Award. It was short listed for the prestigious Booker Prize and for the Trillium Award. The book has been translated into German, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish and Japanese, and has been made into the 1998 film with the same name.

"The autobiographical elements can be found in this book," remarked Dr. Forkan.

She also explained that despite the book's sharp edges the author has successfully depicted the diverse Indian society. Readers will find a contrast between what is portrayed in Bollywood movies versus the scenario revealed in the book, that is the delineation of lower class of Bombay infested with problems.

The bunch of students, who came from different majors and different universities including DU, NSU, BRACU, BUET and IBA, were totally engrossed as she introduced the characters and explored the plot.

The story takes place in Bombay, India during 1971when the third major conflict between perennial enemies India and Pakistan is about to break out. At the time - late 1971 - Pakistan was in the midst of a civil war, with East Pakistan declaring itself an independent nation, Bangladesh. As suggested by the guest speaker, the importance of the book was elevated because of this complex historical background underlying the narrative drapery.

Another aspect of the narrative is its portrayal of the Parsi people. Many of the students were not aware of this minority group who resided in India. Persecuted by Muslims as far back at the 8th century, the Parsis fled from Persia to India, where they found refuge.

They follow their own religious belief system, which disallows intermarriage and demands a strict code of morality. Although their numbers are dwindling, Parsis are held in high regard in Bombay (where most of them reside) and throughout India.

In regard to these two aspects, the story begins as the novel's protagonist Gustad Noble, a Parsi, who is coloured by the code of beliefs he has inherited tries to hold his family together and struggles to build a better lifestyle. When his eldest son, Sohrab refuses to go to the prestigious Indian Institute of Technology, Gustad repudiates to accept his existence. Other conflicts also take place as an old friend, Jimmy Bilimoria (a member of the Research and Analysis Wing of India's Secret Service), who fled without acknowledging Gustad, contacts Gustad after several years of silence and requests a favour. Gustad agrees, but it slowly draws him into a government deception involving threats, secrecy and large amounts of money. Besides this political thriller, sprinkles of humour are engraved within the story that gives the reader a comic relief.

As the discussion came to an end, students appreciated Dr. Forkan's presence and welcomed her to attend the next adda. Those who did not get a chance to put their hand on the book, were so enthralled by the discussion that they decided to put Such a Long Journey as their top choice in their reading list.