Freedom at midnight- a recycled review

Still moving some posts from Sulekha, a recycled, renewed review repost in lieu of Gantrantra Divas(Republic Day):

Freedom at Midnight by Dominique LaPierre
(Also the author of City of Joy, Is Paris burning and O'Jerusalem)

I read this book some years ago, and was absolutely impressed. I bought a copy for myself this time I went to India and of course, that warranted a second read. I was never a history buff and the stuffy school textbooks really didnt aid the learning process a whole lot. While I ramble on admiring author's superior style of writing and the darts of humor and wit that dot the landscape of the narration, I will also be inserting some memorable lines and dialogues from the book, that are totally noteworthy. If you havent learnt much about India's struggle for freedom and all that remains in your memory are the ashes of a multitude of dates that your history teacher committed into it, this sure is a refreshing read.
The book starts off with Lord Mountbatten being chosen by Britain to be sent as the last Viceroy of India and the mission bequethed to him was to ensure a speedy settlement for handing over India and if possible, a partitioning of the land to avoid conflict. Once Mountbatten arrives in India, the book then goes on to explore the lives on Gandhi, Nehru, Jinnah and Patel, before plunging into the political events that led to the moment when Mountbatten decided that August 14th was the day India would attain freedom. Convincing Gandhi that partition was inevitable has been beautifully narrated. There is a chapter on how the princely states were coerced into merging with the union. The princes and their eccentric lifestyles can have one in splits. The process of how India and Pakistan's demarcation boundaries were drawn and the events that led to the day of reckoning is but a poignant essay and a great tribute to the people involved. The following chapters have been dedicated to depict the riots that wreaked havoc in Northern India due to partition and the refugees that swamped both nations. The final few chapters concentrate solely on the events that lead to Gandhi's assassination and how the nascent nation called India survived and strove to rebuild a strong and progressive country.

All in all, this book is as comprehensive a history book could get, without the trappings of a school textbook. The lines that I promised are as below :


"Jinnah's meeting with the Viceroy and his wife had begun with an unhappy gaffe, a gaffe poignantly revealing of the meticulous, calculating Jinnah to whom no gesture could be spontaneous. Realizing he would be photographed with the Mountbattens, Jinnah had carefully memorized a pleasant little line to flatter Edwina Mountbatten, who he was sure would be posed between the Viceroy and himself, Alas, poor Jinnah!! It was he and not Edwina who wound up in the middle. But he couldnt help himself. He was programmed like a computer and his carefully rehearsed line just had to come out. 'Ah' he beamed, 'a rose between two thorns'. "

"Mahatma Gandhi walked into Buckingham Palace to take tea with the King Emperor dressed in a loincloth and sandals, a living portrayal of Kipling's Ganga Din with 'nothing much before and rather less than 'arf o' that behind'. Later, when questioned on the appropriateness of his apparel, Gandhi replied with a smile 'the king was wearing enough for both of us'."

"Time often hung heavy on the hands of the indolent gentlemen who inhabited the palaces. While the pastimes of some were grandiose, there were others less flamboyant, albeit pious. The ruler of Benares , by tradition, required that he open his eyes each day on a sole and unique vision, a Sacred Cow. Each dawn a cow was led to the window of the princely bedchamber and jabbed in the ribs so that her mooing would stir the princely Maharaja from his slumber.Once, during a visit to his colleague, the Nawab of Rampur, fulfilling the tradition posed a grave problem because the Maharaja's quarters were located on the second floor. The Nawab finally resorted to an ingenious tactic . He brought a crane and hosted the cow in a sling up to the Maharaja's bedroom window. Terrified by her unnatural voyage, the poor animal emitted a series of moos so piercing that they not only woke up the pious Maharaja but most of the rest of the palace as well"


There are more such passages, some humorous, some touching, some just historically noteworthy. The author sure has a strong sense of style and fluidity in writing. Enjoyable!!!

"For years to come, the one great memory left by 15th August 1947 in India would be the crowds, the multitudinous hordes inundating in a human sea the event that had been designed as the high point of the new nation's independence celebrations"