Train To Pakistan (PB)

A window into the trauma of partition of India.

I feel stupid merely thinking of reviewing the Khushwant Singh's book, Train to Pakistan but of course, it has to be done, and so, here it goes: Train to Pakistan is the story of the small village of Mano Majra. It starts at the time of partition, soon after when the English have left India leaving a broken country in their wake. The muslims have fled to Pakistan and have had their independence for a day already. And now that the Britishers are gone, the sense of religion has been increasing ten-folds. The love between the Hindus and the Muslims has been replaced by hatred and this hatred is becoming evident in the large number of corpses flying here and there. However, despite all of this, the small village of Mano Majra is safe. It has a train station but very few trains stop by and so, they generally do not have any information about what is happening in Delhi. Besides, these people have known each other for a long time. They do not hold any enmity toward each other because of their religion. All is well until the murder of the richest money lender in the village. That one night changes everything. What makes this novel special (other than the fact that it is an Indian classic) is the fact that throughout its entirety, it is a rather uneventful story. Things happen but they do not hold a very huge importance. The most important event in this novel, in fact, the highlight of this novel is the climax. That is also where the book takes its name from. Another special thing about this novel is that it talks of a time when Hindus and Muslims lived together in harmony. There is also a young couple here—a Muslim girl and a Sikh boy—both of who have fallen in love with each other (another thing that sets the climax). So in a way, this story is also a love story, although that is not the primary theme of it (for which I'm rather glad myself). Anyway, what I intend to say by mentioning this couple is that despite the time of turbulence in the country, and despite the situation in the rest of the country (or rather, two countries), people in Mano Majra live happily. That is, until a few policemen come and try to diverge the two communities. They take the Muslims away with the intention of taking them to Pakistan and then a few more Hindu come with the intention of harming them in their trains, of sending a train of corpses to Pakistan. And in that moment, the Sikhs of Mano Majra forget their brotherhood for the sake of religion. Through all of this, Khushwant Singh shows the situation of India and Pakistan, of Hindus, Sikhs and Muslims and how, in the end, religion is the easiest way to persuade someone to do something. This book perfectly captures the horrors of the partition of India. Despite the brutalism, I still believe this book was rather sugar-coated by Singh in order to make it readable by all people. I loved the book for showing about the culture of Punjab, about the pre-partition situation in small villages of Punjab and above all, displaying how the police system has always been weak in India. Bringing Iqbal behind the bars proves just that. So overall, I'm rather happy for having come across a book like this. It reminded me of the hard times the two nations of India and Pakistan have faced in their past (and continue to face even today—71 and a half years later. A definite recommendation.

A must read for everyone. The horror of that time, the communal riots, the helplessness of people, the political climate. Chetan Bhagat has summed up all of these in this book such a way that picturing the situations will be like nightmare. This book holds the horror of partition.

Came in great packaging. No tear . a great story

The year is 1947 and India has just been partitioned to form Pakistan. The story takes place in the village of Mano Majra which lies on the border between the two countries. In Mano Majra, people from different religions coexist peacefully. The village almost stands as a symbol of peace and ignorance, as it scarcely manages to catch up with the tumult of everyday changes happening in the rest of the world. Things however do not remain the same for long, as chaos from the outside world slowly manages to invade the peaceful sanctity of the village. There is wonderful symbolism in the book. All the different characters in the book signify various things. Various events panned throughout showed how the very people who promised to protect the other were riled to become blood thirsty monsters. How people, even apparently kind intentioned people, who made verbal promises of rebellion failed to act in the face of crises and how people who could do a little perhaps to put the carnage to rest did not try hard enough and went to bed with a sleepy conscience. All people in the end managed to take the refuge of the grand scheme of things to excuse the massacre of innocent people that either they committed, or witnessed and did not endeavour to stop; that if a few more people were slaughtered, it would make little difference to the pandemonium; but really it was that which made all the difference. And reversedly, sometimes help also came from the most unexpected and the remarkable of places. In gist, this is a simplified fictional portrayal of how things looked like at the time of partition. The writing is plain and unembellished. I went into the book expecting a bit more but with less than 200 pages, it is a nice enough read to get a glimpse into the historical clash of the two countries and all that the partition lead up to. Rating: 3.5/5

Good book

インド・パキスタン分離というのは小説の題材としては一つの定型なのでしょうか。そういえば、 A Division of the Spoils (Raj Quartet 4) の最後にもこの題材が扱われています。１９４７年の夏という凝縮された時間、通常では考えられない移動の規模、そこで流された流血、残虐行為の非合理性、そこにすべてインド亜大陸の歴史的な矛盾が自然発生的に凝縮されて噴出したかのようです。そういう意味では、いつまでも変わらない小説特に悲劇のイマジネーションを刺激するのでしょうか？ 本書は１９５６年の作品です。まだ悲劇の具体性が消え去っていない時期です。これがもう１０年たつと悲劇は歴史的な題材としての抽象性の刻印を帯び始めますが。題材は一般的なものですが、著者の特性が小説のディテールにははっきりと表れています。選択されたパキスタンとの国境沿いの町は、多数のシーク教徒と少数派のイスラム教徒が居住する町なのです。ここにはマスとしてのヒンズー教徒の存在は見当たりません。もっともサブ・プロットは、ヒンズー教徒の金貸しの家への強盗（dacoist)の襲撃に始まるのですが。ヒンズー教徒の存在を消すことによって、悲劇の不可避性のイメージを弱めようとしたのかもしれませんが。 この作品には主人公はいません。複数の中心となる人物が、この町を超えたところで起きる予想外の事態に、翻弄されて行く展開が主題となります。この町自体には、惨劇を引き起こす歴史的、個人的な必然性は存在していないのです。ある者は、状況へ機会主義的に対応することになり、この惨劇の後に来るであろう政治の世界での地位の確保を目的としています。ここには、体制側の人物だけでなく、社会主義革命を夢想する反体制側の者も含まれます。ある者は、過去の継続と暴力の非合理性にこそ、宗教の本質を見出します。 しかしながら、インドの現実は、この凝縮された時間の中では、様々な感情の噴出や思い出の想起や政治的な操作を可能とします。そして現実に、パキスタン側から送られてくる「死の列車」は、生半可な理想の維持を不可能とします。この現実に立脚しない「高尚な理想」の提唱（ The Argumentative Indian: Writings on Indian History, Culture And Identity とすさまじい現実の交錯こそが、インドの本質なのです。 小説なので種明かしはできませんが、結末の部分の評価は難しいところです。このような結末のつけ方こそ本質的な問題のintractabilityを如実に示すものなのではないでしょうか。そもそもなぜ同じ村に住む人々の宗教がどうして別れてしまうのか。このような「ノーマル」ではない状況が日常的に存在してしまう歴史的な経緯こそが、インドの現実なのです。

very well written but obviously one side view.

Enjoyed Khushwant Singh's Train to Pakistan. The downside is that the book does not have page numbers, just percentsge of pages read/unread and the time left. This is absolutely ridiculous and totally unacceptable. Change the format and give page numbers of every book

It is a fine read, engaging. Captures horrific events followed by the independence of india best possible fashion. Kushwant singh is one of indias finest writers

Train to Pakistan is a reasonably short read but the character and plot development in this book are both excellent.