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Independence by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni

What's It About?

Three sisters on the cusp of adulthood, caught up in the cataclysmic, disastrous events following the 1947 partition of India. It is a captivating love story and remarkable, inspiring tale of familial sacrifice and devotion.

Independence (William Morrow) is an impactful work of historical fiction that may take your breath away with beautifully crafted writing, sweeping multi-generational storyline and the intensity of the true events incorporated into the plot.

Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni writes about three sisters on the cusp of adulthood, daughters of a well-regarded Hindu physician in a Bengal village not far from Calcutta, who are caught up in the cataclysmic, disastrous events following the 1947 partition of India. Their story is dramatic, compelling and a microcosm of what millions experienced in India and Pakistan following independence from the British Empire which had ruled this vast subcontinent for 200 years. It is also a captivating love story and remarkable, inspiring tale of familial sacrifice and devotion.

Historical Setting With Vibrant Characters

The Ganguly family, consisting of Dr. Nabakumar (Babu to his family), his wife Bina and daughters Deepa, Jamini and Priya, was insulated in their village in the vast province of Bengal and, with the exception of inflated food prices, were relatively unaffected by WWII. The family had resided in Ranipur for generations.

Babu and Bina’s arranged marriage was successful, loving and more of a partnership than was customary in Indian patriarchal society. Their daughters were brought up to be devout Hindus and provided with a better education than most of their peers. They were also taught the traditional women’s arts of cooking, sewing, fine embroidery and music making. Their behavior and dress were to be ever modest and they learned from their mother’s example to be gracious hostesses to guests and visitors to their home.

Their native tongue was Bengali but they also learned Hindi, the predominant language of India, and English, the language of the rulers. Bina’s most fervent desire was to find suitable husbands for their daughters and her biggest fear was her husband’s income might be insufficient to provide an adequate dowry for these marriages to be arranged.

To supplement their income, she sewed beautiful quilts adorned with unique designs and intricate embroidery which were commissioned by neighbors and friends. Eldest daughter Deepa was also adept with needlework and assisted her mother. Bina worried their middle child Jamini, who though pious and hard-working, might not be marriageable because of a marked limp. She was born with one leg shorter than the other that was surgically uncorrectable.

Priya was the most studious and ambitious of the girls and closest to her father whom she would accompany on his rounds whenever permitted. Her goal was to attend university and become a physician. It was nearly an impossible dream in that era as women were denied entrance to the Medical College of Calcutta.

In another year, Priya would learn this sorry truth firsthand when her written entrance examination was falsely given a failing grade. She was thoroughly prepared and easily, confidently and correctly answered all questions. The British Civil Service that administered the tests and governed the admission process was strictly opposed to allowing women to become educated for medicine, the law or business.

Doctor Motivated by Generosity

Dr. Nabakumar could have earned more as a staff doctor and surgeon in one of the large hospitals in the city as well as worked shorter, more regular hours. Medicine and caring for the sick was his true vocation and money was not his motivation. He was often called away from home for nighttime emergencies, much to the despair of Bina, and never turned away patients for their inability to pay.

He split his time between two busy clinics in Ranipur (now in Bangladesh) and Calcutta (now Kolkata, India). He was assisted in Ranipur by Rama, a young, talented and handsome young Muslim doctor and in Calcutta by Dr. Abdullah Khan, also Muslim and a close friend since their college days together.

Rama was clearly infatuated with Deepa whom he met in the Ganguly home where he was a frequent dinner guest. The family was friends and neighbors with Somnath Chowdbury, wealthiest landowner in Ranipur who also owned a mansion and several businesses in Calcutta. Somnath was a widower with a son, Amit, who was two years older than Priya.

Jamini harbored an impossible dream of wedding this confident handsome man who paid her no attention. Somnath was an unofficial godfather to the three girls with a strong preference for the highly intelligent Priya. He taught her to play chess at an early age, looked forward to their regular matches and encouraged her goal of becoming a doctor.

Another person who plays a surprisingly significant role in the novel Independence is Hamid, a poor Muslim fisherman, who lives with his wife and daughter on their small boat moored on the banks of the Sarasi River.

In the summer of 1946, Dr. Nabakumar was summoned in the middle of the night by the desperate and frightened Hamid when the midwife was unable to deliver his wife’s child. The doctor hastened to the boat where, assisted by Priya, he performed a life-saving emergency Caesarean section, declining payment.

A Culture That Prioritizes Community

Prior to India’s independence, villagers and city dwellers alike lived in peace and harmony with their neighbors. They worshipped differently but they spoke the same languages, ate the same foods, celebrated various festivals together, were neighbors who lived and shopped in markets that served all, frequently worked together and occasionally intermarried.

Punjab, the largest province in the northwest, and Bengal, where the Ganguly family resided, had a Muslim majority population as well as a substantial minority of Hindus, Jews and Christians. Punjab also had a well-established community of Sikhs. There are twenty-two recognized languages in India and most educated people know several.

Protests and Riots Lead to Casualties

The turning point for the Ganguly family and the country came on August 16, 1946. This was the date the Muslim League led by Mohammed Ali Jinnah declared to be a “Direct Action Day,” to be observed all over India as a day of protest. It was unfortunately and coincidently at the same time the family took a rare holiday in Calcutta staying at Somnath’s palatial city residence.

Settled in for the night, Dr. Nabakumar was called to his clinic to tend to victims of the riots that had broken out. Instead, he became one of the casualties. I leave the remainder of Independence to the reader to savor the story which spans the next two years and concludes with an epilogue set in 1954. You will love this book.

Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni has written a richly detailed novel densely packed with history which is both shocking and illuminating. In my opinion, the hallmarks of a successful novel in this genre are both the length of time it lingers in memory and how much independent research it compels the reader to undertake upon completion.

Independence scores high on both counts as so far, I have watched three documentaries, read another book and several articles on the subject of the end of British rule and the creation of a Muslim nation in the form of West and East Pakistan (since 1971 Bangladesh) carved out of the Indian subcontinent and the fraught aftermath which continues on into the 21st century.

Independence is ideally suited for book discussion groups as there is plenty of fodder for study and conversation. With a skilled director at the helm, it would make a visually stunning movie or television mini-series.

Other books and authors relating to India’s history readers might consider include The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri, A Suitable Boy by Vikram Seth, Honor by Thrity Umrigar, The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy and Clear Light of Day by Anita Desai, among others. Train to Pakistan written by Khushwant Singh and published by Grove Press in 1956 is more difficult to find but recounts the events and consequences of the partition in the Punjab province.

 

A Brief Commentary on the War, Independence and Partition

During WWII, India, under command of the British Empire, had provided two and a half million soldiers, sailors and airmen to fight the Axis powers and provided a crucial base for the Americans in the China-Burma Theater. Over 87,000 Indian troops were killed along with an estimated three million civilians. The nearest major port city, Calcutta, became the central supply depot for the British and American forces fighting in the Pacific.

As it was in range of Japanese bombers flying out of present day Vietnam, the city in 1942-1943 was intermittently subjected to aerial bombing strikes with the primary targets being the docks, Dum-Dum Airfield, the Howrah Bridge and the railway station. Calcutta was left scarred by these attacks but they had minimal impact on the outcome of the war.

At the same time, the population of the northeastern portion of Bengal was deeply affected by famine with estimates of 2.5 to 3 million deaths occurring. The war ultimately did influence the decision to grant independence but perhaps more so because the staggering cost of six years of war nearly bankrupted England and threatened efforts to rebuild Great Britain at home. Pragmatically, it was economically expedient to allow India to finance its own self-government.

Historical Context of “Direct Action Day”

A focal point in Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni’s brilliant novel Independence were the consequences of the “Direct Action Day” that began at midnight on August 15 and exploded into three days of brutal rioting. The Muslim League led by Mohammed Ali Jinnah had passed a resolution on 29 July 1946 declaring this day to be a day of protests throughout India, particularly throughout the Bengal province.

They were anything but peaceful, non-violent demonstrations and became known as the Great Calcutta Killings, recognized as the precursor of the horrific genocide on both sides following partition. Between an astounding 5,000-10,000 people were killed with more than 15,000 wounded and other atrocities and rapes perpetrated in this span of little more than 72 hours. Over 100,000 were left homeless. The property damage was enormous as dwellings and businesses were looted and burned to the ground. To their lasting discredit, the British troops stationed in the area were not ordered to intervene or give aid.

Political Leaders, Their Influence and Their Fate

During the war years, three political parties began to dominate the leadership that would shape the future of India and led to the creation of Pakistan. These leaders were all lawyers who had been educated in London: Mohandas (Mahatma) Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru and Mohammed Ali Jinnah.

Mahatma Gandhi was the most vocal anti-colonialist known for nonviolent civil disobedience. He began the Quit India Movement, demanding independence in exchange for India’s participation in the war effort. Many thousands of followers of this movement were imprisoned by the British for the duration of the war for their refusal to support British war efforts. Gandhi was assassinated by a Hindu extremist in January, 1948.

Jawaharlal Nehru was an anti-colonialist and principal leader of the Indian National Congress beginning in the 1930’s. He was an adviser, personal friend and confidant of Lord Mountbatten. Following India’s independence, he became the first Prime Minister of the Republic of India and served for 16 years.

Mohammed Ali Jinnah was the outspoken leader of the Muslim League who advocated for the creation of a separate Muslim State. Although mistrusted by Mountbatten, he was an adviser to Sir Winston Churchill whom he met with several times in London. Jinnah is recognized as the Founder of Pakistan and was its first Governor General.

The Transition to Independence

Six months after the “Direct Action Day” riots, on February 27, 1947, the last Viceroy of India, Lord Louis “Dickie” Mountbatten, arrived charged with bringing about the transition to independence for India and ultimately the country’s partition. His chief qualification seemed to have been that he was King George VI’s cousin and Queen Victoria’s grandson as he knew little about India and was ill-prepared for this monumental task.

Without explanation he chose to accelerate the process by ten months with independence granted on August 14, 1947 instead of the end of June, 1948 as had been previously planned. The partition of the new Republic of India and the creation of East and West Pakistan was announced the following day, August 15.

Another hasty, blundering decision was the drawing up of new political borders, an extremely complicated issue with devastating repercussions. Barrister Sir Cyril Radcliffe, who had never been farther east than Paris, was called upon to travel to India where he was given five weeks to decide the fate of 400 million Indians by drawing the boundary lines. The maps he was provided were woefully out of date and he did not tour the countryside.

Pakistan’s Formation and Resulting Tragedies

Ultimately, Punjab in the west and Bengal in the east were split in two with the northernmost portions forming Pakistan. These large, formerly Indian provinces were separated by 700 miles of rough terrain. The gerrymandered border lines were arbitrarily and illogically drawn bisecting lands, businesses, homes, towns, villages and sometimes hospitals and schools. The bitter acrimony and bloodshed thus engendered has not yet ceased. The powder keg was lit.

Within one year, an estimated 1.5 to 3 million people were dead, huge numbers were wounded or mutilated and several villages were destroyed with all inhabitants killed. Many businesses, homes and properties that had been in families for generations were forfeited and about 17 million people were left homeless. Many died of hunger, disease and despair in refugee camps that dotted the subcontinent.

It was a gruesome, mutual genocide involving Hindus, Sikhs and Muslims and the largest diaspora (massive dispersion of refugees) began in both directions in India and Pakistan as religious intolerance erupted into violence. The formerly tolerated Hindus and Sikhs fled to India as swiftly as Muslims relocated to Pakistan.

In this work of historical fiction, Independence, author Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni has succeeded admirably in personalizing this enduring East Asian tragedy that remains largely unknown in the Western Hemisphere.

 

About Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni:

Chitra Divakaruni is an award-winning writer, activist and teacher, and the author of 21 books such as Mistress of Spices, Before We Visit the Goddess, Palace of Illusions, The Forest of Enchantments, and The Last Queen.  Her newest novel, Independence, depicts the experiences of three sisters in strife-torn Calcutta as India frees itself from the British yoke. She writes for adults and children.

Her work has been published in over 100 magazines and anthologies and translated into 30 languages, including Dutch, Hebrew, Bengali, Hungarian, Turkish, Hindi and Japanese. Her work has been made into films, plays and dance dramas, and performed as operas.

Independence by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni
Publish Date: 1/17/2023
Genre: Fiction, Historical Fiction, Politics
Author: Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni
Page Count: 285 pages
Publisher: William Morrow
ISBN: 9780063142381
Linda Hitchcock

Linda Hitchcock is a native Virginian who relocated to a small farm in rural Kentucky with her beloved husband, John, 14 years ago. She’s a lifelong, voracious reader and a library advocate who volunteers with her local Friends of the Library organization as well as the Friends of Kentucky Library board. She’s a member of the National Book Critic’s Circle, Glasgow Musicale and DAR. Linda began her writing career as a technical and business writer for a major West Coast-based bank and later worked in the real estate marketing and advertising sphere. She writes weekly book reviews for her local county library and Glasgow Daily Times and has contributed to Bowling Green Living Magazine, BookBrowse.com, BookTrib.com, the Barren County Progress newspaper and SOKY Happenings among other publications. She also serves as a volunteer publicist for several community organizations. In addition to reading and writing, Linda enjoys cooking, baking, flower and vegetable gardening, and in non-pandemic times, attending as many cultural events and author talks as time permits.