Litanies of Dutch Battery, N.S. Madhavan, Penguin Books India, Pp 312 (PB), Rs 350.00
THIS is a historical-political novel set against the story of a newly independent India and the Communist Party forming the government in Kerala. Narrated by Edwina Theresa Irene Maria Anne Margarita Jessica in first person, this is a captivating novel though at times the political and historical details tend to mar the narrative. This young Catholic girl takes birth at Dutch Battery, hearing the last sound in her Amma’s belly of Tata Company’s 5 o’clock siren. "The sound of the siren tapering into a whimper lingered a little longer in the water in which I lived."
As she grows up, "she finds that in her life outside, these sirens would break up my days into dusk and dawn." Days pass and she becomes heir to stories carried over by the wind and the sea which surround her environment and her life.
She passes her childhood pestering her Amma to tell stories of the movies she has seen. When she becomes six-year old, she is sent to school, much to her Amma’s sorrow. In 1965, she passes her exams to enter the tenth grade, while she dispassionately continues to watch the victories, failures and redemption of the other islanders. Her life is connected to the lives of other ‘bridgeless’ islands, disconnected from the mainland every night with the departure of the last ferry boat.
Jessica narrates the story of the inhabitants of the Malabar coast, beginning from the ancient times to the present - from its caste-ridden Hindu past to the advent of Arab traders who bring Islam and construct mosques to dot the island. She talks of the second influx of foreigners comprising the Portuguese, the Dutch and the British, who build churches of their own. She also tells the tale of India’s independence, about Nehru and Hindi films and songs sung by Kundan Lal Saigal.
Soon she finds herself caught in a current of events in which she has no say. Amma engages Pushpangadam Master to teach mathematics to her. While teaching her, the master tries to get familiar with her but Sarika spurns his attention. She announces to all who would listen to her that the master has misbehaved with her. She even visits the church to admit her so-called sin to the priest.
One day a suicide note is found. It has been written by the master saying he was going to commit suicide. After his death, the villagers begin to praise him and shun Jessica. The days that follow now are the loneliest for her. "One by one people deserted me...sound became scarce in our house." Her Appan would get up early in the morning and leave for the boatyard at the Western River where he works as a carpenter and return late at night. "Amma, almost every time, banged plates on the table to let me know that my food was served."
So frustrated is she that she decides to commit suicide and tells this to Appuppan, who advises her to go mad instead. "To go mad is a conscious decision. Insanity doesn’t catch you like fever and cold. You have to will it. It is an alternative to taking one’s life and requires just as much strength of mind."
She takes to the latter course and is taken to hospital to be given electric shocks. A gripping narrative
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