Book Review

Train to Pakistan

Author:  Khushwant Singh

Pages: 192

Price (Paperback): ₹177

Price (e-Book): ₹107   

    By Snehal Shankar Tambavekar        

 

    The book, ‘Train to Pakistan’ is penned by Khushwant Singh. It is one of the best books I have read. Khushwant Singh is India's well-known writer and columnist. He was also a member of parliament and was conferred upon Padma Bhushan. He received many other awards such as Punjab Ratan and Sulabh International Award for the most Honest Indian of the Year and honorary doctorates from several universities. 

    The novel ‘Train to Pakistan’, is based on the partition of India and the hardships faced by the people. This novel reflects a certain time in history which can make you feel horrors of partition. The novel revolves around the village named ‘Mano Majra’ and its villagers. It is a village that is situated near Indo - Pak border. It is a very small village with three brick buildings. People with three different religious faiths live in the village. They are Sikh, Muslim and Hindu. It is a village with feelings of brotherhood and people live in harmony. But, all of a sudden, things begin to change. A peaceful village is turned into the battlefield.

    The novel tells the social difference between the Sikhs and Muslims effectively. The people of all the religions who were living in harmony start spreading hatred and try to kill one another. 

    The political leaders exploit this situation which leads to horrible bloodshed. In Mano Majra, there are only about seventy families and Lala Ram Lal, the money lender of the village, the only Hindu family; the others are Sikhs and Muslims. The railway station is the important place in Mano Majra.

    However, all of a sudden, the things begin to change after the arrival of the train with dead bodies led to the battlefield. The partition begins to take its place in this village. It touches the village at both levels: community and individual. At the community level, the feeling of brotherhood is totally destroyed among the people of various religions.

    The routine of the village, Mano Majra is disturbed one evening due to the murder of moneylender Lala Ram Lal who was murdered by the dacoits. There are many characters in this novel, one of them is "Jugga" or Juggat Singh, a villager of Mano Majra. The dacoits have an evil effect on Juggat Singh. He is a " badmash". Jugga is in love with Nooran who is a Muslim girl.Jugga 's father and grandfather were also dacoits not to have robbed their village. Juggat Singh is also arrested by the police as the suspect in the moneylender's murder.

    Hukum Chand is a major character in the novel. Hukum Chand is the magistrate and Deputy Commissioner of the village Mano Majra . He is a cunning and corrupted, yet he surprises us with authentic, basic human kindness even a sort of innocence.

    Another character in the novel is Iqbal. He creates mild sensation in the village, when he approaches Bhai to meet Singh the priest of the Sikh temple with the request for shelter and he takes it for granted that he is Iqbal Singh.

    He could be Iqbal Mohamad, he could also be a Hindu Iqbal Chand or a Sikh, Iqbal Singh is one of the few common names in three communities. He is a man with western education, a social worker and a bachelor. He had come to the village with a view that something should be done to stop the bloodshed going on as a result of partition. He is a man with morals. He has his own views of morality and a host of other things. 

    “Mortality....is the matter of money", poor people cannot afford to have morals so they have religion. Our first problem is to get people more food, clothing and comfort which can only be done by stopping exploitation by the rich and abolishing landlords and that can only be done by changing the government.

    Iqbal is arrested as the suspect in the moneylender's murder. Because the villagers know that he had come into the village after the murder and also taken the train that the policeman had taken. He is a stranger living in the Sikh temple of the village.

    In ‘Train to Pakistan’, the novelist exhibits genuine faith in the humanistic ideal depicting a real Jugga laying down his life for the woman he loves. It is the portrayal of the real and actual. Thus, the novelist paints Jugga final act of sacrifice.

    The novel thus becomes an unforgettable experience.  It teaches us the lesson that senseless killing, looting and raping will not take us anywhere. The ideal thing is to live in perfect amity irrespective of the caste and creed to which we belong. ‘The train to Pakistan’ by Khushwant Singh is a 'Masterpiece’.

Snehal Shankar Tambavekar  

B. A. II