Gorkhaland Diaries: Even Dreams …Uneven Lives by Satyadeep S. Chhetri (Bee Publications, 2022) may be categorized within the genre of historical fiction, given the title of the book clearly reflecting what the book holds; it is a diary of all the major events of the Gorkhaland Movement which took place in the four decades spanning from the 1980s up to 2017.
Though the book is based on past events related with the Gorkhaland movement, it is fictional in terms of its characters. The book is divided into eleven chapters; each one bearing the title of a Bob Dylan song title. The author has creatively displayed his musical leanings and mindfulness in matching the famous song titles with the theme of each chapter.
The book revolves around the stories of its two main characters: Rajen Thapa from Kalimpong and Bijay from a tea garden in Darjeeling, and how they both become a part of the Gorkhaland dream and their ‘uneven’ lives get tangled in the ‘even’ dream of Gorkhaland.
In Gorkhaland Diaries, the plot of the story unfolds like an engaging movie. The descriptions are beautifully expressed in a simple yet brilliant way. The language of the book is also very reader-friendly. The imagery of the narration being lucid; one can feel the fervor of the movement.
In the first part of the book, which mostly deals with the movement during the 1980s, one gets transported back to the Darjeeling hills of the 80s, while in the second half of the book, the second and the third wave of the movement come alive. This gives an even better and more realistic feel to the book.
For people who have witnessed the movement or been a part of it, the book may act as a photo album… full of flashbacks. Throughout the book, the author’s efforts to chronicle all significant national and global events in chronological order as a backdrop while playing out the stories of the Gorkhaland movement in the foreground is worth admiring, the dates of every historical event being exact. Hence, this work of historical fiction proves to be a thoroughly researched book.
The most splendid appeal of the book is that it depicts the story from two different perspectives: one from the viewpoint of Rajen: belonging to an elite (educated and army background) and the other one from Bijay: who belonged to the ‘grass root’ level (a domestic help at the Tea-Garden manager’s bungalow), hence the stories reflect the dreams of Gorkhaland for people belonging to two different social stratifications. Their lives are uneven but their dreams are even…of achieving a separate state of ‘Gorkhaland’, within the Union of India.
A common theme in the book is ‘loss’: loss of young and old lives, loss of property, loss of self-esteem, and loss of a Dream.
“Everyday news of houses and government property being burnt flew in like the morning swallows. The region had never seen violence of this magnitude…..Every night when sirens or hooters were sounded, the men, including young boys had to flee to the jungle and spend an entire night in the forest leaving the old and the ladies at the mercy and the ever-protecting shadows of the mighty Kanchenjunga. The security forces would call it combing operations. They marched in like hyenas to forage on the living dead…..The bullets made deadlier scars sometimes for a lifetime, that is, if you were lucky to survive them…They would return at the crack of dawn after everything subsided, to burnt houses, broken furniture, and scarred women.” (pg 80-81)
But the story does not end with grief over the loss, it ends with a brighter hope and the dream continues to live within the people of the hills.
“Bijay called up his friend in Mirik to know about the situation, he responded quite hilariously. ‘Ehh! Moh ta khana khayera suteko, bihaan oothda ta andolan po shuru bhai sakeko rehechha! ‘(Oh! I went to sleep after dinner and when I woke up I found the agitation had gained such momentum). They shared a hearty laugh. The people of the hills never lost their sense of humour even in trying times. Probably this is where they garnered the strength to stand against all odds at uneven and unwarranted times. This was the humour that had helped them heal their wounds, the loss, and the pain of the previous agitations.” (pg. 215).
The limitation or missing element of the book is the absence of a preface explaining the meaning of the Gorkhaland movement, its history, origin, and evolution over the decades, especially for people with little or no knowledge of the Gorkhaland Movement. The common misconception among many is that the Gorkhaland Movement was (or is) a separatist movement, which actually is not true.
The preface would have made it much easier particularly for non-local readers to comprehend the events of the movement as well as the aspirations of the main characters in the book. Another great addition to a book would have been a glossary explaining the meaning of non-English words which otherwise have only been italicized.
A small but essential aspect missing from Gorkhaland Diaries is an account from the Dooars region. The two main characters both from the Hills, leave the readers with a sense of compelling desire to imagine the story from the viewpoint of characters or events from the Dooars region (Dooars too was a hotbed of events during the movement) as in politics and particularly in statehood demands geography does matter.
Nevertheless, these stories may form part of a series or volumes of the same book, which the author may want to consider writing in the near future.
The book can be viewed as an attempt to fill in the existing vacuum in the literature on the Gorkhaland movement. ‘A lion must write its own story‘, so this book by Satyadeep S Chhetri thus lends a crucial ‘home-grown’ perspective to the literature on the Gorkhaland Movement.
Importantly, the many untold stories of Gorkhaland are yet to be documented, and this is where young local writers or enthusiasts can explore and eventually come up with meaningful writings to enrich the understanding on the issues of national identity of the Indian Gorkhas.
Can’t wait to read it? Buy your copy of Gorkhaland Diaries: Even Dreams …Uneven Lives using the link below.
Review contributed by Dr. Sangmu Thendup
Dr. Sangmu Thendup teaches Ancient Indian History at Sikkim University. She completed her doctoral studies from Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi in 2017. Her areas of special interest are Early Buddhism, Environmentalism, Gender Relations and Regional History ( particularly the History of the Eastern Himalayas with special reference to Darjeeling and Sikkim). She has presented many papers at national and international conferences both within India and abroad. Has been publishing papers and chapters in journals and books. Being a reader she also enjoys reviewing books of her interest.