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Gunaho ka Devta

During last few days, I had a privilege of reading one of the most accomplished works in Hindi literature - "Gunaho ka Devta". This was the first time I read a Hindi novel after being highly recommended by 2-3 different people. I was kind of compelled to read it after initial 15-20 pages which were largely in an unfamiliar territory of Hindi literature!

It is a novel set probably more than 50 years ago, and is a philosophical cum love story. It is one of those books where I can't be sure about how I feel. It is an excellently written book (... or maybe it was the first time I was reading a Hindi book ... but probably this is not the explanation!), with the entire spectrum of emotions thrown in generous doses.

The scenes are recreated almost poetically, emotions mentioned perfectly. But at times I am tempted to question basic assumptions of it all. At times I am tempted to say that he is preaching many things which I don't believe in, which I find improper, but then I realise that maybe, it is one way in which the norms of those days were reflected in the story.

For most of the parts of novel I felt I was watching some Sanjay Leela Bhansali's movie (probably a combination of Hum dil de chuke sanam and Devdas), and like what I feel after watching these movies, I was extremely unsure of how I felt. Yeah, at least for me such were the parallels. In those two SLB's movies I did not like the movies, but probably liked almost everything about the movie, especially the way emotions are portrayed. The characterizations are wonderful, the narration is good albeit painful ... but painful is what it was meant to be at the first place! Things were quite unfair ... but unfair is what they were meant to be! The audience can probably empathize with the characters, their small triumphs and their big failures.

But like these two movies, in the end I was confused about how I felt. At one end I am tempted to say "wow!", but on other end I think it is not fair .. .what are they trying to say or preach? Things are not justified. They should not have been like that. But as they say, not everything is fair!

Comments

  1. Anonymous10:26 AM, November 08, 2007

    Hey..thats great..you read that novel :)
    I have read so many Hindi novels Nikesh and this novel, was the first Hindi Novel I read and till date, its my favourite... The simplicity in narration is just awesome...
    Well, I lost the count of how many times, I have read it, but everytime, I read it, I like it more...

    ReplyDelete
  2. Anonymous3:39 PM, November 08, 2007

    And yes, I agree, the novel narrates a very painful experience..But it is such a scared piece of writing, characters, so good, but then also real... It brings out an entirely wonderful, but not-so-popular definition of love...

    ReplyDelete
  3. Nova7:31 PM, November 10, 2007

    I have read some hindi novels and the one which created the maximum impact was Nirmala by Munshi Prem Chand.

    Havent read this one. Who is the author?

    ReplyDelete
  4. Nikesh Rathi8:43 PM, November 10, 2007

    Yeah ... too painful yet simple and brilliantly written by Dharamveer Bharti! The best thing I felt was that the context in which it was written presented quite a reflection of the social structure/ conditions/ norms prevalant in those days.

    Probably these all make it to be considered as a masterpiece!

    Although can't compare much as my knowledge of Hindi literature is limited to one novel only!

    ReplyDelete

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