6 India - Sunlight on a broken column by Attia Hosain, December 2013 (Score 7.2)


I found it useful to draw up a couple of family trees while reading this book. The introduction gives valuable information to help our understanding of the background to this story, including a cast list and a list of relevant words we need to know.

Laila is the daughter of Ahmed (deceased). Her mother is not included in the cast list. As the novel opens, her grandfather is dying and there are hints of possible great changes to come as a result. We quickly learn that Laila has no mother, brothers or, presumably, sisters. Even with the cast list I had to refer frequently to the glossary since everyone seems to be known by different words depending on the viewpoint of those who are discussing or addressing them. This is rather like Japanese or Swedish, for example.

We learn about the lives of well off Muslims in India, such as this family, in the time of the mid Raj (1920s to 1930s). When Mushtari Bai, a famous courtesan, was singing at a wedding, we get a beautifully described glimpse of the position in society of the less well off, or poor. We are told that “The servants stood as still as scarlet exclamation marks” in their uniform tunics. I doubt if such a well-known prostitute as Mushtari would be invited to sing at a society wedding in the United Kingdom.

We see village life, and get some idea of the rules of purdah. We also see the beginnings of non-violent resistance to colonial rule and exploitation by London in the 1930s. Laila is taken to the Vice-Regal reception by Zahra, her friend, and Zahra’s husband.

There are good descriptions of how oppressive and unpleasant the heat of summer is in Northern India.

Since reading the cast list at the beginning, we have been aware that Laila is destined to marry Ameer Hussain. He finally arrives on page 187. As expected, she is immediately attracted to him.

We certainly see the Indian version of the obscene differences in wealth and stature which exist in all countries when we read the description of a garden party given by Laila’s aunt and uncle, to which they invited “all those who exercised power in the province, its politics and its society. Although Laila seems to be unhappy about this state of affairs, it seems that most of the people of the class into which she was born are content to lead a hedonistic life of constant parties, lunches and dinners, and conspicuous expenditure in the midst of incredible poverty. Their greatest pleasure seems to be in being seen in the presence of the snobbish representatives of the Raj.

Later, on page 221, Attia Hossain uses an expression which describes perfectly the lifestyle discussed above – “Going round and round the social mulberry bush” with, perhaps, the unwritten corollary of “we all fall down”.

We move from 1938 to 1952, jumping the gap in which occurred the Second World War, the fear of Japanese invasion of India, Partition with its uprooting and exchange of huge populations of millions (mostly of the poorer people). Each of these families, in whichever direction they felt (or were) compelled to move had to find a new house and home in a land which was never theirs.

Laila, now married to Ameer, has come to her old home and her old city to find both much reduced in condition and stature. The house is empty, and is to be sold. Since Laila’s family was of the better off level they have been able to keep ownership of the house until now.

Laila and Ameer have a daughter. They live in Hasanpur which, despite its Urdu sounding name, is close to, and east of, Delhi. Ameer has died by the time we are being told this. From her thoughts as she wanders about the old house we get some information about what has happened in the intervening fourteen years.

Some of the family moved to Pakistan. Others, like Laila and Ameer, stayed in India. Eventually legislation broke up the land holdings of ancient families (descendants of the Moslem invaders of the north of the sub-continent from about 500 years ago). The break-up of the estates put most of the servants and retainers out of work and led to the destruction of many of the big houses and palaces from that early period. These would have been a good tourist attraction now.

I enjoyed this story and, with the elaboration it gave of the history of the area which I already knew from school and later reading, felt impelled to give it a score of 8.5.