Surface-tension in a forgotten land

Siddhartha Deb, the acclaimed author of the novel “Surface” , not only shares his name with me but also his place of origin. We both hail from one of the most remote regions of the country- North-East. In his book Surface, Siddhartha Deb not only weaves a tale of socio-political intrigue and psychological thriller but he brings to life a region that , in spite of 60 years of being a part of the republic , still remains distant from it as South Pole remains from downtown Silchar.

The protagonist Amrit Singh is a mercenary journalist stuck in a dead-end job with a once-glorious Calcutta newspaper The Sentinel ( unmistakably a take on The Statesman). He is asked to cover the North-East region, an otherwise neglected and unimportant area which nevertheless needs to be represented on the rag-sheet for whatever its worth. Amrit, however uses the opportunity to shake free of his shackles and go all out in pursuing his dreams of investigative journalism and embarks on a story that he feels is typical of all that is wrong with this God-forsaken part of the country. Soon, he finds himself in a quagmire of political conspiracy, the social conditions , the acts of destruction and overall chaos that is a part of life in the Region.
Although the book is essentially a story of thrill and adventure , yet the author does a more than credible job of representing the Seven Sisters in an honest and realistic manner. The plot is often interwoven with facts ; historical events and places serve as platforms for the story to develop. A lot of historical background is provided and the present conditions follow as natural evolution from thereon. Most importantly, as a person who hails from the Region, I can vouch for the authenticity of the authors depiction of the people living in the Region, their customs and way of life, their issues and problems, their fears and complaints. Deb successfully presents the political turmoil and the widespread insurgency in the Region , explain lucidly the various reasons for the same , and manages to present the case of both the parties ( Insurgents at large and the Government) with no partiality to either.
The story , though fictional , is extremely realistic and touches a chord because even the fictional characters and events emerge out of reality. The elusive Mr Malik, a mysterious humanitarian activist , is loosely based on Sanjay Choudhury, the Bengali activist from Bengal who had won many accolades for his projects in Majuli(a river-island in Assam and one of the most impoverished and underdeveloped part even by the North-East standards) and who was kidnapped and killed by the Ulfa rebels .
Very little has been written or filmed on the problems that plague one of most beautiful parts of the country that is North-East.. Since Independence , the region never had a moment of peace and stability. Currently there are more than 200 rebel groups fighting the Indian Government and /.or each other. And the people, the people with the kind of honesty and innocence that can be retained only within the hills and ravines of Paradise, are caught in the crossfire. Most of the original rebel groups dating from the time of Independence owe their genesis to an indifferent central administration and the complete lack of understanding of local culture and ethnic sensibilities of the region on part of the government.

Andto top that off, power supplies , civic amenities and infrastructure are so rare in the region that people like us who manage to venture out of the squalor have to deal with a culture shock of 24 hr power and water supply! Every year floods drown a huge chunk of a land & most parts become inaccessible from the mainland- supply of food and other necessary items cease except for the rations dropped by the Army Choppers. And if you think its limited to only the more remote areas, think again- this situation is quite rampant even in places close to Guwahati, a relatively more developed city.

Amidst such state of gross neglect and apathy, a literary attempt as that of Siddhartha Deb come as a welcome change. As a pure work of fiction and a thriller its outstanding with a compelling page-turner quality about it. Dont go buy my oengthy discourse on the socio-politacl issues in my previous paragraph- the book only captures these in passing and as a backdrop, it doesnt indulge in lecturing about these affairs.

As a canvas for the portrait of the forgotten beautiful Seven Sisters and life in these hills, its simply a work of genius. Surface often resembles a reportage, shedding light on some remote untraversed regions. However it retains all the qualities of a truly engrossing novel that fills an important gap- a source of illumination in the pockets of darkness in North-east India.

(Other works by the same author here )

Posted by: Sid