Gorkhaland Diaries: The dream endures

Reviewer Anirban Choudhury

(eternalflamenew@gmail.com)

If ever there was a compelling tale that combined fiction with elements of non-fiction in recent times, Gorkhaland Diaries would easily qualify as one and be my top pick too. Set in the picturesque yet tumultuous backdrop of Darjeeling Hills, where public aspirations for a separate homeland intertwine with a quest for recognition of their distinctive identity, the protagonists in the novel are victims of circumstances, as well as both harbingers of hope and quintessence of despair.

As the novel opens up with Rajen Thapa reminiscing about his past association with Gorkhaland agitation that gripped the Darjeeling Hills in the 1980s, it sets the tone for the events unfolding in the following pages — one that captures lives of two people who are generations apart, but yet interwoven by the common yet elusive dream for a separate homeland.

As love blossomed between Rajen and Kavita by a quirk of fate and circumstances following the Gorkhaland agitation, the novel captures the upheavals in the lives of both the characters caused by the popular movement. Similarly, the novel also traces the transformation of Bijay from a humble and self-effacing helper in a tea garden manager’s home to a fiery Gorkhaland proponent 30 years later.

As both the main characters evolve, the novel shows how lives of people in the beautiful Darjeeling Hills under the shadows of the mighty Kanchenjunga Peak have been affected and changed forever by the popular movement for a separate state – from hope to despair to uncertainty. While Rajen reconciles to his walking stick for the rest of his life, a reminder of the cost of the popular movement, Bijay had to relocate — yearning for a separate homeland, he had to flee his hometown for good, a sad irony. Yet, though both Rajen and Bijay have resigned to their respective fates, their dream still endures.

In essence, the Gorkhaland Diaries captures the entire gamut of the Gorkhaland agitation through the eyes of the two main protagonists spanning across three decades. The novel is perhaps the best account of one of the most enduring separate state movements in eastern part of the country. In fact, the Gorkhaland Diaries has opened up a new genre of literary work vis-à-vis the Gorkhaland movement.

Currently working as Assistant Professor of Chemistry at the Government College in Gangtok, its author Satyadeep S Chhetri is a teacher by profession and writer by choice. He has done a remarkable job as novelist in his debut book. He has been beautifully able to aptly capture the popular hope and aspiration for a separate state of Gorkhaland, along with the angst and disillusion that have gripped the people following the perceived betrayal by their own leaders. What is also striking about the novel is the use of simple language by the author, sans verbosity and bombastic jargons.