Revelatory!. Review on Tamas - Bhisham Sahni

Tamas (The Darkness), has been one of the most controversial works in Indian literature, due to the subject matter it deals with: communal riots! It was originally written in Hindi, and later an English translation was made available by the same author. Filthy politics played in a small town district center, intentionally to create a religious divide, which in turn would encourage the geographical divide in pre-independence India, is the theme of this novel.

The events are sequenced to send chills through the readers’ spines. The chamars killing pigs, the cart pullers throwing it in front of a mosque under an order by a politician, the Congress party workers disputing among themselves for leadership, the socialist – communist peace workers being neglected and hurled to death, the non-violence movement being ridiculed by the so-called nationalists, and the inert but deeply interested British government: all of these form a part of the collective insensitivity to face and resolve a difficult situation. The story, on the other hand, also presents some ray of hope by depicting the leftovers of solidarity in some far-flung events. Tamas, is a mirror to our narrow minded society, and makes the cracks in the foundation of our secular democracy visible to the naked eye.

This novel, was also made out into a 5 hour TV serial by eminent film maker Govind Nihalani, with a cast consisting of Om Puri, Deepa Sahi, Deena Pathak, Saeed Jaffrey, and Bhishm Sahni himself. This film, too, was as controversial as the novel, and was on the verge of provoking another riot!