CHENNAI : The Indian Independence movement remains an inexhaustible source of stories of courage and resistance. They keep coming out of various corners of the country. The latest addition to the series of historical fiction set during that time is former diplomat Lakshmi Murdeshwar Puri’s Swallowing the Sun (Aleph). According to the publisher David Davidar, it is “an epic feat of remembering and storytelling”.
Lakshmi is a former assistant secretary-general at the United Nations and a former deputy executive director of UN WOMEN, the first global organisation to promote gender equality. She has also been India’s ambassador to countries such as Hungary, and Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Bringing up the unsung
Set in Maharashtra, where the author was born, the novel tells the story of two sisters, Malati and Kamla, who navigate the tumultuous period, journeying from their village to erstwhile Bombay and involving themselves in the resistance movement there, while simultaneously negotiating “the big and small aspects of everyday life — love, loss, failure and compromise”.
At the launch of the book in Delhi recently, Puri spoke on how the book came about and how it is, at once, a work of historical fact and of personal memory. “The story is weaved out of the ones I’ve heard of my parents’ lives. My parents, Malati Desai and BG Murdeshwar, were active participants in the Independence struggle and lived extraordinary lives. Though inspired by their tales, the novel is also a work of my own imagination. It is my ode to a very unique and brave generation of people. I wanted to celebrate the unsung heroes of the Independence struggle, the ordinary people whose little efforts and actions accumulated into a movement,” she says.
‘Fearless and tender’
In a conversation with the author, David discussed how the novel is “fearless in tackling big ideas and the big events of history”. The novel is driven by strong women “who explore ideas of freedom and love while also addressing issues like caste, culture, patriarchy, tradition and modernity,” he says. He highlighted how the book is “tender and intimate”, interwoven with poetry and rooted in a sense of place — in this case, both rural Maharashtra and the city of Bombay of the time, which was “a hotbed of political ferment.”
“I am a great admirer of poetry. It is part of my Maharashtrian heritage. Being a spiritual seeker, I am constantly inspired by the poetry of the Varkari saints including Namdev and Tukaram, but my greatest admiration is for Muktabai, whom I consider a feminist saint. The title of the book is taken from one of her surreal poems. Another big inspiration for the novel was my discovery of over 150 love letters my father had written to my mother. They were very poetic,” said the author. Lakshmi also spoke about how she wanted to present “the Marathi cultural efflorescence at the time”.
“Swallowing the Sun is a truly astonishing work that gives us an insight into the heart of small-town India that dreams big. It resonates very closely with me because my own parents were freedom fighters. It is important for us to genuinely remember what it took, what was sacrificed, to get our freedom,” says veteran actor and writer Kabir Bedi, who was the special guest of honour at the event. He also read an excerpt from the book.
Small acts, big consequences
Lakshmi, who is a recipient of the Eleanor Roosevelt Award for Human Rights, says that she has been asked by several young people why she chose to write a novel set during the freedom struggle. “I wanted to shed light on the ways in which women participated in one of the most decisive periods in our country’s history. The novel chronicles how small acts of assertion and independent thinking can snowball into something that can bring about a change of narrative. I wanted young people, especially young women, to understand that as far as nation building is concerned, everything you do counts,” says the author.