Why would anyone write a book like this? A book which shows no mercy on the reader, doesn’t understand diplomacy and strips the reader naked and hits him/her with the most powerful weapon on earth – The truth. Confusion grips you right from the start and the book leaves you nervous, ashamed, frustrated and clueless at the end. I have to warn, the above mentioned symptoms relate only to an Indian reader though it might as well apply to others. Though major portion of the story involves history, there is nothing new in the book about history that astonishes you and there is almost nothing in the book that a person with some reading habits doesn’t know off. Then what makes it so special and how does it hit you so hard with things you already know, well for all but one reason – it reminds you about the brutal truth of life – the past is never dead, damn the past is not even past, it’s the present itself. One couldn’t have found a more apt title than aavarana for the story. The four main characters in the story – razia, amir, lakshmi’s father and sastri, take you through a ride that’s compelling, intense and tests one’s ability to remain immune to brutal past of India. The characters are normal people but for the authors ability to dwell deep and project an unbiased but unacceptable reactions when faced with truth and ideological questions. The perfect example would be lakshmi’s father who opposes hindu-muslim marriage in spite of being a staunch Gandhian. The question lingers as to how can the author justify a character like that, though at the end the author not only justifies it but does it in way that leaves no doubt in readers mind. The book digs deep into the definition of history, its effect on the present day, the role of religion and makes the reader wonder if the left is really secular and liberal as they project themselves to be. The book is by no inch a pro-hindu or anti-islam as some of its critic have claimed, but merely puts up the beautiful question of – Can nationalism be strengthened by projecting historical lies. This book only goes on to strengthen how tolerant and accepting an Indian culture is and how well the world has exploited it. Yet India has not only survived but thrived and as hitchens put it – there will always be an India. India whose motto is satyamev jayate (truth alone triumphs) needs to trust its people, its culture and tolerant nature and should stop hiding the truth from itself. Go ahead and grab it, but be prepared face the dilemma over truth, especially if you are an Indian. As for the left wing – ignorance has never helped anybody said marx and the new India is all set to follow your leader on that note, after all the Indian DNA can never resist a good argument. This is one of the most controversial novel by bhairappa, in this he has basically explored how our history has been distorted by so called secular people as well as communists.The novel is aptly named as avarana which basically means that hiding the truth.Bhairappa has given us a list of books at the end which proves his point.The novel basically has following protagonist1.Narsimhappa2.Lakshmi3.Amir4.Professor Shastri5.A rajput prince.Although I won't go into the details of the roles of these protagonist it is safe to say that bhairappa gives us the modern view of India and the traditional India during the mughal period.but this tends to become some what confusing at the end of novel when he switches the POV of characters very fast.One of the most detailed parts of the novel is destruction done by done Aurangzeb in Kashi, these parts are very clearly written and you can almost visualize everything.Bhairappa has given a fine message through this novel, but only annoying thing which I found in this novel was he leaves the story incomplete for all the characters.All in all it is a fine novel so my rating is 3/5.
What do You think about Avarana (2000)?
Very interesting read. It had an explosive plotline and the usual Bhyrappa psycho-ness.
—guardgirl43
