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The Runaway Boy
The first part of Byapari’s semi-autobiographical trilogy of novels begins in East Pakistan. It tells the story of little Jibon, who arrives at a refugee camp in West Bengal as an infant in the arms of his Dalit parents escaping from the Muslim-majority nation. Devoid of the customary sweetness of a few drops of honey at his birth, he grows up perpetually hungry for hot rice in the camp where the treatment meted out to dispossessed families like his is deplorable.
Jibon runs away when he’s barely thirteen to Calcutta because he’s heard that money flies in the air in the big city. His wildly innocent imagination makes him believe that he can go out into the world, find work and bring back food for his starving siblings and clothes for his mother whose only sari is in tatters. And once he leaves home, through the travels of this starving, bewildered but gritty boy, we witness a newly independent India as it grapples with communalism and grave disparities of all kinds.
We have seen boys like Jibon hanging from the open doors of train carriages, loafing about on station platforms, washing dishes at roadside dhabas, peering at you through your car windows at traffic signals. In this deeply affecting novel, you see a Chandal, Namasudra boy in all these places. You are exposed to his fears, his grit, his spirit for survival, all through Byapari’s inimitable gaze.
‘In evocative and imagery-rich writing, Manoranjan Byapari introduces us to the devastating realities of mid-twentieth-century India: hunger, caste violence, and communal hatred. Jibon's experiences in his tortured world remind us of the distance we have come, and how far we have yet to go.’
—Shashi Tharoor
Jibon runs away when he’s barely thirteen to Calcutta because he’s heard that money flies in the air in the big city. His wildly innocent imagination makes him believe that he can go out into the world, find work and bring back food for his starving siblings and clothes for his mother whose only sari is in tatters. And once he leaves home, through the travels of this starving, bewildered but gritty boy, we witness a newly independent India as it grapples with communalism and grave disparities of all kinds.
We have seen boys like Jibon hanging from the open doors of train carriages, loafing about on station platforms, washing dishes at roadside dhabas, peering at you through your car windows at traffic signals. In this deeply affecting novel, you see a Chandal, Namasudra boy in all these places. You are exposed to his fears, his grit, his spirit for survival, all through Byapari’s inimitable gaze.
‘In evocative and imagery-rich writing, Manoranjan Byapari introduces us to the devastating realities of mid-twentieth-century India: hunger, caste violence, and communal hatred. Jibon's experiences in his tortured world remind us of the distance we have come, and how far we have yet to go.’
—Shashi Tharoor
- GenresFiction
370 pages, Paperback
Published December 21, 2020
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 9 reviews
January 9, 2021
The Runaway Boy by Manoranjan Byapari is a testament to the unseen lives of the many in the country today who live completely exploited by the forces of caste, class, religion. The first of a semi autobiographical trilogy, it captures a socio-political landscape through the story of Jibon and his family who are displaced and dispossessed when the Partition between India and then East Pakistan takes them to a new land with old prejudices.
Byapari's narrative is a stunning capture that throws light on casteism and communal ties and fissures: from the mythological context of how certain castes came to be considered lesser than others to how families are torn apart after religious conversions that are manufactured by events. It takes readers to the bowels of an unequal society that feeds off the poor and the oppressed and leaves you gutted. It is a story of hunger: what the smell of cooked rice can mean to the poorest. Byapari’s words evoke the texture of rice and the stench that little Jibon and his family have to overlook because they are getting Government dole.
The name of the central protagonist Jibon and what it means (Life) should not be lost on readers, nor should his struggles and journey into the everyday uncertainties that come in his way. Byapari’s writing is sharp and evocative every time he questions social inequalities as much as when he pulls at your emotional core, leaving you a bit shaken. The translation by V Ramaswamy adds to the tone and mood of the writing and there are passages where the original Bengali has been used followed by the translated text that adds flavour to the narrative flow. This is one book that is many genres in one: it is semi autobiographical, it is set in a socio historical backdrop, it is also a coming of age story but more than anything, it is a book that keeps you emotionally invested while giving you much to think about. Make this an essential read this year.
Byapari's narrative is a stunning capture that throws light on casteism and communal ties and fissures: from the mythological context of how certain castes came to be considered lesser than others to how families are torn apart after religious conversions that are manufactured by events. It takes readers to the bowels of an unequal society that feeds off the poor and the oppressed and leaves you gutted. It is a story of hunger: what the smell of cooked rice can mean to the poorest. Byapari’s words evoke the texture of rice and the stench that little Jibon and his family have to overlook because they are getting Government dole.
The name of the central protagonist Jibon and what it means (Life) should not be lost on readers, nor should his struggles and journey into the everyday uncertainties that come in his way. Byapari’s writing is sharp and evocative every time he questions social inequalities as much as when he pulls at your emotional core, leaving you a bit shaken. The translation by V Ramaswamy adds to the tone and mood of the writing and there are passages where the original Bengali has been used followed by the translated text that adds flavour to the narrative flow. This is one book that is many genres in one: it is semi autobiographical, it is set in a socio historical backdrop, it is also a coming of age story but more than anything, it is a book that keeps you emotionally invested while giving you much to think about. Make this an essential read this year.
January 28, 2021
The Runaway Boy by Manoranjan Byapari is the first volume of a trilogy, titled, Chandal Jibon. A story of a boy told in three volumes as he makes his way through life.
Little Jibon’s story begins in a refugee camp in West Bengal, as his Dalit parents flee East Pakistan in search of a better life (during the partition of India and East Pakistan), and well because circumstances make them. They do not get treated well in the camp. The harsh reality of it all hits them hard.
In all of this as Jibon grows, he only has one dream: To flee this life of misery and strife. The idea that Byapari’s character’s name when translated is life says a lot which doesn’t need to be elucidated on. So, once he turns thirteen, Jibon runs away to Calcutta in search of a better tomorrow. The elusive better tomorrow that most people who aren’t born with a silver spoon in their mouth are constantly aspiring for. All he wants is to work hard and bring back food for his siblings and his mother.
And then there is caste that plays such a big role in the book – the only one I guess when everything is determined by the caste of Jibon – the political that mingles with the personal, the inequalities that exist, the distribution of wealth and property that is absolutely unfair, and more than anything, the book holds a mirror to our society and the world we live in through Byapari’s unapologetic and razor-sharp writing.
The Runaway Boy is a semi-autobiographical book but somehow it doesn’t read like that, or maybe I didn’t bring that to fore while reading it. There is so much the book has to offer – a coming of age story, historical fiction, and in all of this, a story of a person’s life. It is extremely introspective, and yet provides such a holistic view of the world we inhabit. A must-read!
Little Jibon’s story begins in a refugee camp in West Bengal, as his Dalit parents flee East Pakistan in search of a better life (during the partition of India and East Pakistan), and well because circumstances make them. They do not get treated well in the camp. The harsh reality of it all hits them hard.
In all of this as Jibon grows, he only has one dream: To flee this life of misery and strife. The idea that Byapari’s character’s name when translated is life says a lot which doesn’t need to be elucidated on. So, once he turns thirteen, Jibon runs away to Calcutta in search of a better tomorrow. The elusive better tomorrow that most people who aren’t born with a silver spoon in their mouth are constantly aspiring for. All he wants is to work hard and bring back food for his siblings and his mother.
And then there is caste that plays such a big role in the book – the only one I guess when everything is determined by the caste of Jibon – the political that mingles with the personal, the inequalities that exist, the distribution of wealth and property that is absolutely unfair, and more than anything, the book holds a mirror to our society and the world we live in through Byapari’s unapologetic and razor-sharp writing.
The Runaway Boy is a semi-autobiographical book but somehow it doesn’t read like that, or maybe I didn’t bring that to fore while reading it. There is so much the book has to offer – a coming of age story, historical fiction, and in all of this, a story of a person’s life. It is extremely introspective, and yet provides such a holistic view of the world we inhabit. A must-read!
December 10, 2023
I took one of the longest time to finish this book. One of the hardest one of my life for sure. It's not a kind of book which you can read while eating a cookie or sipping a coffee. The sheer amount of poverty and hunger the characters go through just won't let you.
Immaculately written, with detailed characterization, this story will stay etched in my mind forever. Translation by V. Ramaswamy is flawless
The story moves seamlessly between the Socio Economic strata and political situations in eastern parts of India.
The way the story starts is such wonderfully juxtaposed with the narrative and that climax.....uuuufffff....if it doesn't break your heart, nothing else would
I was thinking of reviewing it in detail once I finish the second part also. But I don't think I am ready to go through all of that emotional turmoil yet again, in such short succession. so would be reading some other books before reading 2nd part (which I definitely would be)
You need to read it but you need to toughen up first
Immaculately written, with detailed characterization, this story will stay etched in my mind forever. Translation by V. Ramaswamy is flawless
The story moves seamlessly between the Socio Economic strata and political situations in eastern parts of India.
The way the story starts is such wonderfully juxtaposed with the narrative and that climax.....uuuufffff....if it doesn't break your heart, nothing else would
I was thinking of reviewing it in detail once I finish the second part also. But I don't think I am ready to go through all of that emotional turmoil yet again, in such short succession. so would be reading some other books before reading 2nd part (which I definitely would be)
You need to read it but you need to toughen up first
December 8, 2022
Considered as a semi autobiographical work, the runaway boy is a gut wrenching tale of a boy belonging to Namasudra community who becomes a refugee as the result of partition of Bengal( into West Bengal and East Pakistan). His family migrates along with hundreds of others to West Bengal only to face crippling poverty and caste apartheid. Their life in East Bengal has been just as terrible because of the severe caste discrimination but they had a roof over their head.
If anyone is looking to read and understand more about Bengal partition, migration and rehabilitation of refugees, caste apartheid and associated violence , this book is not to be missed.
The book is translated from Bengali by V Ramaswamy and i think it reads well. I suppose, despair goes beyond any kind of translation.
Trigger warning : Every book on a Dalit will trigger the recesses of your mind, of the grave atrocities humans are capable of committing.
If anyone is looking to read and understand more about Bengal partition, migration and rehabilitation of refugees, caste apartheid and associated violence , this book is not to be missed.
The book is translated from Bengali by V Ramaswamy and i think it reads well. I suppose, despair goes beyond any kind of translation.
Trigger warning : Every book on a Dalit will trigger the recesses of your mind, of the grave atrocities humans are capable of committing.
February 5, 2025
Book: The Runaway Boy [#1 of the Chandal Jibon trilogy]
Author: Manoranjan Byapari [translated by V. Ramaswamy]
Pages: 413 [Kindle]
Publication: Eka [An imprint of Westland Books]
Genre: Semi-autobiographical / Coming of age
I came across the author Manoranjan Byapari while researching for books longlisted for the JCB Prize. However, "The Nemesis" was the second novel in a trilogy. So, I downloaded the first book and decided to read it.
Plot:
The Runaway Boy tells the story of Jibon, a Dalit boy, as his impoverished family escapes from East Pakistan. The book is divided into three sections: the background of Garib Das, Jibon's travails, and his experiences.
Review:
I came to know that the book is semi-autobiographical in nature and that Manoranjan Byapari was in contact with the Naxals. As a result, the way with which he has described poverty is heartbreaking.
"The thin skin of his unfed, starving belly was shrivelled and sunken."
Drawing from his own experiences at the Shiromanipur Refugee Camp, the author leaves no stone unturned to criticise the apathy of the then government and later, the indifference of the wealthy towards the plight of the less privileged. As if the financial disparity were not enough, there is enough interreligious hatred to fuel the fire in the protagonist’s belly.
"But what had once been caste prejudice—that very thing now raised its head in a new incarnation, donning the garb of communalism."
The language has a no-nonsense approach. It helped that the translator is the voice of the marginalised. The collaboration seems to be a match made in heaven, as V. Ramaswamy successfully brings out the angst of Jibon and, in turn, Manoranjan Byapari.
I just wish that the lengthy strings of sentences in Bengali, followed by their English counterparts, were less. To me, it was a repetition that irritated me a bit. Overall, however, the reading experience was enjoyable.
As a reader, I had my fullest sympathy for Jibon. But while reading his story, I couldn’t shake off the nagging thought that Byapari went overboard with his hatred for the privileged. I understand that the exploitation of the poor is a reality. However, to paint every person richer than Jibon in an extremely poor light angered me. Everybody Jibon encounters ends up either abusing or sodomising him. That triggered me greatly.
The novel doesn’t keep you on the edge of your seat like a thriller but slowly grabs your hand and takes you on a tumultuous journey with Jibon. The history of his father, Garib Das, sets the pace in motion and helps you grasp the reason for their bleak attitude towards life. So, when Jibon ends up disappointing his parents and siblings, you understand and sympathise with the parties involved.
The final chapter felt a bit rushed to me. Overnight, the dirty boy grows up into a runaway youth.
"He [Jibon] ran from light towards darkness, from death to life, a solitary journey. He did not know what the final outcome of the journey would be. He only knew that he had to run now. As long as he could run, he would survive."
It would have been better if a few chapters detailed his transition, curtailing some events from Darjeeling or Kanpur.
However, the end sets the tone for his future. While I am yet to read the sequels, I assume it would involve the Naxals. I’ll wait for # 2 and #3 to arrive on Kindle Unlimited.
"The Runaway Boy" is not for the faint-hearted or for those who love happy endings. It is a grim story of oppression and the lengths to which the poor can go, ultimately stripping away their final shred of dignity.
Author: Manoranjan Byapari [translated by V. Ramaswamy]
Pages: 413 [Kindle]
Publication: Eka [An imprint of Westland Books]
Genre: Semi-autobiographical / Coming of age
I came across the author Manoranjan Byapari while researching for books longlisted for the JCB Prize. However, "The Nemesis" was the second novel in a trilogy. So, I downloaded the first book and decided to read it.
Plot:
The Runaway Boy tells the story of Jibon, a Dalit boy, as his impoverished family escapes from East Pakistan. The book is divided into three sections: the background of Garib Das, Jibon's travails, and his experiences.
Review:
I came to know that the book is semi-autobiographical in nature and that Manoranjan Byapari was in contact with the Naxals. As a result, the way with which he has described poverty is heartbreaking.
"The thin skin of his unfed, starving belly was shrivelled and sunken."
Drawing from his own experiences at the Shiromanipur Refugee Camp, the author leaves no stone unturned to criticise the apathy of the then government and later, the indifference of the wealthy towards the plight of the less privileged. As if the financial disparity were not enough, there is enough interreligious hatred to fuel the fire in the protagonist’s belly.
"But what had once been caste prejudice—that very thing now raised its head in a new incarnation, donning the garb of communalism."
The language has a no-nonsense approach. It helped that the translator is the voice of the marginalised. The collaboration seems to be a match made in heaven, as V. Ramaswamy successfully brings out the angst of Jibon and, in turn, Manoranjan Byapari.
I just wish that the lengthy strings of sentences in Bengali, followed by their English counterparts, were less. To me, it was a repetition that irritated me a bit. Overall, however, the reading experience was enjoyable.
As a reader, I had my fullest sympathy for Jibon. But while reading his story, I couldn’t shake off the nagging thought that Byapari went overboard with his hatred for the privileged. I understand that the exploitation of the poor is a reality. However, to paint every person richer than Jibon in an extremely poor light angered me. Everybody Jibon encounters ends up either abusing or sodomising him. That triggered me greatly.
The novel doesn’t keep you on the edge of your seat like a thriller but slowly grabs your hand and takes you on a tumultuous journey with Jibon. The history of his father, Garib Das, sets the pace in motion and helps you grasp the reason for their bleak attitude towards life. So, when Jibon ends up disappointing his parents and siblings, you understand and sympathise with the parties involved.
The final chapter felt a bit rushed to me. Overnight, the dirty boy grows up into a runaway youth.
"He [Jibon] ran from light towards darkness, from death to life, a solitary journey. He did not know what the final outcome of the journey would be. He only knew that he had to run now. As long as he could run, he would survive."
It would have been better if a few chapters detailed his transition, curtailing some events from Darjeeling or Kanpur.
However, the end sets the tone for his future. While I am yet to read the sequels, I assume it would involve the Naxals. I’ll wait for # 2 and #3 to arrive on Kindle Unlimited.
"The Runaway Boy" is not for the faint-hearted or for those who love happy endings. It is a grim story of oppression and the lengths to which the poor can go, ultimately stripping away their final shred of dignity.
February 28, 2024
The Runaway Boy is the first novel of a trilogy that narrates the life of Jibon, a Hindu boy of Dalit caste born to a poor family in East Bengal (East Pakistan, now Bangladesh) and displaced following Partition, along with his family, to refugee camps across the border into West Bengal, India. The story has strong parallels with the life of the writer himself, the leading Dalit author Manoranjan Byapari, and is translated from Bengali by V. Ramaswamy.
Starving in the refugee camps, watching his father suffer from illness and his mother and siblings struggling to survive, Jibon decides to run away to find work so he can return to his family with money for food, toys for his siblings and saris for his mother. He travels all around the North of India, bare foot and threadbare, travelling ticketless on trains from to Calcutta to Lucknow, to Delhi, and to Assam where he has been told that there is so much money people throw it in the air. Jibon searches for work and sustenance but is constantly thwarted, cheated, and brutally abused because of his age and, above all, the extreme prejudice he suffers because of his caste.
Throughout the book Jibon is subjected to cruel injustice that is many generations old, and one fears that society will do little to change what happens to him in the next two parts of the trilogy. Yet, told from the view of a child, it has an inherent innocent and humane view of this unjust world that makes the reading bearable.
Starving in the refugee camps, watching his father suffer from illness and his mother and siblings struggling to survive, Jibon decides to run away to find work so he can return to his family with money for food, toys for his siblings and saris for his mother. He travels all around the North of India, bare foot and threadbare, travelling ticketless on trains from to Calcutta to Lucknow, to Delhi, and to Assam where he has been told that there is so much money people throw it in the air. Jibon searches for work and sustenance but is constantly thwarted, cheated, and brutally abused because of his age and, above all, the extreme prejudice he suffers because of his caste.
Throughout the book Jibon is subjected to cruel injustice that is many generations old, and one fears that society will do little to change what happens to him in the next two parts of the trilogy. Yet, told from the view of a child, it has an inherent innocent and humane view of this unjust world that makes the reading bearable.
September 27, 2025
A disturbing novel. A difficult read.
I propose to write a fuller appreciation of the book after reading all the three books. The Runaway Boy is the first part of Manoranjna Byapari’s Chandal Jibon trilogy, the other two being The Nemesis and The Interloper.
For the time being it is enough to say that the book has opened for me a whole new world – a world I vaguely knew existed, but was not very familiar with.
Yes, it’s a novel – a work of fiction.
But somewhere deep down me I can feel that this is not something that the author has spun in his imagination. Byapari has lived the cruel, brutal and heartless life that he makes his protagonist to live.
And this gives the novel its raw, on-your-face authenticity that has the capacity to unsettle you with its tortured emotion.
V Ramaswamy’s translation from Bengali may not be of the highest order, but he has done a competent job, nonetheless.
But in a book like this it is not the language that matters, but the impact it leaves behind.
And in a land that is far, far from perfect, The Runaway Boy will force you to look into the mirror and demand answers to some very difficult questions.
After all, its seventy five years since we started calling ourselves a free people.
I propose to write a fuller appreciation of the book after reading all the three books. The Runaway Boy is the first part of Manoranjna Byapari’s Chandal Jibon trilogy, the other two being The Nemesis and The Interloper.
For the time being it is enough to say that the book has opened for me a whole new world – a world I vaguely knew existed, but was not very familiar with.
Yes, it’s a novel – a work of fiction.
But somewhere deep down me I can feel that this is not something that the author has spun in his imagination. Byapari has lived the cruel, brutal and heartless life that he makes his protagonist to live.
And this gives the novel its raw, on-your-face authenticity that has the capacity to unsettle you with its tortured emotion.
V Ramaswamy’s translation from Bengali may not be of the highest order, but he has done a competent job, nonetheless.
But in a book like this it is not the language that matters, but the impact it leaves behind.
And in a land that is far, far from perfect, The Runaway Boy will force you to look into the mirror and demand answers to some very difficult questions.
After all, its seventy five years since we started calling ourselves a free people.
February 11, 2024
I have always been narrated, read and also shown in movie about the great migration happened in north of India. But this book opened by eyes in terms of cruelty people of east bengal had to face, where the migration also took place. It is horrific to read about discrimination based on caste, atrocities faced by children. Its heart wrenching story about "Jibon Chandal"
Displaying 1 - 8 of 9 reviews