Delhi Calm

by Vishwajyoti Ghosh

Democracy dies in the hearts of democrats before it dies in the hands of a dictator' - William Penn

India, mid-1970s. A time of democracy ruled with an iron fist. In this landscape of turmoil and unrest tours the Naya Savera Band, dreaming of ‘change’ and stoking the fire of rebellion with music. But as reality intrudes and hostilities underlying the common dream rear up, idealist and poet VP, scholarly Master and ever-pragmatic Parvez drift away from each other... until their paths cross again in Delhi, in the middle of the biggest civil crisis to ever grip the nation. Once again, the trio find themselves reluctantly uniting against their common enemy – the State. Will they escape the ever-watchful eyes of the government? Will their dreams of an egalitarian, socialist democracy come to nothing? Will the Naya Savera Band raise its voice in song again? Find out in Vishwajyoti Ghosh’s graphic re-imagining of one of the most seminal moments in the history of Indian democracy.

Genres: Graphic Novels, India, Comics, Indian Literature, Historical Fiction, Fiction, Historical

256 pages, Paperback

First published June 23, 2010

Reviews

[Poonam · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 stars for this book if only for the choice of subject. Draconian period of Emergency. A period of 21 months (I think book says 18 months; need to check)- little short of 2 years. Article 352.

More than the much-talked about sterilization programs, it narrates how systematically government had taken a leaf out of Nazis (to author's credit he hasn't used the word 'Nazi' at all or said it as such - well-oiled propaganda machine via government media agencies, total control over independent media outlets (remember blank editorials by IE), small media outlets crumbled up, complete network of spies (read Big Brothers) in case you are a rebel, total control on what you talk, think etc.

This book has two parallel narratives - one dealing with individuals (of course, euphemisms are used) who played a role in emergency along with actual events. Second narrative is about three idealist young men - VP, Parvez and Master - who get disillusioned and yet have to come together during Emergency in Delhi, city of Powerpolis.

I loved the interrupting spreads that detailed early life and motivations of both Indira (named Moon in book along with her sons Prince and Pilot) and JP (nicknamed Baul and Prophet in the book.) Siddhartha Shankar Ray is the unnamed Bengali 'gentleman' who suggested implementing Emergency to Indira. Man of wry letters, serious novels and joke books is of course Khushwant Singh, who it is well-known supported Emergency. He looks justifiably stupid in the only two references that have been made about him in the book. Ah, and of course, J.R.D Tata who supported Prince in his venture and also Emergency has an unnamed reference to him.

I was mostly interested in first narrative - some of it uses sepia artwork effectively. All the Indira-time slogans such as 'Work More, Talk Less'; ‘The Nation is in Deep crisis ’ and even JP's 'Total Revolution' phrases figure well in narrative. Some of events about slum clearance, treatment of poor Muslim population (remember it was mostly in Jama Masjid and Turkman gate area) by 'secular' government, the oppression, distrust and arrests have been well-captured.

The second narrative though begins on a promising note is sometimes nebulous. In the latter part of their story, I thought their personal motivations and story gets lost in main plot. Yet, a wonderful effort, it is shame how most of us and ones born after 80s do not know how close we came to lose it all. How draconian and tyrannical that period was.

P.S: As for artwork, I just registered it as medium. But, I do remember few full-page illustrations that conveyed hurt, tyranny and pain very well.

[Ayantika · Rating 4 out of 5]

Love the art, love wry self-critical hyper-aware VP, a book that felt like it was smart without the author rubbing it in our face that it's smart constantly.

[Navya · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 stars, rounding up for the choice of subject.

Delhi Calm is a fictionalized account of a few people living through the very non-fictional Emergency. The novel gets all the beats right - the main events before the Emergency and its worst atrocities are covered and all main 'players' are introduced (albeit metaphorically), the narrative focus stays on a handful of characters with complex motivations and arcs, and art complements the jarring and confusing feelings the novel wanted to impart and has a few exceptionally good frames (hello nightmares about Mother Moon's face).

But I still found this unreadable at points, mostly because the novel seemed too eager to keep pointing out how clever it was being. The elaborate metaphors were getting dense after a while, I snorted at Indira "Mother Moon" Gandhi and her sons "The Prince" and "The Pilot", and the main story remained fairly uninteresting compared to the political drama of Emergency and JP "The Prophet's" protest (which is where the book also shines).

Though 10/10 for just this one (1) quote: "The more he [Sanjay Gandhi/The Prince] toured, the more convinced he was about his dreams, enterprise, policies, plans and sideburns". Which is just...*chef's kiss*

[Aruna Kumar Gadepalli · Rating 4 out of 5]

This graphic novel depicts the details of 1970s India. Story makes the reader understand the years in graphic form. Well-written novel.

[Pooja Pillai · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a superb book. Utterly unputdownable account of what happened when Prime Minister Indira Gandhi imposed Emergency on June 26, 1975. The characters are mostly fictitious, as are their story arcs. But the historical setting gives, I imagine, as accurate a presentation of those dangerous days, when democracy was suspended. The author has researched his topic thoroughly, even using satirised versions of actual newspaper reports, songs and slogans. What I particularly enjoyed was how evocatively he writes about the hopes and dreams of a young nation, the yearning for social change and revolution, the nourishment that radical intellectuals of the period drew from Gandhi and Marx, and their faith in the power of ideas. It almost made me want to call for a revolution myself. This is an important book about an important period is modern history and is a particularly significant read for the present, when the national mood is one of dissatisfaction and disaffection.

[Bigsna · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've always admired graphic novelists. Not only do they illustrate their stories beautifully, they also write equally well and the combination is a winner.

Delhi Calm is a collector's book. Written on one of my favorite historical subjects, the Emergency, it is intelligently written and very incisive. The encoded nomenclature was so well done, with Indira as Moon and JP Narain as the Prophet and many such parallels.

It was a delight to read this book for its combination of satire and fact, overlayed with the sense of confusion that prevailed in the country at the time and I am sure anyone who lived through those times would relate to it very well.

It's graphic literature and a definite must read.

[Anukriti Gulati · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting read. Writing style is encoded so to speak, makes it seem like censorship is real and the author can't take the names of those he means to mention. Goes into flashback mode to describe events and how they came into being. Unique illustrations.

Not for those who have little idea of what the Emergency was about. I myself knew little and though this book did spring my curiosity to research more, a little background reading would be essential to understand this book in its full details.

Recommended as a reading for Grade 11/12 kids in CBSE History who have just learned about the Emergency. Can be a great teaching-learning aid.

[mentalexotica · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not short on snark, sarcasm and subtle jibes every second column, it's a fairly engaging read. Interesting graphic technique but the plot goes wandering and meandering a little too often which can be tedious in a narrative. Having said that, it offers a keen insight into one of modern India's most turbulent political times - the Emergency under the command of Indira Gandhi. If that is a subject of interest, this book is worth your while. If not, you can afford to give it a toss without missing too much.

[Gorab · Rating 4 out of 5]

Highlights: Emergency, Politics of 70s.

This is a great piece of art. Emergency era. Fictional characters
All the artwork are sketches is in sepia mode. A good blend of fiction with real events.

What I loved:
The "fictional" characters - Mother Moon (Indira), Prophet (JP), Prince (Sanjay), Pilot (Rajiv)
The ambience, visuals, allegories.
Editing - it's difficult to figure out the content while presenting a controversial era.
Engaging - usage of posters, slogans, creating that atmosphere of 70s was top notch. Highly palatable.

What I didn't like:
The fictional part of the three friends (VP, Parvez, Vivek) felt like a deviation dampening the otherwise fluent momentum.

Takeaways:
Fun element. This was an engrossing read. The only other Emergency chronicles I've read before are from Mistry's Fine Balance and Guha's India After Gandhi. Hence Wikipedia was a constant companion to figure out which characters/events were referenced at certain instances.
The details on JP were phenomenal. That idealism! Brilliant character development.

Overall:
Highly recommended if you are interested in Indian politics.
The more you know about Emergency, the better you will appreciate the clever sarcasm.

[Dilshad · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book has the worst tendencies of Orwells 1984. There is no compelling story, no well developed characters whose journey to relate to. Instead it is populated with of group of individuals with revolutionary tendencies, surviving a tumultuous period in Indian history. The narrative is oppressive with heavy emphasis on politics. The illustrations often make it hard to read the text. There is an overall lack of focus that made it really hard to keep reading this till the end.

[Rahwl Shrestha · Rating 3 out of 5]

I pity the Moon of the ChaCha Dynasty,
The Prince, Master Ji and V.P.
In case of emergency emergency call- 1975-19677.

[Deepak · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 stars

[Suhit · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book took me 35 years back, to the time of indian emergency 1975-77. I spent more time referring to wikipedia and google, than actually reading the book. All the characters in this novel have actually existed. They are not identified with their actual names. I still haven't recognized a few disguised characters. Need to spend more time google-ing and wiki-ing, may be reading other books.

A picture is worth a thousand words. Some graphic images vividly present cases of historic violence with gory images. The depth of research, artistic satire as well as intelligent references are to be appreciated. This book has inspired me to read more of history specially the era of Indian emergency. Looking forward to Vishwajyoti Ghosh's furture works.

[Caleb · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was quite an enjoyable read. Ever since I was gifted a copy of A Fine Balance by my high school history teacher, I have been interested in the events surrounding The Emergency. Ghosh's graphic portrayal of this time in India is very well handled: through only around 6 characters, he is able to paint a larger portrait of India Under Moon (his name for Indira). Gosh's illustrations were quirky and very well done, particularly the way he masterfully worked news articles and quotations into side panels or backgrounds of the story. Although the narrative portion could have used a bit of help, this is definitely a solid four star read.

[Gateacre · Rating 3 out of 5]

I didn't know a lot about the Emergency but this sure prompted me to find out and open my eyes. I enjoyed the novel but did find the narrative structure confusing and it did assume prior knowledge of events (especially as many of the politicians go by nicknames). Nonetheless, the strong personal connection with events came across and I was pleased to learn a little more about the recent history of the worlds largest experiment in democracy .

[Harshit · Rating 2 out of 5]

The book is an interesting satirical approach to narrating the emergency period in Delhi. The censorship on the book makes it funner to read. The plot goes missing however when you read on. It is difficult to keep track of the actual happening and purpose of some sections of the book completely.

First experience with a graphic novel however. Not bad at all.

[Marcy · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is quite an interesting graphic novel. I like the way Ghosh plays with time and history--both personal and historical. The novel is set during the Emergency and tells that story through a thinly veiled allegory--clearly the Gandhi dynasty. It's a good read, but I suppose one needs to know a bit about this period to fully grasp all the contextual elements.

[Indu Vashist · Rating 5 out of 5]

one of the best books that i have ever read. rich in detail and rigorously researched.

[Nehal · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellently done book - great graphics (evocative yet not Amar Chitra Katha), very well researched, excellent substitution of character names. Must read for any post 1977 Indians.

[Venkat · Rating 4 out of 5]

More of 3.5 stars.

[Supriya · Rating 3 out of 5]

lovely art, great cri de coeur.