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Jinnah Often Came to Our House
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Jinnah Often Came to Our House by Kiran Doshi - BR in Nov 2020
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Gorab, TheGunman
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rated it 5 stars
Nov 14, 2020 11:59AM
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About the book:
India, 1904. The young and dashing Sultan Kowaishi has just returned from London to Bombay after passing his barrister exam. Among the first persons he meets is Mohammed Ali Jinnah, already an advocate of note, and is quickly drawn to him. It is also the time when Jinnah decides to join the Indian National Congress, soon to become its brightest star. The stir against the British rule holds no interest for Sultan but it attracts his wife Rehana, and, inexorably, weaves its way into their lives.
In this brilliant saga of love and betrayal, pain and redemption, set amidst the long struggle for freedom and its terrible twin, the call for Pakistan, we confront questions that are as relevant today as they were a hundred years ago. Questions of identity, of purpose, of the shackles of a thousand memories . . .
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About the Author:
Kiran Doshi is a retired Indian diplomat and educationist. His last novel, Jinnah often came to our House, received The Hindu Prize for the best work of fiction published in India, 2016. His earlier published works include a satirical novel set in the world of India-Pakistan-USA relations, and a collection of diplomatic tales written in comic verse. He has also co-authored a book, published in 2019, titled The Bugle Calls. A life in the Indian Army. He lives in New Delhi.
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Only 30 pages in... this is a very interesting beginning.
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Coincidence - Last Diwali I read a superb Indian historical fiction by Sujit Saraf. This year it is Kiran Doshi. Both are unknown to most Indian readers surprisingly!
For Indian authors, it helps if the publisher is Penguin- especially for genres like historical fiction. For both books (The Peacock Throne by Saraf and this one), the publisher was different. While Doshi’s book caught my eye in the library quite some time ago, the “30 interesting pages” wala status update by Gorab made me get it.I am at page no. 83 and so far this is at par with the best of Amitav Ghosh and Vikram Seth.
Also, think historical fiction either depicts the lives of laymen or of heroes. This best of both worlds approach by Doshi is very refreshing and just draws you in from the first page.
Secondly, the politics of the era has been depicted subtly - “Show Not Tell” at its best !
कोई तो सूद चुकाए कोई तो ज़िम्मा ले उस इंक़लाब का जो आज तक उधार सा है !
I remember asking Amish Tripathi to write historical fiction when he visited Surat. Such a vast and diverse land with 1000s of years of continued civilisation and yet virtually no historical fiction.
Savouring this one for now ! As Gulzar saab has written
शहद जीने का मिला करता है थोड़ा-थोड़ा ... 🙂
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Oh BTW if Tarquin Hall is allowed, then I will add Abir Mukherjee’s Sam Wyndham series. A one-of-a-kind historical crime fiction set in India. Too good ! Have read all 4.
Ignore plz. Threads mixed up.
On Page 202 and it is 1918. Mahatma Gandhi has returned and led his first Satyagraha in Champaner.Have read a bit on Jinnah and I was under the impression that Jinnah turned communal in the 1930s.
But Kiran Doshi suggests otherwise - from opposing Muslim league in 1905 to becoming its leading member , from opposing separate electorates to fighting an election on a Muslim seat (voters were Muslims only in a separate electorate seat) , attending the funeral of a murderer who killed some1 for insulting the Muslim prophet. A lot happened before 1930 and he was on a gentle if not slippery slope.
And I think the author has a few interesting views on Gandhi too.
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I'm still in 1904 - around page 75. Wedding preparations along with Congress Committee meeting...
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Rightly expressed by you - Vikram Seth + Amitav Ghosh
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there's this book Asura: Tale Of The Vanquished - which was the first time i came across this style of narration... by throwing in a fictional common man\woman in that era and focusing the story around that person.
This is only the 2nd time I have come across such narration... i'm sure there must be a few good and famous books with this technique.
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or a thorn among roses ;)
yes yes do join in. this is your kind of book.
Asura is a great example of that. Had Ravana as the central character and was narrated by a commoner.Kavi Narmad Central Library run by Surat Municipal corporation. Superb collection overall too and proud of it :)
Page no. 314. Almost 2/3rds done.The tone has been perfect. No sensationalism and beautifully interwoven personal with the political.
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( this is in answer to Gorab )
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Page 394. Just a “yawn” to explain Jinnah turning rabidly communal. While nobody has been able to explain it , the author didnt try.Otherwise, enjoying it.
By chance glanced at the Dedication at the beginning and then Acknowledgements at the end. Very interesting !“Truth is so hard to tell, it sometimes needs fiction to make it plausible.”
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I understand he is to become Jinnah's friend /competitor, but where he exactly starts in events that moulded history , I am keen to find out.
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Right timing bcoz I am done with it. 5/5 And very reminded of The Glass Palace by Amitav Ghosh.
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Am at 10 percent and Jinnah is in the background, as of now
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Jinnah is like that canvas in the background on which this story is painted. Faint appearances here and there...
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Some doubts
Will Rehana and Sultan drift apart ?
Will Rehana end up marrying Jinnah ?
I know Jinnah had a wife , but I don't know her name
Em*bedded-in-books* wrote: "wedding over. So far it is more like a syrupy love story and less like Jinnah. but Jinnah is slowly unfurling in my mind."It is based on the Kowaishi family. Jinnah has a supporting role actually. And his role will actually diminish in the last 25% of the book.
I loved the way the supporting cast around Rehana and Sultan - Barri Phuphi, Dhondav, Hina, and ofcourse Jinnah have been fleshed out :) And Firoz and Gandhiji join them later.
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now I am having tea with Griffiths and Sultan after the pigeon incident.
very canny , how the British created a Hindu Muslim rift ...and I guess our politicians are following the same path.
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Didn't feel yet that Rehana would part ways with Sultan for Jinnah. lets see...
On Chapter10 (1907) and so far very good.
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(From pg 53):
"The British were at last beginning to realise that they had made a terrible mistake in suppressing Mohammedans after 1857. That had let Hindus progress so much that they were actually becoming a threat to British rule. To counter that, the British had no option but to help Mohammedans become strong again."
Yes. That is true. And after 1857, the Muslims led by Sir Syed Ahmed Khan started making overtures to them.
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Some doubts
Will Rehana and Sultan drift apart ?
Will Rehana end up marrying Jinnah ?
I know Jinnah had a wife , but I don't know her name"
now i get the gravity of your views here.
On Chapter 11 (1909-1910)
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Now at the part where people collect 65000 to make a memorial for Jinnah and he is considered the governer general of free India. I wonder what would have happened to the history of IndoPak if Jinnah was free India's first governal general .
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J Nehru hasn't made an appearance yet.
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i like such books where non fiction is coated in a great fictional story like this. like you, I've also not read about Jinnah from any other source yet.
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I can't comprehend the sudden turn Jinnah had taken towards opposing Congress and Hindus
is it a tactic in his aspiration towards the supreme post , or had he really started believing what he is preaching to Muslim masses ?
I feel that the flow of the book has suddenly become turbulent and it has skipped events or transformations .
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might take another couple of days to resume this.
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Read the Wiki page of Jinnah to realise Ruttie was his second wife.
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Could it be the same Firoz who will go on later to marry Indira Gandhi? Or is it just a red herring.
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My history and Indian general knowledge is very very poor.
While stalking around Jinnah pages on Wiki, realised that Ness Wadia (Kings XI Punjab and courting with Preity Zinta) is a direct descendant of Jinnah.
Also about his first marriage (before Ruttie) - was that mentioned in this book? I don't recall.
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Trivia: Jinnah sabotaged his relationship with his daughter because she married a Parsi man! (this one i read in Wiki)
Indian Readers
Books mentioned in this topic
Jinnah: India-Partition-Independence (other topics)Asura: Tale Of The Vanquished, The Story of Ravana and His People (other topics)
