Diwali in Muzaffarnagar by Tanuj Solanki

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Solanki’s second published book “Diwali in Muzaffarnagar” was one of the five books in the list of books to look forward to in January 2018 as anticipated by Daily Post along with the like of “Why I am a Hindu” by Shashi Tharoor. The book has lived up to this anticipation. Solanki’s writing, articulate in expression, shows a remarkable penchant for clarity, bringing forth the unspoken and mostly unknown, verities of small-town India. But it neither criticizes nor idealizes the small town or its aspirations. It invites you to sit down and look at the life - the ordinary life of such a town and its people, for exactly what it is, no more and no less. To those coming from small towns, the stories seem to reverberate with the rhythm with which their lives have existed in their environs, putting before them a mirror whose reflection they cannot escape. It explores the memories that haunt, the interactions which appear transient in the face of unexceptional realities, deftly portrays the thoughts fraught with the feelings of guilt and lay bare the conventional notions embedded in the psyche. What really strikes about Solanki’s writing here is the austerity of the narrative which goes admirably well with the depiction of everyday life in its starkness.

There are eight stories in this collection. The characters of these stories have their world views defined in the knowledge of their background. Though sometimes they struggle to come out of the shackles of the unconsciously held notions which stifle them or to experience a sense of liberation, sometimes they burn with an ache to find their place in their family or with friends. In a town ridden with the uncertainty of unrest, the youngsters desperate to seek a way out, those already relocated trying to fare through life on their own terms; it is the familial ties which still connect them with their roots.

The first story "The Sad Unknowability of Dilip Singh", tells the story of a struggling writer who commits suicide. Metafictional in nature, the story is an attempt to understand the obscure mind of an author.

“He was writing short stories now – stories that seldom had more than two characters who met each other for the first and the last time in them……..I felt that he didn’t have anything substantial to write about, and was therefore writing about the transitory nature of human encounters – how we grow intimate with strangers and then part without much ado. While this template persisted in general, the settings and the tones and timelines changed dramatically from story to story, and the intensity of connection that the two characters felt for each other also varied substantially.”

Most of the stories in this collection have two characters. Solanki delves into the fleeting nature of human encounters in all of his stories and only the settings, tones and timelines change from story to story. In a manner, the first story sets the tone of other stories to come in this collection.

“My Friend Daanish” deals with the perplexed emotions of a Hindu teenage boy when confronted with a skirmish episode involving his Muslim friend and how the episode comes back to haunt him many years after leaving the town. In “B’s First Solo Trip”, the protagonist undertakes a solo excursion to explore a world unknown. Here Solanki nimbly portrays the transient disposition of protagonist, in accordance with the circumstances, towards the girl (white- foreigner) he desires.

In “Diwali in Muzaffarnagar”, Tarun visits his home town for Diwali and in the events that unfold, finds himself under an obligation to help his family. What connect him with his family are not the traditions or rituals, but a sense of duty towards them. In “Compassionate Grounds”, Gunjan, living a far comfortable life in Delhi, comes home at his father’s death and struggles to make things work out for his mother. She realizes that even a glamorous and well off life in a metro, with a handsome and rich live-in partner, couldn’t imbue the feeling of belongingness in her life. Back in Muzaffarnagar, as she overcomes her inability to grieve, she also overcomes her feeling of homelessness and finally connects with her roots.

The story “Good People” has at its center a newly married couple from an average middle class family, where husband comes face to face with his unconsciously held conventional beliefs as the wife Taruna makes attempts to reconcile with an unfavorable situation back in her family. In this story, Taruna’s family offer assistance to an ailing old relative who once abused their daughter. The author here portrays the helplessness of the family in the name of culture and traditions.

“The Mechanics of Silence” is poetic in nature whereas “Reasonable Limits” is a six- page story in a single sentence. Both of these are more experimental in structure.

Five stars to this book because of author’s ingenuous approach which bestows the work with a kind of freshness that is stunning. This book is a must read for the Indian readers who long for a vivid literary treat. For the non-Indian readers, it is a perfect introduction to the life of people from a small town in India.




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