Tomb of Sand

A story on partition, past love & marriage of an octogenarian, a strong friendship between an hijra(Rosie) & Ma(Chandraprabha devi),love between mother & daughter, son,grand children and other family relationships. It's also a story of falling ethics,violence,murders,breakups,killings & mayhem that follows partition. We find Ma an octogenarian staying with her civil servant son and her independant journalist daughter who lives on her own.The reader is surprised to learn that Ma already had an interreligious marriage & a past love life in Pakistan but the partition effect had a toll on her happiness & had to leave her country of birth fighting for survival, like so many others who crossed the borders in a live or die circumstances.Ma becomes aloof,weak and withdrawn after her husbands death which becomes a constant worry for her children & other family members. But all through her silence we find Ma developing or perhaps nurturing the thought of meeting her first husband Anwar who is now in Pakistan which we comes to know almost during the end of the story. This frailing women along with Rosie(an accomplice & also a survival victim of partition) makes a perfect plan to cross the borders and to meet her first love . but unfortunately we find Rosie being killed in a dreadful manner & the daughter(Who has no knowledge of her mother's & Rosie's past connection with Pakistan) takes it on herself as a responsibility to fulfill her mother's desire who was stubborn enough to visit Pakistan on behalf of Rosie's last wish of handing over Chironji. In Pakistan.Once into Pakistan the daughter starts getting suffocated with Ma's odd behaviour ,feels out of place. The situation worsens when they were held as prisoners and gets complicated continously with Ma' s quirky replies and actions and which makes the daughter feel with little hope of survival & even regrets her decision to accompany her mother to Pakistan. Finally with all the travails & hardships the old lovers were able to meet and the reader can have a feeling of reading a different kind of great love story and where perhaps the writer too wants to reflect the purity of two hearts with one soul beyond borders,religions,hatred, etc. & giving us a panacea in the form of a non- existing existing microscopic hope for universal happiness and brotherhood.but definitely a food to the thought of intellectuals & a relief to those who imagines a world and an humanity comprising of borderless nationless,religionless etc Coming back to the story the writer has a knack to play with words and many a times we find one word leading to multiple words and as a reader though sometimes finds out of the context but then being held by the powerful narration that nothing is amiss and somehow feel that we are mystically connected in to the story with that of the writers imagination & find ourselves well within the context.Things like an ordinary walking stick(Cane) in the hands of Ma , Rebock shoes etc finds so many references and forms and exaggerated humorously with wit to such an extent that you find at the peak of laughter.So also with reference to'Serious Son'.Other references to birds like Chukar or crow & its cawcaw sounds etc also brings lots of fun and keeps us in humorous mood & more particularly the silent language between Bade & the crow has all 'feelings & emotions' as between any two fair normal human beings. Above all a gifted talent and a rare writing intelligence which we wonder to credit either the orignal author or to the translator.Above all a good novel but though a lenghty one to read .

Tomb of Sand by Geetanjali Shree, translated by Daisy Rockwell, is a haunting and immersive novel that delves into the complexities of human relationships and the lingering influence of the past. The nonlinear narrative structure adds to the atmospheric quality of the novel, drawing readers into the inner worlds of the well-drawn and complex characters. The author's attention to sensory details and inner thoughts creates a sense of nostalgia and longing that resonates with readers long after they finish the book. While primarily focused on the personal struggles of the characters, the novel also explores broader social and political themes without detracting from the intimate story. Daisy Rockwell's translation captures the beauty and subtlety of the original text, making this a must-read for anyone looking for a thought-provoking and insightful literary experience.

The media could not be loaded. With Tomb of Sand, Geetanjali Shree claims space among the Partition writers she so vividly pays her dues to. Because as with the best literature, it speaks most urgently to the present.The narrative follows the odyssey of an 80-year-old woman named Ma, whose world is clouded by grief following her husband’s demise. Motivated by an inner resolve, she finally restarts her interactions with the world, especially with a transgender woman named Rosie.Bade and Beti are bewildered by their mother’s new-found enthusiasm for life. Ma’s descent into profound depression after her husband’s passing is contrasted with her eventual resurgence and fervent embrace of a newfound vitality.After having lived most of her life on the terms dictated by others, a motivated Ma embarks on a poignant journey to Pakistan, aiming to confront and reconcile the lingering scars of her teenage survival during the Partition riots.It is an immersive novel that delves into the complexities of human relationships and the lingering influence of the past on the present. It also talks about the limits society places on us and we ourselves get so used to living within our bounds that we don’t question it. We get used to these limits and divisions based on irrelevant factors.Ma goes into depression after her husband dies and refuses to even turn her face from the wall she faces everyday. It’s what most Indian women would feel, who are raised to be just wives and mothers. When those duties are done, they are lost and don’t know how to live for themselves.We also see the family dynamics, where the elder son feels he is the Man of the House and should be responsible for taking care of his mother, and takes pride in it. When Ma shifts with her independent daughter, it is she who feels that she is the better child for it is in her house that Ma has started taking interest in life once again. However, she also feels stifled with that responsibility.Geetanjali’s writing is almost poetic at times. The way she describes the sun following Ma in the day makes you feel warm and cosy. She also casually throws in deep truths like:“Why are the only correct answers the ones you know?” or “You go where poverty takes you.”The author doesn’t shy away from raising issues of government inadequacies and mentions various actual incidents that happen in the story’s timeline as if they’re mere distractions.Geetanjali has sewed together many different themes into a beautiful blanket. However, as I mentioned earlier, it can try your patience at times. I took my time reading it, and got back to it when I had the patience to enjoy reading it and not just find out what happens next. A lot of the story is non-linear and often seems to drift off on a tangent, but then she brings you back where you started and things make sense again.I would say the book is a Must-Read, not just for the story but also the story-telling, but I also understand not everyone will survive till the end.Verdict: A Must Read