Train to Pakistan by Khushwant Singh
Release: 1956
Format: Kindle
Publisher: NA
Source: Amazon
Train to Pakistan Synopsis:
“In the summer of 1947, when the creation of the state of Pakistan was formally announced, ten million people—Muslims and Hindus and Sikhs—were in flight. By the time the monsoon broke, almost a million of them were dead. All of northern India was in arms, in terror, or in hiding. The only places unaltered were little villages scattered in the remote reaches of the frontier. One of these villages was Mano Majra.”
It is a place, where Sikhs and Muslims have lived together in peace for hundreds of years. Then one day, at the end of the summer, the “ghost train” arrives, a silent, incredible funeral train loaded with the bodies of thousands of refugees, bringing the village its first taste of the horrors of the civil war. Train to Pakistan is the story of this isolated village that is plunged into the abyss of religious hate. It is also the story of a Sikh boy and a Muslim girl whose love endured the ravages of war.
Review:
Watch my video review of Train to Pakistan by Khushwant Singh
[embedyt] https://youtu.be/Sx27bLBpc70[/embedyt]
Firstly, I loved the symbolism of the whole setting of the village and the train. The whole setting takes place in a quaint little town of Mano Majra, where the train symbolizes how the movement of the Indian refugees coming to India and the Muslims travelling to Pakistan, send a wave of confusion and on this otherwise stable town in Punjab. What starts off as between the Hindus and Muslims creates a bloodbath for the Sikh Community and make the townspeople hysteric to the movement.
There are so many incidents taking place in the summer of 1947 on this small village. There are so many interesting characters in the story, but I would have to say that my favorite is Jugga. We see him as this uncouth, rustic guy who gets angry and physically abusive over whatever people tell him. However, towards the end, when he goes to the Gurudwar to do what is right, you really start to support him. Even though he risks his life mainly to save his love Nooran, who is also in the train, you cannot help but feel proud for the hundreds of people he saved in the process, by risking his own life in the end.
“Train to Pakistan” is a story that showcases how the political partition of the Indo-Pakistan movement shook our very fabric. It also shows how the situation distorted people’s understanding of what is right and wrong. The author shows the brutal violence of people impacted in reality during this time, and it makes you want to stop and think about all the injustice they have suffered and appreciate the world we live in today.
