Why did Simsim by Geet Chaturvedi touch my heart and make me emotional
Simsim by Geet Chaturvedi takes you through the emotional turmoil of the Sind people at the time of partition. Though I don’t read partition stories by choice, this book is one of the finalists in the JCB Prize for Literature longlist 2023. Being the Team Blogchatter, we get many new opportunities to explore resulting in the grooming of our personalities. This book was one of the reasons.
I was waiting to pick up a Hindi book for reading and Simsim served the purpose. It was originally written in Hindi by Geet Chaturvedi and beautifully translated to English by Anita Gopalan. It was the language that attached me the most to the story.
For the first time, I added sticky notes to the paragraphs I read with my opinion of the story and my take on the author’s perception. Every book you read adds to your personality and you feel a small change in your character.
The story setup
On a broader level, the story shows a picture of a road where on one side, there’s a local eatery shop of Dilkhush who sells all that’s delicious along with spicy gossips of the neighbourhood. On the opposite road, there’s a library by Basarmal Jetharam Purasvani who created a small Sindhi community through his love for books. His library served as a meeting point for all Sindhi refugees who found solace in remembering their old days before the partition.
A young girl would also come to her window on another side of the road just opposite the library. She reminded Basarmal of her lady love from pre-partition India whom he lost to the dark shadows of the riots.
The narrator portrays every story from his viewpoint while talking about his growing years, his troubled relationship with his father and how he bridged the generation gap between the two. Was he able to bring peace to their relationship?
Simsim by Geet Chaturvedi reflects aftermath of partition in the Sindhi community
The author’s upbringing took place in the Sindh culture, its cuisine and listening to elderly Sindhi people talk about the Partition and the pain endured by the Sindhis afterwards, as well as the anguish of their wanderings as refugees. He had the urge to talk about all this through his writing in some or the other way.
Simsim is written quite a few times adding a little more every time it is published as the author believes that stories don’t end. They just hit a corner, take a turn and start a new story with different perceptions.
This is the latest edition published in 2022.
A few personal observations from the book
I liked how the author defined the progress of stories as never-ending. Stories never end, they take a new turn and start fresh with new emotions.
One common emotion of whoever has felt the aftermath of partition closely. Both religions were like 2 children from the same mother. They would fight but would be friends again in some time.
How Britishers were forced to leave India but by the time they left, Indians became slaves of their lifestyle.
The relationship between the author with his father is beautifully sorted in the end. Because of different perceptions of each other, people often have differences that take a lifetime to sort out.
Here, the author describes things and people who can’t protect themselves as female. This is an opinion I disagree with because today females are not dependent on someone for their identity. They can’t be mirrored as helpless.
Reincarnated as books
Some years back, I wanted to be reborn as books. Simsim by Geet Chaturvedi has a few chapters narrated from the viewpoint of books. It’s interesting to know that non-living things do have their opinion. Or if we say books are alive through the lives of readers.
When I read chapters from the viewpoint of books, I felt so happy. As if the author read my mind and projected it in the form of Simsim. He showed books as an entity that never dies. In every period, even if the civilization burns or destroys books, they are born again in the next era. No force can destroy books and finish their existence.
Like Basarmal remembers someone suggesting that if you are searching for your love then start reading books. What you can’t get in reality, books will help you imagine it in a world of your own. I like the strong character of Basarmal who strongly loved his woman and was brave enough to escape from refugee camps and search for her for days with dacoits. Love is a strong emotion. He settled in Mumbai, married someone, opened a bookshop and started a new life.
One thing that he understood was that a refugee would always be a refugee for the rest of his life. He can never be confident of a piece of land as his own.
I have described his character in detail in this podcast and also talked about why I think the cover page is white. You can drag it to half an hour and listen to my audio review of Simsim by Geet Chaturvedi.
Have you read the book in any of the languages? Do share your views with me. You can buy the book here