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Manohar Malgaonkar
Manohar Malgaonkar
Manohar Malgonkar
fiction with political undertones. History was his forte but he was
a writer and artist first and as such artistic integrity coupled with
Manohar Malgonkar
depth of historical sense make the works interesting and authentic.
Born on July 12, 1913 near Belgaum, Manohar Malgonkar was
the grandson of the Prime Minister of a former princely state of
Dewas. The Malgonkars were close to the rulers of Dewas and
young Manohar got an opportunity to experience life in the royal
households closely which is reflected in The Princes and The Devil’s
Usha Bande
Winds. Often acclaimed as a master story-teller for his narrative skill,
Malgonkar has the uncanny knack of transmuting his felt experience
into an artistic piece. The corpus of his work is rich with eleven
novels that have a blend of history, romance and military life, two
light romances/thrillers, a detective novel, a play, innumerable essays/
articles, two historical accounts, a travelogue and a large number of
short stories collected in several anthologies. Indeed, his works are
as varied and colourful as was his life – a stint in the army, a time
spent as a big game hunter, a miner, a tea garden manager and an
adventurer.
Usha Bande, till recently Fellow, Indian Institute of Advanced Study,
Shimla and also Visiting Professor at Vishwa Bharati University,
Shanti Niketan (WB), was on the faculty of English Literature in
Govt. College for Women, Shimla. She retired as Principal Govt.
College, Arki after a long and distinguished teaching career. She
has numerous research papers and more than a dozen books to her
credit. Her latest publication is Adventure Stories of Great Writers
published by Kitaab, Singapore. Her other major publications are
Usha Bande
Forts and Palaces of Himachal Pradesh which is a coffee table book and
alsoWriting Resistance published by IIAS, Shimla.
` 50
ISBN 978-81-260-5100-7
Sahitya Akademi
Makers of Indian Literature
Manohar Malgonkar (1913-2010) occupies an important place in the
canons of Indian literature in English, particularly for his historical
Manohar Malgonkar
fiction with political undertones. History was his forte but he was
a writer and artist first and as such artistic integrity coupled with
Manohar Malgonkar
depth of historical sense make the works interesting and authentic.
Born on July 12, 1913 near Belgaum, Manohar Malgonkar was
the grandson of the Prime Minister of a former princely state of
Dewas. The Malgonkars were close to the rulers of Dewas and
young Manohar got an opportunity to experience life in the royal
households closely which is reflected in The Princes and The Devil’s
Usha Bande
Winds. Often acclaimed as a master story-teller for his narrative skill,
Malgonkar has the uncanny knack of transmuting his felt experience
into an artistic piece. The corpus of his work is rich with eleven
novels that have a blend of history, romance and military life, two
light romances/thrillers, a detective novel, a play, innumerable essays/
articles, two historical accounts, a travelogue and a large number of
short stories collected in several anthologies. Indeed, his works are
as varied and colourful as was his life – a stint in the army, a time
spent as a big game hunter, a miner, a tea garden manager and an
adventurer.
Usha Bande, till recently Fellow, Indian Institute of Advanced Study,
Shimla and also Visiting Professor at Vishwa Bharati University,
Shanti Niketan (WB), was on the faculty of English Literature in
Govt. College for Women, Shimla. She retired as Principal Govt.
College, Arki after a long and distinguished teaching career. She
has numerous research papers and more than a dozen books to her
credit. Her latest publication is Adventure Stories of Great Writers
published by Kitaab, Singapore. Her other major publications are
Usha Bande
Forts and Palaces of Himachal Pradesh which is a coffee table book and
alsoWriting Resistance published by IIAS, Shimla.
` 50
ISBN 978-81-260-5100-7
Sahitya Akademi
Manohar Malgonkar
The sculpture reproduced on the endpaper depicts a scene where
three soothsayers are interpreting to King Suddhodhana the dream
of Queen Maya, mother of Lord Buddha. Below them is seated
a scribe recording the interpretation. This is perhaps the earliest
available pictorial record of the art of writing in India.
Manohar Malgonkar
By
Usha Bande
SAHITYA AKADEMI
Manohar Malgonkar: A monograph on eminent English
writer Manohar Malgonkar by Usha Bande (Sahitya Akademi,
New Delhi, 2016).
Sahitya Akademi
Head Office
Rabindra Bhavan, 35, Ferozeshah Road, New Delhi 110 001
Website: http://www.sahitya-akademi.gov.in
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E-mail: [email protected]
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Main Guna Building Complex (second floor), 443, (304)
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ISBN: 978-81-260-5100-7
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Printed by Sita Fine Arts Pvt. Ltd., A-16, Naraina Industrial Area
Phase-II, New Delhi 110028
Contents
Preface vii
Chronology 131
Preface
Usha Bande,
Shimla.
1 Life and Works
Distant Drum:
Distant Drum is, in a way, celebration of the martial code around
which the theme of the novel revolves. It begins with a rather
long ‘Prologue’, initiating a young new officer into the Regiment’s
code of conduct. A senior officer apprises the subaltern about the
importance of the Regimental code to be followed meticulously
by every officer, “In this Regiment, we are, first and foremost,
gentlemen. No Satpura officer ever consciously does anything that
would hurt the Regiment’s izzat.” Thus inducted, the protagonist
lives up to the Code all through the action of the novel, fights for
it, sacrifices for it and finally earns military honor for exemplary
service.
Briefly, martial code is governed by the principles of values
like integrity, honesty, sense of duty, obedience and discipline.
‘Esprit de corps’ throbs all through the novel and gives meaning to
the actions and decisions of the protagonist. The story becomes
engaging and thrilling, not because of its quick paced events, or
because of its patriotic fervor but because it shows the growth of
the protagonist from a raw soldier to an experienced officer who
never compromises the honor of the Regiment. Devoid of this strong
binding force the novel would have been a boy-meet-girl sort of
love story. There is love and desire in the life of the protagonist
but both are subservient to the main theme. The story evinces
the on-coming change in the attitude of the younger generation
officers — if Kiran Garud can swear by the Code and pledge
to uphold it, the new breed of officers like Kamal Kant and the
politicians at the helm in Delhi show scant respect for ethical
codes. Read from today’s state of affairs, the work appears almost
prophetic.
The novel tells the story of Kiran Garud, a young officer of
the 4th Satpura Regiment, from his recruitment in the British
Indian Army, to his rise as the Regiment’s Commanding Officer
in Independent India. The period covered is roughly 1938 to 1950.
The Martial Code: Distant Drum and Cactus Country 19
This was the period when the country was passing through a
turbulent time — World War II, Burma war, India’s Independence
and partition riots, the Kashmir issue, and the urgency to settle
the migrants from Pakistan. The hero’s development goes side by
side the development of the plot. The author documents army life
with accurate details and gives an insider’s picture of how things
work in the field, in cantonments, in the army clubs. Obviously,
Malgonkar delves into his personal experiences as an army
officer. He was in the Maratha Light Infantry and held different
posts like Army Intelligence Officer, General Staff Officer and
Commanding Officer. These experiences go into the making of
Kiran Garud’s life — field postings, life in camps, the relaxed pace
of Raniwada, the light hearted atmosphere of clubs and Officers’
Mess. His encounters with various men and women mould his
views and strengthen his adherence to the Satpura Code. By the
time the story ends, Kiran is ready for two important events of
his life: command of his Regiment and his marriage. We see him
weaving dreams with his would-be wife Bina; they visualize living
in the big ‘Flag-staff House’ with eight bed rooms and a band-
stand in the garden. “It is wonderful! In the afternoons, we can
have tea on the lawn, just you and me, under the tamarind tree,
and you can see hundreds of parrots and you can hear the bugles
practicing their calls in the lines, and in the distance, far away, you
can hear the drum…” (p. 270). The novel begins and closes with
the sound of buglers practicing and the drum sounding in the
distance. Bugles and drums are integral to army establishments.
The beat of drum is symbolic of soldiers’ march. Life does not
stop for Kiran, obviously, he is ready for the march albeit in a
different setting.
The novel is divided into three parts; each part has forward
and backward movements. The forward movement depicts his
present and is slow, almost static because it has only one function:
to lead the reader to the past when a chance meeting or a stray
remark takes Kiran Garud back to the past. This movement gives
20 Manohar Malgonkar
the reader a fairly good idea of Kiran’s growth from a raw young
officer into a mature man who has all through been an ardent
follower of the Regimental Code.
Part One ‘The Regiment’ opens with Lieutenant Colonel
Kiran Garud reaching Shingargaon for Infantry Commanders’
Conference. Here he meets his friend Arun Sanwal and his wife
Leela. The author takes care to introduce Bina, who is an important
female character in the novel who is visiting the Sanwals. Bina
knew Kiran Garud from her Raniwada days when her father Mr.
Sonal was posted there as Deputy Commissioner. These first few
pages induct the reader into typical army family party — men
engaged in office gossip, the all-male ethos of their drinking bouts
and the intrusion of their chirpy wives who lend some color to
the atmosphere. The conversation between various characters is
typically English-English spoken with immaculate Public School
accent, army slang and crisp and snappy expressions. The colonial
residue may appear a little jarring in contemporary setting but
these are the few remaining trappings of the days of the British
that were an integral part of the Indian Army even in the 1960s
and Malgonkar has been a part of it.
The officers’ light conversation in the exclusive atmosphere of
their Mess evokes the ethos of army cantonment. Small personal
likes and dislikes of the officers surface in unguarded moments,
acerbic remarks take the place of polite behavior and we see
them as humans. This touch of reality generates interest in the
story. The author dexterously paints the cantonment scene in
graphic language. He describes the languid afternoon thus: “The
massive tamarind and mango trees beyond the stretch of lawn
were motionless like a painted backdrop in a stage setting, and
the crisp, transparent-organdie sky beyond the trees was entirely
cloudless” (p. 13). It is here, sprawling on the wooden MES chair
that Kiran hears the sound of the distant drum which remains
his companion during all his postings and he hears it at the end
The Martial Code: Distant Drum and Cactus Country 21
of the novel too. The movement is thus circular and augurs well
for Kiran-Bina union.
Manohar Malgonkar introduces the main characters in this
Part to quicken the action of the plot. Kiran remembers Bina of
Raniwada ten years back — a spindly, dark girl of fifteen trying
to play tennis in the club and insisting on playing doubles with
them. Kiran, an inveterate tennis player, often felt irritated by her
intrusions. This girl, now a graceful young woman of twenty-five
enters into his life unobtrusively. Bina’s teasing but casual remark
about his friendship with Margot Medley takes Kiran back to
his past and we are introduced to Margot Medley and Major
Medley — two persons in Kiran’s life who unknowingly mould
his views on love, lust and life and help in his growth.
In flashback Kiran remembers his unfortunate affair with
Margot Medley that led to Major Medley’s death. Margot Medley,
the wife of a senior British officer, was an attractive English
woman full of life and sensuality. With no inhibitions or self
consciousness, she was friendly with young officers. Kiran Garud
is attracted by her charms but he discreetly avoids being involved
and keeps his gentlemanly distance. But once in Calcutta he is
carried away by her inviting appeal and spends a night with her
in her flat. Unfortunately, Robert Medley appears on the scene
unannounced. Extremely elated at his long due promotion as a
full Colonel, he plans to give surprise to his wife and reaches
without intimation. It is Kiran who opens the door and Bob
(Robert Medley) understands what anyone could have under the
circumstances. He just turns about and leaves without a word,
never to return. He goes back to his Unit and blows his head with
his gun. Years later, Kiran learns from his friend Abdul Jamal the
happenings in his Unit. It was painstakingly proved before the
commission of enquiry that Bob was a psychological case with
suicidal tendencies which saved Kiran from disgrace. Kiran could
never free himself from guilt; the scar of being a murderer albeit
22 Manohar Malgonkar
indirectly, was left on his conscience forever. “He had got away
with it that time, got away with no more than a deep gash of guilt
on his conscience and a mountain of debt he owed to Abdul”
(p. 39).
Margot Medley affair is important for the advancement of the
plot. It is not just one of the affairs inserted to make the story
spicy; instead it helps Kiran Garud to segregate love from lust,
desire from wish. After this he never wandered and remained
steadfast to Bina till her father agreed to the match. The Medley
episode reveals another facet of Kiran’s personality: his intrinsic
ability to empathize. He often imagines himself in Bob Medley’s
place; in the place of a man at the front weaving romantic dreams
about his lovely wife in Calcutta, who comes home eagerly to give
his wife a surprise, showing up at her door wearing his flashy
new red tabs and his extra star (of a full colonel). Kiran imagines
Bob’s anticipation, planning, eagerness to celebrate his promotion
with Margot and the shock he gets. Kiran catches himself wishing
that Bob Medley should have killed him (Kiran Garud) instead
of committing suicide. He remains grateful to Abdul Jamal for
saving him from disgrace and when time comes he saves Jamal’s
life during the riots. Kiran’s ability to analyze his feelings, to mend
his ways, and remain grateful are qualities of a healthy mind.
Part Two entitled ‘The Staff ’ develops Kiran-Bina love story
along with Kiran’s rise in his career. The end of Part I depicts
Kiran Garud being intensely emotional about the army and his
own army career. The training period for the young officers is
particularly strenuous but despite its “crudeness” the results
are splendid as the training establishments like the Academy in
Dehradun produces excellent leaders of exceptional integrity and
discipline. He remembers the maxim drilled into them in the
Academy:
ex-ruling Prince…” (p. 245). The events that started in 1938 with
Abhay’s initiation end in 1948 with his abdication. He ruled his
State as Maharaja only for forty-nine days. The Merger goes down
in history as the triumph of democracy; for the rulers, however,
it means obliteration.
Historically, 1938 to 1947 was a period of great political
activities, upheavals and uncertainties in the country. Early in the
novel, Abhayraj, in narrating his story also tells the history of the
country: “The map was red and yellow. The red was for British
India; the yellow for the India of the princes…. For more than
a hundred years, the red and the yellow had remained exactly
as they were. Then the British left, and in no time at all, the red
had overrun the yellow and coloured the entire map a uniform
orange. The princely states were no more. We were the princes;
no one mourned over our passing… I realize that it could not
have been otherwise, and yet I cannot rid myself of a purely
selfish sense of loss. (p. 13).
In around 1938 the freedom movement was at its peak in
British India, but in princely India, governed by the hereditary
Indian kings and rulers, the political situation was under control
or so the rulers pretended. Praja Mandals and such other patriotic
organizations had already made headway into the kingdoms
and were operating unobtrusively but the rulers underplayed
their role and never thought them capable of stirring public
passion. The rulers were convinced of the deep rooted loyalty
of their subjects which was “something deep and incorruptible.”
Besides, they were sure of their own capacity to adopt repressive
measures if the nationalists were ever to enter their precincts. To
avoid trouble and deal with the political situation ingeniously,
some rulers tried to dupe the democratic forces. They adopted
seemingly democratic measures like forming new constitutions
with elected members as advisors but the nationalists could
see through their game and guess that the entire gamut was an
eye-wash and nothing solid would come out of it.
Of Kings and Warriors: The Princes and The Devil’s Wind 39
are vital for the forward movement of the plot — Maharaj Hiroji’s
brave encounter with death, Abhayraj’s accession to the throne
for forty-nine days and subsequent abdication, and the rise of
Kanakchand as a minister in the newly formed democratic state.
The second strand, growth of the protagonist from boyhood to
adulthood and thence on to manhood is closely linked to the
outside events and inner conflicts that mould his attitude. The
progressive, forward-looking, rational youth of eighteen, who
had the courage to counter his father — the formidable Maharaja
Hiroji — changes to a conservative man by the end of the novel.
He searches for security in the old order, clings to the remnants
of conventional values and becomes a reactionary like his father.
The whip-lashing of Kanakchand (now a Minister in the newly
formed state) in the final scene is a re-playing of his father’s
role and corroborates what his wife Kamala too observed once,
“Sometimes you act so much like your father that it makes me
feel frightened” (p. 318).
Till 1969 the erstwhile princes were entitled to hold privy
purses; use their State emblems on their cars and letterheads; and
were addressed by their titles. Between 1949 (complete merger)
and 1969 (abolition of privy purses) socio-cultural changes were
slow. Manohar Malgonkar wrote The Princes in 1963; till then
the people had a special place in their hearts for their rajas and
maharajas. Reading the novel now, in the twenty-first century
requires special efforts to understand and appreciate the past —
the then existing norms and situations, vanities of the rulers, the
splendor of their courts, their distrust of the national movement
and nationalists, and their fear of the loss of conventional
order. Let us mention here briefly that in The Puars of Dewas
Senior (discussed in Chapter 6) Malgonkar has written about
the ruler of Dewas who faces identical fears and uncertainties
as the Maharaja of Begwad does. Maharaja Tukoji is a real
personage of history, Maharaja Hiroji of Begwad is a fictitious
figure. Tukoji is dominating, extravagant, pleasure-loving and
Of Kings and Warriors: The Princes and The Devil’s Wind 41
conceited, whose wife leaves him for her parental house never
to return. Finally, insolvent and hunted by the British he seeks
asylum in Pondicherry, the French territory and dies there. His
son Vikramsinhrao becomes the ruler for a brief period, and after
Independence he signs the Instrument of Merger.
The ethos of the tiny state of Begwad on the Deccan Plateau
is so meticulously brought out that E. M. Forster could see its
likeness with the happenings in Dewas. Forster was the private
secretary of Maharaja Tukoji of Dewas for six months and he
knew the ups and downs faced by Tukoji and his state. Forster
appreciated Malgonkar’s novel in a letter dated August 27, 1963:
I have just finished The Princes and should like to thank you for
it. It interested me both on its own account and because I am
involved — as far as an Englishman can be — in its subject-
matter. I happen to have been in touch with a small Maratha
state (Dewas Senior) during the years of its dissolution. The
parallels are numerous and heart-rending. I am so glad you
have got down a record. Otherwise all would soon be forgotten
(qtd. by Amur, p. 78)
As the narrator of the story, Prince Abhayraj is both reliable
and unreliable. Reliable, because it is the account of his life
which revolves round his mother, father and the kingdom; and
unreliable because he does not know or maybe does not want
to acknowledge the democratic aspirations of the common man,
poverty and oppression in India as well as in Begwad. As a
school boy, he shows empathetic spirit when he gives his books
to Kanakchand, the poor cobbler boy, but as a deposed king he
cannot tolerate the likes of Kanakchand standing shoulder to
shoulder with him. Abhayraj knows only one face of India — the
royal India and not ‘other India’ represented by the leaders of
Praja Mandal and such other organizations. The rulers in general,
and maharaja Hiroji in particular, could not visualize the power
of leaders of the masses who, in exposing the real face of feudal
42 Manohar Malgonkar
not weep for dead lambs…. We never break down in public. There
are in everyone’s life moments when it is much easier to weep; but
it is always more manly not to. Sorrow, grief, is a private thing,
like making love.” (p. 32–33). The process of initiation started on
this day. The Maharaja forced him to drink whisky and then took
him to the banquet hall, carved out the eyes from the cooked
dish of Cannonball (his favorite ram) and made him eat these
in full view of all those present there. Abhay hated him for his
insensitivity; he could have killed his father at that moment. This
boy of eleven, distraught, terrified and helpless embarked on the
journey of self-discovery at that moment.
Beside this, Abhay resents his father’s heartless attitude
towards Kanakchand, the poor cobbler boy he whips brutally for
cheating. It is much later in life that he understands the Maharaja’s
rage when he, Abhay, himself is infuriated at Kanakchand’s
audacity and whips him. It does not matter if Kanakchand is
a minister in independent India. The author beautifully shows
aspects of continuity and change — the cheat Kanakchand grows
into a corrupt politician; the prince, now abdicated grows into a
traditionalist and recalls nostalgically his father’s inordinate pride
in his Bedar clan and his faith in Begwad’s continuity. At that time
Hiroji was the “Maharaja with almost absolute power over five
hundred thousand people,” now he is dead; Abhay is an ordinary
citizen of India, he has abdicated the title, everything has slipped
from his hands and he is looking for the familiar anchor. It is in
the ominous tiger room that he is first estranged from his father
and it is here that he becomes like his father — conservative,
seeking succour in old order and unhappy at the quirk of history.
Abhay’s initiation and training takes place in different arenas
and by different persons. Teachers like Mr. Moreton and Mr.
Walter Ludlow, Kanakchand, a poverty stricken friend, Army
training, Minnie and Zarina and finally his understanding wife all
influence his life in one way or the other. Riding, boxing, music
Of Kings and Warriors: The Princes and The Devil’s Wind 45
the rebellion swept Northern India from May 1857 to July, 1858
a period of frenzied brutalities followed with inhuman massacre
of men, women and even children by both Indian and British
people. Since Nana Saheb Peshwa was a prince and the Sepoys
looked to him for guidance and command, the responsibility for
all that happened fell on him despite the fact that the Peshwa
himself was, at that time, a confused and frightened man,
uncertain whether to join one of the sides or to remain neutral.
He never wanted violence of the type that erupted. History took
its course and when it came to be written based on eye-witness
accounts, personal memoirs, and letters and dispatches of the
British officers, soldiers, teachers and others who were part of
the turmoil, the accusing finger pointed towards Nana Saheb.
Malgonkar writes in his ‘Author’s Note’, “Every book is written
in anger and in every one the principal villain is the same:
Nana Saheb — infamous, dastardly, despicable, crafty demon,
barbarous butcher, and arch assassin, Nana.”
Malgonkar samples three western views as ‘Prolegomena’ to
substantiate his statement. The British view of Indian ‘mutiny’
(for us it is our First War of Independence) given by A. Miles
and A. Pattle in 1885 says, “Few names are more conspicuous in
the annals of crime than that of Nana Saheb, who achieved an
immortality of infamy by his perfidy and cruelty at Cawnpore.”
The French records make him a man-eating monster who “had
a roasted English child brought in occasionally on a pike for
him to examine with his pince-nez.” The American view refers
to, “Nana Saheb massacring entire British colony at Cawnpore.”
On the contrary, in India, he became a revered figure; “parents
privately warned their children not to believe the history taught
in schools” and in villages folk songs and ballads were composed
extolling him as a patriot. The songs are still sung with great relish.
After our Independence, India recognized his contribution and
acclaimed Nana Saheb as a hero. At Bithoor his memorial bears
the inscription: “KNOWING THE DANGERS/HE EMBRACED
Of Kings and Warriors: The Princes and The Devil’s Wind 51
was setting in slowly. The revolt did not spurt suddenly but it
remained seething for long. Nana sums up the condition of the
rulers thus: “The ruling princes were the Maharajas who had been
allowed to remain as vassals of the Company. Now they were like
jungle animals waiting for a game drive to begin, paralysed with
fear. Before their very eyes, Carnatic, Nagpur, Satara, Jhansi had
been liquidated because their rulers had failed to produce sons
and Oudh, whose King had so many sons, because Dalhousie
believed that God wanted him to do so” (p. 88).
Part I is set in Bithoor, the residence of Bajirao Peshwa II
who was banished here from Poona by the British. As an adopted
son of Bajirao II, Dhondu Pant, alias Nana Saheb Peshwa enjoyed
a happy childhood with no responsibilities and all luxuries at his
command. Nana’s fencing teacher was the famous Tantya Tope
who played a significant role in the rebellion. His childhood
companion was Mani, whom he would have married but for a
snag in his horoscope. She was married into the royal family of
Jhansi and has gone down history as the brave Rani of Jhansi.
Nana tells us of two facts from his horoscope — first he, the son
of Madhav Bhatt was destined to become a king; and second,
there was a curse that any woman married to him would die if the
marriage is consummated. True to the prediction, Dhondu, son
of an ordinary Brahmin, was adopted by Bajirao Peshwa II and he
became the Peshwa; Nana’s first wife died after the consummation
of their marriage. He was later married to Kashi with whom he
never had any physical relations. She remained just a religious
and social necessity and ultimately, in Nepal she readily became
Rana Jung Bahadur’s mistress.
In retrospect Nana often remembers his natural parents and
feels that had he not been adopted, his life would have been less
burdened than it is now as the Peshwa heir carrying the sins of the
Peshwa household. He further adds, “My world has been debased
and defiled by his (Bajirao II) misdeeds; the realization that I was
54 Manohar Malgonkar
not have received regular pay in our employ, but he was given
jagirs, land grants.” Again Nana Saheb Peshwa instigates Wheeler,
“The Company has consigned all Indians to a life of serfdom….
Just as no sepoy can rise above a sergeant, a civilian cannot rise
above your newest ‘griffin’. Only forty years ago, their fathers were
ministers and governors — they themselves can never rise above
clerks” (pp. 114–15).
To the serious issue of annexation, Malgonkar’s art lends some
humor too. Nana Saheb seems to be expressing his irritation and
annoyance by name-calling: Dalhousie is ‘The God who rides a
buffalo’ — that is Yama, the god of death. Todd is pronounced
as ‘toad’; his long nose is termed ‘beak’, Nepal Prime Minister’s
laugh is likened to ‘hissing’. Powerless as Nana was to deal with
the British face to face, he devices his revenge by using such
derogatory remarks; however, by resorting to humor Malgonkar
redeems history from being boring.
The atmosphere for the rebellion was building up all these
years. The date fixed for the uprising was June 23rd. Somehow
General Wheeler seems to have got the whiff of the conspiracy.
He tries to probe Nana at one point, “I was hoping you’d tell me
something about June twenty-third.” Nana laughs off the question;
it is the “anniversary of Plassey” he says but in his heart of hearts
he rejoices to think that on this day “The Devil’s Wind would rise
and unshackle Mother India.”
The Revolt, however, spurted ahead of the fixed date, in
May 1857. Nana Saheb, now thirty-three, is a mature man, held
in esteem by his men and respected by the British. He is in a
dilemma whether to join the rebels or to stay neutral. The events
of Meerut put him in a quandary:
What happened in Meerut frightened me and made me realize
that, for me, the issues were not clear cut. I could not, in
my own mind, separate the national struggle from personal
involvement. I was on intimate terms with many British and
56 Manohar Malgonkar
We all have our failings, Mr. Winton. Your failing is that you
cannot bear Indians; yet your tragedy is that you are doomed
to work in this country.
— Combat of Shadows
Henry has two glaring faults that in turn are linked to his
other flaws — a wavering mind and weakness for women. Henry
Winton’s boss Captain Cockburn of Brindal Tea Company
introduces him to the Chinnar Highland Club. Henry enjoys
the relaxed pace of English life of the club and looks forward
to frequent visits. Once, on the invitation of Sir Jeffrey Dart and
Lady Dart to spend an evening with them, Winton and Cockburn
proceed to Chinnar but due to a landslide they have stop at
Tinapur where they attend a gala evening at the Railway Institute,
Tinapur. Here Henry meets Eddie Trevor and his girl friend Ruby
Miranda, which happens to be an important stopover for the
story.
Henry likes Ruby Miranda at first sight; but a chance
introduction to Jean Walters at the Chinnar Club the next
evening displaces Miranda and Jean takes over his fancy by her
bold overtures and English attractiveness. During that fateful
evening there is a talk of the one-tusked elephant Tista. This
rogue elephant had killed four villagers and was evoking fear in
the villagers. The District Commissioner assigns Henry Winton
the task to kill it. Manohar Malgonkar joins the three thematic
threads at this point: Henry’s relationships with Ruby (Anglo-
Indian), Jean (English) and the Elephant (hunting).
However, Jean does not visualize marriage and rejects his
marriage proposal. Henry turns to Ruby Miranda an attractive
young woman he had met at the Tinapur. A young woman “nice
to look at, …with the sort of lush, overflowing loveliness; … bold
and flashy and dark; burnished black hair falling on smooth
tan shoulders, a clinging satiny, ice-blue dress daringly low cut
and showing off a lovely figure; and he was stabbed by a slight
unreasoning pang of jealousy towards her partner” (p. 17–18). At
that moment Cockburn had made his mischievous suggestion,
“Why don’t you take her on? …Why, give her a job, man. That’s
the sort of woman who will stop you from going crazy in that
Violence/Non-Violence: A Bend in the Ganges and… 67
walks all the thirty miles tracking Henry and reaches near his
bungalow after one year. Henry as a hunter is not supposed to
be afraid of his hunt. “A true hunter is not afraid of the thing he
wants to kill, nor does he hate it” but Henry is secretly afraid of
the elephant and he hates him because he is afraid. Malgonkar
has skillfully organized his hunting experiences in this part of
the novel and has joined the different threads of the novel in a
unifying whole.
Henry Winton’s jealousy, vengeance, hatred, falsehood and
cunning come into full play after these incidents. Unfortunately,
after failing to kill the rogue elephant he develops an innate fear
of hunting. He becomes a haunted man. The elephant, majestic
and awe-inspiring becomes “the symbol of his unconquerable
fear as well as an adversary determined to seek him out and
destroy him” (Amur p. 69). His failure to test fire the cartridges
before setting out for hunting is his failure as a hunter and is also
indicative of ill-omen. Let us remember that Henry has a dread
of failure. Henry and Cockburn camouflage Kistulal’s death in a
blatant lie, which is an indication of his further fall. For a British
sahib, failure was unthinkable. The mantra was to succeed at any
cost.
Kistulal’s accidental death gives Henry a clue to kill Eddie
using the same strategy that eliminated Kistulal. Opportunity
comes to him when he is ordered to shoot the rogue elephant
roaming in the Koyna valley. Incidentally, Henry sprains his ankle
and is unable to walk. Eddie offers to do this task for him. Henry
readily accepts his offer seeing an opportune moment to take
revenge on Eddie. He gives Eddie a box of defective cartridges
along with his powerful rifle and as was expected, the cartridges
did not work and the infuriated beast trampled Eddie as he had
trampled Kistulal. Eddie’s death is duly publicized as an accident
but those who knew Henry could not believe the story. Would
they exonerate him? No!
70 Manohar Malgonkar
Ruby, Sir Jeffrey and Pasupati plan to eliminate this man who
was treacherous and unreliable. He is sent to the Game cottage on
the pretext of checking the artificial moon and is killed in a fire
that engulfs the cottage. Before his death they send him the empty
cartridge-shell recovered from the site of elephant shooting and
the ear-rings he had presented to Ruby. That was the moment
of truth for Henry Winton, “bringing with it a fleeting spasm
of realization, steadying his mind and restoring cold reason
as though for a quick summing up, centering his thoughts on
essentials…. The smell of paraffin was strong in his nostrils, and
the flames were leaping all about him” (p.289). This was a terrible
death — lonely, suffocating, and heart-rending.
Henry’s moral degeneration pervades the novel. Particularly
corroding is the racial hatred for Indians and Eurasians. That
is what Jugal Kishore flings at his face, “your failing is that you
cannot bear Indians, yet your tragedy is that you are doomed to
work in this country…” (p. 111–12). Henry’s capacity to hate is
monstrous: he hates Eddie because he is an Anglo-Indian, he
cannot marry Ruby on the same prejudice; he cannot accept
dark-skinned Gauri, although he craves for her body, Kistulal’s
death does not matter because he is an Indian coolie, the Indian
workers in the tea garden are “like animals” (p. 143) and so
on. The list of his sins is long. To Jugal Kishore he says, “God
help India if people like you are to be elected to assemblies. You
are crooked, without a spark of decency, corrupt… and quite
immoral” (p. 109). Henry assesses his character accurately but
fails to assess Jugal Kishore’s nuisance value and sneakiness to
create troubles. Jugal Kishore breaks Henry’s morale by pitting
Gauri against him, organizing the strike, forestalling his plan to
join the war and thus he plans his doom.
The ending of the novel is gloomy and critics, by and large
do not approve of it. Henry pays the price for his moral decay,
greed and fear. Besides this, in the public realm, he pays the
Violence/Non-Violence: A Bend in the Ganges and… 71
price for his racial prejudices. Henry’s mania for English women,
his inclination towards all that is British and his rejection of all
that is native brings about his downfall and destruction. The
one-tusked elephant that evokes fear in him, Ruby who stirs up
desire, and Eddie and others who induce aversion in him cast
the shadow on his life and career. They create a composite design
and become instrumental in bringing about his downfall. Desire
and aversion, as discussed earlier in this chapter, are dangerous
because they block self-knowledge and truth. Henry realizes this
in his last moment.
Henry is guilty but how far is it fair to put the blame squarely
on him? Are not almost all Britishers in the novel guilty of racial
discrimination; only that they are able to camouflage their hate?
Henry is a public school product and as Ashis Nandi recounts
in The Intimate Enemy, the English public schools instilled
superiority complex in the boys as future rulers of the Empire
and trained them to look down upon subject countries/cultures
as inferior. Sir Jeffrey Dart is another representative of the Ruling
class, he advises Henry not to “cross the line” in his relationship
with Ruby Miranda; Cockburn suggests to him to hide the truth
about Kistulal’s death. Their motto is that an English officer must
uphold his superior status at all costs. Cockburn cautions him to
be wary of telling the truth about Kistulal incident; truth “will
kill your reputation as a big game hunter…. Sudden will never
forgive you for having let down the side…. If you are determined
to go of your career here, you cannot afford to be tied down to
a suburban conscience…” (pp. 89–90). Intrinsically, Henry could
never stand failures, “There was no room in India for Sahibs who
failed, that was the over-riding truth; they were despised even
more by their class than by the Indians. Failure was unthinkable;
it was the abyss, dark and bottomless” (p. 90).
As regards inter-racial encounters, all the officers are guilty
of it. Even Sudden Dart is also not above board; he uses a coolie
72 Manohar Malgonkar
woman to satisfy his lust, when she is pregnant he marries her off
to his watchman. Several other English officers of tea estates use
native poor women and silence them by paying a few hundred
rupees. For the British officers the Indian coolies are commodities
to satisfy their needs. This attitude shows the general atmosphere
of moral and ethical decay. Malgonkar has shown the problems of
Indian society of the 1930s–1940s in general. The Indian laborers
and coolies, self-serving politicians, snobbish British officers and
businessmen, their club-life, the power they wielded over scores
of men and women working for them, and the Anglo-Indians
with their identity problem people the world of this work making
the novel a finely etched portrait of the society of flux.
Henry deserves our understanding, if not sympathy. Many a
time he shows uncanny capacity to analyze his actions and regrets
his weakness. When he is lenient towards Gauri, and lets her go
unpunished, he feels uneasy with a sense of shame. He berates
himself: “He had given in to an absurd, purely impulsive weakness
of mind which was not in tune with the recognized behavior-
pattern of his calling in the East. You could not run a tea estate
if you acquired a reputation that you connive at thieving” (p. 5).
Similarly, after unleashing extreme brutalities on the strikers,
he shivers and feels nauseated. “His whole being ached to get
away from it all, before he was irretrievably sucked in, before he
learnt to accept physical violence to passive, unresisting men and
women as a part of life… or before he broke down altogether”
(p. 137). People like Jugal Kishore, unscrupulous and devilish see
to it that he gets sucked in the darkness; that he is destroyed.
We do not exonerate Henry Winton, nor do we try to justify his
viciousness, we are just trying to see his human side which is
intrinsically weak.
Henry Winton, who finds life a bliss in his sprawling
bungalow amid the lush green beauty of Assam, ultimately
finds life a burden, hunted and haunted by fear — fear of the
Violence/Non-Violence: A Bend in the Ganges and… 73
not expect him to follow that path but we do not expect him to
kill irrationally, betray Hindu and Sikh friends under erroneous
communal notions and kill his friend’s mother, Mrs. Tekchand.
When people are caught in the vortex of mass fury, one cannot
expect rational behavior from them. As for Debidayal, he stands
by his principles. He is anti-British and remains so till the end.
He has self-esteem and he refuses to fall a prey to the suggestion
of the man (Gian) in whom he has no faith. He tells Gian on his
face, “…I would willingly rot in a cell here rather than associate
with someone like you and become free. You are scum; you are
far worse than Balbahadur because he at least is openly hostile —
you spout truth and non-violence” (p. 198). After marriage
Debidayal changes his perspective but that is a healthy sign as he
becomes a votary of peaceful co-existence. However, he too is not
above petty-minded acts of vengeance. Luring away Shafi’s girl
friend Mumtaz as an act of revenge is hard to condone.
The most enigmatic figure in the novel is Gian and
Malgonkar is interested more in showing his rise and fall and
rise than anyone else’s. Shafi and Debidayal are killed before they
have a chance to prove themselves. Sundari remains a decorative
figure though impressive in the beginning of the novel. She loses
her sheen midway in the novel with her unsuccessful marriage,
her continuous worrying over Debidayal’s fate and her attitude
towards Malini. Gain’s introduction as an inveterate Gandhian
is short-lived and very soon we are left aghast by his violent
mentality and revengeful deeds. He is not at peace till he kills
Vishnu-dutt for his brother’s murder. Debidayal’s assessment of
Gian’s basic character is precise. In Andamans when Debidayal
sees Gian, his thoughts go back to the time they were in India,
“Was Gian the man, Debi wondered, the non-violent disciple
of Gandhi who had been convicted for murder? He cursed and
shook his head in disgust. Gian was certainly not the man. He
was typical of the youth of India, vacillating, always seeking new
anchors, new directions, devoid of any basic convictions. He had
80 Manohar Malgonkar
before coming and that she was fit as a fiddle. The officers are
jolted from their complacency. The story ends on a comic note
with the Brigadier humming “Thori chini, thora cha/Bombai bibi,
bahut achha”, and the Adjutant gaping helplessly at him. The title
of the story is taken from the first line of this song.
An altogether different facet of army life is provided in
‘Maggie’ a story in which a female character appears for the first
time in her own right as an individual, not as an appendage to
some officer. Major Mansingh of Corps of Planning, Madras,
is the narrator. The story begins with the posting of Margaret
Palmer as Staff Captain of Lt. Colonel Howard. Howard resents
the appointment of a woman in their exclusive male bastion.
“Can you imagine a woman nattering away in our set-up?” he
says to Mansingh. But his attitude changes subsequently and he
starts liking the girl. Then the Major-General, gets her transferred
as his P.A. Now, each of the two is keen to marry her but Maggie
keeps them guessing for some time and eludes them both as she
announces her decision to marry her boy friend, a Major from
the U.S. Air Corps. The most interesting part of the story comes
at the end when both Lt. Col Howard and the Major-General sit
in the mess and drink away their bitterness and heart break with
light-hearted ease. “Did you know there is going to be a wedding
in our little camp? Yes, a real, slap-up affair with all the fixings;
wedding cake, an arch of swords and all that,” the General says
beaming at the narrator. There is no rancor. This calm acceptance
of rejection in love is as enlivening as Maggie’s impish game.
The story has a comic structure and the language has the
touch of British army idiom. The dialogues are crisp and evoke
the atmosphere of the Mess perfectly. The attitude towards
women is typically male-oriented — a woman as Staff Captain
or PA is “decorative;” a woman in Planning is a “popsy”; the
HQ can “find all sorts of stooge jobs for them in the monkey
house”; when Maggie shows interest in the Major-General the
Simple and Comic — Short Stories 89
the story refers to the green beer bottles that create tensions. The
story has a pleasant twist in the tail and one cannot but smile
at the discomfiture of the protagonist as he admits, “The ADC
should be arriving any minute. And Ganpat knows Hindi as well
as I do, and I know that he knows that I know — the villain”
(p. 91).
Of the sixteen stories in Bombay Beware, two deal with gold
smuggling, one with smuggling monazite, thorium and other
radio-active stuff. While ‘Snake and Ladder’ and ‘A Pass in the
Mountain’ have the sinister world of smuggling and nefarious
activities. ‘Two by Two’ has the harmless gaze of an over-
inquisitive journalist. Evocative descriptions can be termed as the
strength of these stories. ‘Two by Two’ begins thus, “Whenever
someone mentions Goa, my mind goes back to the enormous
old churches and the crumbling graves around Panjim; I think
of Blue-chin and that superior koi-hai from Army Headquarters,
Harwood. Neutral, sleepy Goa; the hot-bed of spies during
wartime” (p. 67). The scenic grandeur of the Himalayan terrain
stands out in ‘Snakes and Ladders’ and ‘A Pass in the Mountain’
but the darkness of the impending doom and the unholy lust for
gold give an ominous ambience to the plot.
‘Top Cat’ is a charming tale about the theft of Hazy Sahib’s
pet cat by Sammy Dias bearer but interestingly, though the story
moves around Sammy Dias and his master Hazy Sahib, it is Sir
Simon, the cat, who steals the show in the end. The description
of the cat-fight is the most graphic part of the story. Sammy says,
“a cat-fight such as I have never seen in my life. They were more
like artistes than fighters, more like trained wrestlers than boxers.
They went round and round, they crouched and jumped and
made passes and hissed and spat and I would have sworn that
they waited for openings and even made feints at each other. As
plates slipped off the shelves and bottles fell down and crashed,
we stood speechless and gazed… Then I saw Sir Simon lunge and
Simple and Comic — Short Stories 91
slip in a puddle of tomato sauce and recover his footing and make
a dash for the pantry door, and like a flash, Jungee, our own cat,
went streaking off after him” (p. 121). The climax comes when
the ex-champion Sir Simon, defeated and routed, crouches under
Sammy Dais’s bunk begging for some attention.
‘Pack Drill’ has typical army setting and the tactics and
counter-tactics of the officers of Satpura Regiment under training.
‘Camouflage Tactics’ begins with Major Mansingh camouflaging
his voice to tell the caller that he had not yet arrived so that he
could read the newspaper for a while and smoke a cigarette. He
succeeds several times but once his voice is detected and from the
other end he gets good-intentioned instruction to camouflage his
voice with more expertise. That says it all. The story has comic
element but we get a glimpse of the working style in the army
in a lighter vein. ‘Tea Break in Jakarta’ has sailors’ experience of
getting tea in Jakarta and is full of fun generated by language
problem and cultural difference.
The stories collected in A Toast in Warm Wine and Rumble-
Tumble deal with assorted themes like business, hunting and
smuggling; some are set in tea gardens and only a few concern
army life. The title story ‘A Toast in Warm Wine’ is about a
geologist and his professional integrity for which he gets an
unexpected reward. The story maintains a note of secrecy till the
end. The beginning is dramatic; the story unfolds in flashback
as the geologist looks at the unexpected cheque he receives and
broods on the events six months back, “I am not sure that I
deserve this money. I had done nothing more than my duty, and
I had been fully paid for that in advance. But I can understand
why Ramlal sent me this cheque. It was not for something that I
had done. It was rather for something that I had not done” (p. 9).
The curiosity of the reader is whetted: what had he not done?
How can one get paid for not doing something?
‘The Fixer’, ‘Married and Harried’, ‘Upper Division Love’ and
‘The Cheat’ make interesting reading and are entertaining yarns.
92 Manohar Malgonkar
torch’ and who ate the lemon tarts. As the six crinkled paper trays
of lemon tart are found in the waste-paper basket in Chilmani’s
room and the boy shouts, “Daddy pinching lemon tarts in the
middle of the night. And all that dieting, boiled spinach and
skimmed milk…” (p. 33). The obvious outcome of his detective
venture is painful. The young man loses his prospective job and
to add to his woes, P.K. says icily, “you should join the police.
In Criminal Investigation Department. You would do very well
there” (p. 33).
Quick dialogues, the detective-style inquisitiveness and the
setting are all eminently entertaining and lead to much mirth. We
can laugh at ‘Burra Sahib’ P.K.Chilmani’s cost as we imagine his
discomfiture. The plot is meant to amuse and not tell the story.
‘The Cheat’ has the travails of ten year old Kisan who is
constantly dubbed as a cheat because of the fake eight-anna coin
he gets unknowingly. Nagged and threatened by his aunt Bhima
and cousin Kalloo he somehow gets it changed for two ‘pans’
(beetle leaf) by cheating another boy of his age. Aunt Bhima and
Kalloo enjoy the ‘pans’ but somewhere in his unconscious little
Kisan feels sorry for the boy he has cheated. The story is skeletal
but manages in an engaging manner to show the boy’s march
from innocence to experience.
‘Cargo from Singapore’ and ‘Hush’ have smuggling for their
themes but the subject is handled in different modes — in ‘Cargo
from Singapore’ it is tit for tat that leads to revenge tactics; in ‘Hush’
it is the ‘hush money’ (a term for bribing) that leads to a kind of
harmony between smugglers and law-enforcing authorities and
ensures satisfaction for all concerned — promotion to the police
officer, a fat commission to the man on duty and a free hand to
the smugglers. The cinematic technique used in this story makes
it fast moving. It holds the interest of the readers. The setting is
Goa and the author, living in Jagalpet just near the Goa border
knew the country-side well and gives convincing glimpses of
94 Manohar Malgonkar
shirt and cracked patent leather shoes, with a heavily oiled hair
and a pencil thin moustache, and making a living by imitating
tiger roars for a circus, is a pathetic figure.” It is one of the best
stories of Malgonkar where he deals with a significant question
in simple idiom. One can compare Kistu’s predicament with that
of the tribals whom we are trying to bring into the mainstream
thereby snatching away their way of life.
‘Two Red Roosters’ takes up the theme of agricultural reforms
and its outcome in a comic manner. Farmer Sonba’s land is chosen
by Kheti Saheb to demonstrate the benefits of modernization but
it is Sonba’s reaction that is typical of our villagers. He gives all
credit to the “churail” for withdrawing her curse after the two
red roosters were sacrificed to her. Sonba is sure that it is not
mechanization that got him a bumper crop. Sonba’s argument is
invincible: that the Kheti Saheb should choose his field of all the
others is an indication of the supernatural will. G.S. Amur calls
the story symbolic and opines that it compares well with R.K.
Narayan’s ‘Two Goats and a Horse’.
Malgonkar tries to present a slice of history in ‘Old Gold’ by
chronicling the saga of Parmar family from 1857 to 1975. But
unfortunately, the story fails both on historical grounds and at
artistic level. It is weak and lacks the historical appeal for which
Malgonkar’s novels are known. ‘Upper Division Love’ focuses
on our young generation’s attraction for the film world and has
a funny ending which is highly unsatisfactory. Rather, it looks
childish for a grown up man to behave the way the narrator
does. The story could have been developed on the higher lines
of relationships, human urges and complications generated by
unequal love.
Among his hunting stories we can place ‘Shikar de Luxe’, ‘Bear
on a Plate’ and ‘To Hold a Tiger.’ Manohar Malgonkar’s familiarity
with the intricacies of jungle life, rules of moving in the jungles
and the topography of the Western Ghats are obvious in these
96 Manohar Malgonkar
tales. But his hunting stories are not so much about killing as
about human cunning and greed. He dexterously avoids killing
animals in his hunting tales as he averts violence in his military
action stories. The way Bagal Singh and Mukut Ram dupe Elmer
Finkelstein, the American come to India for ‘Big-Game’ hunting
and are paid in their own coin by the so-called “killer” bear is
not only satisfying but also amusing. ‘Shikar De Luxe’ the last
story in the collection (A Toast in Warm Wine) is developed
through letters and telegrams and shows lust for diamonds for
which animals are posed as bait. ‘To Hold a Tiger’ has a hilarious
depiction of the inaccuracy of the guest-shikari. Interestingly, the
story ends on a positive note and reconciliation, “You have saved
him (the tiger) from all hunters. He will live in my jungles, but
he is your tiger, Mr. Talbert!” says the Indian Shikari and the two
men laugh at “nothing at all” and make peace. The overall pattern
of big game hunting points to the fact that the author was more
concerned with the comic aspects of human personality than his
skill at killing. The description of the jungle and outdoor life,
however, is flawless and refreshing.
‘Monal Hunt’ is a spy story almost on the lines of his novella
Spy in Amber. Set in Jaunsar, it is one of his Army stories and
has espionage and counter-espionage poised perfectly to keep the
suspense till the end. The requirement of a spy story — suspense,
danger and comradeship — is highlighted sufficiently and
ingeniously. Malgonkar keeps his usual entertainment element
restrained which makes the story a modern short story where
the fictional art is kept intact.
Assessing Malgonkar’s stories in general G.S. Amur opines that
his stories are not “modern” either in form or in sensibility; they
are romanticized and unreal (p. 31–32). Despite this, one cannot
question Malgonkar’s authenticity, craftsmanship and his ability
to explore the area of personal experiences. He gives the readers
an impressive variety of characters, situations and probabilities.
Simple and Comic — Short Stories 97
Though his characters are not memorable, they are credible and fit
well into the situations they are placed in. Seetharam, the bearer,
for example, in the story ‘This is to Recommend’ is not a figment
of imagination and can be identified by any army officer as one
of his men. Some of his stories fail on artistic level but by and
large, the author’s narrative skill saves them from being boring. A
criticism leveled against Malgonkar is that his British characters
overwhelm his Indian characters and the scenes from army life
smack of his colonial bent of mind. That is unfair to the author
who often reiterates that he writes about India — Indian jungles,
the Indian army and Indian men and women. The atmosphere,
sensibility and responses and reactions of people are typically
Indian. Let us take his description of camp-fire in ‘Pack Drill’:
“Then we washed our hands and bathed our faces in cool, khas-
scented water. The air was a heady mixture of sounds and scents:
shehnai music, dust, neem berries and wood smoke, enriched by
an aroma of cooking spices” (p. 127). Or let us look at characters
like Bagal Singh swearing on “Hanuman’s tail” and “Shiva’s
trident”; Kistu, innocent in a primitive way; Tukaram Shindey
who lays down his life for his British Lieutenant; or Tukaram,
the simple, unsuspecting Harijan vis-à-vis the crafty politician
Lala Govind Sarup — they are Indian to the core. However, his
‘Yellow-Lemon and Fig’ lacks seriousness which was necessary
for the theme of rehabilitation of a partition refugee. Authors like
Khushwant Singh, Amrita Pritam and others have dealt with such
themes much more dexterously.
Indian short story writers like Mulk Raj Anand, R.K. Narayan,
Manohar Malgonkar and others have written stories essentially
Indian in content and presentation giving the short story form a
distinct personality of its own as “Indian.” They give an insight into
the dynamics of modern life and sustain the inner sensitiveness
of man. All these stories make delightful and pleasurable reading
and the ironic twist in the end sustains the element of surprise
and humor. Whether we term these “modern” or not is another
98 Manohar Malgonkar
articles. While his six novels have great literary merit, a whole lot
of his later works do not find mention in literary critical canons.
Moreover, many of them are unavailable even with the best of the
online outlets. This chapter is, therefore, framed to provide brief
accounts of his works for the benefit of the readers.
Historical Non-Fiction:
Manohar Malgonkar’s historical writings have two distinct
constituents: first historical prose accounts and second, historical
fiction. In the former, we group those prose writings that are
factual and research-based; in the latter, we have his novels
and short stories in which history becomes a base for creative
imagination. True to his belief that history should have basic
faith in recording truth and not distorting facts or presenting
half-truths, Malgonkar has always strived to take a dispassionate
view of historical reality. In his novels and stories, history is
presented in fictional terms with as much accuracy as is possible
within the limit of artistic creation; in his three books of Maratha
history — Kanhoji Angrey (1959), Puars of Dewas Senior (1963)
and Chhatrapatis of Kolhapur (1971) — he records the life and
times of the three Maratha historical figures. The fourth and last
of his contributions to Maratha history is Scaling the Heights
which came out in 2010 after his death. It chronicles the military
exploits of Murarrao Ghorpade, one of the lesser known but
albeit important Maratha leader in lower Deccan from 1730 to
1777. Looking at his vast historical writings James Y. Dayananda
chooses to call Malgonkar ‘The Historian of the Marathas’, but
also comments that his historical writings were commissioned
books and show lack of original research.
Kanhoji Angrey: An Account of his Life and his Battles with the
English (1959)
Kanhoji Angrey was a naval commander of the Marathas who
guarded the Konkan Coast with great alacrity and military ability
and was known as the ‘Lord of Konkan’. The western coast of India
Miscellany — Histories, Thrillers and Entertainers 101
buy him off. The Portuguese called him even worse names and
yet likened him to Barbarossa and sent him expensive presents”
(p. 7). One of Kanhoji’s great contributions to the history of Indian
navy was that he was the first Indian to build up a fleet of vessels,
which he turned into a formidable naval force in Konkan. In the
beginning his ships and men only acted as the coastal guards,
capturing vessels that were plying without Maratha seal. But later,
as the commander of the Indian navy he enforced his authority
along the coast, built strong and big ships to contend with the
European ships and established five ship yards. Malgonkar later
reframed this historical account into a biography of Kanhoji
Angrey as The Sea Hawk and released it in 1984.
Puars of Dewas Senior (1963)
The Kingdom of Dewas, near present day Indore, was founded
by two Maratha brothers, Tukoji Puar and Jivaji Puar in 1731.
E. M. Forster describes “the curios twin states of Dewas” in his
novel The Hill of Devi. The kingdom was ruled over by the two
brothers jointly but this system did not work for long and it was
divided in two parts Dewas Senior and Dewas Junior. Manohar
Malgonkar’s grandfather was the Dewan of the Dewas Senior
state. E.M. Forster was private secretary to Tukoji Rao (the ruler
from 1899 to 1933). His The Hill of Devi, is the fictional account
of this kingdom. It may be mentioned here that after reading The
Princes, E.M. Forster wrote to Malgonkar that he found the book
of interest “in its own account and because I am involved” and
that he was briefly in touch with a small Maratha state (Dewas
senior) during the years of its dissolution.” (Amur, p. 78)
The history of Dewas goes back to 1731 but the history
of their ancestors starts as far back as 1657 when Sabu Singh
Puar had helped Shivaji in capturing Kalyan. His son Krishnaji
became Shivaji’s military commander. The Puars were always
with the Maratha kings as their trusted military commanders and
generation after generation helped the rulers for which they were
duly rewarded.
104 Manohar Malgonkar
may compare it to Arun Joshi’s The City and the River in which
the Grand Master’s strategies and administrative lapses lead to
complete annihilation of the civilization. Arun Joshi’s novel is
allegorical and in the ultimate analysis becomes a treatise on the
rise and fall of civilizations due to purblind approach, selfishness
and power hunger. The Garland Keepers chastises the power
politics of the Great Leader and his use of the Emergency powers
to strengthen the rule of dynasty; it also takes to task self-seeking
and unscrupulous politicians who help the Great Leader in his
mission to perpetuate dynastic rule. The novel is action-packed,
but it cannot be called a thriller because of the author’s relentless
search for individual liberty, social justice and quest for truth.
Malgonkar warns us to be wary of those who, holding extra-
constitutional authority, may pawn the country’s future with
impunity.
The Men Who Killed Gandhi (1978)
The Men Who Killed Gandhi (1978) is a non-fiction work revealing
some important aspects of the historical-political situation
behind the assassination of Mahatma Gandhi. In fact, the book
is less about the men who killed Gandhi and more about those
forces that led to political maelstrom in the country. A work of
this magnitude dealing with a sensitive issue needs thorough
research and Malgonkar who does not write without researching
his subject gives evidence of in-depth study and scrutiny of
documents. His arguments are supported by documented evidence
with original papers and photographs. The author does not limit
himself to merely putting on record the events; but by evoking
the historical and socio-political facts he has revealed the searing
truth behind the betrayal and the resultant anger that led to the
tragedy. Though written in reportage style, the book is not dull or
drab; on the contrary, it has ease because of Malgonkar’s masterly
strokes. He is not irreverent towards Gandhi. He acknowledges
his greatness but he is not blind to his failings. He maintains a
tone of neutrality and yet tells the truth.
112 Manohar Malgonkar
between the rugged Deccan terrain, the folk traditions, and the
simple life pattern against the fast moving, technological First
World. It is to the folds that one returns for peace and security.
Shalimar (1978)
Shalimar (1978) is novelization of Krishna Shah’s film of the
same name. A crime-cum-spy story it is again a thriller that did
damage to Malgonkar’s reputation as a litterateur. The story runs
around the investigation of the theft of a ruby in which expert
criminals are involved with the CBI as the investigating agency.
There is an impeccable hero, a beautiful heroine and finally their
union al la Bollywood style. The theme as well the story is weak
but Malgonkar’s language has its usual flow.
After his 1972 novel The Devil’s Wind and its success as a
historical novel of great value, Manohar Malgonkar shifted
to writing scripts for TV and films. These meant money and
Malgonkar admits candidly that he needed an extra income. He
writes about the genesis of this novel in his ‘Author’s Note’ that
he transcribed Krishna Shah’s film script into a novel keeping
faithfully to the original. It runs thus: “Krishna Shah wrote the
screenplay of Shalimar, based on a story written jointly with
Stanford Sharman. After that, he lived with it for several years,
chopping and changing, pruning and adding, revising and
polishing, before he made it into a film. My assignment was
to write a novel based on his final screenplay.” The film failed
miserably at box office and the novel too bounced. Malgonkar’s
readers and fans were disappointed and his close friends were
sore at it, “How could you afford to damage your reputation
thus?” they asked, tells Manohar to James Dayananda. He got a
handsome sum of Rs. 50,000/- for it and the author says he was
comfortable writing such scripts for income-generation.
Inside Goa (1985)
Manohar Malgonkar loved Goa, a fact that is all too obvious in
his Inside Goa (1985) a narrative of Goan history, of the various
Miscellany — Histories, Thrillers and Entertainers 117
here to recoup and telegraph line was brought to this small hill
station. In the postcolonial era, the few British residents remain
an interesting and yet pathetic community of Ooty, those who
have stayed on and re-live the past at the club, calling out ‘Koi
Hai’ and enjoying the attention of the bearer who materializes
from nowhere to attend on the Sahibs in Independent India
Write-ups on Rajasthan, Goa, and Madras open a treasure
house of information about these places — something we do
not come across in our travel writings. Madras, says Malgonkar
“has proved to be a more durable relic of the Raj than any other
city in India,” and he goes on to give a beautiful portrait of the
city, forts and churches that are the relics of the British past and
Mahabalipuram, its temples and other features that speak of
traditional India. The article was written in 1973; till then much
of the ambience of the city was still intact. We do not know what
changes we encounter now — in Chennai!
‘Khedda’ is about elephant trapping in Mysore area. In days
of yore, this ancient practice of driving the elephants over miles
of forest and bringing them to the place of capture at the precise
hour decided upon months earlier was an art and a show of
gallantry but now, it has degenerated to a show of numerical
strength and the author, who witnessed it felt humbled by this
pitiless practice of enslaving a creature of nature born to be free.
‘Burning Bright’ is about “tiger hunt” not the way it was done by
Rajas and Maharajas, with dignity and poise but in a reprehensible
manner by killing the magnificent animal with rat poison. The
article evokes beautiful comparison with hunting as a game and
hunting as a devious activity. Amid these serious and informative
pieces ‘Bird Talk’ comes with scintillating humor. What do the
birds talk? Probably, about war and troops and treason! In a way
we can call this book an “unusual travelogue.”
Malgonkar’s writings are varied, prolific, copious and
gripping. Let us sum up his achievements in the next chapter.
7 Achievements
(II) Articles
Asnani, Shyam. “A Study of the Novels of Manohar Malgonkar.” The
Literary half-Yearly 16.2 1975: 71–98
Bande, Usha. “ ‘Abbu’s Little Asloo’: A Study of Manohar Malgonkar’s
Cactus Country.” The Postmodern Indian English Novel. Ed. Viney
Kirpal. Bombay: Allied, 1996.
Bande, Usha. “Cactus Country: An Assessment,” in Culture, Nature and
Literature. Jaipur: Rawat, 2012
Batra, Shakti. “Two Partition Novels.” Indian Literature 18.3 July–Sept
1975: 83–103
Best, Marshall A. “Manohar Malgonkar.” Contemporary Novelists. Ed.
James Vision. London: St James Press, 1973: 824–26
Bhatt, Indira. “A Study of Malgonkar’s Maharani: A Feminist Viewpoint.”
Margins of Erasure: Purdah in the Subcontinental Novel in English.
Ed. Jasbir Jain and Amina Amin. New Delhi: Sterling, 1995.
pp. 190–195
Bhatt, Indira. “Manohar Malgonkar as a Political Novelist.” Indian
Literature Today: Poetry and Fiction. Vol II. Ed. R.K.Dhawan. New
Delhi: Prestige, 1998.
Bhatt, Indira. “A Study of Malgonkar’s Maharani: A Feminist Viewpoint.”
Jasbir Jain and Amina Amin ed. Margins of the Erasure. Delhi:
Sterling, 1995
Cowasjee, Saros. “The Princes in Indian Fiction”. Kakatiya Journal of
English Studies. 2.1 Spring 1977Edinburgh Magazine, June 1961.
Dwivedi, A.N. “The Historian As Novelist: Manohar Malgonkar”
Perspectives on Indian Fiction in English. New Delhi: Abhinav
Publishers, 1985: 135–49
Jain, Jasbir. “Vishnu and Shiva: Symbols of Duality in A Bend in the
Ganges,” Journal of Indian Writing in English.3.1: 21–24.
The Ellsworth American, 12 November, 1970
Williams, Haydn M. “Manohar Malgonkar: The Captains and the Kings.”
in Kirpal Singh ed. Through Different Eyes. Foreign Responses to
Indian Writing in English. Calcutta: Writers Workshop, 1984
Chronology
12 July 1913. Born
1919–1931 Schooling
1931–1935 College years in Bombay. Graduation 1935
1947 Marriage
1948 Birth of daughter, Sunita
1935–1937 Professional hunter
1937 Joined central Government service
1942–1952 Army. Travel in Nepal, Indonesia, Malaya and Western
Europe, England
1952 Miner
1957 Joined politics. Defeated in elections
1959 Kanhoji Angrey
1960 Distant Drum
1962 Fought elections as Swatantra Party candidate. Defeated
1962 Combat of Shadows
1964 A Bend in the Ganges. Visit to the USA
1970 Visit to the USA
1971 Chhatrapatis of Kolhapur
1972 The Devil’s Wind. Visit to USA, Lecture tour
1980 Inside Goa
1992 Cactus Country
2010 Scaling the Heights: Mired in Their Own Blood: Stories of Loyalty
and Treachery from Medieval India.
June 24, 2010. Death