Wings of Desire (Aajir Manuh)

Glimpse of rural Assam

Name of the book: Wings of Desire (Aajir Manuh)

Author: Hitesh Deka

Translator: Parag Dasgupta

Publisher: Chandra Prakash

Pages: 152

Price: Rs 180

Hitesh Deka’s Aajir Manuh (Man of today) is a well-known Assamese novel and has a lot of promise. The writer has a natural flair for an objective appraisal of rural life, its problems and intrigues and a realistic portrayal of typical village life and characters, mostly peasants, based on personal experience and observation.

It was a popular novel of its time and retained an old-world charm of the rural milieu when life was not at all complex.

The translator has deliberately chosen to name the book Wings of Desire in order to “bring it out of its antique context and to give it a modern look”.

The third-person narration follows the lives of two college friends — Mahesh Kalita and Pratap Deka — and the interpersonal relationships they share with people who matter the most to them.

The story itself is very simple.

Both Mahesh and Pratap are idealistic young men who refuse to be straitjacketed by the unhealthy norms of society, which is a direct offshoot of the disintegrating and disruptive effects on rural life of rapid industrialisation and urbanisation.

Mahesh fails to secure a good job even after scoring distinction marks, as the whole process of employment is steeped in corruption.

Pratap, the other hand, is forced by circumstances to go by his brother’s wishes and marry the snobbish daughter of the village zamindar, Gopikanta Barua.

The subsequent drama involving job-seeker-turned-social activist Mahesh, hapless and cash-strapped Pratap and his overbearing in-laws and the God-fearing villagers brings to the fore the simplicity and innocence of the rural populace.

The novel also deals with the problem of immigrants who set up home and hearth on a “land belonging to Assamese people”, and that too, at the behest of Barua, who turns against his own people and motherland.

The sequence of events land Mahesh in jail and turn Pratap’s life around.

The novel decries the corrupting influence of wealth, and at the same time, is fired by the radical patriotic zeal of Pratap and Mahesh, who strive against all odds for a society free from exploitation and economic inequality.

The author is often satirical in order to expose the hollowness of the money-grabbing classes.

The story reflects the author’s intimate acquaintance with all features of Assamese rural life that is apparent from the graphic and realistic portrayal of the individual characters representing various aspects of social reality.

There is a moral vision implicit throughout the novel and Wings of Desire is full of promise despite its idealistic ending.

The translator, too, has tried his best to do justice to the original, but his efforts, at times, prove to be too stilted, and at other times too literal.

The sentimental and emotional scenes are lacklustre and leave one feeling cold; the pathos is missing, especially when Kalyani dies. The English is at times anachronistic, and the meaning of expressions ambiguous. Another big faux pas is his confusing the name of Gopikanta Barua. It appears as Ghanakanta Barua in Chapter 14.

Nevertheless, for all discerning readers, the original Assamese novel is such a delightful read that the translated version is only its shadow. The translator’s endeavour is honest, though, and there is always room for improvement.

BASHABI GOGOI

Published on December 23, 2011

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