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STELLA'S REVIEW:
Writing a comment on Facebook could land you in a whole heap of trouble. Particularly if you are young, Muslim, female, and poor. Jivan lives in the slums of Kolkata. She’s been lucky: attended school as a charity case, passed her year 10 exams (just) and now has a job in a department store. Saving up her meagre wages, she has just got herself a shiny new phone. When a shocking incident happens at the train station near her home, she is horrified not only by the actions of the terrorists but also by the inaction of the police. It is her criticism of the police on the social media platform and the subsequent reactions from others that cause the perfect storm. A storm that puts her firmly in the view of the authorities. Arrested as an accomplice on the flimsiest of grounds, Jivan finds herself in a precarious position attempting to prove her innocence. With a public braying for someone to blame, the police wanting a criminal, and a political election in the midst of it all, the situation easily escalates. Jivan’s hopes lie with the testimonies of two people. PT Sir, her former PE teacher at the girl’s school, and Lovely, a hijra, who she had been teaching English. These character references could make a difference and get her out from behind bars. Yet, as you can imagine, Megha Majumdar’s debut novel, won’t let Jivan off the hook so easily, nor release PT Sir and Lovely, each of whom have their own issues to deal with, from some difficult dilemmas. This is a story of injustice, corruption, kickbacks, political expediency, and social positioning told with a forcefulness (not surprisingly, Majumdar’s novel has been met with both praise and criticism in India) and an observant eye. It’s emotionally charged, as well as subtly wry. The small descriptive moments carry weight without being heavy. The stories of the three main characters in this moral tale are all compelling and the interplay between the perspectives keeps you engaged in all, not just one of them. From Jivan’s experience in jail and with her lawyer and her internal hopes and disappointments to Lovely’s dream to be an actress, her ‘family’ of friends as they navigate begging on the street, entertaining and blessing newborns or the newly wed for a small fee, to PT Sir’s ambition for a sense of importance (to be noticed) and a better life, we are given a microcosmic view of the dilemmas, ironies and inequalities of this city with its class systems, extreme poverty, rising middle class, cultural complexities and political machinations. With comparisons to Jhumpa Lahiri and Yaa Gyasi in reviews, A Burning is a worthy contender for the praise. It also brought to mind Kamila Shamsie’s Home Fire in style and content. Powerful and unsettling.