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zararah's review
2.0
I was disappointed not to enjoy this anywhere near as much as I thought I would. There were two main problems I had with it: firstly, the stilted and unrealistic dialogue - characters speak in what comes across as recitations from newspapers articles, quoting facts and figures at each other in long monologues. Second, the character of Suronjon, the son of the family - I can't remember the last time I disliked a character so much, and I'm not entirely sure that was the author's intention. Without giving too much away, his level of self-absorption coupled with the glowing way that everyone treats him, was so annoying to me.
veenasoujanya's review
3.0
Lajja is the story of a Bengali Hindu family in Bangladesh who becomes a victim of the communal riots raised due to the destruction of Babri Masjid in India. The novel is less story and more a detail documented list of both material and human slaughter. The author presents before you a record of the bloodshed with dates, places and names which make you feel as though you are going through a report rather than a novel. This actually spoils the style of a novel but the honest declaration truly moves you. In fact the book coming from a Muslim woman also adds to the mood. The wasting of life in the name of religion is portrayed in the work but it never gets preachy or offers a solution. I feel we should call it a more documented report rather than a novel. But I personally think the work should be appreciated as an honest emotion towards the minority Hindu community in an Islamic country by a woman of the majority community. This shows religion do not matter for reaction, you just need to be Human.
_askthebookbug's review
4.0
• r e v i e w •
.
"People don’t leave their homeland simply because governments stage events. One’s native land is not like the soil we put in flowerpots, where we pour water and fertilizer and then change the soil after an interval." - Taslima Nasreen.
.
When Lajja was published in 1993, the Bangladesh government banned it two months after. Set around the Babri Masjid demolition in 1992, Taslima writes about the repercussions it had on the Hindu population residing in Bangladesh. Her bold style of writing intimidated many including the government and she started receiving death threats for being incredibly honest. When Bangladesh was found post East Pakistan's liberation from West Pakistan, millions of lives were lost. Not soon after, Islam was made the national religion, leading countless Hindus to move back to India in fear. The family in the story were the ones who chose to stay back but history repeated itself when Hindu fundamentalists destroyed the Masjid in Ayodhya.
.
Lajja is told through the eyes of Suranjan who has always led an easy life, lazing around and unemployed. He is left dazed when Hindu shops, houses and temples are razed to the ground by Muslim fundamentalists as the news of demolition spread like wildfire. Suranjan and his father, Sudhamoy were born nationalists and while most of their relatives flew back to India back in 1971, they held their ground. Now in 1992 when the Hindus were being terrorized again, Sudhamoy still refuses to leave his motherland. Suranjan who once felt proud of the fact that he has loyal muslim friends still counts on them to keep his family safe. But soon he understands that he cannot remain immune to violence. It is only when his sister Maya is abducted that he learns the graveness of the situation.
.
It wouldn't be a lie to say that I detested Suranjan. With an ailing father and a worried mother, he chose to remain immobile, wasting away the remaining money they had on cigarettes and liquor. Maya's disappearance instilled some fear in him as he combed through the city and when he returned home alone, he began watching everyone around him with suspicion. Lajja brings out a sense of fear in the minds of the readers about how madness overtakes people when they place religion above everything else . I could probably relate more to it considering the current political state of my country. Maya, still stays in my mind even after months of reading this book. I bought a copy of Shameless, sequel to Lajja right after I finished the latter. Taslima, undoubtedly had put her life in danger while writing this all those years ago and I respect her immensely for this act of bravery. The only drawback was how statistical most of this book felt, almost mechanical. But it doesn't lessen the horror that thousands had to go through for no fault of theirs. Lajja is a powerful book as it so happens with banned books. There is always a reason for the government to take such steps in trying to stop literature and truth from reaching the common folks. Read this and know it yourselves.
.
Rating : 4.4/5.
.
"People don’t leave their homeland simply because governments stage events. One’s native land is not like the soil we put in flowerpots, where we pour water and fertilizer and then change the soil after an interval." - Taslima Nasreen.
.
When Lajja was published in 1993, the Bangladesh government banned it two months after. Set around the Babri Masjid demolition in 1992, Taslima writes about the repercussions it had on the Hindu population residing in Bangladesh. Her bold style of writing intimidated many including the government and she started receiving death threats for being incredibly honest. When Bangladesh was found post East Pakistan's liberation from West Pakistan, millions of lives were lost. Not soon after, Islam was made the national religion, leading countless Hindus to move back to India in fear. The family in the story were the ones who chose to stay back but history repeated itself when Hindu fundamentalists destroyed the Masjid in Ayodhya.
.
Lajja is told through the eyes of Suranjan who has always led an easy life, lazing around and unemployed. He is left dazed when Hindu shops, houses and temples are razed to the ground by Muslim fundamentalists as the news of demolition spread like wildfire. Suranjan and his father, Sudhamoy were born nationalists and while most of their relatives flew back to India back in 1971, they held their ground. Now in 1992 when the Hindus were being terrorized again, Sudhamoy still refuses to leave his motherland. Suranjan who once felt proud of the fact that he has loyal muslim friends still counts on them to keep his family safe. But soon he understands that he cannot remain immune to violence. It is only when his sister Maya is abducted that he learns the graveness of the situation.
.
It wouldn't be a lie to say that I detested Suranjan. With an ailing father and a worried mother, he chose to remain immobile, wasting away the remaining money they had on cigarettes and liquor. Maya's disappearance instilled some fear in him as he combed through the city and when he returned home alone, he began watching everyone around him with suspicion. Lajja brings out a sense of fear in the minds of the readers about how madness overtakes people when they place religion above everything else . I could probably relate more to it considering the current political state of my country. Maya, still stays in my mind even after months of reading this book. I bought a copy of Shameless, sequel to Lajja right after I finished the latter. Taslima, undoubtedly had put her life in danger while writing this all those years ago and I respect her immensely for this act of bravery. The only drawback was how statistical most of this book felt, almost mechanical. But it doesn't lessen the horror that thousands had to go through for no fault of theirs. Lajja is a powerful book as it so happens with banned books. There is always a reason for the government to take such steps in trying to stop literature and truth from reaching the common folks. Read this and know it yourselves.
.
Rating : 4.4/5.
valenblr's review
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
medium-paced
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Hate crime, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, Kidnapping, and Religious bigotry
Moderate: Rape
shelfadmirer's review
3.0
Lajja reminds me of a quote from The Haunting Of Hill House by Shirley Jackson- 'Hill House, not sane, stood by itself against its hills, holding darkness within'. Here's a book that holds grief in its bosom, and somehow, it stands alone.
The violence that followed the Babri Masjid Demolition, especially the massacre of innocent Hindus didn’t just lay destruction within the boundaries of India. In Bangladesh- a Muslim dominated country, a mass exodus took place, killing thousands of Hindu who were a citizen of that country, people who helped Bangladesh gain its freedom from Pakistan.
Nasrin doesn’t leave a single stone unturned as she gives us the story through a broken family and a barrage of numbers so as to understand and evaluate the kind of damage this particular event caused. Nasrin’s writing shows a certain obsession for facts and details while simultaneously capturing the emotions of her characters. Lajja is a difficult read but an essential one.
The violence that followed the Babri Masjid Demolition, especially the massacre of innocent Hindus didn’t just lay destruction within the boundaries of India. In Bangladesh- a Muslim dominated country, a mass exodus took place, killing thousands of Hindu who were a citizen of that country, people who helped Bangladesh gain its freedom from Pakistan.
Nasrin doesn’t leave a single stone unturned as she gives us the story through a broken family and a barrage of numbers so as to understand and evaluate the kind of damage this particular event caused. Nasrin’s writing shows a certain obsession for facts and details while simultaneously capturing the emotions of her characters. Lajja is a difficult read but an essential one.
pearlkhurana's review
4.0
My rating: 8/10
I picked this book for my book club meet on the theme of 'translations' and this is an English translation of the original Bengali novel. When I started reading the book, I was appreciating the new perspective it was giving me, and I would encourage people to read this book too. Everyone who saw this book in my hand seemed to know this author, even though I was sure none of them were readers. The books give an account of the lives of Bengali Hindus in Bangladesh since its formation and the impacts of Babri Masjid Attack on their lives. The gory details were difficult to go by, but I persisted. About its end, I realized why the book is banned in Bangladesh. The shift of readers emotion as the book progresses, I could feel that with her writing style. We really don't know how much of it is true or how much of it is an attempt to boil the blood of people and to never let them forget the Babri Masjid attack for all reasons right or wrong.
The writing style is different and does keep you engaged. Even though I'm not big on such books, I could easily read this one in no time. But I took my time to form my opinion after numerous debates with people.
I picked this book for my book club meet on the theme of 'translations' and this is an English translation of the original Bengali novel. When I started reading the book, I was appreciating the new perspective it was giving me, and I would encourage people to read this book too. Everyone who saw this book in my hand seemed to know this author, even though I was sure none of them were readers. The books give an account of the lives of Bengali Hindus in Bangladesh since its formation and the impacts of Babri Masjid Attack on their lives. The gory details were difficult to go by, but I persisted. About its end, I realized why the book is banned in Bangladesh. The shift of readers emotion as the book progresses, I could feel that with her writing style. We really don't know how much of it is true or how much of it is an attempt to boil the blood of people and to never let them forget the Babri Masjid attack for all reasons right or wrong.
The writing style is different and does keep you engaged. Even though I'm not big on such books, I could easily read this one in no time. But I took my time to form my opinion after numerous debates with people.
punkrocknreticence's review
3.0
A rather compelling narrative on the perils of the minorities in Bangladesh, but one punctured frequently by exhaustive factual catalogues on the many atrocities carried out against them. While these details do evoke a certain poignant sense of 'lajja', they occur so unnaturally throughout the narrative; right in the middle of conversations, for example; and in manners also not typical of natural speech, so as to appear forced very often. The book is ideologically sound as a meditation of a family on ideas of the nation, of communalism, and a lot else suffered in South Asia in particular and everywhere in general. However, linguistically, it is rather wanting. That, of course, owes more to the translation than anything else.
Above all, Lajja is redolent of real suffering; both human and political; and hence a book worth reading: more so, in the face of the ban which has stayed ever since its publication.
Above all, Lajja is redolent of real suffering; both human and political; and hence a book worth reading: more so, in the face of the ban which has stayed ever since its publication.
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