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Pages Stained With Blood (Katha Trailbalzer Series) by Mamani Rayachama Goswami, Indira Goswami
pretty_little_bibliophile's review against another edition
4.0
I picked up my first Indira Goswami book and I was definitely not disappointed in PAGES STAINED IN BLOOD. It is a sort of diary that the auhtor kept in 1984 as she went about Delhi collecting stories for her book on Delhi. Since I myself am planning on moving to Delhi sometime soon, I loved reading the descriptions. But we all know the importance of this year. We get a very in-depth view of the SIkh riots and the subsequent assassination of Indira Gandhi. Overall, I liked this book!
richa087's review against another edition
4.0
This book is in the form of diary entries made by an Assamese woman, who is staying in Delhi and is in the process of writing a book on the city. She carries a notebook everywhere she goes and jots down about places, stories and people that interest her. This is all happening in the background of the events preceding and following the 1984 riots that shattered the country.
In the first half of the book, there is a set of characters (mostly Sikhs) and events she describes in the book. There is a glimpse into the world of the Mughals, their kitchens, their harems and their note-keeping which she quotes from an edition of Ain-e-Akbari and also mentions of the Ramayan translations by Adalat Khan (English) and Alexei Baranikov (Russian). Her diary takes you through the long lost structures of Delhi, now in ruins, and narrates the story or snippets of the stories behind those. I absolutely loved the parts where she is exploring the lanes and bylanes of Chandni Chowk (Old Delhi) and I could see myself walking with my mother through those same markets, through those same lanes.
But there is an overall tensed atmosphere that follows us throughout. With words mentioned like 'not safe times', 'times are bad', 'police checks everywhere' etc. you get a feeling of impending doom.
Towards the second half of the book, you see how events unfold and lead up to Operation Bluestar. I also got a chill while reading and imagining how a political assassination of a leader changes things around you and how it affects people. You also witness the aftermath of the assassination in the form of widespread riots that shake the very foundations of the country. The violence described in these pages, the helplessness of the victims, the apathy of the rioters and the goodwill of the few who try to help the survivors makes you revisit those terrible times and get a sense of the horror and gravity of the situation.
One can only hope and pray and wish not to live in such times, not to experience the panic and fear of not knowing when an attack can take place, who can turn against you and feel isolated in your own country. The title of the book is aptly titled 'pages stained with blood' but I also felt the pages of her notebook were stained with sweat, dust, heat and a burning stench.
In the first half of the book, there is a set of characters (mostly Sikhs) and events she describes in the book. There is a glimpse into the world of the Mughals, their kitchens, their harems and their note-keeping which she quotes from an edition of Ain-e-Akbari and also mentions of the Ramayan translations by Adalat Khan (English) and Alexei Baranikov (Russian). Her diary takes you through the long lost structures of Delhi, now in ruins, and narrates the story or snippets of the stories behind those. I absolutely loved the parts where she is exploring the lanes and bylanes of Chandni Chowk (Old Delhi) and I could see myself walking with my mother through those same markets, through those same lanes.
But there is an overall tensed atmosphere that follows us throughout. With words mentioned like 'not safe times', 'times are bad', 'police checks everywhere' etc. you get a feeling of impending doom.
Towards the second half of the book, you see how events unfold and lead up to Operation Bluestar. I also got a chill while reading and imagining how a political assassination of a leader changes things around you and how it affects people. You also witness the aftermath of the assassination in the form of widespread riots that shake the very foundations of the country. The violence described in these pages, the helplessness of the victims, the apathy of the rioters and the goodwill of the few who try to help the survivors makes you revisit those terrible times and get a sense of the horror and gravity of the situation.
One can only hope and pray and wish not to live in such times, not to experience the panic and fear of not knowing when an attack can take place, who can turn against you and feel isolated in your own country. The title of the book is aptly titled 'pages stained with blood' but I also felt the pages of her notebook were stained with sweat, dust, heat and a burning stench.
kaviknchnn's review against another edition
dark
emotional
informative
sad
tense
slow-paced
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Child abuse, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Islamophobia, Murder, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, and Sexual violence
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