Mukhara Kya Dekhe

Coming exactly ten years after the publication of Jhini-Jhini Beeni Chadariya (1986), Abdul Bismillahs novel, with its epic grandeur, reveals a face that is magnificent on the outside, yet deeply ugly on the inside. The story of Mukhda Kya Dekh spans from shortly after Indian independence to the Emergency. The novels foundation is built on the question of how the events that unfolded within the country during this period impacted rural life. The author makes it clear that ordinary villagers do not view major events in the country and the world the way intellectuals and historians do. Their views and conclusions may be incorrect, but they are solid. While Mukhda Kya Dekh is undoubtedly not a historical novel, it offers a unique interpretation of many aspects of Indian history that history books cannot offer. Mukhda Kya Dekh is not the story of a particular village or specific characters, but rather the story of the common Indian psyche. This novel cannot be viewed from the perspective of either the majority or minority communities. India is a multi-ethnic, multi-religious, and multilingual country. Many Hindi novels have either told the story of the majority or the minority community, but Mukhda Kya Dekhe tells the story of Indian society as a whole, where both affluent Hindus and Muslims together exploit the Hindu subjects and the Muslim subjects. The greatest characteristic of Abdul Bismillahs writing is that he immerses himself completely in the subject he writes about. This is why he depicts Muslim customs with the same authenticity in this novel, as he does the customs of the Hindu and Christian communities. This is perhaps the first time among Hindi novels published in the last twenty years that this novel represents the entire Indian society. Its content and craft are deeply imprinted with typical Indian colors and traditions.