Ujla Andhera

Reading the novel Ujala Andhera is to confront a truth that the entire system has been shying away from. The truth of the social system that has rendered meaningless the dream of an independent India that promised equality, freedom, and light to its citizens. That truth is caste, which defies all forms of socio-economic progress and remains entrenched in our society even today. This entire novel, shaped by the suffering and struggles of three generations for change, poses a poignant question, addressed face to face with the reality of caste. This novel asks why the people of India have still not become accustomed to a uniform sense of citizenship and behavior; why, even after so many years of independence, a large segment of society has not been granted the right to celebrate their birth, marriage, and death rituals and festivals in their own way; what kind of system is this in which some people consider public roads their private property and want to decide who can and cannot walk on them? And the biggest question: why cant even the governments of a democratic nation cross this Lakshman Rekha of caste? The characters in the novel grapple with many such questions. Whether its the restlessness for change or the dream of equality, they slowly simmer here in a smoldering flame and are recorded with intense collective intensity. An essential novel for understanding our times and society!