The Opium Toffee
Khuswant Singh
I was able to get my hands on the latest release published by Amaryllis Publishers this month and the title truly Intrigued me.
Before sharing what I understood and ft about this book I truly liked this quote from the book mentioned in an early chapter : " And when a man enforces his decree on any woman he is no list then a terrorist. "
It was an interesting and thoughtful story that is effective enough to make a mark in your mind.
The story starts with Shabnam, a high profile model in London finding a known face on the roads of London begging in a rugged state.
It all startled her when she found out it's her Ajit who somehow suddenly vanished from her life back in her teenage. All the questions started to surround her mind that once who was her boyfriend and a popular singer back in India long time back now lives on the streets of London. How did this all happen?
She decides to take him back to India after loads of efforts due to illegal immigration problem. Shabnam starts throwing more questions- How did Ajit ended up entering London illegally and why? Where was he all these time?
But Ajit finds it difficult to tell his story. He was from a good family living in village who shifted shortly to a city in Punjab. In love they were together for sometime as well. But now after so long according to him where it all started and stood was a saga that was ruthless and implausible. An epic that destiny would be shamed of narrativing.
All these years he would keep a journal safe with him. And when Shabnam decided to dig into his past through the pages her heart was put on flames. It's a story that is wrapped around the dark past of Punjab that had become a hotbed of communal politics and it's unemployment as well as poor education system had turned it into a perfect laboratory for anyone to exploit the fault lines. The past of Shabnam talks about how the extremists used to violet all human rights and kill other communities equally in the name of freedom of Khalistan which still remains raw in the hearts of Indians.
Ajit's circumstances back in India had taken away a beautiful childhood, a doting pair of parents and a promising future.
Within the pages through shabnam's experience we get to know the ugly underbelly of the fashion and modelling industry as well. Her struggles were shown too.
In the journal shabnam soon finds out mind boggling facts about his past. Ajit's journal's entry about his days in the truck in Afghanistan and Uzbekistan Saturn's Shabnam.
Why did he vanish? Is her father's gift as toffees in his past related to all these ? How's Opium related? Will they ever be able to come out of these and build a future with each other again?
Slowly the story starts to provide a clear picture. My favourite parts were reading the entries. Those helped me understand the scenarios in Punjab back in 1980s, Afghanistan and more that was going on. It was good to read about a strong minded woman like Shabnam who was strong enough to fight for her dreams.
This is a story that tells us about the darkness that wrapped their teenage years in the then turmoiled lands of Punjab like many, their adult times within the abyss of object abuse like drugs, extremism and illegal immigration.
But finally it's also about the power of love and again it's consequences.
I recommend it to serious readers who are into such reads.