Book Review: Zemindar

Zemindar is an extremely well written book, and it is hard to believe that it is the first -and as it turned out-the only book by the author. The book follows the experiences of an English young woman, Laura Hewitt, who's accompanying her cousin, Emily, and her husband, Charles, on their bride visit to India. The Zemindar of the title is Charles' half brother, Oliver whom he had never met, and whom his mother had convinced him to meet since she- and Charles too- hopes that Oliver, rich as a nabob and a bachelor, might make Charles his heir. The bride visit falls in the year 1857, when the country is already at unrest, and soon, Laura and her party find themselves in the eye of the mutiny of 1857 that had the whole country ablaze.

What I liked: Its language. The book is around 800 pages long, and yet it doesn't make the reader lose interest at any point. The events are interesting, the dialogues are good, the descriptions are sufficient, and there's enough action. The history is well researched and quite accurate. The sense of period it evokes is enough to make one feel part of the period. The supporting cast have been portrayed extremely well, and it is they who hold our sympathy more than the main two characters, who are to me, the greatest weaknesses of the book.

What I did not like: Laura is too insipid, and too passive a character in my opinion. I could not like her somehow, for though she inwardly condemns passivity, she remains passive almost throughout the book. She grows a spine only towards the end, and even then, it doesn't feel like a natural growth. Almost every single male character in the book has been degraded in one way or other to bring home the greatness of Oliver. It seemed too contrived and too pointless to do so. Yea. Oliver is great. We get it. Why destroy everyone else to prove it? In spite of all that, Oliver remains the same in the book. The man we see at the beginning is the man we see at the end, except that he has fallen in love. Charles seems to be the only character who shows any sign of growth, but even then, it is as if the author seeks to divert the reader's attention from the fact that he has, in fact, changed for the better. Another thing is many of the historical facts do not seem to blend into the story, but seem more like treatises. The hindsight of many historians has been presented as foresight of Oliver, which made me roll my eye.

The book did not offer me any new insight into Anglo Indian relations in those time any more than any history book could have. Even Oliver who claims to love India seems to me to be more of an advocate of White Man's Burden, albeit a more selfless one, than someone who thinks that the Indians are capable of governing their own land. The book condemns the mistakes the East India Company made with regards to their dealings with India, but presupposes that the crown would be a better guardian. Bitter experience has taught Indians that the crown was worse even than the company, and I can only give a sardonic eye to the many justifications.

That said, the book is an entertaining read, and factually correct. For those not familiar with the history of those times, the book can provide an insight into those times. However, the prejudices of the author are obvious, and should be taken with a pinch of salt, especially if you are unfamiliar with the history of British rule in India.