"British Raj Thillana the Finale"- a synopsis
What does a battle tested British Army officer do when the love of his life is herself a victim of circumstances? What can he do when his orthodox religious upbringing conflicts directly with the religious orthodoxy of the love of his life? How does he succeed in life's battlefield filled with landmines of caste, religion, political upheaval, passion, communal riots, and plain simple betrayal from structure that he trusts the most.
The protagonist Colonel K.T. George an officer of the British Raj injured in one of the key battles of World War II, in Burma, meets his future wife Janaki amidst his life-threatening battle wounds. Growing up as a motherless toddler with princely wealth, life never gives him a break.
Parallelly the love of his life Janaki also walked through a similar path of challenges and setbacks as a teenage widow due to religious orthodoxy. Geopolitical events draw them into one of the treacherous battlefields of World War Two.
British Raj Thillana the finale, tells the story of this couple whose paths in life have disparate beginnings. They experience upheavals due to geopolitical events of their time through the World wars, Indian independence struggles, and partition of India that lit the flames of occurred with communal riots, arson, and terrible loss of lives.
They find themselves in this crucible of the birth of nations that broke India from bondages of the British Raj. Unfortunate events around them change the course of many lives. Their love for each other grows through the riots which partitioned India. Their married life starts on Indian Independence Day when they make their own tryst with destiny.
A new set of geopolitical events sets forth a series of betrayals and backstabbing.
Just when George and Janaki the couple in this story begin to enjoy the joys of family life, fate throws them back into their next cauldron of challenges.
They start all over again with literally worn-out tools and nothing to call their own. Just with the strength of their relationships, this couple rebuild their lives and they serve the less fortunate. They bring a bit of heaven into the life of those who suffer.
Calcified societal norms, religious dogma, caste, xenophobia, and superstitious beliefs intervene and affect the lives of the protagonist George and his wife Janaki. Widow remarriage frowned upon and almost impossible during the British Raj years is one of the challenges they overcome. Relationships built in the battlefields this couple wins lives battles time and again.
Of course, all religious dogma is not without meaning. This book also highlights some customs and religious symbols that have roots in greater meaning with life lessons. The narrative around the six-armed figure of Ganapathi, the Hindu God with the elephant head has greater symbolism and conveys life's principles in art form. Life's lessons when conveyed through art have a better retention among human minds. All art is not without meaning.
This debutant novel narrates the life of George and Janaki through the years of World War and the finale of the British Raj. Thillana in the Bharatanatyam concert marks the end- finale and tells the story of the sunset on the empire, where the sun never set.
