KUNAL RAY

teaches literary & cultural studies at FLAME University, Pune

Annie Zaidi’s novel, Prelude to a Riot left me numb. To say that I was deeply moved would be an understatement. It made me think about how troubled a writer must feel in contemporary India to produce a work like this. Set in an unnamed location in southern India, the novel revolves around two families – one Hindu and the other Muslim. Religious intolerance, labour rights, fanaticism, class conflict, the misrepresentation of history – all the ills that besiege contemporary India appear in Zaidi’s novel. Prelude to a Riot will also be remembered for its finely etched characters – Dada, the grandfather, Mariam, cook and masseuse, and migrant labourers Mommad and Majju. My personal favourite is Garuda, social science teacher at the local high school, who is trying to teach history to a bunch of disinterested students.

Zaidi makes an earnest attempt to unravel the psychology of a society that breeds dogma and fanaticism while eschewing all attempts at dialogue. When all conversations cease, conflict seems like a preordained eventuality. Censorship, oppression, and the denial of human rights has recurred in Zaidi’s writing. In her thoughtful non-fiction, she has constantly returned to many of these concerns, which she also brings to Prelude to a Riot thus making a definite statement about her politics and world view. Sample this: “I am not here now to help you read between the lines. Please read out of syllabus. A syllabus is ‘set’ for you. You understand? It is ‘set’ by people whose job it is to limit your knowledge. I am against syllabuses.” Prelude to a Riot is a bold book, a work of remarkable artistic merit, courage, and vision.