The master of arms and augmentation
The Politician by Devesh Verma is as much the story of Ram Mohan, an ambitious Kurmi from a village on the outskirts of Kanpur, as of India from the 1950s to the early 1970s. Verma, who quit his 22-year career in TV journalism to complete this book, has done a splendid job of portraying the nation’s sociopolitical fabric in the decades following the end of the British Raj. From Jawaharlal Nehru’s subtle handing over of the political mantle to his daughter Indira Gandhi to BR Ambedkar’s fight for the untouchables, or his proposed Hindu Code Bill, there is hardly any political event of significance that has escaped Verma’s attention.
Some renowned figures of the era have taken on fictional lives in the book. Like Choudhary Baran Singh, UP’S revenue minister, an upright politician and the voice of the peasant class. Other powerful politicians of the time are simply referred to as Sansad-ji or Tiwari-ji or Shukla-ji.
The gentle and effortless unravelling of these complex minds, and the timelessness of this tragic-comic novel by Verma, who won a Sahitya Award for a translated work in 2004, deserves praise.
The Politician could be the story of any aam aadmi trying to make a mark in the politics of newly independent India, or in 2021. Except that the protagonist, Ram Mohan, is different.
Singularly ambitious, he does not let his humble beginnings or his jaati unsettle him in deeply caste-conscious Uttar Pradesh, the political heartland of India.
A scholar endowed with remarkable oratorical skills and the ability to see stumbling blocks as disguised opportunities, his pathological optimism and cunning have no precedence in Parsadpur village. Fourteen months after independence, he is a firm believer that “nothing could thwart talent and hard work in independent
India”. When he does encounter the great caste-class divide, he works at procuring the political or bureaucratic backing essential for any Kurmi to lead a respectable life. He also embraces violence, almost unblinkingly, to fulfil his political ambitions. “‘I am the master of arms and augmentation both,’ he would declaim.”
As Ram Mohan’s political career takes off, he has to undertake trips to Lucknow and New Delhi. His wife Kanti and children are only too happy to have him off their backs. His family tries to come to terms with his duality – charming the world with his oratory and humour while ruthlessly tormenting his own. His inability to resist women from Kanti to Gayatri to his PHD students and even the house help is an embarrassment for the family, yet the women of his household come across as strongwilled. Both Kanti and Nisha, his oldest daughter, stand up to him, even when they are being physically thrashed.
His near and dear ones in the village are not spared either. His neighbour, a relative’s son, is flogged on his orders until his legs can feel no sensation. When the relative dies, Ram Mohan goes to the village to express grief. Often, on such occasions, he recites shlokas to justify his actions.
As the years roll by, Ram Mohan becomes a confidant of the all-powerful Sansad-ji in New Delhi, which is where all political destinies are sealed. Sansad-ji is close to Indira Gandhi. Ram Mohan hopes to become a Rajya Sabha member. The news is out in the newspapers already, his house is spruced up, congratulatory calls are pouring in, and Ram Mohan cannot wait for the formal announcement.
It’s difficult to suppress a chuckle while reading Verma’s witty take on post-independence India. My favourite bits were the description of the public toilet, and why people preferred taking to the wall instead, and of how Ram Mohan excit
edly huddled his family into the living room to announce his “new” political assignment.
The reader may find gaps in the story and wonder if Verma is planning a trilogy, as suggested by Deena, Ram Mohan’s youngest son, who takes his own life and leaves behind long
notes in a VIP suitcase for Kartik, his journalist friend.
Verma’s writing is candid, and this fast-paced political thriller, but for few tedious details, is a winner.