Skip to main content

Book Review: Rayan's Cry by Suraj Rayan

Untouchability is something that is not new in our societies. Though nowadays it is not available to see openly, but somewhere secretly or subtly it is being carried out. Our country, India, has muddy history of untouchability, people from one era to another have had suffered because of it for no apparent reasons. Questions like who created it and why it is still existing, no one asks. People do not care for the suffering of others. It truly a matter of concern for all of us.


Undoubtedly, untouchability is a widely-spoken topic across the globe, thus it is not an exception in the world of literature too. In the past, there have been many books based on untouchability, the most dazzling one was Untouchable by MulkRaj Anand. This topic was covered well and widely in India just after the independence, however, in modern time people hardly care about writing literature on this topic. So, books on untouchability are rare, but today we have this book (Rayan’s Cry) that takes us into the life of one person – the narrator himself. He brings alive or sets his life events in chronicles to understand what it is like to be an untouchable in India.

People, at school, at college, at job still see one’s caste before giving them promotion and praise. Getting into the book of 350 plus pages, we found Rayan – the protagonist. The story kicks off with his grandpa Ram Samban's story. He was awarded 100 lashes by an upper caste landlord, because Ram Samban's cooking smoke entered the mansion of that landlord. Imagine the extent of difference and torture.

As midway when the author takes us into the caste system of India, we see various such anecdotes. Though sounding interesting but somehow a matter of concern of all of us. Untouchability is a curse in any society. In the same book, we also get to know that due to untouchability millions of people converted to different religions, leaving their core Hindu religion.

Other than the author's personal story, there was a story of the arrival and spread of Brahmins in India. That part is the shining star in the universe. We are sure that this book will shake you to some extent, make you embarrass, and give new insights about caste system operation in India. 

The story is personal and long, so giving away all details isn't a fair job. Well, at the most, kindly pick up this book and have your experience by yourself. The author has used a simple narration technique, and at times it goes up and down, depending upon the incidents or heat of the moment. The story sounds in sync, you can pick up where you left without much difficulty. Great work by Suraj Rayan. Indeed an inspiring story of a family that rose from slavery to royalty.

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Poem Summary: Where The Mind Is Without Fear by Rabindranath Tagore

Poem by Rabindranath Tagore: Where the mind is without fear and the head is held high Where knowledge is free Where the world has not been broken up into fragments By narrow domestic walls Where words come out from the depth of truth Where tireless striving stretches its arms towards perfection Where the clear stream of reason has not lost its way Into the dreary desert sand of dead habit Where the mind is led forward by thee Into ever-widening thought and action Into that heaven of freedom, my Father, let my country awake. Short Summary: This poem is written by Rabindranath Tagore during pre-independence days, when India was a colony of the British. The underlying theme of the poem is absolute freedom; the poet wants the citizens of his country to be living in a free state. According to the poem, we see that the poet is expressing his views there should be a country, like where people live without any sort of fear and with pure dignity…they should
67 comments
Read more

Book Review: The Blue Umbrella by Ruskin Bond

Among all Ruskin Bond books, The Blue Umbrella has, so far, gathered immense applaud from readers and critics alike.  This is a short novel, but the kind of moral lessons it teaches to us are simply overwhelming. This is a story of Binya, a poor little girl living with her mother and an elder brother, Bijju, in a small hilly village of Garhwal. One day while herding her two cows back home, she stumbles upon some city people enjoying the picnic in the valley. She is enthralled to see them well-groomed and rich. She craves to be one like them and among many other things of their, a blue frilly umbrella catches her attention. She begins craving for it. On the other hand, the city people get attracted by her innocent beauty and the pendant in her neck. The pendant consists of leopard’s claw – which is considered a mascot widely in the hills. Binya trades her pendant off with the blue umbrella. The blue umbrella is so much beautiful that soon it becomes a topic of conversation fo
63 comments
Read more

Poem Summary: Ozymandias by Percy Bysshe Shelley

Ozymandias is a short poem of fourteen lines written by Percy Bysshe Shelley. The concurrent theme of the poem is that nothing remains intact and same forever in this world. Even the brightest of metal, one day decays with passage of time. The throne name of Egyptian King Ramesses is Ozymandias. It was his dearest desire to preserve himself forever by building a huge statue that he thought would never tumble down. Stanza 1: I met a traveller from an antique land Who said: Two vast and trunkless legs of stone Stand in the desert. Near them, on the sand, Half sunk, a shattered visage lies, whose frown, And wrinkled lip and sneer of cold command, Tell that its sculptor well those passions read Which yet survive, stamped on these lifeless things, The hand that mocked them, and the heart that fed; Summary: The poet narrates the poem through the eyes of a traveler who seems to have come back from a remote and far-away land, referring to Egypt. The traveler r
23 comments
Read more