The life of a saint and general recreated
Himmat Singh Gill

The Legend of Banda Bahadur
by Harish Dhillon. UBSPD. Pages 302. Rs 250.

THE book, writes the author, is the story of one Lachman Dev around the years 1683-1685. Lachman Dev was rechristened Madho Das after an initiation ceremony as a bairagi, and`A0in residence at his`A0ashram at Panchvati near Nanded. He was called Banda by Guru Gobind Singh after he had submitted himself to him saying "I am your Banda, your bondsman, waiting for your command". Later`A0on he came to be named Gurbaksh Singh when the tenth Guru gave him the holy amrit,`A0and said ,"I give you the name of Gurbaksh Singh. It is an apt name because you are indeed, for me, a bakshish from God. But in my heart I will always think of you with the name that you give yourself, Banda. May you always be my Banda Singh Bahadur."

This book on Banda Singh Bahadur is the fourth by Harish Dhillon, a teacher of English. Dhillon says that the book is "a novel based on history with Banda Bahadur as the central figure". He has`A0tried to recreate the legend of Banda. While some think of Banda as a defender of the Sikh faith at a time when the Sikhs rose as one against the last of the Moghuls and the Pathans`A0in the face of persecution of the young Khalsa, others, mainly from the Sikh community, adore`A0Banda Bahadur as a saint, and leader of men who had immense courage, fortitude and inner`A0strength to take on death for the sake of his religion, faith and Guru.

Though a`A0fairly readable account of an enigmatic and strongly focused person who knew what he wanted and how to go about getting it, and written in very simple English, Dhillon sometimes unnecessarily burdens himself`A0with`A0made-up scenarios and story settings in his plot, which may be acceptable in ordinary fiction, but which historians and others who like their historical accounts to be factual and`A0bone dry, may find difficult to digest. Was Banda Bahadur's mission a socio-economic movement`A0as Dhillon believes, or a straightforward military sally to avenge the killings of the Sikhs and the cruel treatment being meted out to the members of the Guru's family? Was there`A0a need to impose in the narrative the details of a meeting between Bulleh Shah and Banda Singh Bahadur when it`A0does not gel with the overall setting and narrative and adds little to the theme of the book? Was any purpose in`A0giving the details of the interaction that took place between Banda Bahadur and his wife Sushil Kaur on the banks of the Chenab where Banda rested`A0before embarking on his final campaign? All these are questions that Dhillon should have weighed carefully before he arrogated to himself the role of the`A0keeper of whatever is known to be historically true about Banda Bahadur. This is, no doubt, a very difficult task considering that little information is available on the conditions that prevailed during those times. Dhillon has banked heavily on the 'plausibility' factor for building the backdrop of his novel, but then what may be plausible to him may be a totally unbelievable for some one else. For instance, some might find the inclusion of the`A0Banda Bahadur-Bulleh Shah meeting quite meaningless especially because at that time the former was being taken in chains to Delhi. It is prudent and only fair for the writer not`A0to`A0hinge his account of a venerated personality who sacrificed himself and his family for the cause of his fledgling community, on`A0a gut feeling that the`A0plot`A0sounds plausible.

Yet it is with a graphic and telling effect that Harish Dhillon narrates his story about the life and times of Banda Singh Bahadur. However, for some reason the ‘Singh’ is missing from the name of the protagonist in the title of the book. Describing Banda Bahadur's entry into Lahore after his capture, Dhillon writes of the onlookers, "There was`A0laughter, cheering and even hooting`A0as he passed. Insults were hurled at him and some even threw old shoes and rotten vegetables`A0 at the elephant as he lumbered past. Then Banda mustered all his strength and cried: 'Bole Soh Nihal' and the captive Sikhs found their strength too and answered in a chorus that resonated through the evening air: ‘Sat Siri Akal’". Of the Chenab river near Akhnoor, Dhillon writes, "Gone was the turbulence and passion of its youth and in its place was the soft mellow music of maturity, of a stream that had come to terms with itself and with life". Quoting from Bulleh Shah, Khushwant Singh, Ganda`A0Singh and many others, Dhillon does manage to recreate those turbulent times when`A0a Sikh virtually lived on horseback, using his ingenuity to ambush and raid the armies of the various principalities in and around the then Punjab. A major plus in the book is the glossary that is appended in the end, and gives the meaning of certain words and terms`A0that might not be very familiar to the lay reader. The meaning of the word hukumnamahas has been given as, "orders regarding both temporal and spiritual matters which carry a sanctity about them because they have emanated either from the Guru or at the behest of religious leaders".

As one puts down the book after its last sentence, the question that must be asked is, has Dhillon succeeded in his mission of recreating authentically the life and times of Banda Singh Bahadur in his work? Does he bring out the essence of the the`A0different roles that Banda Bahadur played as an ascetic,`A0general and leader of men? Does he manage to accurately convey Banda Bahadur’s personality as a brave and`A0fearless`A0person, a messiah for the Sikhs and one of the greatest`A0warriors`A0that the Sikhs`A0have produced? The real truth about this indomitable`A0warrior and holy man who lead the`A0Sikhs with`A0an unmatched and uncanny dedication and persistence, may yet take some more time to surface, but it is evident that had Dhillon not combined history and his own hypotheses, he would have had a`A0pretty thought-provoking book to his credit. He has recently`A0taken to writing about the Punjab of yore, a subject that most of the young writers of`A0today have ignored or stayed away from, and so to that extent this trend is a welcome one.

Dhillon's book brings a question to this reviewer's mind: Would it be asking for too much of the SGPC to take up major works on Sikh history, folklore and religion in a systematic manner`A0in the English language? This would benefit not only the Punjabi diaspora but also every other nationality in the world.

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