A racy, pacey period romance
Anamika
by Meghnad Desai.
Rupa.
Pages 224.
Rs 295
Aradhika Sharma
The novel is a page-turning potboiler. The pages abound with beautiful, nubile women, valorous noblemen, aristocrats warring over power and riches, and princes drunk on the love of their women. In the centre of it all is Desai’s heroine — the beauteous and clever Anamika.
Set in an indiscriminate location in the 18th century, vaguely described as “the period after “emperor Aurangzeb had fallen”, the story narrates the fortunes of Anamika, the lovely daughter of the wily chief minister of “Purana Zilla”, from whom she learnt statecraft and diplomacy.
The story begins with her marriage to Abhi, the handsome son of an affluent merchant family of RANIPUR. However, misfortune strikes the happy couple right after the nuptials and an unfortunate accident renders Abhi paraplegic. The two are thus unable to consummate their marriage and a hapless Anamika seems doomed to bearing a child to her lascivious father-in-law when Abdul, the gallant but illegitimate son of Shah Ahmad Khan, makes an appearance in the village. Abdul’s initial intention is of ravaging DEVIPUR village and stripping it of its riches, but he changes his mind when Anamika offers herself in exchange of the lives of the people of Ranipur.
Abdul’s great adversary and the legal claimant to the throne is Hassan, the pleasure-loving legitimate son of the king. Hassan thirsts for Abdul’s blood and uses all manner of strategies — including warfare — to bring him to his knees. The duty of keeping Hassan safe is entrusted to his concubine-turned-bodyguard, Nadya (who masquerades as Nadeer). The plot thickens and the story moves ahead with the interplay of these colourful characters who battle and scheme their ways into their desired conclusions, very often, not achieving what they had set out to do.
Lord Meghnad Desai’s women are strong and savvy people. Anamika, for example, is hardly the archetypical shy and retiring heroine of Indian lore. Instead, she is unashamed of her sexuality and uses it not just to fulfill her own desire but for the betterment of her husband and the people of her village. Nadya, originally bought as a slave, takes on the role of a brave bodyguard for Hassan. Rajkumari Sonal Devi, younger sister of Raja Devi Singh, is interested in war strategy, guns and mathematics, and imbibes knowledge of warfare from a French general. The steeliest of them all and the greatest strategist is Hassan’s mother, a formidable Afghani Begum. She rules the zenana with an iron fist and keeps her ear to the ground, ruthlessly punishing any perceived wrongdoer; nor is she ashamed of taking her pleasure from the young nobles who visit her.
Into this melee, Desai introduces Saheb Muzaffarshah Jalalabadi, a universally respected and venerated Pir. The holy seer brings an end to the inevitable and bloody battle that ensues between the two adversaries by offering an unusual solution, one that leads to an unexpected end.
Lord Meghnad Desai is a man of many interests who pursues economics, history and anything else that catches his interest, including old Bollywood movies. Emeritus professor at London School of Economics and a life peer at the British House of Lords, he has authored over 25 books and more than 200 articles in esteemed journals. He has, at this instance, turned his attention to what seems an unlikely genre. Desai’s book proliferates with provocative romance, lusty liaisons and dangerous deceptions. A racy read, it overflows with intrigue and conspiracy.
