Dalits, Dynasty, and She by Sanjay Chitranshi: Goodreads Review
Dalits, Dynasty and She by Sanjay Chitranshi.
My rating: 3 of 5 stars.
Dalits, Dynasty, and She is a very good semi-fictional portrayal of Indian politics, especially as relates to caste tensions, scheming, greed and corruption. The story has real potential, and I was truly engaged in the first hundred pages. But, after that, I began to tire of the tug-of-war politics and yearn for more character development and conflict. We hardly know Rama Chandra, the Dalit protagonist, except for his politics and political ambition. I had wished the events would have transformed him in a more personal way. There is even less development of the other characters. At times, I began to feel like I was reading an article about Indian politics in The Atlantic. Chitranshi is at his best when he takes a step back from politics and describes a real-life situation, as when a slick politician prostrates himself before the senior member of an indigent Dalit family, who has lost his arms in an work accident; or when the protagonist suggests his wife commit self-immolation for his own political ends. Finally, the novel seems to have been published without the aid of a good editor. For example, practically every man is described or referred to as a “guy,” while some characters are not named at all — one is referred to throughout the book as “the ideological guy.” Also, the publisher should adhere to international standards for fiction and (for example) not have paragraphs separated by blank lines. All this said, I think Chitranshi’s book has much to recommend it, and the author is certainly one to watch as he continues to hone his craft.