Bengal Raag is a wonderful book about twin sisters and their childhood in Bangladesh, formerly known as East Pakistan. A blend of fiction and real life, it chronicles an important moment in the history of that region. Although seen through the eyes of children, it deals with adult and complex issues of family dynamics, belonging and separation amidst a gradual building up of social, cultural and political tensions. Taught at home by their mother, Diya and Gaity accompany their father, a Punjabi civil servant, formerly of the ICS, on his tours to the jungles of the Chittagong Hill Tracts. Rajahs and elephant trapping, punting down the river on houseboats, fending off snakes and marauding monkeys, and a boisterous family life make for an entertaining and colourful backdrop against which more sombre events are being played out—the Martial Law of 1958, the 1965 war with India, and, more significantly, the simmering discontent among the Bengalis leading to the independence of Bangladesh.
The time comes when the family must face up to their identity. Who are they and where is their real home? What will happen to Aynee, the oldest sister who has married a Bengali? Infused with a lively sense of humour, the book is nevertheless about the tragedy of civil war where few remain unscathed.
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