He has always been a prolific writer, penning down his thoughts on life and relationships, his anguish at society's lack of sensitivity, his disappointment at his fellow citizens' lack of civic sense, in poems, short stories and pieces for magazines and newspapers. But “Dilliz Boyz” is APS Malhotra's first novel. Characteristically for a man who writes with a passion on subjects he cares about, the book is dedicated, besides the author's dear ones, to “the city of Delhi”.
Brought out by Niyogi Books and set to be launched in New Delhi this coming Tuesday, the novel tells the story of teenager Angad Khanna, whose life changes forever when one boring school day in class XII, news of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi's assassination by one of her Sikh bodyguards hits the city. As Delhi collapses under anti-Sikh riots fuelled by lumpen elements and a paralysed administration, Angad, a Sikh child whose parents came to Delhi as refugees during Partition, learns first hand what it feels like to be uprooted, unwanted and hounded by the people of a city he thought his own. However, the aim of the novel, points out the author, is to show that humanity, compassion and a fearlessness born of conviction are finally victorious over the baser sentiments. Knitted in are all the quirks of adolescence and the discovery of forbidden knowledge in pre-liberalisation India
“Dilliz Boyz” is part of a trilogy, says Malhotra, now nearly ready with the second part. This second part, he says, is set in another tumultuous time in Delhi's history, the students' agitation over the Mandal Commission report made public in 1990 by the V.P. Singh government. “It's about the same sort of a guy,” he reveals. “Now he's in college.”
These occurrences are hardly a generation away from the present. Historians don't often handle events at such proximity. And the pain of those who suffered during 1984 is not only still fresh but sometimes sub judice. How easy was it to handle such a subject as fiction, without falling prey to the charge of trivialising it? Malhotra points out, “No documentation has been done on these events. Someone has to write it.” As for one generation, that's exactly it, he notes. Today's generation won't know what happened unless the generation that lived through it tells them.
Malhotra, who belonged approximately to his protagonist's age group at the time of the '84 riots, feels, “If it's not written about now, it will never be written about.” He adds, “I've documented it in a positive way. The second one will also be positive.”
However, it is a “totally fictional” account and not autobiographical, he states. He is not a Sikh, though he comes from a family with both Sikh and Hindu members. “We never differentiated. We still don't,” he explains. For a novel set in pre-mobile phone days, its title is very SMS-ish. Malhotra says he simply wanted “Dilli” to be a part of it. “Because I am a Dilli boy too. I'm in love with Delhi.”
Boys will, after all, be boyz.
