'The Eighteenth Parallel' by Ashokamithran- A Review

There aren’t many novels in English that have Hyderabad, especially pre-Independence Hyderabad as a setting, and if there are, I haven’t read any. I know a little bit of how it was during the time of the Razakars. One of my uncles (my father’s elder brother) was a freedom fighter who joined an underground group fighting the Razaakars. Now I regret I did not ask him about it since he passed away a couple of months ago, I am aware of how oppressive and cruel the Razakaars were. A couple of weeks ago I found Ashokamithran’s ‘The Eighteenth Parallel’ at the Best Books Sale. ‘The Eighteenth Parallel’s is a novella involving a student in Hyderabad during the period between 1940-50. Though only 136 pages long TEP gives a stark picture of life in Hyderabad state during those times.

‘The Eighteenth Parallel’ takes the reader through the life of Chandrasekhar, the son of a Tamilian Railway employee living in Lancer Barracks somewhere in Secunderabad. Chandru studies at Nizam college, plays cricket with his friends in the colony consisting of Muslims, Anglo Indians and Telugu people. It isn’t exactly a novel in that there is a beginning, middle and ending about an event. To me it appeared more like a tale about a certain period in a person’s life that is marked by some major drama. The drama in this case is the growing demand for Hyderabad state to join the Indian union and the resistance of the Nizams to do so. Ashokamithran with characteristic understated humor takes the reader along Chandru as he goes about his life. I found some of the descriptions hilarious. Then some of them were simply blood curdling like that of how the Razakar killed Lambada men and women. There are descriptions of Monda, Kingsway, Nizam College and other landmarks in Hyderabad and Secunderabad that Hyderabadi readers can identify with.

Ashokamithran has a style that is deceptively simple which makes it difficult to put down the book. It took me only two days to finish the book. Surprisingly parts of the book is in the first person and parts in third person. This might be to convey certain feelings and emotions which are possible only in the first person. But the strategy is successful since it works to make the book an engaging read without being jarring. What I enjoyed most was the subtle humour of Ashokamithran’s writing. The feelings of the adolescent Chandru towards some of the girls in his neighbourhood and in his class are brought in a style that is hard to imitate. TEP is something I am happy to have found and also read. It is a book that Hyderabadis might enjoy reading if they are in the mood to know history of their city