By Jeremy Seabrook
Review by Ratnesh
It would be fair introducing the writer first. ‘Colonies of the Heart’ comes from Jeremy Seabrook, who is more noted for his plays and documentaries on BBC radio and TV. His work involves the study of India’s Muslim Ghettos, child labourers in Dhaka, psychology of sex-seeking travelers, the aging population and even child sex tourism. Jeremy is also the author of 40 odd books on social, environmental and developmental issues. The books of gay interest from the author are ‘Love in a different climate’ and ‘A lasting relationship’.
‘Colonies of the Heart’ is a metaphorical take on the colonial past. Part one, Dilraj: Empire of the Heart is about the contrasting differences between western and Indian gay life. Frank, an Englishman befriends Prakash, an Indian hill lad from a very poor family. Trouble ensues when Frank presses the relationship on western terms on Prakash, for whom being ‘gay’ is an alien concept. In times of hardships and pressing claims of the family, Prakash finds his own world tottered.
Call it his ill-fate, Prakash is the only male member of his destitute family. Though a brahmin, his mother works for the Jamidar so as to make sure he never sweats. All the troubles and hardships were tacitly transferred to his younger sister as soon as she was born. Haunted by the drastic insecurities his mother has become more demanding than ever.
The story takes the protagonists on a journey of self-discovery and self-deception. The author details the uncharacteristic love-affair between Prakash and his English lover. Frank has been with n number of guys but Prakash was way different from all of them. He was captivated by his hilly eyes, observance and accountability to the family . Frank longed for him day and night, and extended his stay in India. Surprising though, Prakash, untouched by the western ideas considered Frank as his ‘best friend’.
They visit the little old village where fate is waiting for the worst. The widowed sister is diseased and needs to be cured immediately. The mother with her hopes held high as always, wants Prakash to stay back in the newly constructed home and marry. Amidst the unwelcome glances of the mother and asking condition of the sister Frank helps the family during the crisis and becomes an integral part.
The second part of the book, ‘A woman’s life’ is a fictionalized narration of the mother’s unsuccessful marriage and the repercussions of it in the author’s life. As Seabrook says. ‘my relationship with my mother had little to do with love: it was inevitable, necessary, an inescapable bonding by sensibility, a kinship of character; desolating, emancipating, crippling and enhancing. It took its course as any other natural phenomenon.’ Like an alter-ego of Prakash’s mother.
The one thing which does not make ‘Colonies of the Heart’ a ‘read in one go’ novel are the monotonous emotions of Prakash and his mother. The writing is many a times dispassionate, spread with tenderness at one moment and bitterness the other. The author fails to create any curiosity throughout the storyline. Not one of the best books on the stand.
