By: Ramlal Agarwal

 It was heartening that Geetanjali Shree’s Hindi novel, “Ret Samadhi,” translated as “Tomb of Sand” by Daisy Rockwell, won the International Booker Prize in 2022.

Tomb of Sand is an unconventional novel that does away with conventional story, plot, and characters. It is about an 80-year-old widow, unable to walk or talk, lying in bed with her back turned to the world as its central character. She has a statue of Buddha, which she guards as a treasure, a memento of happier times. The entire novel, which spans 697 pages, revolves around her. There are other characters, but they merely serve as satellites.

She is known as Ma, as mothers are referred to in Hindu families. Since her husband’s death, she has been inactive. The members of her family keep the names they are called within the family. The eldest son is Bade, and his wife is Bahu. Ma’s daughter is Beti. Another son, who is abroad, is very serious-minded; therefore, he is called the Serious Son, or, since he is overseas, he is also referred to as the Overseas Son. Another son goes by Siddhartha or Sid.  Bade is a government officer who resides in a spacious bungalow with a lawn and a garden. He is very fond of chrysanthemums and offers them to his mother, but Ma has no affection for them. Bade is a straightforward person. He cares about family and social propriety and loves Ma. Beti is individualistic and has no regard for social norms. She lives independently and works in freelance journalism. One Mr. K.K. is her boyfriend. Ma supports her in whatever she does, and her love for Ma is genuine. Bade and Beti do not see eye to eye.

On the day of his retirement, Bade invites his friends and relatives for lunch. It is a day of great excitement, filled with hustle and bustle. However, Ma remains indifferent to it. Bade’s retirement requires him to vacate the government bungalow. While moving to the new residence, Bade expects Ma to accompany him. However, Ma refuses to come along and chooses to relocate to Beti’s house. Beti welcomes Ma into her home and does everything possible to rouse her from her stupor.

Rosie, a hijra, has a special affection for Ma. She calls Ma “Baji,” meaning sister. She is skilled at treating female ailments with home remedies. Her visits to Ma have become more frequent since Ma moved to Beti’s house. Beti does not like it, but considering Ma’s feelings, she does not mind.

Slowly, Ma begins to find her footing. She starts using the cane her overseas son had gifted her, which she had previously refused to use. She also begins to grant people’s wishes and acquires a new name, Wishing Tree. Additionally, she spends a good deal of time with Rosie. One day, Beti overhears them talking about Pakistan.

Suddenly, Rosie’s visits stop, and both, Ma and Beti begin to inquire about her. They learn that she has gone missing and suspect that she may have moved to Pakistan. One day, Ma says that she wants to travel to Pakistan with Beti. This surprises everyone in the family. Bade, Bahu, Sid, and others try to persuade her to reconsider her choice.

They tell her to choose another place, like England, Paris, or America, but Ma does not budge. Ultimately, Bade arranges for Ma and Beti’s passports and sees them off at the Wagah border. In Pakistan, Ma and Beti face inquiries and must visit several offices. When asked where they want to go, Ma only tells them, “Anwar.” Finally, she is directed to an officer named Anwar in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa. Anwar turns out to be the son of the Anwar Ma had been searching for and was her first husband. When Ma meets him, she finds him lying in bed and paralyzed. She says, “Anwar, Chanda,” but receives no response. Anwar’s eyes are closed. Ma also closes her eyes, and after some time, she opens them and begins to sing the songs she used to sing in her childhood. Then she approaches him and touches his hands, eyes, and lips. She takes his hand from the bed and places it on his chest. Anwar opens his eyes, and both silently plead with each other for forgiveness.

Ma’s odyssey to meet her first love is touching, but it raises some questions. Geetanjali Shree mentions her first husband, Anwar, only towards the end of the novel.  Her first marriage and her connection with Pakistan came as a bolt from the blue. One wonders whether the novelist does this by design to deal with the outer covering of sand before revealing what lies within. However, it does not work and makes no emotional impact on the readers.

The story of Ma is one among many others. In addition to the stories, the novel is filled with discussions on both literary and non-literary topics. Shree explores words such as wall, body, cane, rainbow, Reebok, mangoes, crows, and border. She explains the scope of short stories. She says, “The story’s path unfurls, not knowing where it will stop, tacking to the right and left, twisting and turning, allowing anything and everything to join in the narration. She also explains her preference for a style she calls Bells and Whistles style, a style that gives priority to the sound of words or dhwani.       

Her translator, Daisy Rockwell, elaborates that dhwani is an echo vibration, a resonance. It is alliteration, and dhwani can be deliberate and playful, as in a double entendre and punning, or an accidental mishmash of sameness, a mystical reverberation. It is the novelist’s love for this style that makes the narrative resound with phrases like clack clack clack haa haa, or sentences like “She kicked and kicked, boom boom boom, and with this new game, Mother kept falling over bam bam bam bam.”

The Booker brought an unconventional novel into the limelight; “unconventional” is the buzzword in the era of postmodernism.