Teatime for the Firefly
Shona Patel
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Shona Patel’s debut novel, Teatime for the Firefly, can be read as a gripping love story or it could be considered as a Diaspora novel in which the author introduces a new world to people who have lived close to it for years together but could never become a part of it. The work is autobiographical in nature and brings back memories of a time when India was about to be partitioned. Set in the Aynakhal Tea Estate, in Silchar, Assam, the novel, as Patel told me in my correspondence with her, is also about the life of her own parents who had lived in the estate where her father rose to the position of General Manager. The author, who now lives in Arizona, writes primarily for American readers who know very little about tea plantation in North Eastern India. To these readers the tea industry is not only unheard of but also quite esoteric as they follow the few stories they hear about the British introducing tea plantation in India when they had come across all kinds of challenges leading to premature death of young men and women because of snake bite, malaria and other tropical diseases that were terminal in those days. Teatime for the Firefly is a realistic novel with a historical tilt because its setting precedes the partition of India by a couple of years. As one goes through the novel it becomes apparent that a country which was the land of both Hindus and Muslims for thousands of years would be bifurcated as the religious identity of the two communities would not allow them to live together any more. The readers can find no reason as to why innocent people belonging to both the Hindu and Muslim communities are victims of unthinking but aggressive rioting and mayhem. Patel, who has no faith in organized religion, strongly feels that only the Baul philosophy can unite people of both communities who have lived as friends and neighbors for centuries. Mistrust and hatred did not exist until religion was introduced to politics with the intention of dividing India along religious lines. Married to a Gujarati, Patel’s ancestors are from what is now the Habiganj district of Bangladesh. Before India was divided, Karimganj, now a part of Assam was a sub-division of Sylhet; and Silchar, Cachar and Hailakhandi were closely linked to Sylhet and its people in more than one way. Therefore, the setting of the novel will particularly interest Bangladeshi readers who know about Sylhet and what is called the Surma Valley. The novel is about the love between Layla Roy and Manik Deb. Layla’s grandfather Dadamoshai, a great advocate of English education, a Raibahadur and an Anglophile, is a powerful district judge. Manik Deb is a highly educated young man who has qualified for the most prestigious job in the Indian Civil Service which required extraordinary luck along with outstanding qualifications for any Bengali to qualify. Manik’s exceptional success quickly gets him engaged to Kona Sen, the daughter of the richest person of Silchar. When Manik first meets Layla in the Raibahadur’s house it’s not quite clear if it’s love at first sight. Only later the readers can tell why Manik would leave his powerful administrative job and instead choose to work as an Assistant Manager at the Aynakhal Tea Estate which requires a newly appointed Assistant to remain unmarried for three years. Manik accepts the condition and breaks his engagement with Kona and continues to wait for the moment when Layla would become his wife.
April 04, 2016 | The Daily Star
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Shona Patel