Tamas  (Hindi, Hardcover, Sahni Bhishm)

Drawing from real life events, Tamas recreates the debilitatingly dark events surrounding the Partition of India, revealing the horror and helplessness of ordinary people trapped in the communal crossfire.

Summary Of The Book

The narrative is set in a small town on the edge of British-ruled India. It is 1947. Communal tensions are running so high that even a trivial scuffle could be the match that ignites full-fledged violence. In this highly-charged environment, an ordinary sweeper becomes a pawn in a sinister political plot.

The sweeper, Nathu, is manipulated by a local Muslim politician into killing a pig, and he is convinced to do so citing legitimate purposes. When the remnants of the dead pig turn up on the steps of a mosque, the Muslims of the town take offence to the perceived religious insult.

Livid and vengeful beyond belief, they massacre many Hindus and Sikhs, who retaliate by killing any Muslim who crosses their path. By the time the British government eventually deploys the army to bring the violence to a standstill, the damage has already been done. The die has already been cast, condemning the warring communities to live in perpetual distrust of each other.

The novel is based on true accounts of the Partition, which the author witnessed firsthand in the city of Rawalpindi. It highlights the plight of ordinary people who are unwittingly drawn into political games and scarred for life. It sensitively portrays how the compassionate side of the human spirit manages to survive and emerge to battle the pain inflicted by its violent side.

The book, originally written in Hindi, was first published in 1974. It received much praise and is considered to be the author’s finest novel. It also won him India’s highest literary award, the Sahitya Akademi award. In 1987, the book was translated into a television film of the same name, by Govind Nihalani. This edition is a 2009 reprint of the Hindi version.

About Bhisham Sahni

Bhisham Sahni was an Indian author who wrote in Hindi. He was also an actor and a playwright. Over the course of his writing career, he wrote six novels, including his best-known work, Tamas. He also wrote several plays, more than a hundred short stories, an autobiography, and the biography of his brother Balraj Sahni.

His other works include Aaj Ke Ateet and Balraj My Brother.

Sahni was born into a Punjabi Hindu family on August 8, 1915, in Rawalpindi, which was then a part of British-ruled India. He attended the Khalsa College in Amritsar, and earned a master’s degree in English from the Government College in Lahore. After the Partition of India, Sahni was forced to move to Amritsar with his family. He eventually became an English lecturer at the Delhi College. Sahni went on to establish an organization named SAHMAT, to improve cross-cultural harmony. At various points of time, he also worked as a stage performer, translator, and actor. Sahni was well-versed in Hindi, Urdu, Sanskrit, and Punjabi. His life’s work won him numerous awards, including the Sahitya Akademi Fellowship and a Padma Bhushan for literature.