Three Stories of the Raj

(Penguin Petit)

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Ved Mehta and Adrian Wilson, both MacArthur Prize Fellows, met for the first time at a gathering of recipients of the award. Their conversation turned inevitably to their work—to Ved Mehta’s writing and to Adrian Wilson’s book designing and printing. The concept of publishing a Mehta work in a special edition arose naturally; and the author chose three stories with different characters and events, each revealing an aspect of boyhood in India under the British raj.
Working in Wilson’s studio at the time was Zahid Sardar, a graphic artist from Bombay, and he was eager to illustrate the book. Sardar, who was already planning to visit his native land, took along his sketchbook and copies of the stories, and returned with a group of delicate and perceptive images recreating a vanished way of life.
The title of the first story, “Four Hundred and Twenty,” refers to an infamous law of British India under which Indian subjects were tried for various sorts of antisocial behavior. The story reveals with gentle humor the mixture of petty bureaucracy and profound spiritual feeling during the period, and the deep division between Hindus and Muslims that in time led to the partitioning of the country.
“The Music Master,” the story of a boy’s lessons with a lazy, devious, but appealing guru, shows how the crosscurrents of ancient superstition and modern Westernized thinking have buffeted the Indian subcontinent.
The third story, “Sunset,” presents with great sensitivity and simplicity a picture of a village family, its traditions, and its strengths, in a time of tragedy.